" Hidden in the Blade " trailer poster
Time Network Special Report Exclusive news - In the next two days, the representative director of alternative martial arts Xu Haofeng will bring his "Hidden in the Blade " to the Cannes Film Festival, officially announced that it will be released. This movie that has been launched for a long time is finally about to meet the audience.
After niche experiments in " Traces of Japanese Pirates " and "Arrowman Liu Baiyuan", the reputation of "The Grandmaster" and "Master" has risen. Xu Haofeng's new work "Hidden on the Blade" that has been dormant for a long time has chosen to return in Cannes, which is obviously a big demand.
In fact, Chinese martial arts has a long history with Cannes.
975, "The Heroes" directed by Hu Jinquan won the highest technical award in one fell swoop, pushing China's "heroes" to the world; 25 years later, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" by Ang Lee welcomed more than ten minutes of cheer in Cannes, and the battle between Zhou Runfa and Zhang Ziyi in the bamboo forest, which reminds people of "Heroes", ushering in the inheritance and reincarnation of "thoughts" in the dark; and in 2015, Hou Hsiao-hsien won the Best Director Award for "Assassin Nie Yinniang", and presented the most beautiful poetry of the ancient Orient to the world. When went to Cannes, Time Network exclusive interview with Xu Haofeng
From another perspective, this top film festival does not seem to have truly "connected" with the martial arts that the public recognizes.
Hu Jinquan won a technical award. China's human nature cannot effectively "penetrate" into the West. Do they really understand the meaning of "A Touch of Zen"? Hou Hsiao-hsien himself also said that martial arts is just a coat of "Assassin Nie Yinniang", because where the culture is deeply photographed, it is ultimately "about human existence and life", which is what Cannes value.
However, over the past 44 years, there are many stories about Cannes and Chinese martial arts movies worth writing.
[Nothing can affect the award of "The Legend of the Goddess"]
"The Legend of the Goddess" Xu Feng Stills
"The Legend of the Goddess" starring Xu Feng recalled this scene: In 1975, she went to Cannes with director Hu Jinquan and others. At that time, Xu Feng wanted a female friend to stay in a hotel with her, but was strongly opposed by French film selector Pierre Rissient because he was afraid that the outside world would misunderstand that Xu Feng was a lesbian. Although Xu Feng, 25, hadn't even heard of the word at that time, Pierre had to make sure that one thing was not allowed to affect the award of "The Legend of the Goddess".
As the first person to introduce Chinese martial arts films into Europe, especially Cannes, and behind the influential French film industry, Pierre Risian is a name that cannot be ignored in the industry.
Pierre died at the age of 81
With his iconic bald head, plump waist, and T-shirts from all over the world, Pierre was almost the only one who could freely enter and exit the Movie Palace without wearing a tuxedo. He has been a "scout" in Cannes for many years, and Clint Eastwood , Jane Campion , etc. have benefited from his discovery. Unfortunately, this "agent" who is used to operating in the dark has passed away on May 5, 2018.
969, the film " Mrs. Dong " by Chinese female director Tang Shuxuan hoped to be released in France. American film critic Miller found Pierre for help. Later, the film was successfully released in French Art Theater, and the response was good. After , Tang Shuxuan filmed another second work, but she was not very satisfied with it when she was doing it later. In 1973, she invited Pierre to Hong Kong to watch the film, hoping that he could give some suggestions. Taking advantage of that opportunity, Pierre also came into contact with many Chinese directors' films, including Hu Jinquan's works, which led to the 1975 "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" trip to Cannes.
Hu Jinquan
Hu Jinquan sorted out his style for Xu Feng
Pierre commented: "This is the first Chinese work that left a deep impression on Westerners after "Mrs. Dong".
But in fact, Hu Jinquan participated in the Cannes Film Festival at his own expense, which was more of a last resort to seeking business opportunities for foreign distribution.Because the filming of "The Legend of the Goddess" was exhausted and it took three years to finally be completed. This led to the unhappy appearance of Sha Rongfeng, the CEO of Federal Films, who was the spinning giant, and parted ways with Hu Jinquan. In addition, the box office and reputation after the movie was released were not ideal, so Hu Jinquan decided to edit the three-hour international version and sent it to Cannes for the competition. After winning the "highest technology award", the movie sold its European copyright and was able to make up for the losses.
Hu Jinquan, Xu Feng and others attended the Cannes Film Festival
Xu Feng revealed that his first time at a world-class film festival, in addition to receiving unprecedented courtesy, he also met French movie star Alan Delong at the dinner. She excitedly said to Hu Jinquan: "Director, I want to take a photo with him, I am his movie fan!" Unexpectedly, Hu Jinquan replied: "Sit down! It's almost the same for him to take the photo with you!" Because Director Hu thought, "You are (now) too a big star, why should you take the initiative to take a photo with him?"
