Stills from "Sister Peach".
Director Hui Anhua's works always seem to be different from the standard Taste of Hong Kong films in our impression. Compared with Hong Kong author-oriented directors such as Du Qifeng, Wong Kar-wai, Xu Ke and Chow Sing Chi, Hui Anhua has no labeled aesthetic style, rarely repeats the theme of creation, and rarely has commercial works that follow the market. Even in the golden age of the most prosperous Hong Kong films, her films are not the darlings of the market, in the decline of Hong Kong films, the collective north, her expression of independence, style continuity, but also became the most solid footnote of Hong Kong films, from the "Vietnam Trilogy", "Drifting Trilogy" to "Nursing Home Trilogy", Hui Anhua's films have also been regarded by researchers as a text to interpret the development of Hong Kong film society. In Xu Anhua's view, his early films are all story-driven genre films, and the works after the middle period are more of a theme chosen by fate. But no matter the style or theme changes, she is using the simplest life lens, delicate and accurate to reflect her unique temperament of "silence is better than sound at this time", reflecting the non-simple personality and shooting not simple movies. Although Xu Anhua has stated on many occasions that she is not a feminist director, it is undeniable that as a woman, Xu Anhua's creative perspective is obviously different from that of male directors.
【Director Forty】
At the age of 32, it took 35 days to shoot "Crazy Robbery", and at the age of 40, it took three years before and after the filming of Jin Yong's martial arts film
Stills from "Mad Robbery".
In 1979, at the age of 32, she directed her film debut "Crazy Robbery", a suspense film adapted from a real case that boldly adopted a multi-perspective narrative at that time, and the camera position changes of the selection and light and shadow created a full sense of horror, the film was well received, and Xu Anhua's talent was exposed. She once recalled filming "Crazy Robbery" in "Xu Anhua Says Xu Anhua", when the budget was HK$850,000, and it took 35 days to shoot, "After I finished filming "Crazy Robbery", I immediately got old. I looked at my own photos and found that my eyes were worried..." She then filmed "Bumping into the Right", "The Story of Hu Yue", and "Running to the Fury Sea" at a rate of one a year, and the word-of-mouth box office was excellent, during which the new wave of Hong Kong films gradually took shape. Hong Kong New Wave directors have similar experiences, generally with a background in studying abroad, working in television stations, and focusing on realistic themes. In the book "Hong Kong New Wave Cinema" by Zhuo Botang, it is described that this group of directors appears invariably, they are not separated from traditional Hong Kong films, and have created new techniques and narrative styles, from the beginning of their creation, these directors have consciously taken into account the entertainment of the film, in line with the pragmatic spirit and entertainment spirit of Hong Kong.
Xu Anhua (pictured right) and Zhao Yazhi on the shooting scene of "Crazy Robbery".
Xu Anhua's "Crazy Robbery", Xu Ke's "Butterfly Change", Yan Hao's "Eggplant" and Zhang Guoming's "PointIng Soldiers" are all representative works in Hong Kong New Wave films, and Xu Anhua is the only woman in this batch of New Wave standard-bearer directors. The history of hong Kong's new wave is very short, a few years later, Hong Kong films ushered in a golden age, there are huge markets in local, Southeast Asia and other places, this group of directors have also been transformed, only Xu Anhua firmly maintained his own style. Kwan, who played the role of assistant director in Xu Anhua's earliest films, described Xu Anhua as resilient in making films. "Xu Anhua's dedication to movies has a deep impact on me, although I am easy to get along with, but when I meet myself at work who wants to meet certain requirements, I will become persistent." When the company's budget is not enough, I have to do it even out of my own pocket. I was influenced by her a lot about that. ”
Xu Anhua's resilience is half naïve and half helpless, and she said that she has not cultivated other hobbies besides reading and making movies. She felt that making a good movie would give her a chance to make the next one. In terms of film expression, she has to control herself, and other aspects can be discussed. "I'm often very assertive when I make movies, but sometimes I'm stupid." When filming "Run to the Fury Sea", because of the sensitive subject matter, she could not shoot Vietnam, and she finally chose to set up a scene in Hainan.
In 1982, "Run to the Fury Sea" was released, and the following year was invited to the Cannes Film Festival, which was originally shortlisted for the main competition unit, but due to vietnam's interference, the organizing committee was under great pressure, and she communicated with her in France, and she said that it did not matter. The film grossed 15 million yuan at the Hong Kong box office and won three awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards that year: Best Director, Best Film and Best Screenwriter. She felt that this achievement was enough for her to get the chance to shoot her next film. Because "Run to the Fury Sea" involves some intricate relationships, so that many companies in Hong Kong dare not look for her to shoot, she began to experience a low period, at the same time, the mainland began to enter her creative vision, and later films, many mainland elements appeared.
Stills from "Gobi En's Vendetta" and "Jiangnan Shu Sword Love".
