In 1981, at the age of 20, Andy Lau was admitted to TVB's "Artist Training Class" and began his acting career.
Because of his good appearance and temperament, Andy Lau has obtained many opportunities to appear on TVB, and has also formed the "Wireless Five Tigers" with Liang Chaowei, Huang Rihua, Miao Qiaowei and Tang Zhenye, which has become the memory of a generation of Hong Kong dramas.
In the mid-1980s, Andy Lau began to shift the focus of his career to the big screen of movies. In 1985, in Hong Jinbao's "Summer Lucky Star", Andy Lau played the role of "Deer Tail", and also joined hands with Jackie Chan and Yuan Biao to stage a wonderful action scene.
In 1986's "Best Lucky Star", Andy Lau jumped from a supporting role to a protagonist and became a member of a new generation of "Five Lucky Stars".
At the end of the 1980s, Andy Lau ushered in a period of high film production of his own. "Extra-legal Affairs", "Legal Insider Affairs", "Jianghu Love", "Best Friend", "Mong Kok Carmen", "Detective Father and Son Soldier", "Dragons And Treasures", "Dragon Family", "Soaring City", "Supreme Supreme", "God of Gamblers" and other works have also won him a good market evaluation.
In the early 1990s, Andy Lau, who had a good film career, was determined to grasp the market dividend and start his own film company. In 1991, he established "Tianmu Production Co., Ltd." and officially opened his independent production era.
In the Early 1990s, the Hong Kong film market was extremely competitive. Andy Lau's "Tianmu Film" has frequently suffered box office hits under the fierce competitive environment.
In 1991, Andy Lau recruited Aaron Kwok, Mui Yanfang and Liu Jialing to shoot the fantasy action film "91 Divine Eagle Heroes". With a strong production lineup, this film has achieved more than 20 million box office results after its release.
However, in 1992, the "Ninety-Two Divine Eagle Heroes", "Wu Sangui and Chen Yuanyuan", "Legend of the God of War", and "The True and False Weilong of the Machine Boy Boy" launched by "Tianmu Film" encountered box office setbacks one after another, and none of the films broke through the box office mark of 16 million.
Among them, the two works of "Ninety-Two Divine Eagle Heroes" and "Wu Sangui and Chen Yuanyuan" have not even broken through the box office red line of 10 million.
In 1993, in the face of dismal box office revenue, "Tianmu Film" independently filmed the romantic film "Heaven and Earth". Although this work received many nominations at the Academy Awards, its box office performance was extremely dismal, only receiving more than 9 million.
Successive market failures have invisibly made Andy Lau's "Tianmu Film" bear a lot of financial pressure.
In 1994, Andy Lau, who was in a dilemma, decided to make a desperate bet to make a large-scale film work and turn his film company upside down. So on the big screen of Hong Kong films this year, the work "Heaven and Earth" came into being.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="85" > Andy Lau's Republic of China version of "Sweeping Drugs"</h1>
The footage of "Heaven and Earth" focuses on the Republic of China era. The story of the film revolves around an "anti-drug action", which can be called a Republic of China version of "Anti-Drug".
At the beginning of the movie, "anti-drug commissioner" Zhang Yipeng (played by Andy Lau) and his wife "Su Su" (played by Chen Shaoxia) rushed from Nanjing to Shanghai to supervise the "anti-drug work" on the beach.
Ni Kun (played by Gu Baoming), the "police chief" of Shanghai Beach, and Dai Jimin (played by Liu Songren), the tycoon of Shanghai Beach, are brothers, and the two have established an "underground drug empire" in Shanghai Beach.
After Zhang Yipeng's arrival, Ni Kun ostensibly vigorously advocated "anti-drug", but secretly advised Zhang Yipeng to turn a blind eye. In order to send Zhang Yipeng, Ni Kun also bribed him with a large amount of money.
Zhang Yipeng returned the property given by Ni Kun, indicating his determination to "fight drugs.". Zhang Yipeng believes that his sincerity can inspire colleagues in the "anti-drug group". But reality gave him a resounding slap in the face.
Ni Kun used the money earned from "drug trafficking" to distribute "bribes" to police officers according to their positions. The entire "police officers" of Shanghai Beach have benefited from the "drug business" of Ni and Dai. At this time, Zhang Yipeng "vigorously advocated drug control", which was undoubtedly a public outrage.
In the action, colleagues constantly gave Zhang Yipeng a trip and wore small shoes. Finally, the personnel of the "anti-narcotics group" resigned en masse, deliberately making things difficult for Zhang Yipeng.
