"Big Brother Tangshan" poster
In April 1970, Bruce Lee, who had repeatedly encountered a wall in Hollywood, returned to Hong Kong with Lee Guohao. What he did not expect was that the TV series "Green Hornet", which had a mediocre rating in the United States, was welcomed by Hong Kong audiences. Bruce Lee, the former child star, is now the Hollywood star in their eyes. Famous TV shows such as "Golden Jade ManTang" and "Happy Tonight" invited him to visit, and the film giant "Shaw" Company also threw an olive branch to him.
Bruce Lee was interviewed by Xu Guanwen on TVB
Bruce Lee visited the set of "Shaw" and also watched kung fu films starring Luo Lie, Wang Yu and others. That kind of soft kung fu film made Bruce Lee unimpressed, and it also strengthened his self-confidence in becoming a superstar. However, Shaw and Bruce Lee, two equally arrogant people, could not talk together at all. Bruce Lee left Hong Kong angrily, but still maintained contact with his friends and film companies in Hong Kong through letters.
Bruce Lee's contract with "Jiahe"
In May of the following year, the thirsty "Jiahe" arranged for producer Liu Lianghua to invite Bruce Lee. Liu Lianghua, who was "lobbying" Zheng Peipei in the United States at the time, immediately turned to Bruce Lee, and the progress was very smooth. In June, Bruce Lee signed a contract with "Jiahe" for two films, the first of which is "Big Brother Tangshan" to be introduced today.
To be sure, "Big Brother Tangshan" is a film with a meager investment and rough production; it is filmed in a small village in Thailand, and Bruce Lee is also slightly restrained in his performances. However, Bruce Lee, with his unparalleled momentum, swept away the popularity of the Hong Kong film industry. "Big Brother Tangshan" was screened for 23 consecutive days, breaking the box office record in Hong Kong film history. The never-before-seen true kung fu captivated the audience, including jackie Chan and Stephen Chow, who were not yet underage.
Liu Yong and Bruce Lee
At the beginning of filming, the director of "Big Brother Tangshan" was not Luo Wei, but Wu Jiajun. The old-school director was conservative in his thinking and often scolded the actors on the set, which caused Bruce Lee great dissatisfaction. The suspension of the film made Zou Wenhuai very nervous, or Luo Wei took the initiative to ask for help, took over the job, and brought his own son Liu Yong. This was the first film starring Liu Yong, who later became a close friend of Bruce Lee and participated in all subsequent Bruce Lee films.
Tian Jun, Bruce Lee
The change of directors makes the front and back style of the film somewhat fragmented. The original meaning of "Jiahe" is to imitate the model of the two male protagonists of the "Shaw" martial arts film (the most common is "Jiang David + Dillon" in Zhang Che's movie), so that Bruce Lee and Tian Jun are equally divided. With the repeated revision of the script, in the end, "Xu Jian" played by Tian Jun was killed in one-third of the film, and "Zheng Chao'an" played by Bruce Lee became a lone hero.
It is said that the film is based on true events. The prototype of Tsong Chao An lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his statue was erected in gardens in Bangkok.
Rowey, Bruce Lee
At that time, the Hong Kong film market was dominated by Chinese films, so this film was not recorded at the same time, but dubbed in the later stage. Therefore, Rowy often listened to the horse racing radio on the set of the film, which made Bruce Lee very disgusted. Although Bruce Lee and Lo Wei did not get along very well, Bruce Lee had to admit that Rovey had a lot of experience in shooting kung fu films. So Bruce Lee held the attitude of learning and has always tolerated it.
Zhang Peishan
Zhang Peishan and Bruce Lee (filmed during the Raptors Crossing the River)
Bruce Lee does not say Chinese, and his royal voice is Zhang Peishan. Zhang Peishan, from Beijing, has a rounded and sonorous voice, and has served as a basic actor in "Shaw". Zhang Peishan and Bruce Lee cooperate tacitly, but Bruce Lee's signature strange cries are recorded by himself. It is worth mentioning that Bruce Lee only used that kind of call for the first time in "Jingwumen", which is not in the Chinese version of this film, and the call in the Cantonese version is edited from Bruce Lee's other films.