After "Defecting to the Furious Sea", Xu Anhua made "Love in the Fallen City" adapted from Zhang Ailing's works and "Jiangnan Shu Sword Love" and "Gobi En Vengeance" adapted from Jin Yong's novel "Book of Swords and Enmity", both of which sold badly. The two "book swords" she filmed for three years, is her so far the longest shooting cycle of the film, as a martial arts film, there are few scenes, the scene is not good, the film ink is more of the feelings and relationships between the characters, today, it is another kind of martial arts film, not an action film, but at the time, these concepts were not clear. The year the film was released, Hui Anhua was forty years old, no longer a successful director, and the Hong Kong New Wave has become a thing of the past.
【Movie 40】
Directed the Drifting Trilogy, the highest acclaimed is the semi-autobiographical "Ketu Autumn Hate"
In Xu Anhua's view, her early films are all genre films, driven by stories, but there is no strong personal expression, including "Running to the Fury Sea", which is not a film full of the metaphors of the times at all, and she wants to show a sense of life. She did a lot of research in the early stages of shooting, and the script arranged the stories of six real families on one family, and the plot tension was enough. Later, critics took "Running to the Fury Sea" as a portrayal of a special period in history, and Xu Anhua said that she felt like it, but when filming, she did not understand this, "just want to honestly shoot a Vietnamese story."
Stills from "Run to the Fury Sea".
On how to reflect the sense of life in the movie, she has her own set of methods, derived from the work habits developed during TVB, in the shooting projects she can independently, she will read a lot of materials, do rigorous research, to reflect the sense of life part, to be related to the scene, she is almost paranoid in this regard. One of the things that "Run to the Fury Sea" is praised for is the restoration of the Vietnamese environment, as large as a village, as small as a bridge, all created on the basis of reality. The sense of life is also the living state of the characters, and in this regard, she is greatly influenced by directors Yang Dechang and Hou Xiaoxian. In 1983, Xu Anhua watched "A Day on the Beach" directed by Yang Dechang, which was her first time watching a Taiwanese New Wave movie, and she was shocked after watching it. "My first reaction was: Oops, we're finished. I'm not pretending to be modest, but I feel why they're so close to life."
Later, she liked "Childhood Past" directed by Hou Xiaoxian, and she felt good after watching it many times. She and Hou Xiaoxian are the same age, both are the second generation of immigrants, Hou Xiaoxian's early cooperation team of several important figures, Wu Nianzhen, Du Duzhi, Li Pingbin also cooperated with Xu Anhua in the future. Perhaps in a sense, it is easier for Xu to understand the narrative style of the TaiwanEse New Wave. "Yang Dechang and Hou Xiaoxian's plays are all about modern life, the scope is relatively narrow, and they once again pay attention to people's problems, and I also want to make such a film." In the book "Xu Anhua Says Xu Anhua", she also described her creative dilemma, to make such a realistic film in Hong Kong, how to shoot it can have depth, how to shoot it can be like a movie instead of a TV series. At that time, she had more self-consciousness in creation, and she saw in the works of Hou Xiaoxian and Yang Dechang that the emotions and atmosphere were enough to promote the development direction of the film, rather than relying on the story absolutely, she also knew how to use actors, and with wonderful actor plays, in her early works, actor plays were absent.
Stills from "The Stars Shine Tonight".
In 1988, Hui Anhua's "Tonight is Starry" was released, she tried to use realistic love stories to connect the twenty years of changes in Hong Kong society, she is very ambitious in this film, but the evaluation of the work has been mixed, and a deeply impressed comment is that "Tonight is Starry" is a practice for her to direct the film "A Thousand Words" eleven years later. "A Thousand Words" is one of Xu Anhua's most important works, and it is also her most unreserved work to express her interests. In contrast, "Tonight's Starry Night" is not mature enough in all aspects.
Stills from "Guest Autumn Hate".
After "Tonight's Starry Night", Xu Anhua made three consecutive films about wandering in a foreign land, and "Ketu Autumn Hate", released in 1990, was her semi-autobiographical film, and the highest reputation in the "Wandering Trilogy". Xu Anhua was born in Anshan, Liaoning Province, moved to Macao with her family at an early age, and then moved to Hong Kong to study, in her impression, her mother is quiet, not very popular with her grandparents, she and her mother are also very distant, when she was sixteen years old, she learned that her mother was Japanese, left in the northeast after the war, married her father as an officer, and never returned to Japan. The film is written by Wu Nianzhen, telling the story of the British international student Xiao En, played by Maggie Cheung, after returning to China, due to various trivial matters and the Japanese mother's opinions, the film uses a large number of flashbacks, interspersed with the past of two generations, and finally the mother and daughter travel together to Japan, understanding and reconciling with each other during the journey.
Stills from "Tracking the Pole".
"Extreme Tracking" was released in 1991, the story takes place in Japan, Zhong Chuhong played by the mainland students, working part-time in the bar, in the residence by the Japanese guarantor bullied and harassed, can only leave, seek new asylum; Andy Lau played by the Hong Kong international students idle, and a few classmates want to make a name for themselves in Japan, good friends became the brother-in-law of the Japanese gang leader, several people made contact, evolved into a vendetta, and finally ended in tragedy. Xu Anhua believes that the film is not bad, the box office can also be, but the film critics evaluate it very badly, "maybe the story is not made convincingly", this story is adapted from the Suicide Case of Chinese Students, there is a prototype foundation, and the final presentation is not good, Xu Anhua has not been able to understand this.
