Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

"The Man from Lone Star" is somewhat different from the fast-paced traditional Hong Kong gangster films.

During the golden age of Hong Kong films, there were very few films with complete scripts, and even the incredible profession of "flying paper boy" came into being.

The so-called "flying paper" is the screenwriter's impromptu writing on the set. Before Wang Jing became famous, he often did this.

The consequence of doing this is that the structures of many Hong Kong films are not rigorous, giving people a patchwork feeling.

And many times, the script given by the screenwriter cannot support a 90-minute length, so... if the plot is not enough, fighting will be used to make up for it.

One of the reasons for doing this is that Hong Kong films are so easy to sell that the whole of Southeast Asia and even Japan and South Korea are scrambling to get them.

In this era, except for the already developed Japan, other parts of Asia do not have their own film industry, so they will watch anything with gusto.

Every practitioner has to take on several dramas at the same time and work around the clock every day. They are so busy that they don’t have time to talk to you about this or that.

In this case, the plot of the movie is often a very simple line, with two forces working against each other.

If the protagonist is not a policeman, then the police are just there to make up the story. After the protagonist has dealt with the villain, the police will come out to clean up the mess.

"The Man from Nowhere" has multiple storylines and many characters, who can be divided into six or seven forces.

But the narrative is clear, the editing is neat, and every line is explained clearly.

Every character involved has a distinct personality, with appropriate details and a complete beginning and end.

In the end, these clues come together to outline a complete story.

In order to prevent the audience from being unable to adapt, Johnnie To mobilized a large group of talented actors to play important roles in the film.

The main character line is divided into two, one is the male protagonist A Tai played by Liu Hua.

He was once an agent of CIA6. His pregnant wife died tragically and he was also seriously injured due to revenge from his enemies.

After recovering from his injury, he chose to retire and opened a pawn shop to make a living. He was unkempt and depressed all day long.

One is the heroine Xiaomi, played by Liu Yifei.

Xiaomi is only eight years old and is a neighbor of Artest.

Her mother was a dancer and was often away from home.

The little girl was ignored and lacked love, so she often went to play with the uncle next door.

Although she is young, she is strong and sensible, which makes people feel distressed.

Whenever A Tai sees Xiaomi, he often thinks of his wife and unborn child.

This became a glimmer of light in his life, so he has been taking care of Xiaomi silently.

There are also some warm scenes in the movie.

For example, he deliberately let Xiaomi see the sausages he had just bought, so that Xiaomi would take the initiative to ask to eat at his house.

Xiaomi's mother is played by Amy Yip. While the police were investigating a case, she took the opportunity to steal a bag of "flour".

As a result, the Vietnamese gang came to his house, killed him, and Xiaomi was also captured.

The reason why we asked Amy Yip to play the role is because there is a very thrilling full-naked scene in the movie, and she doesn't mind exposing herself.

It was impossible for Yang Ye to take care of everything, so he only confirmed the roles of Liu Hua, Yip Yuk-hing and Liu Yifei, while the other roles were chosen by Johnnie To himself.

The two brothers of the Vietnamese gang who are the main villains are played by Simon Yam and Francis Ng.

Yang Ye criticizes Vietnam every day. When filming "Ong Bak", the Vietnamese inexplicably went to Yunnan to steal elephants.

Later, when he was filming "Bodyguard from Beijing", he beat up a Vietnamese veteran.

Now in this movie "The Man from Nowhere", Vietnamese gangs are engaged in human organ trafficking in Hong Kong.

The Vietnamese brothers also have a perverted killer under their command, played by Collin Chou.

There are also two younger brothers, one is Lam Ka-tung and the other is Lam Suet.

Lam Suet is Johnnie To's favorite actor. He has excellent acting skills and is a golden supporting actor in Hong Kong films.

Lam Ka-tung is the hurdle champion Dongguanzi in "Election".

Lin Jiadong is Liu Hua's younger brother, and Liu Hua always takes him with him wherever he goes.

