[Text/Observer Network Yan Shanshan] Remember a heart-wrenching scene on the shooting scene of a costume drama not long ago? An actor was thrown from his horse onto the cement floor, and it hurt to watch.
But such a scene is not unfamiliar to martial arts actors. In Hong Kong, China in the 60s and 80s of the last century, some people even challenged the "who does it and who dies" movement.
"Big Brother (Hong Jinbao) shouted cut, save people! It's shouting 'save people', not 'finish work'. Qian Jiale recalled.
That group of Chinese kung fu filmmakers are determined to suffer the most, suffer the most injuries, show the best actions, and let the world see the best action movies. They have a common name - "Dragon tiger martial artist".
On August 28, The film documentary "Dragon and Tiger Martial Artist", which was inscribed by Andy Lau and gathered the strongest martial artist lineup of Hong Kong films such as Hong Jinbao, Yuan Heping, Cheng Xiaodong, Yuan Hua, Zhen Zidan and Qian Jiale, will be released soon.
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What is the Dragon tiger martial artist?
Dragon Tiger Martial Artist is a special kind of work created by Hong Kong kung fu martial arts films, and is a group of people who have been "always defeated and never killed". They appear in the movie as foils or stand-ins for the protagonist and personally complete all the dangerous actions.
In the decades since the development of Hong Kong kung fu martial arts films, many large and small martial arts teams have been derived, such as Jackie Chan, Hong Jinbao, Yuan Heping, Liu Jialiang and martial arts instructors, after gaining a foothold in the film industry, they have slowly pulled in some disciples to enter the industry, and everyone "eats" together.
The leaders of the big Chengjia class, Hongjia class, Yuan family class, etc., are all sent from the north, and the martial arts skills are inherited on the stage and are good at leg skills; Liu Jiaban is sent from the south and is known for his boxing skills.
At the peak of kung fu movies, a large number of cold disciples devoted themselves to the martial arts profession, doubles, stunts, and dragon sets, although hard work, the income was also considerable.
According to the Chengdu Business Daily, Xiong Xinxin, a member of the "Liu Jiaban", recalled that he went to Hong Kong in 1987 to work as a martial arts practitioner, and his monthly income reached more than 8,000 yuan, which was more than 150 times the salary of his previous martial arts instructor in the mainland.
But the dangers that come with high salaries are also unimaginable to ordinary people. Hui Yinghong, the queen of the Hong Kong Film Awards and the "class flower" of Liu Jiaban, recalled that the action scene was still haunted, "All martial artists will encounter the problem of pain, and in one second on the screen, we may have to shoot more than a dozen times." Kung Fu actors' achievements are all exchanged for health. ”
During the filming of "Eight Treasures of Wonder" (1989), the actor was asked to descend from a dozen-story building, and Hui Yinghong personally went to the battle.
A clip from the movie "Eight Treasures"
Hui Yinghong remembers that at that time, the insurance company was reluctant to insure the martial artists, "because what we did was high-risk action, and the insurance company did not think that we were long-term partners." It was only later that it was slowly bought, but the price would be particularly high."
In those years, dragon and tiger martial artists won the respect of the world with the spirit of fighting, and also spelled out the golden age of Hong Kong action movies.
Nowadays, many of the martial arts stars we know are also from martial arts.
For example, Zhang Jin, who won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the 33rd Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in "Generation Grandmaster", was once a national martial arts champion, and joined Yuan Heping's "Yuan Family Class" after retiring, engaged in martial arts guidance and stand-in work.
In Jiao Enjun's version of Xiao Li Fei Dao (1999), Zhang Jin served as a stand-in for Jia Jingwen (as Sun Xiaohong).
Today, Wu Jing, the representative of mainland kung fu films, also debuted from Hong Kong kung fu films. He once recalled in an interview that when filming "Kung Fu Kid Breaks Through" (1996) and "Tai Chi Grandmaster" (1997), director Zhang Xinyan asked him to do the work of extras and stand-ins when he was not acting, because "people are serving you in this industry" and "to feel what they are doing and understand them".
There is also a set of photos circulating on the Internet, when Wu Jing filmed the TV series "The Ghost of Qiannu" in 2003, he played Zhuge Liuyun, and seemed to have guest starred in the wu ti of yan hongye (Xuan Xuan), his partner in the play.
Wu Jing still remembers that the rules of the older generation on the set are that even if the male protagonist, after receiving work, in addition to taking his own bag, he must also take the initiative to help the crew carry something, "even if you help the camera crew to get a triangle board, carry a box by the hand", which is respect for the behind-the-scenes workers.
"Director Zhang Xinyan taught me how to be a person, to be an actor who respects the film and respects his professional ethics. Director Yuan Heping is teaching me how to respect my profession and profession, shooting "Tai Chi Master", 20 episodes, we shot for five and a half months, now 50 episodes for two months, is this attitude still there? Wu Jing sighed.
