Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

The next day, Yang Ye asked Gong Li: "Where are you going next?"

"I went to Shaanxi. Director Zhang Yimou invited me to film a movie."

"Has he finished his Yellow Skin Grave?"

"It's already been released, don't you know?"

"Ah, when did it happen?" Yang Ye was surprised.

"When you went to the United States, the painting was just finished when you came back."

"Oh, is it good? How's the box office?"

As soon as Yang Ye came back, he was busy with disaster relief work. He never paid attention to how many movies the company released.

"It's different from what you filmed. Not as gorgeous, but very scary. The box office... I remember it was over 25 million Hong Kong dollars."

Yang Ye nodded, quite satisfied, and said, "Not bad!"

"Mojin: The Lost Tomb" grossed 40 million Hong Kong dollars at the Hong Kong box office, while "Yellow Skin Grave" only grossed over 20 million, but Yang Ye thought it was good.

This is because Zhang Yimou did not spend tens of millions of US dollars to make "The Yellow Skin Grave" like Yang Ye did. He only spent more than 20 million Hong Kong dollars to complete the filming, and the cost was only one-tenth of "The Ghouls".

It’s not that Baiyang Pictures does not trust Zhang Yimou and is unwilling to spend money on him, but that Zhang Yimou only chose to adapt the first half of the novel "The Yellow Skin Tomb".

The first half of the film didn't cost much, but it still grossed more than 20 million Hong Kong dollars, which means it didn't fail.

"Boss Xu originally asked Director Zhang to continue filming the second half, but several actors had other filming contracts, so he returned to the mainland to film first."

In the 1990s, Gong Li traveled back and forth between Hong Kong and the mainland, winning awards for her mainland dramas and making money for her Hong Kong dramas.

In 1992, she released two films, "Qiu Ju Goes to Court" directed by Zhang Yimou and "When I Wake Up" directed by Sylvia Chang.

One is a rural auntie, the other is an urban girl. Their images are completely different, but she performed them without any sense of incongruity, which is really awesome.

Speaking of which, Gong Li’s most beautiful looks are almost all contributed by Hong Kong films.

The glance back in "The Battle of Qin Terracotta Warriors" is unforgettable.

The scene where he played the piano with Lin Qingxia in "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" was so charming and graceful.

The beautiful woman in "When I Wake Up", the low-intelligence but pure Ru Meng in "God of Gamblers in Shanghai"...

Oh, and there is also Qiuxiang who said, "Beauty, like flowers, needs green leaves to set off her to look charming."

Many people think that it was a mistake to choose Gong Li to play Qiuxiang in "A Chinese Odyssey: Part One - Pandora's Box". Even Gong Li expressed regret in an interview many years later, saying that she was too cramped in the play.

This drama does expose Gong Li's lack of comedy performance, but I don't know if it was unintentional, but among a group of funny people, there is a normal person who is at a loss, which just creates a wonderful sense of contrast.

The reversal in the last scene of the movie is particularly eye-catching, and even gives this comedy a tragic tone.

Tang Bohu fell in love with the dignified Qiuxiang among millions of people because his eight wives were too noisy, and then he pursued her at all costs and through untold hardships.

When Tang Bohu thought he had finally accomplished his goal, Qiuxiang said, "Let's draw two punches first!"

The sense of irony is instantly overwhelming!
If Qiuxiang had been as crazy as everyone else before, the ending would have been much less powerful, or even meaningless.

Even the whole movie doesn't make sense, because there are already eight crazy people in the family, why would we find another one?
……

As soon as Gong Li left, Chen Hong came.

"Hong'er, you're just in time. Let's go try on the costumes first."

Yang Ye took Chen Hong and walked away, without any awkwardness at all.

Chen Hong was pulled by Yang Ye, half a step behind him. She looked at Yang Ye's back, pursed her lips and said, "Director Yang, I went to see your charity performance a few days ago."

Yang Ye didn't even turn his head and asked casually, "Did you donate money?"

Chen Hong said with a guilty conscience: "I only donated 100 yuan."

"Just donate, financial resources vary, but kindness is not important."

Yang Ye took Chen Hong to a room, knocked on the door and shouted, "A Ping, is the heroine's costume ready?"

"Ready, sir!"

"Try it on!"

"Hong'er, let me introduce you. This is Mr. William Chang, a famous art director and fashion designer in Hong Kong."

Chen Hong quickly said respectfully, "Hello, Coach Zhang!"

Zhang Shuping shook hands with Chen Hong, looked at her carefully, and said admiringly: "Miss Chen is really a natural beauty, please follow me!"