Stills from "Shanghai Holiday".
In contrast, "Shanghai Holiday", also released in 1991, is a too simple story, an American Chinese child came to Shanghai for summer vacation, because of the different culture and living habits, and Shanghai's grandfather had a lot of contradictions, and finally the warmth was greater than everything, and everyone was happy. Xu Anhua has a low opinion of this film, because she took over the film halfway and there is nothing she wants to say in the film.
After three works of wandering in a foreign land, Xu Anhua ushered in the second peak of her career with the movie "Woman, Forty" released in 1995, and then her works were more the theme of fate's choice, and once again took the theme of wandering, which was the "Golden Age" released in 2014, that year, it was Xu Anhua's thirty-ninth year.
【Woman Forty】
Her films can interpret the social development of Hong Kong, and "Woman, Forty", which delicately captures human feelings, has the most temperament
Xu Anhua's best reputation should be "Woman, Forty" and "A Thousand Words", of course, "Sister Peach" and "Run to the Fury Sea" are also very good, but compared to these two, it is still a little worse. "Woman, Forty" is her masterpiece of authorial consciousness and aesthetic expression, which makes such a trivial subject matter of life light and flexible, humorous and helpless, and delicately captures the sophistication of human feelings with seemingly bland lenses, once again reflecting Xu Anhua's unique temperament of "silence is better than sound at this time" when expressing life. In Douban, the movie scored as high as 8.9 points, and 52% of the audience gave a full score.
Xu Anhua (pictured right) is on the set of the film "A Thousand Words".
In Xu Anhua's self-description, she also began to grasp some of the film feelings she had pursued before from this movie, in the book "Xu Anhua Says Xu Anhua", she recalled that during the filming process, the team scolded while shooting, even she did not have confidence, but the final film was liked by everyone, which made her feel very enjoyable. Similar to her description of the 1999 film "A Thousand Words", "Later I believed more in the strength of the team, I believed more and more that a play is not the director's own work, the best embodiment of the team strength is "A Thousand Words", in the process of shooting and post-production, I feel that the script, the director's technique, and the editing are not so good, but in the end, it is a film that can be regarded as superior."
Stills from "Woman, Forty".
"Woman, Forty" discusses modern family ethics, and "A Thousand Words" discusses the struggle between individuals and society, and the authorship and professionalism of these two works are very balanced, which is why Xu Anhua always ensures the stable output of his works. Hong Kong writer Huang Biyun said of Hui Anhua, "The struggle to find harmony and integrity in imperfections and defects." Her works cannot be seen one by one. Looking at her work one by one, there are shortcomings. Looking at the whole, you can see her quest." The two met a year before the release of "Woman, Forty", Huang Biyun recalled that Xu Anhua looked like a hero at that time, and did not expect that a year later, the hero would return to fight again.
Regardless of the outside reaction, Hui Anhua's films have always been used by researchers as texts to interpret the development of Hong Kong's film society and form various categories. "Crazy Robbery", "Bumping into the Right" and "Ghost in the World" are the "Trilogy of Unjust Souls", "The Visitor Under the Lion Mountain", "The Story of Hu Yue" and "Running to the Fury Sea" are the "Vietnam Trilogy", "Ketu Qiu Hate", "Extreme Tracking" and "Shanghai Holiday" are "Wandering Trilogy", "Woman, Forty", "Auntie's Postmodern Life", "Sister Peach" is the "Nursing Home Trilogy", "Running to the Angry Sea", "Tonight's Starry Night", "A Thousand Words" is a "specific era trilogy", and of course, the most controversial now "Zhang Ailing Trilogy".
Stills from The Golden Age.
In various interviews, The only thing Xu Anhua explicitly rejected was the title of feminist director, and in her early interviews, she explained the identity of female directors, and her female identity did not make her director's path ostracized and oppressed, but made her get some convenience in the industry. None of her works have feminist directors' tendencies and do not use slogans and labels. Writing Xu Anhua in terms of gender is a kind of dwarfing. However, after the work "Woman, Forty", Xu Anhua's film did succeed in shaping a large number of female characters, "Auntie's Postmodern Life", "Sister Tao", "Akin", "Golden Age" all showed the situation of women, but she could not be regarded as a feminist, just like she made a film about social movements, people subconsciously divided her into a certain camp, she said she did not believe in any doctrine. Guan Jinpeng said, "I wouldn't put any gender label on Xu Anhua's films, what women's films, neutral films, and so on." I've always felt that her films have always been inseparable from the theme of interpersonal relationships." Of course, if you have to sum up, then Xu Anhua is a filmmaker.
Beijing News reporter Tang Bo
Edited by Huang Jialing Proofreader Zhai Yongjun