Stephen Chow is the deserved king of comedy. Although he created many box office myths, his performance style has not been accepted by major film festivals, especially the judges.
Zhou Xingchi has been in the industry for so many years, plus cameos and running dragon sets, a total of 53 film and television dramas have been filmed. In addition to the 1992 "Death Judge" won the Best Actor at the 37th Asia-Pacific Film Festival, he was nominated for 8 film emperors during this period, all of which ended in failure, until 2002, when he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for "Shaolin Football".
When the award was received, the applause from the audience lasted for several minutes, because everyone present knew that the award was at least a decade late.
Stephen Chow is not only at the peak of the comedy field, he has also made many non-comedy film and television dramas before his popularity, and his performance in the drama is very good.
In 1988, producer Lee Xiu-hyun let Stephen Chow play the main role in the movie "Thunderbolt Pioneer", and Stephen Chow did not disappoint him, with which he won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the 25th Golden Horse Awards and was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 8th Academy Awards.
Later, Zhou Xingchi also starred in TVB's unit drama "Dream Edge", he played a college student Wang Wenjie, who fantasized about many unrealistic things all day after graduation, lived in his own world all the time, and eventually entered a psychiatric hospital. The story is simple and the content is clearly layered, although Zhou Xingchi in that period is still very young, but in the play, he interprets the fear and confusion of mental patients into three points.
Also in 1988's "Metropolis", Zhou Xingchi played the son of the villain Zheng Shaoqiu, in the play, Zheng Shaoqiu and Zhou Xingchi did nothing evil, for money, in the last chase battle, Zheng Liji, played by Zhou Xingchi, died in the elevator.
Later, Zheng Shaoqiu mentioned the cooperation with Zhou Xingchi in an interview, he said that Zhou Xingchi was very dedicated, when the crew rented the airport, but the lease period had arrived, everyone left, only Zhou Xingchi was in the airport elevator to study how the role should "die".
When everyone found Zhou Xingchi, he said: "If I die in the middle of the elevator door, it will have the effect of my body being constantly hit by the elevator door. ”
This "death" method in Zhou Xingchi's mouth was reproduced in "Infernal Affairs" 14 years later, and friends who have seen this movie should know that Liang Chaowei was finally killed in the elevator.
In 1989, Zhou Xingchi played a triad brother in the film "Righteous Courage and Courage" directed by Wu Yusen, who fought for people and avenged the eldest brother and bumped into Li Xiuxian's wife. The eldest brother killed someone and went to jail instead, single-mindedly living only for the interests of the eldest brother.
However, in the end, he was betrayed and used by his most trusted big brother and died tragically in prison. Before dying, that expression of sadness, disappointment and disbelief was vividly interpreted by Zhou Xingchi.
In 1990, Stephen Chow played the undercover policeman Zhang Lang in "Wind and Rain Together".
The role of Zhang Lang is very complicated, because he is undercover, so he dresses up as a small gangster, goes to prison, mixes with gangsters, and is chased all over the street, which also leads to a deeper and deeper misunderstanding between him and his girlfriend, so he almost broke up.
During the undercover period, Zhang Lang helped Li Yunfei, who was hunted down and killed, to escape from danger, and since then the two have become good brothers who have not reversed their friendship, and in contact, Zhang Lang found that although Li Yunfei is a member of the underworld, he is principled in his work and has feelings and righteousness.
As an undercover agent, he has to worry about his identity and duties, but on the other hand, the undercover is also a flesh and blood person, and it is inevitable that he will have brotherhood with Li Yunfei, who has feelings and righteousness. The conflict between contradictory emotions and reason can be said to be the core of the entire film, and such a complex role is also properly controlled by Stephen Chow.
The above film and television dramas were all filmed before Stephen Chow became popular, which shows that his acting skills are very extensive, but they were later covered by his comedic brilliance.