[Ann Lee and the Reincarnation of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"]
Stills of Zhang Ziyi in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
Hong Kong director Johnnie still remembers his heart turbulent when watching "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", especially the roof chase scene of Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi reminded him of Hu Jinquan.
" Legend in the Mountains " poster
"Legend in the Mountains" Xu Feng and Wu Mingcai chasing and fighting in the woods. Johnnie did not understand it at that time. He said: "Want and fighting, chase, only a drum and a person are chasing, and you can't see any direction."
But many years later, the director sat in the theater. , respect Ang Lee and the deceased Hu Jinquan: "Director Lee, you really got the charm of that scene. Director Hu Jinquan couldn't do it back then because he had no money. You have money today, and he really shot his thoughts at that time."
Hong Kong film critic Roca once commented on King Hu Jinquan: As a film director and a monk from the world, he sometimes walks too slowly and sometimes walks too fast, and it seems that he is close to our steps. Johnnie believes that there is reincarnation in the world, and this kind of reincarnation is the idea, "If what you build can influence later generations, it is reincarnation."
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" Bamboo Forest War
"Haughter Girl" Bamboo Forest War
If the 1975 "Haughter Girl" pushed the Chinese martial arts movie to the world, then after 25 years of long journey, the Chinese martial arts movie was once again treated as a gift after the Cannes screening of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in 2000.
North American version trailer
When Yu Jiaolong flew off the cliff, the audience cheered and applauded for more than ten minutes, so it was impossible to hear the ending song "Moonlight Lover" sung by Coco Lee. The battle between Chow Yun-fat and Zhang Ziyi's bamboo forest reminds people of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".
Ang Lee specifically said: "Director Hu Jinquan inspired me. What he influenced me the most was the so-called 'aura', as well as the aesthetics, visual sense of space processing, and the relationship and interaction between characters. In essence, I think these martial arts moves are more important."
In "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", many places seem to pay tribute to Hu Jinquan, but Ang Lee believes that it is exactly the opposite: " You must first have your own ideas. You may trace the origin and find out: Oh, it turns out that this is from there. You must know the difference between the two."
And Lee wanted to make some metaphors on the set of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
And Lee wanted to make some metaphors, so that the character Yu Jiaolong represents a kind of gender repression, or a bit whimsical and reckless, and with the movement, it was a bit abstract, so he thought of bamboo. In Eastern culture, people are fascinated by bamboo. Of course, because "The Legend of the Goddess" has a classic bamboo forest drama, in addition to paying tribute, we must also make our own interpretation.
Ang Lee said: "The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "The Heroes" have different aesthetics. Hu Jinquan's bamboo forest has a pass in shadows, bamboo stems and ground. He used a lot of smoke, backlights, created running, interval editing, montage, and created atmosphere. He used jumps during action attacks, focusing on the performance of editing."
"I use scene scheduling and reminded the audience through several shots. This is a tribute, but everything is real fighting. What the audience sees is what we do, just eliminate the steel wire from the picture, and does not rely on too much digital technology to modify it.I want to make some progress forward. "
Stills of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
In Ang Lee's opinion, those images in his mind are the creators' whims and dreams, and he is particularly grateful to Hu Jinquan. "Looking back at his movies now, it may feel a bit lengthy or other minor issues, but the appearance of the movie is deeply imprinted in my brain. I am sure that the movies I made, and I will also influence some young filmmakers or creators, forming the so-called inheritance. ”
["The Promise" and "The Ten-Side Ambush" create a sensation]
In the years after "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Chinese martial arts movies created a "sensation" in Cannes in another way.
"The Ten-Side Ambush" poster
In 2004, Zhang Yimou and Zhang Weiping took "The Ten-Side Ambush" to Cannes for screening. It is said that in an interview with foreign media, six reporters raised the same question: "Why don't such a beautiful film participate in the exhibition? Zhang, you can take the Palme d'Or. "A reporter also asked Zhang Weiping about questions like
before going to Cannes. He replied to a very official sentence: "The purpose of participating in the exhibition is to let audiences all over the world know, understand and love our Chinese movies. This is more important than winning any major award. "Zhang Yimou said more vividly: "We came to 'burn the kang' for the Chinese film (market). "
"Ten-sided Ambush" also has a tribute scene for the bamboo forest battle
Unlike Cannes' "thunderous applause for 30 minutes", domestic media's evaluation of "Ten-sided Ambush" mixed. But in the end, "Sony Classic" bought out the North American distribution rights of "Ten-sided Ambush" for more than 100 million yuan, three times that of " Hero ", which also exaggerated the A new wave of Chinese films selling films in Cannes has begun.
