On June 14, 1990, the drama " Days of Love: Dream Chaser " directed by Chen Musheng and starring Andy Lau and Wu Qianlian was first released in Hong Kong. Afterwards, the copyright of the film was sold to , in Japan and South Korea, and was released in South Korea for 9 months.
Although this film only achieved a box office of HK$12.89 million in Hong Kong, the craze it caused in Japan and South Korea and its impact on Korean audiences were very huge.
It is said that after the film was released in South Korea, there were often crowded tickets. To this day, Korean audiences still call it "three most classic movies in Hong Kong" together with " Heroes " and "Blooded Two Heroes".
is precisely because the film is particularly popular among Korean audiences that traces of tribute can be seen in many later Korean film and television dramas. For example, " Shut Up Family " imitates the classic scene of Huadi riding a motorcycle and wiping blood.
Not only that, Andy Lau was also selected as the "most popular foreign male star" by Korean audiences. His English single "to you" released in South Korea also set a record of winning the 27-week championship on the Korean pop music chart.
And with the popularity of this movie overseas, Andy Lau also established his position in the Hong Kong film industry. During that period, as long as the movie he starred in, the copyright of the movie he sold to Taiwan could double. It can be seen that Andy Lau was popular at that time.
Andy Lau later said: "I still miss the way I used to ride a motorcycle. I still want to have a movie that can continue riding a motorcycle, wipe blood, and then impress all the girls again."
Unfortunately, life cannot be repeated, and there are not so many "repeats"! Even if you can do it again, the director of this film, , Chen Musheng, will never come back.
So, why did director Chen Musheng make such a movie? How was this movie filmed?
Next, let’s talk about the behind-the-scenes story of “The Dream Chaser of God”.
Director Chen Musheng revealed in the article "Chen Musheng: The only assistant director who has not been scolded by Johnnie To" that the original intention of making this movie was Johnnie To , Lin Lingdong and Wang Jing want to make a movie to give to Wang Tianlin , with the intention of presenting a gift for the old man's 62nd birthday.
The reason was that Wang Tianlin was planning to retire at that time, and Johnnie To and Lin Lingdong wanted to deposit a pension for his mentor to show his filial piety before his mentor retired.
According to his recollection, at the beginning, Wang Jing wrote a script similar to "memoir" style. tells the story of a young man growing up in the 1930s, but Johnnie To and Lin Lingdong felt that the story of the 1930s was not easy to realize, so he rejected it.
Later, Chen Musheng thought of a racer named Huadi whom he met when he was racing in Saigon , so he wrote the outline of the story of " Days of Love " based on that experience.
But he was not sure whether this story was in line with the intention of "birthday celebration", so he took Johnnie To and Ruan Shisheng to watch the motorcycle competition and took the opportunity to tell Johnnie To. After listening to the story summary, Johnnie To immediately said, "This can be filmed."
After being recognized by Lin Lingdong and Wang Jing, Johnnie To immediately made a decision to ask Chen Musheng, who had only been an assistant director, to direct the film. But he also had a first say, that is, Chen Musheng was responsible for script conception and set scheduling, and he had the final say in the casting and voice of the actors.
Although Chen Musheng's authority was greatly compressed by Johnnie To, it is undeniable that Chen Musheng became famous quickly through this debut work.
Later he recalled that experience, and Chen Musheng attributed his fame process to "luck" in addition to opportunities.
"I think being a director in Hong Kong is very lucky. Looking at many people around me, they have not encountered such opportunities as me, even though the things they filmed are similar to mine."
is actually not difficult to understand. On the one hand, it is because Johnnie To wants to promote newcomers, and on the other hand, it is because he was divided into Wang Tianlin for four years in TVB, so he has the opportunity to "show filial piety".
get back to the topic, let's talk about the movie. After finishing the script conception and behind-the-scenes team, Johnnie To began to look for candidates for Huadi in his mind. The first thing he thought of was 29-year-old Andy Lau.