Opposing the Vietnamese gang are the local gangs He Liansheng. The boss is played by Liang Jiahui, who has very few roles and is only a cameo.

The key figures in the police force are Alex Fong and Lau Ching Wan.

In addition, there is a human trafficker played by the ghost Roland, who controls a group of "ants".

The so-called "ants" are a group of children controlled by human traffickers, who use these children to transport drugs and hide money.

These people are the actors that Johnnie To likes to use when filming, and they are all talented in acting.

In front of them, Liu Hua looks like an idol.

However, the character of Artest is designed to be a decadent, cold and handsome guy.

By keeping a straight face and pretending to be cool, he can cover up his lack of acting skills.

As for the heroine Liu Yifei, she is just a little girl and is cute, which is already half the battle.

In addition, since Liu Xiaoli often went to the set to take care of her daughter, Johnnie To asked her to help play the role of Artest's dead wife.

……

The little Lolita played by Liu Yifei is so cute that she attracted the attention of many audiences as soon as she appeared on the stage.

She had a miserable life and had nothing to eat or drink, so she went out to steal things. She was caught, and the people called her and called the police.

Just when she was feeling panic and helpless, she found that the uncle next door was watching her not far away.

She lied that the uncle next door was her father. As a result, Liu Hua was unwilling to acknowledge her because she stole things. He pretended not to know her and turned away.

At night, she said to Liu Hua with tears in her eyes: "Uncle, you also feel ashamed of me, so you pretend not to know me?

It doesn’t matter, teachers and classmates are all like this.

My mother also said that if I got lost, I should pretend that I didn't remember my home address or phone number. Once she got home, she kept saying that she wanted to die together.

Compared to the rich boy who called me a beggar, you are worse. But I don’t hate you. If I hate you, I won’t have anyone to like.”

As soon as these words were spoken, many people in the cinema shed tears. Such a cute little girl, looking so pitiful, was really heartbreaking.

The whole movie is in very gloomy and cold tones, and warm tones only appear when Atai recalls his wife.

Liu Xiaoli has never acted in a movie, but she only has two scenes in the movie, one in the hospital and one in the car.

Every time he appeared, he looked at Artest with a smile, as if all was well.

She is very beautiful, and although it was just a quick glimpse, she amazed many viewers.

In a gloomy environment, Xiaomi is like a ray of light that can illuminate others.

In particular, the movie also arranged a lot of small details for her, such as cooking for the decent uncle, doing manicures, and applying Band-Aids to the villain uncle...

He is good at both black and white, very heartwarming!

……

In the final battle, Liu Hua cut off his long hair, leaving a spirited buzz cut, and went deep into the tiger's den to save Xiaomi.

Ren Dahua asked him: "What do you do? Who is that little girl to you that she could have chased you here?"

Liu Hua said calmly: "Uncle next door!"

These four simple words moved countless audiences.

"Uncle next door? Are you fucking crazy?"

"Where is Xiaomi?"

Ren Dahua threw a bottle to Liu Hua, which contained a pair of eyeballs, and said arrogantly: "She went to heaven to look for her mother, but she couldn't find her without her eyes."

Liu Hua's eyes were red and he held the bottle tightly, like a beast out of a cage, about to explode completely.

The action scenes assigned to Liu Hua in the movie are all close combat, clean and neat, without the various exaggerated moves in traditional Hong Kong films.

Liu Hua held the dagger in reverse, with the blade facing inward, and stabbed backwards, diagonally, horizontally, and sideways. Blood was drawn with every slash, and the atmosphere was full of tension.

In the end, he had a dagger duel with Zou Zhaolong, who played a perverted killer. It was exciting and exciting. When he finally killed Zou Zhaolong and caught up with Ren Dahua, the other party hid in a car with bulletproof glass and shamelessly called the police.

"Fuck, this is bulletproof glass. When the police come, you're dead."

Nothing could stop Liu Hua from taking revenge. He raised his gun and pointed it at the glass with a cold face.

Shot after shot was fired continuously, and each shot hit the same place, slowly penetrating the glass and turning Simon Yam into a sieve.