The Zhang Shuping of this era was not yet Zhang Shuping. Every look he designed was very classic. He created a series of stunning screen images for Lin Qingxia, Wang Zuxian, Zhang Manyu and Gong Li.

Yang Ye wanted to see what kind of effect Chen Hong, who was also a stunning beauty, would present in the hands of Zhang Shuping.

Chen Hong went to do her hair styling, and Yang Ye had nothing to do, so he found a reclining chair and took a nap.

I don't know how long it was before I vaguely heard someone calling him.

"Director Yang, Director Yang!"

Yang Ye opened his eyes dazedly, and saw an extremely pure face in front of him. From blurry to clear, Yang Ye suddenly became sober.

With her long hair combed neatly behind her head, a snow-white short-sleeved shirt and a long floral skirt, the look that William Chang gave Chen Hong was very simple, yet extremely fresh.

Yang Ye suddenly had a feeling that Zhang Shuping was later teased as "Zhang Shuping", perhaps it was not because his style was not good, but because the group of people who came later were not good enough to support the style he designed.

Zhang Shuping's styling style is either extremely complicated or extremely simple, and he has particularly high requirements on the face.

Take "The New Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" as an example, the fairy-like looks of Brigitte Lin and Gong Li are still talked about by the audience decades later.

But this look is actually quite scary if you think about it carefully. Both of them don't wear any accessories in their hair, and the clothes they wear are either pure white or pure red. To put it bluntly, they are just two pieces of cloth wrapped around their bodies.

The only thing that doesn't look like a black and white film is the red dot between Gong Li's eyebrows.

It's so plain and dull. How many actresses in the Chinese film and television circles in the future can carry it?
By the way, there was once a director in later generations who complained that the styling designed by William Chang was too ugly, to which William Chang directly retorted: It’s because you don’t know how to shoot.

Perhaps in the eyes of William Chang, his later looks were not good-looking because the actor’s facial features did not meet the standards and did not match his looks.

Yang Ye inexplicably thought of something that would happen many years later, and a smile formed on the corner of his mouth.
"Sir?"

“Oh!” Yang Ye came back to his senses and gave a thumbs up: “This outfit is very good.”

Chen Hong herself thought it looked good. She turned around and said, "I think this dress is very beautiful, fits well, and is very comfortable to wear!"

Then he said to William Chang: "Coach Zhang, thank you!"

Zhang Shuping said, "You're welcome. I will do my best to serve you, sir."

When William Chang was still unknown, Yang Ye invited him to be the costume director for "Seediq Bale", which made him famous overnight.

For Zhang Shuping, Yang Ye is his mentor, so he has always been grateful to Yang Ye.

Thanks to his foresight, Yang Ye has promoted countless people in this industry, not limited to directors and actors standing in front of the stage. Many behind-the-scenes staff have also become famous because of his discovery.

After chatting for a while, several more people came to try out the looks, including Xiao Tangyan, who played the young female lead. In addition, there was Xiao Huge, who played the young male lead. This pair of good friends had known each other in advance.

Brother Hu is a child star and is easy to find. Yang Ye directly asked him to come.

Yang Ye likes to find handsome guys to play his childhood, first there was Xiao Wu Jing, and then there was Xiao Hu Ge.

……

A few days later, Yang Ye led a group of main creators to worship gods and announced that the filming of "Kung Fu" had officially begun.

After everyone finished worshipping the gods, Yang Ye personally cut the roast pork and divided it into small pieces for everyone.

Little Hu Ge looked at the crispy roast pork and thought it was delicious. He was about to stuff it into his mouth, but Yang Ye said, "You can't eat this. Save it for later filming."

"Oh!" Brother Hu had no choice but to take the piece of roast pork in his hand.

"I'm going to tell you about the play, and little Tangtang, come here too, and stop eating your pork."

Yang Ye called Tang Yan "Little Tangtang" in an inexplicably doting and kind way. Little Tang Yan liked it very much. She agreed sweetly and came over to stand with Little Hu.

……

"Everyone take your positions and prepare to shoot!"

"The first scene, first shot, first take of Kung Fu, Ackerson!"

Brother Hu walked forward with his back to the camera.

Yuan Xiangren, the "king among beggars," shouted from behind, "Hey, kid, kid, don't leave yet!"

As Brother Hu turned around while chewing the roast pork, Yuan Renxiang exclaimed, "Wow, this is incredible, this is incredible!"

Yuan Renxiang stepped forward and touched Brother Hu's head: "You have a spiritual light coming out of your head, did you know that?"

He then looked at his arms and said, "At such a young age, you have such strong muscles and bones. You are a martial arts genius that is rarely seen in a century! If one day, I can open up your Ren and Du meridians, you will be able to fly to the sky!
As the saying goes, if I don't go to hell, who will? The task of punishing evil and maintaining world peace is left to you, okay?"

