April 7, 2023, which is just the past Friday, is actor Jackie Chan's 69th birthday.
It is also the day of the release of the new film "Dragon Horse Spirit" starring Jackie Chan.
If you don't count Jackie Chan's comedy film "Always There's Love in Isolation" as a cameo, three years have passed since Jackie Chan's last large-scale film "Pioneer" released in mainland theaters.
There is no doubt that Jackie Chan is a banner of the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, leading the representative of Hong Kong-style action films to sweep the world.
Jackie Chan has been in the film industry for more than 60 years, making him a well-deserved "big brother" in the entire Chinese film industry.
As a nostalgic film and television number, he has written a lot of Hong Kong movies, and he really can't bypass Jackie Chan's movies.
Just in time for the roadshow of "Dragon Horse Spirit" in Shanghai, I made a special trip to meet the national idol Jackie Chan on the spot.
It's hard to believe that Jackie Chan is almost 70 years old.
But he is still energetic on the screen and stage, bringing this long-prepared new work "Ryoma Spirit".
Like previous Jackie Chan movies, the film does not lack a star cast, in addition to starring Jackie Chan, there are 15 star big names such as Wu Jing, Guo Qilin, Liu Haocun, Yung Zuer, Yu Ailei, Yu Rongguang, An Zhijie, Xiao Shenyang, Jia Bing, Lang Yueting, Tang Jili, Li Zhiting, Lv Liangwei, Yin Xiaotian, Shi Yanneng and so on.
The movie is still an action comedy with humorous elements, but this movie is very special for Jackie Chan - it is a film that pays tribute to Hong Kong's dragon and tiger warriors, or rather, it is a tribute to the feelings of a generation of Hong Kong action filmmakers.
In this issue of the "Detoxification of Cinema New Films" column, let's talk about this new work of Jackie Chan——
"Ryoma Spirit"
Ride On
This "Dragon Horse Spirit" is written and directed by director Yang Zi.
This director Yangzi is not actress Yang Zi, nor is Huang Shengyi's husband Yang Zi.
Director Yang Zi's best-known film is "Shout Mountain", which was nominated for several film festivals that year, and his last directorial film was the star-studded pet care film "Pet".
The movie "Dragon Horse Spirit" is director Yang Zi's new work after "Pet", director Yang Zi chose to focus on larger horses after filming a number of "cute pets", and added classic actions, comedy and other elements in Jackie Chan movies, so that Jackie Chan and Chitu form a special partner of "one person, one horse", which pays tribute to the dragon and tiger martial arts industry of Hong Kong films.
Action movies and kung fu movies are important types of Hong Kong movies, so there is a special job in the Hong Kong film industry - dragon and tiger martial artists. They work extremely hard as actor stand-ins, perform stunts and run tricks in movies, and the work is dangerous.
Dragon and Tiger Martial Master is the behind-the-scenes hero of Hong Kong kung fu movies that can take the world by storm, and it is also the starting point of Jackie Chan's film career.
Now almost seventy years old, Jackie Chan uses a movie that pays tribute to the dragon and tiger warriors to show the fighting spirit of Hong Kong filmmakers with the best action comedy genre, making the movie "Dragon Horse Spirit" seem meaningful to both Jackie Chan himself and Jackie Chan fans.
The protagonist is a down-and-out martial artist Lao Luo (played by Jackie Chan), who was once the most famous dragon and tiger martial artist in the Hong Kong film industry when he was young, and has completed countless dangerous actions on the screen.
However, the hero is late, and today's Lao Luo is more like a frustrated person trapped in the old era.
Although he still adheres to the professional spirit of "dare to fight and fight, personally go into battle", due to the changes of the times and the development of film technology, his set of "fight with life" filmmaking method has no one recognized, and even he himself has become a group of people who have been eliminated and forgotten.
In the film, there is a dragon and a horse, "dragon" refers to both the dragon and tiger martial artist Lao Luo, and to some extent Jackie Chan himself; "Ma" is the "Red Rabbit", the love horse raised by Lao Luo since he was a child in the play, and it is also a disciple carefully cultivated by Lao Luo in the context of martial arts.