At that time, Andy Lau had already played More than 30 movies, although there are high-reputation masterpieces like " Mong Kok Carmen ", his acting skills have not been fully recognized by the industry.
In most of the movies he starred in, he gave people the impression that he was handsome and his acting skills to some extent.
And Johnnie To is also interested in his appearance and box office appeal. After all, Andy Lau was the top star in the Hong Kong entertainment industry at that time. For example, at that time, Jacky Cheung and Aaron Kwok can only play the role of his younger brother in the film.
Andy Lau agreed immediately after receiving the invitation from Johnnie To. He knew that although Johnnie To has a bad temper, it is understandable that Johnnie To does train actors. He hopes that through this collaboration, his acting skills can be improved to a higher level.
I thought the two of them would be very harmonious this time, but what happened next made them break up completely after filming this movie.
Liu at that time As an idol in Hong Kong and even Asia, Dehua cares about his image and hairstyle, but in Du Dapao, who dares to confront the world, it is a very unprofessional behavior.
In this movie, there are many scenes of Andy Lau wearing a helmet and riding a motorcycle, and Andy Lau subconsciously sorts out his hairstyle every time he takes off his helmet.
It was such an unintentional action that completely annoyed Johnnie To. He not only scolded Andy Lau in three-word swearing words, but also shouted "Do you need this?" "
While the young and energetic Andy Lau felt wronged, not only did not change, but began to become more severe. Even every time the director called for a card, he would deliberately let the stylist blow his hair.
The two sides refused to give in to each other, which made everyone's hearts hang in their throats. At one point, he thought that the drama would not be able to continue. In the end, Chen Musheng was the two of them, which made the drama barely continue.
After the movie was finished, Andy Lau and Johnnie To completely broke up. So when the sequel was filmed, Andy Lau was straight He was abandoned and replaced by his former younger brother Aaron Kwok.
It was not until 1996 when the third film " Day If Love: The Beauty of the Beautiful Man " was filmed, that the two of them had settled their past grudges and began to cooperate again. The reason was, on the one hand, because Aaron Kwok's box office appeal was far less than Andy Lau, and on the other hand, because of the boycott of the fans.
It is said that when filming the second film " Day If Love: The World Forever ", many fans called production company and said they didn't want Wu Qianlian to move. Love, I don't want her to film a kissing scene with Aaron Kwok, and I also questioned the director why she didn't let Andy Lau star?
. Under pressure from all sides, Johnnie To launched Andy Lau again. Everyone knows what happened later. Under Johnnie To's training and guidance, Andy Lau won the Academy Award twice for " Secret Battle " and " Big Boy ".
Let's talk about Wu Qianlian, who plays JOJO, who makes that clear and willful but brave The 17-year-old girl who pursues love is very touching.
The pure and romantic love story between JOJO and Huadi once influenced the young people's perception of love in that era.
Even for a long time, this single-eyed girl with childish eyes and excellent temperament has always been a goddess that no one can replace in the minds of many people.
However, what you may not know is that Wu Qianlian, who was only 22 years old and was in the second grade of college, was not selected by Johnnie To from hundreds of photos.
Later, when Wu Qianlian was asked how she participated in the movie, she also laughed at herself: "I have single eyelids and do not belong to a beauty. I was selected among the many beauties because I was the least good-looking, so I was the most obvious."
According to director Chen Musheng's recollection, they wanted to find a fresh face to play with Andy Lau. It happened that Wu Qianlian's agent Chang Aijia recommended her to Johnnie To, saying, "This girl is very temperament and talented." So the two sides decided once they met.
Although it was Wu Qianlian's first acting career and she was acting against a king like Andy Lau, she was not nervous at all and even cute. When she first met Andy Lau on the set, she said bluntly: "I'm sorry, you are not my idol."
's straightforward and cold personality also made Andy Lau feel more caring for her from the beginning.
Later, when Andy Lau was asked about who he was closest to since he was a filmmaker, he said without hesitation: "If I wanted to choose one, I would choose Wu Qianlian. I like her personality and way of doing things very much. I feel comfortable working with her."