Brother Hu was overjoyed and nodded heavily: "Yes!"

"This secret manual of the Tathagata Palm is a priceless treasure. I think it is destined for you, so I will charge you ten dollars and teach you!"

……

Brother Hu and Tang Yan, one is nine years old and the other is eight years old. When they are asked to act, basically the adults perform the role once, and then they imitate it.

Children at this age are relatively sensible and obedient, so the acting goes relatively smoothly. It would be the most difficult if children under five years old were asked to act.

The audience actually doesn’t have high expectations for the children, as long as they don’t act out of character. If they have some understanding and can perform well, they will be praised to the sky.

There is a series called "Little Drama Bones", in which children imitate adults and act out scenes from classic movies and TV series. The ratings are extremely high, and the reviews all praise the children's acting skills, which are much better than the originals.

……

"You gave him all your belongings?"

"Yes, I originally planned to use this money to study and become a doctor or lawyer in the future, but in order to maintain world peace..."

The child was in the crowd, flipping through the pages of "Tathagata Palm" attentively, studying and practicing diligently in an empty place.

He struck out with his palm, and the wind blew the treetops, shaking them gently. The child saw that his move of Buddha asked Galan was beginning to work, and he was very satisfied.

So, he started to maintain world peace.

When a little girl was having her lollipop snatched away by a group of hooligans, he stood up confidently.

"Let go of that girl!"

His Tathagata Palm was naturally useless, and he was knocked to the ground and beaten up by the gangsters.

The gangster picked up his secret book and laughed: "Wow, Tathagata Palm, it's still selling for two cents a copy, it's for rich people, want to beat people to death!"

A group of people surrounded him, urinated all over his head and face, and then left arrogantly.

"A fool and a mute, just die!"

……

"From now on, I understand that good people don't get good rewards. I want to be a bad person and kill people!"

"Hey, ice cream!"

After little Hu Ge and little Tang Yan finished their scenes, the show turned to the adults' part, with Yang Ye and Chen Hong appearing on the stage.

Since the film and television city has not been built yet, Yang Ye had to go to the real Nanjing Road to shoot the part about Nanjing Road on the Bund.

When Spielberg came to Shanghai to shoot "Empire of the Sun" a few years ago, Shanghai deliberately blocked traffic on several streets near the Bund for the filming of "Empire of the Sun" crew.

This also leaves behind the original images of Shanghai in the 1980s in the film, which can never be seen again in later generations.

Yang Ye came to Shanghai to film "Kung Fu" and naturally enjoyed this treatment.

Therefore, Yang Ye's version of "Kung Fu" is inherently superior to Stephen Chow's original version in this respect.

The film makes extensive use of real-life shooting in Shanghai, depicting the visible and tangible texture of old Shanghai in a very detailed and precise manner.

Moreover, Yang Ye also benefited a lot from Spielberg.

For example, in "Empire of the Sun", Bale was going to a party with his parents. When passing Suzhou River, they encountered a wave of refugees, and a place called "Guanglu Cinema" appeared in the camera.

This "Guanglu Cinema" is the real Yizhong Building.

Although it was just a background unrelated to the plot of the movie, Spielberg spent a lot of effort to restore this cinema.

Now it was Yang Ye's turn, so he just took advantage of the available resources and used real-life shooting to capture the surrounding buildings of the building in the camera.

It not only reproduces the true appearance of Shanghai in the 1930s, but also makes the texture of the film pictures reach a pleasing level.

This is not comparable to the crude set design used by Stephen Chow in the original version of "Kung Fu" at Chedun Film and Television City.

At the end of the movie, Yang Ye also used real-life shooting for the interior scenes of the magnificent casino, making the transparent space look very imposing.

Yang Ye is now in Shanghai to film a movie, and the government cooperates unconditionally. The crowded Bund is closed off as soon as the government says so. This is something that Zhou Xingchi in the original time and space could not do.

If Stephen Chow in the original time and space wanted to close off the Bund for filming when he was filming "Kung Fu".

The government might ask: How long are you going to keep the lockdown for?

Zhou Xingchi said I have to be banned for three days.

The government said yes, just pay 3 billion first!
……

Chen Hong took out an ice cream and gave it to Yang Ye. In an instant, she recognized him.

That was the little boy who had saved her many years ago.

Yang Ye was eating ice cream, but glared at her: "What are you looking at? Have you ever seen people eating without paying?"

Yang Ye ran away, jumped onto the tram, looked at Chen Hong who was chasing him, and laughed arrogantly. (End of this chapter)