More than halfway through the summer season, the cinema film always feels almost tasteful and not hot enough.
It wasn't until the release of "Fury Serious Case" that this summer program finally had the temperature it should have.
Car chases, gunfights, explosions, fights, betrayals, revenge...
All the most burning elements are collected in this movie.
And that's not all, its action design, shots, and editing are all world-class.
All the action scenes, under the blessing of film technology, are like pinching salt into the fire, full of explosive points.
[Fury , Serious Case ] has the purest Hong Kong-style police film texture, and the violent aesthetic it contains is beyond the reach of most Hollywood blockbusters.
When we look at Nicholas Tse, who wears sunglasses and throws grenades in the explosion, the charm of the Hong Kong film is fascinating.
Under the ethereal nature of Tse Ting-feng, the blood-swollen faces in Hong Kong-style police films also began to appear in their minds.
In [Heavenly Love], Riding a motorcycle, wearing a white dress, leaving a nosebleed, and fighting righteousness and gentleness coexist.
In [The New Police Story], Wu Yanzu wears a red mask, a black suit and a white shirt, and despises everything.
In [Sweeping Poison], Zhang Jiahui, who has a small beard and shouts "Jesus can't keep him.".
Against the backdrop of intense action scenes, behind so many handsome and slaggy screen faces, there stands a legendary Hong Kong director -
Chen Musheng.
01
White-haired family
Chen Musheng's biggest impression is that he has white hair.
The sense of stability brought by the white hair, coupled with a polite appearance, is extremely incompatible with his hot film style, more like a hermit who has lived in the mountains for a long time.
He had a white head early on, but it wasn't because of the pressure, it was because of family inheritance.
The six brothers and sisters in the family were all white-haired, and Chen Musheng was the youngest in the family, and he was not spared.
However, Chen Musheng never thought of dyeing his hair, and when he talked about the reason, he smiled and said:
"My idols are Xu Ke, Wu Yusen and other big directors, they pursue the truth, then what I pursue is also the truth."
02
Get up early to watch the film king
After Bong Joon-ho took the Palme d'Or at [Parasite], he said that he got up at 5 o'clock every day to watch a movie, which surprised many fans.
In fact, we also have such a director, Chen Musheng is one.
Chen Musheng was madly obsessed with movies when he was a teenager, but the Chen family was not a big family and did not have much money to show him movies.
This does not hinder Chen Musheng's dedication to watching films, in order to watch more films, he often goes to the cinema early in the morning (that is, when the ticket price is cheapest), and then watches it all day.
"When I was a child, I often went to the movies alone, especially liked the films of Shaw and Jiahe."
With the tide of the golden age of Hong Kong films, the popular martial arts films and action movies at that time were all his favorites, which also laid the groundwork for his future filming style.
03
Racing dreams
Friends who like Chen Musheng's movies must know that the best thing to watch in his movies is the car chase scene.
Every move of the car when it was racing was all under Chen Musheng's control, and he knew when to come to a close-up, and then pull away at the right time, whether to follow or close-up.
A car chase scene that is more exciting than F1 is comfortable in Chen Musheng's scheduling.
[Anti-drug]
This actually stems from Chen Musheng's love for cars, and he has been a racing fan since he was a child.
Chen Musheng, an 18-year-old who graduated from high school, went directly to a car company and learned to sell cars with friends.
Working hours deal with cars, and when rest is the world of motorcycles.
Every Saturday he attends a motorcycle party at a large parking lot outside Hong Kong.
The excitement of racing attracted Chen Musheng, who has always dreamed of a day on the track.
"I often fantasize about my chance to compete in motorsport."
Although he eventually failed to get on the track of the car, he fulfilled his wish with a camera in the film.
04
Wang Tianlin
Chen Musheng's first film in the real sense was 1990's "Heavenly Love", which was also born because of the relationship between racing cars.
Speaking of this movie, he confessed, "Du Qifeng said that he wanted to shoot [Heavenly Love], I took him to Saigon to see drag racing, probably because I talked too much about it at the time, Du Qifeng they decided to let me shoot, and I am also their apprentice grandson, the third generation." ”
The Hua Di played by Andy Lau in the movie is also derived from the racing driver that Chen Musheng met at the party.
[Heavenly Affection]
Speaking of this movie, it was originally a film made by Wang Jing, Du Qifeng, Lin Lingdong and several other people in order to present gifts to Master Wang Tianlin (Deng Bo in the [underworld]).
But because of Chen Musheng's story, several big guys were very touched after listening to it, so they brought Chen Musheng, who was originally an assistant director, to the position of director.
It is precisely because of the explosion of "Heavenly Feelings" at that time that Chen Musheng, an unknown assistant director, became the darling of commercial films.
Wang Tianlin, Du Qifeng, Chen Musheng
05
Johnnie
Chen Musheng's career began with Li's TV station.