Although the overall tone of "Dragon Horse Spirit" is a warm comedy, the background of the whole film has a faint sadness and sadness.
The film is about the inheritance and perseverance, belief and dedication of action movie stuntmen, and at the same time, through the life ups and downs of the protagonist Master Luo, it reflects the love and ideals of Jackie Chan's generation of filmmakers for Hong Kong films - the dilemma of Master Luo in the play is actually the collective situation of those older generation of dragon and tiger martial artists who were once brilliant and now only have injuries left.
The frustrated Lao Luo adopted a love horse "Chitu", who regarded him as a "closed disciple", carefully fed and trained his love horse, and was bent on letting "Chitu" fulfill his dream and cultivate it into an action star on the set.
The story of the film revolves around the experience of Lao Luo and his love horse "Chitu" chasing dreams on the set, showing the hardships and difficulties of action actors, martial artists and martial artists. The whole film is not only a phased review and summary of Jackie Chan's legendary life in more than 60 years of film, but also a nostalgia and tribute to the golden age of Hong Kong cinema.
The main work content of the "Dragon and Tiger Warrior" is to replace the protagonist in front of the camera to complete various dangerous actions, beating, blasting, riding a horse, jumping off buildings, which are common to them. Due to the nature of the work, injuries are commonplace, and sometimes even accompanied by the shadow of death.
Jackie Chan outside the play is one of the most injured Hong Kong action actors, the most serious one was when he fell and injured his head while filming "Brother Dragon and Tiger" in 1985, resulting in almost death; In the play, Master Luo, played by Jackie Chan, is bruised every time he returns from the set, and his apprentice female warrior "Sakurako" is paralyzed by an accident on the set.
It can be said that Lao Luo in the play is very similar to Jackie Chan himself in reality in many ways, fighting for a lifetime, and adhering to the spirit of the dragon and tiger martial artist. Lao Luo's daughter was reluctant to let her father do such a dangerous job because she was worried about her father's safety, but Lao Luo replied, "This is the life of the dragon and tiger martial artist."
As a fan who grew up watching Jackie Chan movies, this movie moved and moved me to watch the whole process.
Jackie Chan in this film is no longer omnipotent, nor is he as "able to fight" as in previous films. He is Lao Luo, a dragon and tiger martial artist with a downcast life, who was away from the set for more than a year due to injuries during filming. When he returned, the company collapsed.
While he was being chased for debts, he longed to return to the set with his love horse. Despite being injured many times, although he has passed the golden age of the dragon and tiger martial artist, Lao Luo still believes in the spirit of the dragon and tiger martial artist, and no matter how dangerous the stunts are, he must jump down with the red rabbit.
Today, when film shooting technology is becoming more and more developed, this insistence is somewhat "outdated". This constitutes the dramatic conflict of the film.
A dragon and tiger warrior who is out of step with the times, accompanied only by a horse that was judged disabled at birth; And when Chitu was involved in a dispute over ownership, the emotion between Lao Luo and Chitu was the biggest tear point in the film.
"Make movies with your life and live your life with love" is the set guideline of the protagonist Master Luo, and it is also the life portrayal of starring Jackie Chan. Therefore, this movie has a certain "semi-autobiographical nature", from the first act of the film, Easter eggs about Jackie Chan movies abound, and many scenes pay tribute to famous scenes in Jackie Chan's past classic movies, enough to make fans familiar with Jackie Chan movies smile.
The iconic witty martial arts style of Jackie Chan movies has also been inherited in the film, but the difference from previous Jackie Chan movies is that this time Jackie Chan has a mischievous and extremely human love horse "Red Rabbit". The story begins with a familiar Jackie Chan-style comedy style, starting from the naughty and funny daily life of Master Luo and his love horse "Chitu", and the "interaction" of one person and one horse is full of comedy and humor.
Immediately afterwards, Master Luo encountered debt collection on the set and was forced to fight with the other party, and the centaurs trained for many years to cooperate with tacit understanding, and the cornices and walls flashed and moved to knock the other party to the ground, while leaving a bottom line until the point. Highlighting the thrill of action and the rhythm of martial arts design without exaggerating violence has always been the most successful place of Jackie Chan action movies.