After killing Simon Yam, he raised the gun and pointed it at his own head.

His only hope in this world is dead, and he himself has no desire to live.

Just at this moment, footsteps were suddenly heard behind me.

"Uncle, are you here to save me?"

It turns out that the little girl is so warm-hearted that she can win over uncles from both the black and white worlds, and even the perverted killer Zou Zhaolong has been influenced by her.

Simon Yam sent Collin Chou to kill the little girl. When the perverted doctor was about to dig out Xiaomi's eyes, Collin Chou killed the doctor, dug out his eyeballs, and took them back to report.

The little girl ran towards the uncle, hugged his legs and cried, "Uncle, you are here to save me, right, right!"

The cold-blooded uncle also shed tears.

At this moment, the uncle with a cold appearance but a gentle heart, and the well-behaved, sensible and lovable little girl, captured the hearts of countless audiences.

……

After the movie was over, there was prolonged applause.

Afterwards, the main creators went on stage together to interact with the guests and the audience.

After watching the movie, everyone had a lot to say and raised their hands to speak.

The host, Lin Jianming, looked around and invited Huang Zhan to speak first.

When Liu Hua saw Huang Zhan stand up, he suddenly panicked, for he was afraid that Huang Zhan would scold him again.

James Huang doesn't like to hang out with noobs. Liu Hua has a low level of education, but he likes to write lyrics. James Huang bluntly said, "I've never seen such a stupid lyricist."

Liu Hua invited Huang Zhan to his concert, but Huang Zhan said that your singing is so bad, who would go to listen.

After that, he continued to complain in his column and criticized Liu Hua for three years.

Liu Hua was persistent and gave tickets to James Wong every time he held a concert.

Later, Huang Zhan finally went to listen to the performance. After listening, his opinion changed drastically: "You sang well. I want to write a song for you."

Liu Hua said to Huang Zhan: "Can you please stop scolding me so harshly in the future?"

Huang Zhan smiled and patted Liu Hua on the shoulder: "Don't give up, people will improve. I scolded you for three years, and I understand your current work."

At this moment, James Wong took the microphone and said, “When I saw the promotion before, I thought it was a knockoff of Luc Besson’s “Léon: The Professional” last year.

After watching the movies, I realized that the two have nothing to do with each other. The killer movie is about a forbidden love that is close to romance, while the spy movie is about a father-daughter love that is close to family affection.

Then I saw that the story was written by A Ye, and it was indeed an extraordinary work. Although it was a simple story, it was told in a clear and exquisite manner.

Compared with those shoddy assembly-line movies on the market today, there is a world of difference.

Let me talk about Andy Lau's performance... Don't be nervous, I'm not going to scold you!"

Liu Hua quickly bowed and begged for mercy. Everyone knew that Huang Zhan often complained about Liu Hua in his column, so he couldn't help but chuckle when he heard this.

James Wong said: “I remember when Wong Kar-wai was filming As Tears Go By, he told you not to always think about being cool.

I used to think your acting was bad, but after watching this movie today, I realized I was wrong.

It turns out that being cool is also a form of acting, and you acted very well.”

Liu Hua breathed a sigh of relief and complimented, "Thank you for Mr. Huang Zhan's comments, but I think you acted better in this movie."

James Wong made a cameo appearance in the movie as an old man who runs a small supermarket.

Liu Yifei stole something from his shop and left. Liu Hua followed him and asked how much it cost.

Huang Zhan looked at the chess records, studied the game of Go, and said nonchalantly, "Forget it, everyone has this problem when they are young.

A child is a child, why let her wander around alone every day? Just bring her here to play often like other fathers do!"

This shot is very heartwarming, and James Wong portrayed that nonchalant yet generous attitude very well.

He said proudly: "I know this without you having to tell me. But I am still very jealous of you. After filming this movie, more women will love you!"

Then, Huang Zhan commented on Liu Yifei, feeling jealous that Yang Ye had such a lovely daughter.