Bruce lee
According to Liu Yong's recollection, bruce Lee, after arriving in Thailand, washed the cup one day while brushing his teeth, and as a result, he crushed the glass with too much force, scratched his finger, and sewed ten stitches. So in the film, Bruce Lee's right index finger is wrapped around the gauze, but this gauze is large and small, and it disappears in some shots of the final war.
Miao Kexiu
Yi Yi
Miao Kexiu, Bruce Lee, Yi Yi
Miao Kexiu, who is on vacation in Thailand, made a cameo appearance; the heroine Yi Yi, like Miao Kexiu and Tian Jun, was one of the first signed actors of "Jiahe".
Chen Huiyi, Tian Jun, Chen Long
This is the first time that the two brothers Chen Long and Chen Huiyi have appeared in the same movie, but this time they are in two different camps of good and evil. Both brothers then became regular martial artists in Bruce Lee films.
Lin Zhengying
Bruce Lee, Yi Yi, Lin Zhengying
At the age of 19, Lin Zhengying was deeply impressed by Bruce Lee, and he and Chen Huiyi were called Bruce Lee's "right and left arm".
Bruce Lee and Han Yingjie
It wasn't until the 45th minute that Bruce Lee officially began the "fight" (note that Zheng Chao'an was wearing a black belt). The martial arts instructor of this film is Han Yingjie, a martial artist of the Northern Sect, but Bruce Lee dominates his own part. Bruce Lee said that he could knock down a person with just one punch and one kick. Han Yingjie objected that dozens of knives in the body of the characters in Zhang Che's film had to be beaten for half a day. Bruce Lee said: "After the audience watches my movie, they will not look at them again. ”
After Zheng Chao'an was promoted to plumber, the belt was changed to white, suggesting a change of character.
The Thai actresses who appear in this film, with the exception of Malalin Bonnak, are real prostitutes. "Jiahe" paid more than their usual salary, so they were very happy to accept the job.
Malalin Bonnak
Malalin Bonnak is a well-known star in Thailand, starring in three Hong Kong films: Big Brother Tangshan, Spring Man Pattaya and Escape from the Coral Sea.
In addition to the extensive use of the bullet bed, the humanoid hole in the wooden wall is another compromise between Bruce Lee and Rowy.
Cut the screen
A large number of bloody scenes in this film were finally deleted, the most representative of which is this saw screen.
Before Zheng Chao'an went to the big boss's mansion to fight, he also went to a brothel. It was a scene that Bruce Lee had added to himself, and he thought that Zheng Chao'an, a simple-minded man, had a reason to enjoy another entanglement before dying, and Luo Wei agreed with this view. After making out with a prostitute, Zheng Chao'an felt hungry and took half a bag of biscuits from the prostitute's bedside. However, the scene was removed.
Second from the right
The prostitute had already appeared when Zheng Chao'an had last come to see Malalin Bonnak and was sitting in the same position. As mentioned above, she was a real prostitute called Dayia Scope.
In the version we can see, Zheng Chao'an runs away from the river, and the next shot appears outside the big boss's door, with half a bag of biscuits in his hand, which looks very abrupt.
When Zheng Chao'an jumped over the iron door, the biscuit in his hand disappeared. Reappears after landing.
When "Big Brother Tangshan" premiered at midnight, Bruce Lee and Zou Wenhuai secretly sat in the back row to observe the audience's reaction. When the word "end of the play" appeared, the audience was silent for a few seconds, and then the entire audience stood up and applauded, which made Bruce Lee and Zou Wenhuai overjoyed. Some viewers spotted Bruce Lee, and everyone screamed and lifted Bruce Lee on his shoulders. Since then, Bruce Lee has become a shining superstar; Bruce Lee's whirlwind began to sweep the world and has not stopped; kung fu movies have entered a new era.
Hats off to Bruce Lee!
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