At that time, he did everything on the set, clerk assistant, field reporter, assistant choreographer... But I just can't find the direction to go.
After jumping to TVB the following year, he became the assistant director of Du Qifeng, and Chen Musheng finally got on the right track.
Du Sir is notoriously violent, but he has never been angry with Chen Musheng.
Perhaps Du Sir saw Chen Musheng's talent, cared for him and gave guidance everywhere.
Finally, Chen Musheng was introduced to Huang Baiming and Liang Puzhi, so that Chen Musheng had more opportunities to practice.
When Chen Musheng talked about Du Qifeng, he always gushed, "I was with him at the TV station, so he had a deep influence on me. He was very strict with every shot, every actor, and this style directly affected me. ”
In private, the two are always commensurate with each other.
Du Qifeng was Chen Musheng's true teacher, and the one who led him into the door.
06
Hark
In addition to Du Qifeng, Xu Ke also taught Chen Musheng a lot of tricks.
"Xu Ke is like a teacher, every time he meets him, he will constantly pass on his feelings about the movie and his knowledge of the movie to me without reservation. When I talk to Xu Ke, I absorb his film world, and every time I see him, it's like a student meeting a teacher. ”
Du Qifeng's homework for Chen Musheng was "Heavenly Love", and Xu Ke's homework was [New Crane Needle] in 1993.
At that time, the Hong Kong film market was dominated by the "new martial arts films" led by Xu Ke, and Chen Musheng also took this opportunity to learn how wonderful the martial arts films in the new era could be.
[New Crane Divine Needle] has also become one of the representative works of the "New Martial Arts Movie".
[New Crane Needle]
07
Wu Yusen
Du Qifeng taught Chen Musheng how to make movies, but Chen Musheng's film style is different from the Du-style Hong Kong films with a cold style and a love of fate.
The aesthetics of violence is still Something that Chen Musheng is passionate about, which stems from his film enlightenment - Wu Yusen.
Although they had never cooperated directly, Chen Musheng's reverence for Wu Yusen was like a little fan.
"Expressing romantic feelings with action, he is the most powerful." How can you add romantic feelings to such a hot scene, this is his personality, his style, as soon as it comes out, everyone likes it very much. It's rare to have a director in this space to play what he wants to say. ”
Like to like, Chen Musheng did not blindly copy, he will not release white pigeons, nor will he fly in slow motion to shoot, he only took the essence of Wu Yusen.
Chen Musheng uses his own style to interpret Wu Yusen's violent aesthetics, such as the pleasure brought by the collision of muscles.
Even in this age of gun battles, he was still keen on close combat.
In the final stage of [Fury Serious Case], Nicholas Tse and Zhen Zidan brought us a wonderful close-quarters fight, and everyone who saw it was amazed by this violent aesthetic of Chen Musheng.
Chen Musheng's action scheduling, coupled with Zhen Zidan's professional action guidance, [Fury Serious Case] brought us a unique and invigorating duel
08
Self-reliant sect
Whether it is Du Qifeng, Xu Ke or Wu Yusen, for Chen Musheng, they only take their meaning, not their shape.
Chen Musheng's learning skills were zhang wujie's, just like when Zhang Sanfeng taught Zhang Wujie's Taiji sword technique.
Look at it again and forget half of it, look at it again only three tricks and don't forget, and then taste it carefully, all forgotten.
Only remember the essence, the moves and so on are floating clouds, which is the reason why Chen Musheng can become a movie master.
As he himself said, "I will not become Wu Yusen, I will not become Du Qifeng, I am Chen Musheng." ”
And what really made Chen Musheng his own was 1996's "Stormtrooper Fury Street".
After forgetting what his masters taught, Chen Musheng set up his own door with a set of combination fists, explosions, car chases, positive and negative factions that do not give in to each other, brotherhood, and a highly infectious soundtrack...
[Stormtrooper's Fury Street] received 9 nominations at the Hong Kong Film Awards in Hong Kong, China that year, and Chen Musheng became famous for this film.
[Stormtrooper's Fury Street]
09
He Guanchang
Jiahe's boss He Guanchang praised [Stormtrooper's Fury Street] after watching it, as if he saw the first-class master of the action film Wulin rising.
He Guanchang, a martial arts senior, pointed out a clear path for Chen Musheng, who was still worried about his style.
"You don't have to choose other ways, you make fashion action movies, I think you will be better in this direction." 」
This suggestion made Chen Musheng firmly determined and he took this road.
Jackie Chan and He Guanchang
He Guanchang also did not just make verbal suggestions, but also personally matched Chen Musheng, and then the cooperation with Jackie Chan was the credit of He Guanchang.
In 1998, Chen Musheng and Jackie Chan co-directed "Who Am I", which was promoted by chance.
That year, the film achieved a good result of HK$38.85 million at the box office, and also won a good reputation.