His unique performance style is called "nonsense" by the Hong Kong audience, in fact, "nonsense" was originally a local saying in Foshan, Guangdong, which probably means inexplicable, not logical, incomprehensible in doing things and speech, and vulgar and casual language behavior, but it is still very reasonable to think carefully about what is said.
In fact, Stephen Chow did not deliberately pursue a certain style, he just wanted to use the language of Hong Kong's grassroots to reflect their lives at that time, and also express his views on the world.
Zhou Xingchi also talked about "nonsense" in the interview, and he believes that it does not matter what the audience calls or what it calls.
Stephen Chow's richly layered, super infectious, and unique sense of rhythm has taken root in the hearts of hundreds of millions of film fans and has become a unique film symbol.
There are many comedy masters, such as Chaplin, Rowan Atkinson, Buster Keaton, Zhao Benshan and others, the performance style of these people can be imitated, but Zhou Xingchi's can't, even if it is a simple expression, it is difficult for others to do it, maybe Zhou Xingchi's performance is only suitable for himself.
In the early 1990s, Wang Jing appreciated Stephen Chow's acting talent and strong box office appeal ability, and Chow appreciated Wang Jing's speed and creativity in shooting movies, and the two joined forces to shine in the Hong Kong film industry.
If you count the "Night Feast of the Giants", the two have cooperated a total of 13 times, of which Wang Jing directed 8 films for Stephen Chow, the first cooperation between the two was "Gambler" in 1990, and the last cooperation was "King of a Thousand Kings" in 1999.
However, with the in-depth cooperation between the two, many contradictions gradually occurred. Wang Jing used the previous routine when making films, and there was a set of formatted processes for filming, although it was prolific, but there was no innovation.
In 1994, when filming "Nine Pin Sesame Officials' White Bread and Blue Sky", the two had a fierce quarrel on the set, and Wang Jing wanted Zhou Xingchi to shoot directly with his previous performance methods, but Zhou Xingchi put forward different opinions and had his own ideas about film shooting. Wang Jing believes that Zhou Xingchi's idea interfered with his shooting plan, and Zhou Xingchi believes that Wang Jing is not creative and treats the film perfunctorily, and eventually the two break up unhappily.
At that time, more than a hundred movies were released in Hong Kong a year, and the top spot at the box office was almost "bi-weekly". At that time, Stephen Chow was already able to sit on an equal footing with Jackie Chan and Chow Yun Fat, and he also set up a film company, and he wanted to try different acting styles.
Although the two had a very unpleasant quarrel, Wang Jing often praised Zhou Xingchi in front of the media. He said: "Among the actors I have worked with, I rank first in terms of acting skills, and he has always been the first, and to this day. The acting changes a lot, and it's very meticulous, and that acting really slaps the palm of my hand. ”
There are countless actors who have cooperated with Wang Jing, there are film emperors and film queens, but Wang Jing has given such a cheeky sentence to Zhou Xingchi, who has turned his face with him.
There are countless classic shots of "Journey to the West", but it is highly respected that the Supreme Treasure pushes open the door and sees Bai Jingjing. Zhou Xingchi changed seven expressions in less than ten seconds, and this delicate performance changed from joy to fear, from fear to disguise, and finally before closing the door, the expression change that almost cried out, which could not be described in words.
Zhou Xingchi's performance in "The King of Comedy" is even more amazing, in the play, he was thrown away by the field agent played by Wu Mengda, zhou Xingchi from embarrassment, forced smile, to turn his head to try to hold back his tears, this multi-layered performance, so that ordinary actors can not reach.
In fact, Zhou Xingchi's achievements in the film do not need any awards to affirm. People who don't like him always question his acting skills and say that his performances are the same.
Looking at the entire showbiz circle, do not talk about comedy, only talk about acting, there are only a few people who can compete with Zhou Xingchi, and the span of characters he plays is very large.
In "God Eater", he appeared in an infinite scenery, and the arrogance and arrogance of the big people, as well as the situation that was later plotted, made the audience clap their hands after watching.