Of course, not everyone's heart has lost their conscience. "Policeman" Shandong Cat (played by Jin Shijie) is very disgusted by the behavior of Ni Kun and Dai Jimin, because he is unwilling to collude, so Shandong Cat is ostracized in the "police station".
Zhang Yipeng, who advocates "anti-drug", let Shandong Cat find a like-minded companion, and the two of them formed a partnership and began to sweep the major pipes on the beach.
Zhang Yipeng's move made Dai Jimin and Ni Kun very headache. However, Zhang Yipeng was a commissioner sent from Nanjing, and Ni Kun did not dare to kill him.
Although Zhang Yipeng and Shandong Cat destroyed some pipes, their abilities were limited after all. In order to enhance the efficiency of work, Zhang Yipeng decided to go to Nanjing and ask his superiors to send more helpers. At the same time, report to your superiors on the progress of your work.
Zhang Yipeng reported ni kun and Dai Jimin's cooperation in "drug trafficking" to his superiors. The superior said that Ni Kun was in an important position, and this Dai Jimin had a complicated background, and if there was no conclusive evidence, he should not act rashly.
As for the manpower, because of the tight personnel scheduling, the superior only arranged a female assistant for Zhang Yipeng "Wu Jun" (played by Yu Feihong).
During Zhang Yipeng's trip to Nanjing to report on his work, Dai Jimin, a tycoon on the beach, began to deal with problems according to the rules of the rivers and lakes. He sent his men to injure Shandong Cat and Zhang Yipeng's wife Susu, hoping to threaten Zhang Yipeng and stop the "anti-drug operation".
Zhang Yipeng returned to Shanghai Beach and found that Susu and Shandong Cat had an accident, so he began to launch a new operation to fight back.
Disguised as a maid, Wu Jun infiltrated Dai Jimin's mansion and waited for an opportunity to inquire into intelligence. As a result, it was learned that Dai Ji was hiding "drugs" in a den.
Zhang Yipeng, Shandong Cat, and Wu Jun joined forces to destroy the "drug den" and snatched some of the "drugs" as evidence.
Dai Jimin, who heard the news, was furious, and in a fit of rage, he sent a killer to kill Zhang Yipeng's wife, Susu.
Nanjing sent a general Li to garrison the beach. This General Li deeply resented "drugs," and Zhang Yipeng hoped to use General Li's strength to completely eradicate Ni Kun and Dai Jimin. And Ni Kun and Dai Jimin also decided to start first and solve the trouble of Zhang Yipeng.
Ni Kun captured Wu Jun and used her to negotiate with Zhang Yipeng. During the negotiations, Zhang Yipeng was drugged, and Ni Kun waited for the opportunity to hide the "drugs" in Zhang Yipeng's home, and also asked reporters to take photos and expose them. Later, Zhang Yipeng was arrested on the charge of "hiding drugs". Wu Jun, who was arrested, was insulted by Ni Kun and chose to commit suicide.
Ni Kun handed over the case file of "Zhang Yipeng hiding drugs" to his superiors and bribed them. As soon as the case was approved, Ni Kun shot Zhang Yipeng.
Worried that Zhang Yipeng was killed, the Shandong cat kidnapped Ni Kun and rescued Zhang Yipeng. However, in the chaotic gun battle, Shandong Cat was shot and killed.
General Li finally arrived at Shanghai Beach, and Zhang Yipeng handed over the evidence he had collected and the seized "drugs" to General Li. General Li also arranged for manpower to escort Zhang Yipeng, a "prisoner who hid drugs and escaped from prison," to Take refuge in Guangzhou.
On the train to Guangzhou, General Li suddenly opened fire and killed Zhang Yipeng. It turned out that General Li had accepted a bribe from Dai Jimin.
At the end of the story, Zhang Yipeng was found to have committed suicide in fear of guilt, and Dai Jimin was acquitted after being investigated.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="113" > xianghuaqiang's big production </h1>
The story background of this "Heaven and Earth" focuses on the Republic of China era, in order to restore the era of old Shanghai, the film has spent a lot of thought and production funds on scene construction and service design.
Due to the successive market failures in the past, the "Tianmu Film" in 1994 could not come up with too much budget funds. At this time, Andy Lau insisted on using large productions to save the company's decline.
So in the middle of the compromise, Andy Lau chose to find the old owner "Yongsheng Film" to help. Under the co-production of "Yongsheng Film" and "Tianmu Film", "Heaven and Earth" completed the final shooting. Xiang Huaqiang also served as a producer and producer for this "Heaven and Earth".