To this day, when it comes to Jackie Chan's masterpieces, [who I am] is often mentioned.
In [Who Am I], Jackie Chan plays a person with amnesia, and Chen Musheng highlights Jackie Chan's actions while also giving this character more personality charm
10
Jackie chan
Because of the cooperation of [Who Am I], Chen Musheng met his best partner and close friend, Jackie Chan.
Chen Musheng's excavation of the role makes this film a transformation work of Jackie Chan.
Jackie Chan praised Chen Musheng's directing skills, and then when filming [SWAT New Human] and [Boy's True Colors], Jackie Chan rented the set under his name to Chen Musheng cheaply.
After Jackie Chan returned from the United States in 2004, he was also the first to find Chen Musheng, and [New Police Story] and [Baby Project] made both of them an indelible movie classic in our memory.
[Who am I]
Someone once looked for Jackie Chan and wanted to make a sequel to [New Police Story], jackie Chan only had one requirement, the director must be Chen Musheng.
But Chen Musheng did not want to repeat himself, and the plan was finally aborted.
At the premiere of [Fury Serious Case], Jackie Chan once said, "I have been to the scene every time he (Chen Musheng) has premiered, and today is the only time he has not arrived." It can be seen that the relationship between the two is not ordinary.
Jackie Chan originally planned to give Chen Musheng a work bag embroidered with the words "BC", which is the abbreviation of Chen Musheng's English name Benny Chan.
"Unfortunately, before he could give it to him, he left..."
11
Nicholas
Chen Musheng and Jackie Chan are mutual achievements, while Nicholas Tse is more like Chen Musheng single-handedly brought up.
Over the past 20 years, Chen Musheng has cooperated with Nicholas Tse seven times.
From the youth in [SWAT New Human] to the old spicy in [Fury Case], Chen Musheng witnessed the transformation of Nicholas Tse.
[SWAT New Human]
Nicholas Tse is a singer, acting is not his profession, but Chen Musheng especially likes him.
Chen Musheng, like Du Qifeng to him in those years, carefully guided Xie Tingfeng, according to Xie Tingfeng, "experienced many life and death moments together."
Tse's first experience of explosion and hanging tightrope was in Chen Musheng's film, and countless thrilling crashing scenes also occurred on Chen Musheng's set.
It can be said that Tse Tingfeng on the screen today, Chen Musheng can account for half of the credit, or as Tse Tingfeng said, "Without him, I am like I have no right hand." ”
12
Aaron Kwok
Chen Musheng seems to have a crush on transformation singers, Nicholas Tse is one, and Aaron Kwok is one of them.
In 1993, "Heavenly Love II" was Aaron Kwok's first acting, and it received good reviews after its release.
From this film, Aaron Kwok began to enter the film industry.
[Heavenly Love II: Heaven and Earth For a Long Time]
He once said about Chen Musheng in an interview, "It was through director Chen Musheng that I really understood how actors should shoot. It was under his guidance that I gradually transitioned from a singer to an actor, and even to an actor who was recognized by everyone. ”
Chen Musheng used [Tianruo You love II. Heaven and Earth For a Long Time] to help Aaron Kwok transform, and 12 years later, the two cooperated again [Three Forks], sending Aaron Kwok to the throne of the Golden Horse Film Emperor.
I have to say that Chen Musheng's support for the younger generations is a generous help that leaves no room for people to admire.
[Three Forks]
13
There is no chance to win the prize
Filmmakers who have worked with Chen Musheng have won various awards large and small with his films.
But Chen Musheng did not seem to have won the award, and six nominations for best director at the Hong Kong Film Awards in China did not receive anything.
For this matter, he himself is very open-minded.
"Action film directors rarely get the chance to get the best director, because action film directors have less time to tell stories, and even tighter time to tell a good, moving story. There have been six nominations, which I myself have found rare, and which is actually very difficult in the genre. ”
14
family
Chen Musheng has worked with almost many big stars, but there has never been a scandal in his career.
He doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, and is a good man who runs home after work.
He once said, "Every time I finish a movie, I go home after work, because I feel that I have to spend a lot of time on children, it is no longer enough, I think it is important to accompany them and get to know them." 」 ”
In the entertainment industry, where illegitimate children are rampant, and even there are outcast incidents, there are not many people who can say this.
What is even more rare is that Chen Musheng protected his wife and children for most of his life, keeping them away from the camera.
Outside media have only known for years that he has two children, the eldest daughter was born in 1994 and the youngest son was born in 2004.
Other than that, nothing was known about them.
Chen Musheng kept them away from the "radiation" of the spotlight, allowing them to have their own piece of free sky.
15
salute
On August 23, 2020, Chen Musheng died of nasopharyngeal cancer at the age of 58.
A year later, he said goodbye to us in the way we were most familiar with.
Just say goodbye to him with the subtitles at the end of the film.
I will always miss director Chen Musheng in heaven.