Gu Long's characters use many swords, and duels are also very special, all of which are one sword and one sword. Happy to take revenge, in the shadow of the sword and light in an instant, it was declared over. After watching a lot of martial arts films, the only one who can well reflect Gu Long's one-knife and second style is the mainland director He Ping. Therefore, it is He Ping who really understands the essence of Gulong's novel, and the artistic conception of Gulong's novel has been perfectly presented in "Double Flag Town KnifeMan" and "Sunshine Canyon".
1. "Double Flag Town KnifeMan"
"Double Flags Town KnifeMan" tells the story of the young knifeman greeting his relatives, and the male protagonist of the story, Bao Brother, is young. But when he came out, he was already full of grades, and the knife was skilled. Be able to drive the knife with qi and carry the qi with the knife. Such a teenager, if put into Jin Yong's novel, is still a bear child who does not know any martial arts, and he must also accept one after another adventures and monster fighting upgrades.
Brother Bao has three knives in the film, and the three knives are full of ancient dragons. The first time the brother made a knife was in the lame shop, when the brother was very despised by the lame man because he had no craftsmanship and no skill. In order to prove himself, the child brother took the initiative to ask for the old man to divide the horse meat. Only to see the child brother close his eyes slightly, the luck in his hand, the knife ran to his hand under the force of qi. Then concentrate on the calm breath, the true qi is poured into the knife, and with full force, the horse meat is split in two. The lame old man wasted the horse meat that could not be split by the power of the nine bulls and two tigers, and was easily handled by the child brother, which showed the superb sword skills of the child brother.
The second time the brother made a knife to save the good sister, who was being abused at the hands of bandits. The boy was young, had never seen such a scene, and was still very scared in his heart. But for the sake of his fiancée, the baby brother went out. The bandits saw that the child brother was a baby and did not pay attention to it at all. While humiliating the child brother, he slapped the child brother, and then the camera shook. I saw that the sheep on the table were dripping with blood, and there was also a pool of blood flowing under the table. The bandit turned and walked slowly toward the door, and the audience thought it was the child who died. Unexpectedly, after the bandits took a few steps, they were planted on the ground. The audience then understood that it was the bandits who had died. This battle is very exquisite, more meaningful and suspenseful than Gu Long's novel. The victory and defeat have been divided, in the end who is dead and who lives, the audience still has to guess, and it is wonderful not to know the answer until the last moment.
The third time the child brother made a knife was a knife immortal in the war, a knife immortal was a bandit, and only one knife was used to kill people, and the name of a knife immortal came from this. In the face of the fierce bandits, the child brother is not sure, and he is also stupid. But after the cripple, the blacksmith, and the drunkard are killed by a knife fairy, the child's potential is stimulated by hatred. In a battle with a knife fairy, the audience is looking at the flowers in the fog, and it is impossible to see how the two men made the knife. Only to see the wind and sand fill the two people, after a burst of knife sound, the wind and sand dissipated. There was blood on the child's face, and a knife fairy said, "Who did you learn your sword technique from?" He turned away, took a few steps, and fell to the ground. At this time, the audience found out that it was the child who won, and the director once again deceived the audience. Such suspense and blank space are really very clever. The moves are simple but can shoot superb artistic conceptions, and director He Ping is really powerful. Those who have watched "Domestic Lingling Paint" know that before the Golden Gunner was killed, he also took a few steps forward, which is what Zhou Xingchi learned from He Ping.
2. "Sunshine Canyon"
"Sunshine Canyon" tells the story of an adult knifeman seeking revenge, and the characters are full of rank as soon as they appear, which is very similar to those prodigal sons and heroes in Gu Long's pen. There is no growth experience, no learning journey, no monster upgrade, and the appearance is the posture of the king.