Hong Kong Kung Fu Films from the Golden Age to "Eat the Old Book"
From the 1960s to the 1980s, Hong Kong's action films had the best creativity and the most difficult moves, and Hong Jinbao recalled: "In that era, when martial arts were the most vigorous, we were in the real skill. ”
At that time, foreign filmmakers went to visit the class and would say to Hong Kong Wuxing: "Do you dare to do this?" Whoever does this action and who dies. ”
"Stunt people never say no." The words of martial arts instructor and actor Xiong Xinxin showed the spirit of "fighting for their lives" in that era.
Generations of action stuntmen have relied on such a hard-hitting, punch-and-kick Punch to bring Chinese movies to Hollywood. But many of them, are unknown.
On August 7, Jackie Chan mourned two recently deceased members of the Chengjia class on Weibo, one is Yang Sheng, the second generation member of the Chengjia class, and the other is The fourth generation member of the Chengjia class, Bradley James Allan. Their names are not familiar to everyone, but the stunt scenes they have contributed are classics.
When Yang Sheng joined the family class in 1984 to shoot "Police Story", he was a stand-in for Lin Qingxia, jumping from the top of the 30-meter-high building into a 1.3-meter-deep pool, and the distance between the building and the pool was 15 meters.
"(Yang Sheng) had a very thrilling action performance in 'Police Story', which allowed me to see the ability and courage of mainland action filmmakers at that time, and the days of birth and death with him were like still in sight." Jackie Chan sighed.
Brandley met Jackie Chan in 1996 as a fan when he went to visit the class "A Good Man", because of his love of Chinese kung fu, coupled with diligent practice, Brandley became a martial artist, and later joined the Chengjia class, starring in "Glass Bottle" with Jackie Chan, and in recent years, he has become a hot action director in Hollywood, "Ace Agent" and "Wonder Woman" have his presence on the set.
In a few days, the family class lost two relatives, my mood is indescribable, in addition to missing my brother, I can only tell myself that I must insist on running the action film week, the Chinese action stunt person working committee, for more action filmmakers to strive for space to show their works and abilities, but also for more grassroots stunt people to fight for basic protection and respect." This is the stage of my life that I have the ability to do, should do, and must do. Jackie Chan wrote.
The plight of Hong Kong kung fu films is in the eyes of Hong Kong filmmakers.
Not long ago, Nicholas Tse said in an interview: "There have always been only a few action directors, this is not a healthy cycle, this is a phenomenon of eating the old. ”
Talking about the reasons why the Hong Kong entertainment industry is not picking up, Nicholas Tse said bluntly that it is because "we are not willing to invest time and money", Hong Kong only looks at "short-term", newcomers do not have the opportunity to do some works that everyone remembers, when it comes to shooting action movies, they still have to find an older generation of directors, there is no other choice, which is a very dangerous thing for the industry.
The action director is broken, and the stars are also broken, behind this, there are also reasons why the subject matter is no longer arresting people and the film industry technology upgrades.
In 2019, at the closing ceremony of the Fifth Jackie Chan International Action Film Week, Jackie Chan, who had reached the peak by relying on real shooting and real hits, said that with the development of the film industry, the current computer special effects can make action actors "live lightly".
Nowadays, a person plays four moves in the east, next to a person to pick up four moves, the computer is synthesized, the fight is there, no longer like the 80s of the last century, the knife has to be almost cut from the real person. "In the past, the action must have been done by real people, and now a lot of the action is done by the computer, almost anything can be done, and the CG characters imagined by the computer can also make very beautiful movements, even more powerful than our real actions." Jackie Chan said frankly.
It can be said that kung fu filmmakers have witnessed the bloody history of "blood oil spikes, against Hollywood", but also face today's dilemma, the documentary "Dragon tiger martial artist" for the first time comprehensively shows the changes of Hong Kong dragon and tiger martial arts for more than 60 years.
The film's director, Hong Kong film researcher and veteran filmmaker Wei Junzi has visited and filmed nearly 100 martial arts seniors and newcomers over the past three years, combing through a vast sea of video materials.
The documentary brings together action superstars such as Hong Jinbao, Yuan Heping, Cheng Xiaodong, Yuan Hua, Zhen Zidan and other action stars and famous martial artists, who tell the glorious era from costume martial arts to fashion action, and through the perspective of famous directors such as Xu Ke, Liu Weiqiang, Wu Siyuan, etc., they show the diverse styles of Hong Kong kung fu films from the golden age to the decline of the dragon and tiger martial artists.
As director Xu Ke said: "What they did before, no one will be able to do in the future." ”
In addition, Qian Jiale, Li Zhongzhi, Gu Xuanzhao and other Mesozoic martial artists shared their experiences based on the environment of Hong Kong and the Mainland in recent years.
Other senior martial artists such as Mars, Liu Yun, Xiao Hou, Li Qiangquan, Zhong Fa and so on, also appeared on the scene this time, unveiling another on-screen journey of "bloody heroes".
A few days ago, the documentary "Dragon tiger martial artist" announced that it was set for August 28, and in the poster released on the 18th, each scar on the scarred back corresponds to a classic action movie, and the title of "Dragon and Tiger Martial Master" is inscribed by Andy Lau.
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