It is precisely because of this appreciation and tacit understanding that the two of them presented the pure and unswerving love to all movie fans.
Perhaps, every adolescent girl will fall in love with a prodigal son like JOJO, love their indulgence and unruly, love their simplicity and domineeringness, and even love their sequels and heat.
This firmness is just like JOJO's "Love you without regrets" written on paper by Vatti , so passionate and unswerving. But as time goes by and we mature, we suddenly begin to have a more rational understanding of the world and love.
The love that was willing to exchange for life, the boy who was willing to open the window for you and put on a wedding dress, belonged only to the sultry midsummer of 1990, the midsummer that gave you fantasy and made it shattered.
As I wrote this, I suddenly remembered the scene in the film. Huadi put a ring on JOJO in front of the church, and then quietly left and went to death, leaving JOJO to kneel in front of the church and pray silently.
Then JOJO took off his high heels and staggered on the viaduct in his wedding dress to look for Huadi. Unfortunately, JOJO can no longer find his Ahua, just like we who are already middle-aged can never find the youth we used to have without regrets.
Of course, a classic work that is passed down from generation to generation, in addition to the outstanding performance of the protagonists, the supporting roles are also outstanding.
Wu Mengda plays Taibao, as soon as he appears, he sang the song "Lost Guangguang, because I went to the casino and lost Qingguang, so I ate bento", which not only made the character more vivid, but also reflected Wu Mengda's youth.
Uncle Da When he was young, he developed bad habits. Not only did he lose his fame, but he also owed a lot of gambling debts. Just when he had no scenes to shoot, Zhou Runfa recommended him to Johnnie To.
But after reading the script, he was particularly interested in "Hitster". Unfortunately, Johnnie To only want him to play Taibao, and said to him: "You are the only one in Hong Kong who can play Taibao."
When Wu Mengda asked why Johnnie To was so sure, Johnnie To said: Because Taibao is a person who lives like a dog.
Ng Man-tat knew that Johnnie To was implying himself, but he did not refuse. Besides, his situation at that time did not allow it, so he thought of bringing his down-and-out experience into the role to "fight back".
Under Wu Mengda's design, he interpreted the timid and cowardly little person who likes to show off his mouth to be very insightful. This design did not disappoint him, and even won the Best Supporting Actor at the 10th Academy Awards.
In addition, there is also Huang Guangliang , who plays the villain "Romb" and it is also because of this drama that it found its own way and became one of the four evil people , which is famous in the Hong Kong film industry.
Finally, let’s talk about the soundtrack of the movie. The theme song of the film “Dream Chaser” is personally directed by Luo Dayou. This song is another shining work by Luo Dayou in the movie soundtrack after "Alang's Story".
In addition, Huang Jiaju also contributed three original episodes to this film, namely " Gray Trajectory ", " is wrong and no longer distinguishes " and " has never regretted ". These songs have also become the most popular songs in the streets and alleys in those years.
June 14, 1990, "The Dream Chaser of Heaven" was released in Hong Kong. Although the box office was not significant, it did not affect the audience's love for this movie.
Perhaps, Johnnie To and Chen Musheng at that time did not expect that this literary and artistic love movie would break through the siege in the era of gambling films and nonsensical comedy, and would leave a strong mark in the history of Hong Kong and even Asian films!
Now 32 years have passed, and the neon lights of the bustling Xiangjiang River are still shining brightly, but the light belonging to director Chen Musheng has gone out.
Most movies directed by Chen Musheng are known for their hard-core actions, but they do not lose their tenderness. Therefore, many people say that he is the director who can make the most "Hong Kong-style" films in recent years. And his death also took away all the glory and glory of Hong Kong action films.
But no matter what, the beauty he left us in 1990 has long been engraved in the depths of our hearts. Just as the lyrics sing, let youth blow your long hair and let it pull your dreams. Unconsciously, this history of the world has remembered your smile.