The excellent art set and costume design make this story shot of "Heaven and Earth" reveal a strong sense of the times and epic temperament.
Of course, the film has such an excellent temperament performance, and Lei Chuxiong and He Jiansheng, who served as art designers behind the scenes, are naturally indispensable.
Lei Chuxiong can be regarded as the art leader behind the scenes of Hong Kong films in the 90s.
This profound art director can not only design the beautiful classical beauty of "Green Snake", but also design the jianghu rhyme of depression and slaughter in "Knife", and also design the dark and evil science fiction style in "Black Man".
Another art designer, He Jiansheng, is also outstanding. The art sets of works such as "Dao Ma Dan", "Shanghai Emperor", "Li Wang", and "Night Feast of the Giants" are from the hands of He Jiansheng.
With the joining of these two powerful art directors, this "Heaven and Earth" is also exceptionally outstanding in terms of the performance of the atmosphere and picture texture.
In addition to the outstanding performance in fine arts, the performance of this "Heaven and Earth" in photography is also much higher than that of the film works of the same period.
Gold medal photographer Li Pingbin took on the work of photography for this "Heaven and Earth". In 1993, Li Pingbin won his first "Best Cinematography" trophy for "Dream Life". Then, in works such as "Woman Forty", "Half Life", "Fancy Years" and so on, Li Pingbin's lens expression has also been gradually improved and transformed step by step.
In "Heaven and Earth", Li Pingbin's delicate lens not only shoots this story that took place in old Shanghai with a unique flavor. Under the change of the relationship between light and dark, many classic scenes and pictures are also presented in the film story.
The production team behind the scenes is full of big coffee, and the cast in front of the stage is also full of highlights. The superb acting skills of the old drama bones Jin Shijie, Liu Songren and Gu Baoming surprised the audience.
Andy Lau and Yu Feihong, who are at the peak of their appearance, are also in the film lens, attracting the attention of a group of audiences.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="131" > the dismal ending of "Heaven and Earth."</h1>
Although the performance of all aspects of this "Heaven and Earth" is very outstanding, the box office performance after its release is not ideal. In the 1994 Hong Kong film market, the film only won more than 10 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office.
The market setback of "Heaven and Earth" is inextricably linked to the times and itself.
In terms of story design, the film did not choose a happy reunion ending, but ended with a tragic bridge segment. Tragic stories have always been unpopular with the box office market. In 1992, Hong Jinbao's "A Knife To the City" is a very typical example.
The same story style as "A Knife In the City" doomed the dismal box office ending of "Heaven and Earth".
On the other hand, the cruel market competition environment is also an important reason for the box office setback of this "Heaven and Earth".
In 1994, classics appeared frequently on the Hong Kong film market. Zhou Runfa's "God of Gamblers 2", Zhou Xingchi's "Domestic Lingling Lacquer", "Nine Pin Sesame Officer", Jackie Chan's "Drunken Fist 2", Jet Li's "Zhongnanhai Bodyguard", "New Shaolin Five Ancestors", "Jingwu Hero", Xu Ke's "Liang Zhu", Zhang Guorong's "Golden Branches and Jade Leaves", all were released in this year.
In the face of the market situation of "immortal fight", "Heaven and Earth" can only silently shed tears in front of the cold box office.
At the end of "Heaven and Earth", General Li told Zhang Yipeng: "You were not born at the right time." This sentence seems to have become the verdict of this movie in the dark. The movie "Heaven and Earth" is really not in time!
The dismal box office performance of "Heaven and Earth" failed to save the precarious fate of "Sky Curtain Movie". After 1994, "Tianmu Film" entered a period of suspension of production. And Liu Tianwang also began to travel from place to place, making money everywhere in order to alleviate the company's debt pressure.
In 1996, Liu Tianwang, who had eased the gods, led the "Tianmu Film" to shoot a comedy film "1/2 Times in the Same Bed". However, the market performance of this work is still very unsatisfactory.
At the end of the 1990s, Hong Kong films declined, and Andy Lau's "Sky Curtain Film" also disintegrated after 2001's "Love Jun Like a Dream".
It is worth mentioning that although the 1994 "Heaven and Earth" performed dismal at the box office, it created two widely publicized golden songs.
When Zhang Yipeng's wife Su Su was killed, the interlude that sounded in the film was "Entanglement" sung by Andy Lau. The theme song at the end of the movie is Liu Tianwang's representative song - "Forgetting Love Water".