He has also played dozens of different roles such as the mentally abnormal ghost-catching master, Su Qi'er, whose second ancestor became a beggar, Tang Bohu, who was a mischievous and crazy inventor, Wei Xiaobao, who had a large number of wives and concubines, and Zhou Tie, a migrant worker at the bottom of society, all of whom were applauded and applauded.
Huang Qiusheng said that he was a generation of masters and a genius.
Jin Yong said that his films are well made and that he has a strong sense of protection and respect for intellectual property rights.
Ang Lee said that if Stephen Chow made a nonsensical movie, he would be willing to be an actor for him.
Chen Jiashang said that Zhou Xingchi will present good works to the audience every time, he is an excellent director, but also a professional actor.
Liu Zhenwei said that Zhou Xingchi is a person with extremely rich inner emotions, but it is not easy to express. He is not "dictatorial", at best a little "self", which is a characteristic that every director will have.
Andy Lau once said in an interview with the media: "We are not really very good friends, but he is my idol in front of the screen, and I really want to shoot another scene with him." ”
There are many people who appreciate Stephen Chow, but there are also many people who turn their faces with Stephen Chow. Think about it, those who say that Zhou Xingchi is not good, say that they are going for money.
Sometimes, the more successful a person is, the more he can't look back.
All beings are diverse, someone sends you flowers, someone shows your fangs for you.
Zhou Xingchi from running the dragon set to the actor, and then to the director, the road to take, not a step less. He was no less hated, deceived, betrayed, intimidated, and blackmailed. Some people say that he is rebellious, and some people say that he has a problem with his personality.
Li Xiuxian scolded Zhou Xingchi for being ungrateful, but he did not say that Zhou Xingchi made him a lot of money.
Xiang Tai also scolded Zhou Xingchi, but most of Zhou Xingchi's films in the early years were produced by Yongsheng, and who saw the fame and wealth he brought to Xiang Huaqiang and his wife?
Huang Shengyi and Zhou Xingchi parted ways, but without the aura of "Star Girl", without the big tree of Zhou Xingchi, her development in the show business circle is obvious to all, and the "dumb girl" in the movie "Kung Fu" has become an insurmountable peak in her acting career.
In the face of external slander, slander and slander, Zhou Xingchi has never responded, and he has never said anything bad about anyone.
Most of the actors who have worked with him have gone to the peak of their lives, Luo Jiaying said, before meeting Zhou Xingchi, he rented a house and bought two apartments after cooperation.
Zhou Xingchi cast for "Journey to the West", selected the 46-year-old Zhang Mei'e, when she ran the dragon set in Hengdian for 5 years, and also participated in the filming of many film and television dramas, but it has not been popular until the appearance of Zhou Xingchi.
During the filming of the film, Zhou Xingchi took the initiative to show her movements and looks, and taught her how to act.
Later, Zhang Mei'e said in an interview program on CCTV that she had never met such a good director.
Chen Bingqiang is Zhou Xingchi's assistant, responsible for the work of serving tea and pouring water, and he has also had the experience of running dragon sets. One day, Zhou Xingchi asked Chen Bingqiang to change into the costume props of the pig gang hyena, how the effect of the audition was. Unexpectedly, after Chen Bingqiang put on the costume, Zhou Xingchi was very satisfied, and in this way, Chen Bingqiang starred in the very important role of Pig Gangman in "Journey to the West".
There are many people that Zhou Xingchi has helped, such as Chen Guokun, Shi Xingyu, Lin Zicong and others.
From Zhou Xingchi's works, we see the bittersweet and bittersweet of the little people, but also see the real and complex human nature, see the life with laughter in the tears, and understand that as long as we don't give up and keep working hard, there will be some.
Everyone's life is like a movie without a script. Some people are the protagonists, some people are supporting roles, some people have lived from supporting roles to protagonists through hard work, and some people have willingly degenerated from protagonists to supporting roles.
In fact, whether it is success or failure, the important thing is to live your own life.
Don't ask what the future holds, but ask for the end of the curtain without regrets!