Afterwards, Yuan Heping commented on the action scenes in the movie: "I think the action scenes this time are very unique. In our previous movies, a battle often took half a day.

Our action directors have to rack their brains to design all kinds of thrilling actions, but this movie doesn't have any of that.

Every time Hua Zai strikes, he is fast, fierce and accurate, without any unnecessary movements, direct and brutal, which is in line with his identity as a secret agent. "

The host asked, "How do you think Mr. Liu Hua's action scenes compare to those of kung fu actors?"

Yuan Heping said: "I can't compare to professional Kung Fu actors, but among non-Kung Fu actors, I am the best!"

When it was Yang Ye's turn, he first affirmed Johnnie To's directing skills and believed that Johnnie To had made a great contribution to the success of the film.

In Yang Ye's opinion, the original version of "Uncle" is still a bit lukewarm, and most audiences may not be able to get into the show when they first watch it.

However, Johnnie To is much better than the original director and his film was shot exceptionally smoothly.

Liu Hua is as cool and pretentious as Won Bin, Liu Yifei is also very lovable, and with the support of a bunch of great acting talents, the effect of the entire movie surpasses the original.

He then praised all the actors, saying that their performances were all outstanding.

Then he commented: "In our current movies, the literary scenes are shot too hastily, and the martial arts scenes are shot too slowly.

The literary scenes are like a life-threatening situation, they are quickly finished and then the fighting begins, and the fighting takes a long time to gesture, it is just fighting for the sake of fighting.

We made this movie in the hope of changing this situation. The literary scenes must have sufficient foundation and the martial arts scenes must be just right.

I hope the audience will see our sincerity and like the film.”

Finally, he commented on Liu Hua: "As for Andy, he started filming with me right after his debut, and I have watched him grow up.

Many people say that he can't act and only knows how to look cool, but Uncle Chan said it well today, looking cool is also a kind of acting.

In fact, the original intention of designing this play was to magnify this characteristic of Andy Lau.

So far, the response has been very enthusiastic and the effect is good. I hope it can have a good box office. "

After hearing what Yang Ye said, Liu Hua's eyes couldn't help but turn red.

He has suffered a lot in the past two years.

"God of War" was directed by five directors, including Hong Jingbao, Luo Qirui, Zhang Wanting, Cheng Xiaodong and Yuan Kui. Anita Mui and Maggie Cheung were also invited to act together, and a killer whale was specially hired to act cute.

Such a luxurious lineup, coupled with extensive publicity, cost a total of 6000 million Hong Kong dollars. After its release, the local box office only earned 1300 million, and overseas sales were also unsatisfactory, resulting in a loss of 3000 million.

The highly anticipated "Forever Young", which used the creativity of Wong Kar-wai's "Days of Being Wild" and took the style of an art film, only earned 900 million at the box office.

The desperate film "Heaven and Earth" cost 3000 million to make, but after its release, it only earned 1000 million at the local box office.

After the huge flop of "Heaven and Earth", the movie "The Killer's Fairy Tale" starring him had a box office as low as 500 million.

After two years, the company suffered a loss of 50 million and its box office appeal was reduced to zero, so he had no choice but to mortgage the company to Cai Songlin of Scholar Company.

He was too embarrassed to go back to Yang Ye, and was ready to sell himself to Yongsheng and make a movie to pay off his debts.

Unexpectedly, Yang Ye suddenly took action and called him back to film.

Liu Hua remembered that Yang Ye had told him before: "I originally wrote this play to film with my daughter, but I have too many things to do recently, so I hope you can play the role..."

Yang Ye gave him such a good role, but he did not mention it on the scene today, only saying that this play was tailor-made for him.

For the past eighteen years, Yang Ye has always taken very good care of him and once made him famous throughout Asia with the movie "A Moment of Romance".

After he left Yangji and started his own business, the company was not doing well and he fell into a career slump.

Yang Ye put aside the past grudges, helped him, and even let his daughter film with him.

He didn't know how to repay this kindness. (End of this chapter)