The prodigal son has no roots, the prodigal son is adrift, the prodigal son sighs three times, and the adult world reveals helplessness and difficulty. In order to find the enemy, the knifeman searched for 20 years in the vast world, but never found the enemy. The repressed mood, the hopelessness of revenge, and the hatred of blood all make the knifeman live in pain and suffering. Endless torture, so that the knifeman is not eager to die.
Seeing the knifeman's painful and helpless appearance, the audience also felt sad about it. Knife and knife skills are superb, and killing people is never used in one move. His knife skills are honed in hundreds of knife battles, steady and fierce, such a unique knifeman, the audience hopes that he can find an enemy to fight with one. The final showdown must be very good, but director He Ping has come to a dragon-like ending. The knifeman has been searching for an enemy for 20 years, long dead, and all that remains is a widow and a son. Faced with the widow of the enemy, whether to cut the knife or close it is a dilemma.
That's the subtlety of this movie, unexpected but meaningful. If at the end of the film, the knifeman finds the enemy and fights with him in the end, even if the fight is wonderful, it is not as clever as the ending. Although the knifeman failed to fight the enemy, several wonderful knife battles in the film have explained everything.
The first time the knifeman made a knife was at the market, because he had witnessed the bloody scene of his family being killed since childhood, so the knifeman was very sensitive to blood and very afraid, as long as he saw the blood, he was stimulated, could not control himself, and launched a crazy killing. At the market, the lamb vendor inadvertently spilled sheep's blood on the ground, irritating the knifemen. The knifeman hallucinates and sees everyone as an enemy, so he raises his knife and slaughters them. One knife at a time, vicious and sharp.
The second time the knifeman made a knife was at the inn, and a horse dealer who sold horses must have a drink with the knifeman. The knifeman was not drunk, and under the bitter pressure of the horse dealer, he finally agreed to lick it with his tongue. The horse dealer was very happy and wanted to talk to the knifeman. So he took out a knife and cut the blood on his wrist to drip into the wine, and the knifeman saw the blood spreading in the wine, and his spirit was stimulated again. Unable to control himself, he killed the horse dealer with a knife.
The third time the knifeman made a knife was in a dream, and the knifeman who had been seeking revenge for many years could not find the enemy, but he always met in the dream. This time, the enemy and the knifeman met in the guest house, and the knifeman quickly drew his sword and slashed at the enemy. Only to see the enemy's body flash slightly, and then collect the knife. Eating lamb by yourself, the camera then focuses on a white towel with a lot of blood dripping from it. Everyone thought it was the blood of the enemy, and when the camera turned, it turned out to be the blood of the knifeman. The fast and accurate ancient dragon style is described vividly.
The fourth knife of the knife is for the mad uncle to kill and seek revenge, the knives in the hands of the two sides touched each other, and then the second knife knifeman will kill the revenge in a second. One of the vengeance-seeking spins knelt in front of The Red Willow Sister-in-law, tilted his head, and fell to the ground.
The fifth time the knifeman made a knife was a duel with the black bull, the knifeman gave in everywhere, and the black bull had to be unforgiving. The moment the knifeman was stabbed, the knife in his hand had already reached the neck of the black bull.
These battles are a good display of the knife and second in Gu Long's novel, and the poetry, romance, murderous art, and bloody violence in Gu Long's novel are perfectly presented in "Sunshine Canyon". By the way, "Double Flag Town KnifeMan" and "Sunshine Canyon" seem to be in the same vein, with thousands of coincidences. The knifeman is like a grown-up child, the red willow sister-in-law is like a good sister when she grows up, and the knife fairy and the murderous demon are all wearing turbans.
Stills from "The Knife Man in Double Flags"
Stills from Daylight Canyon
"Double Flag Town Knife Rider" and "Daylight Canyon" these two knife knife martial arts films, a knife and second duel method is really a perfect presentation of the artistic conception of Gu Long novel, director He Ping is really the director who knows Gu Long the most. It's just a pity that there are not many people who know such a film, resulting in He Ping never making such a distinctive and artistic martial arts film since then.