Frankly speaking, today's Jackie Chan may not have as smooth and fast movements in movies as when he was young, but he is still old and strong, and his moves are very exciting and solid. What moves fans even more is that when they see Jackie Chan, who is almost 70 years old, still playing freely on the screen, it will make the audience feel a heartfelt touch.
Regarding the literary and dramatic part of the film, "Dragon Horse Spirit" as a warm comedy, the choreographer focuses the story on the portrayal of the inner emotional transformation of the protagonist Master Luo and the people around him.
Master Luo and his daughter Xiaobao from strangeness to understanding and finally accept each other's "father-daughter affection", Master Luo and Ai Ma Chitu rely on each other, break into the set together, and achieve each other's "centaur bond", as well as Master Luo and apprentices Sakurako, Shrimp Mao and others, etc., many story lines are interspersed and parallel, but the emotional outline between the characters is very delicate and moving.
Especially the emotional portrayal between Master Luo and his daughter Xiaobao is the most moving, the "hero sheds blood without tears" Jackie Chan in the past movie subverts the previous image in this film, not only showing the two states of "spirit" three years ago and the "frustrated down" after that, but also contributed several rather tear-jerking performances, and the image of a frustrated father who longs for his daughter's forgiveness and support is very good at acting.
At the same time, as a Jackie Chan-style comedy, the film does not deliberately sensationalize or forcibly raise the value, and the addition of comedy elements balances the narrative rhythm of the film just right, so that the whole film completes the sublimation of the theme of the story in the atmosphere of laughter and tears.
The scene that impressed me the most was Lao Luo's final transformation, which is arguably the most important theme transmission of the whole film.
Lao Luo's wife once described their generation of dragon and tiger martial artists to her daughter - "they are very simple, Action (boot), Jump (jump), Hospital (send to the hospital)", Lao Luo still emphasizes "dragon and tiger martial artists, never say no" even if he is no longer young.
Making movies with an almost paranoid and fearless attitude is a lifelong professional creed and lifelong pursuit for Lao Luo. Lao Luo in the play is like a battlefield general trapped in the old era, even if the hero is late, he refuses to bow his head and admit defeat.
But at the end of the film, Lao Luo, who has been proud all his life, chooses to let go of his inner pride and self-esteem, admitting that he can no longer complete dangerous actions. This scene made the role of "Lao Luo" more plump and grounded.
When he was young, he could brave all difficulties and dangers for love and ideals, but now Lao Luo is a father who wants to make up for his daughter, and he can also resolutely unshackle and retreat for the sake of his family and affection.
Lao Luo in the play told the young generation of action movie star Yuanwei played by Wu Jing that "it's easy to jump down, it's hard to walk down", this line is not only for many fellow dragon and tiger martial artists who have worked hard for many years, but also for Jackie Chan's life introspection after more than sixty years of film career.
From this point of view, "Dragon Horse Spirit" is undoubtedly a "true feeling" expression dedicated by Jackie Chan to fans and audiences.
There are too many memorable and moving parts of this story, related to Jackie Chan's personal life experience, about Hong Kong action movies, about the generation of behind-the-scenes workers who created the glory of Hong Kong films, and more about the countless audiences who grew up watching Hong Kong movies.
In a sense, Jackie Chan used this film to record an era, and behind it is the Hong Kong film represented by Jackie Chan film, which is still vigorous and vigorous today, and this is the real "spirit" represented by "Dragon Horse Spirit".
Of course, the movie is not without shortcomings, the combination of literary drama and martial arts is not balanced enough, as another core conflict in the whole film, the lawsuit between Master Luo and Boss Yu around "Red Rabbit" is relatively sloppy, and the actress Liu Haocun's acting skills are still relatively dramatic.
But in general, this movie is a relatively serious movie produced by Jackie Chan in recent years, at least much stronger than the previous "Blood of the Machine" and "Kung Fu Yoga", especially worthy of watching Jackie Chan fans.
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