"The Promise" stills
In 2005, Tsui Hark's "Seven Swords" lost a special screening unit, but Chen Kaige 's quasi-martial arts blockbuster "The Promise" steals the limelight with 11 minutes of flower and unprecedented luxury carnival.
packs the Thousand-year-old castle Chateaula Napoule held a party ticket of 1,200 euros, won the most expensive advertising space in the Carlton hotel to compete with Hollywood blockbusters, and hundreds of media around the world surrounded the castle and once alarmed the French police for 10 hours... Even when a taxi driver in Cannes heard someone was going to the castle, he would say in stiff English: There is a huge party held by Chinese people there.
"Or don't do it, you have to do it to the extreme. For "The Promise", it is to break through all the extremes of Chinese movies. "Producer Chen Hong said.
There is no need to elaborate on what happened next. "A bloody murder caused by a steamed bun" is enough to make people remember that magical moment. To a certain extent, "The Wuji" is more like a fable of the prosperity of Chinese costume action blockbusters, but Cannes' "business" has become a part that cannot be ignored.
"East Evil West Poison: Ultimate Edition" poster
"East Evil West Poison: Ultimate Edition" stills
In 2008, Wong Kar-wai released the re-repaired edited "East Evil and West Poison: Ultimate Edition" in the Cannes classic unit. Because the movie was not released in Europe and the United States, it was the first time that it was officially faced with Western audiences.
As Time commented: "From the 1980s to the mid-1990s, Tsui Hark and John Woo were reviving crime movies, while the young Wong Kar-wai was transforming hazy love movies. At that time, Hong Kong had the most dazzling stars in the world, Leslie Cheung , Maggie Cheung , Tony Leung , Jacky Cheung ... But now, this golden age has changed. ”
"Martial Arts" poster
After three years, another "Martial Arts" came to Cannes and appeared in the midnight screening unit. Chen Kexin found a new angle to let real kung fu enter the human body. Whether it is acupuncture or acupoints, he tried to interpret what happened in the human body. "I tried to redefine martial arts and define this film as micro martial arts, scientific martial arts, and medical martial arts.”
The market feedback was not satisfactory. Chen Kexin suffered almost the most violent Waterloo since going north. Although "Martial Arts" was later listed as one of the top ten in 2012 by "Time", Chen Kexin, who learned from the pain, has since closed the door to the world of martial arts. He said: "The recognition of a magazine cannot change the fact that "Martial Arts" failed. "
[Hou Hsiao-hsien's Assassin cannot kill people]
What is a martial arts film worthy of Cannes?
In 2015, Hou Hsiao-hsien's "Assassin Nie Yinniang" was shortlisted for the Cannes main competition, and finally won the Best Director Award. Some media questioned whether the Palme drew missing because the story was too difficult to understand. The Coen brothers, the chairman of the jury, did not respond positively.
Hou Hsiao-hsien spoke for the judges, saying that not getting the Palme drew has nothing to do with the differences in Eastern and Western cultures, because "The culture is deeply filmed, it is about the existence and life of people. Movies made in any corner of the world, as long as it is about people, no matter where it is, you can understand it. ”
Hou Hsiao-hsien won the Cannes Best Director Award
Hou Hsiao-hsien himself admitted: “The Assassin Nie Yinniang I filmed basically means that an assassin cannot kill people, and he finally understands his own process. "Although it seems to be a martial arts film, it is basically the same as his previous movies - it is a care for family, social relations and people's growth background, and it is just using the ability of martial arts.
"Assassin Nie Yinniang" poster
In Hou Hsiao-hsien's view, the movie has a "qi" in addition to the picture, that is, the state of the play, and its energy continuation. "Sometimes when you watch a movie, you are always taken, watching it, watching it, and watching it, it is very nervous, but the charm between the content may not necessarily be there. ”
Taiwan version of "Not" magazine once published a conversation between Hou Hsiao-hsien and Hu Jinquan, accompanied by a photo. Columnist Mike described: "I saw two people sitting in the pavilion in the water pavilion, Hu was talking, Hou was listening, and thousands of feelings were rippling in the lake beside the pavilion. "This kind of state is in harmony and proper in the videos of the two.
Shu Qi Stills
Hou Hsiao-hsien once joked about his author's style: "During the video tape, people went to rent movies, and the store pointed at my row, and these were all easy to sleep. If I want to develop movie derivative products in the future, my movie will only be given an inflatable neck pillow, which I can also sign on. ”
In an era when excessive literature and art are more uncomfortable than excessive business, Hou Hsiao-hsien felt: “It is getting more and more difficult to find one’s own meaning because his vision is getting higher and higher. But it's not difficult, making a movie won't be that interesting. "
[Cannes and Chinese martial arts have no fate]
"Hanwo" poster
For Chinese martial arts films to Cannes, Xu Haofeng, a unique director in recent years, believes that strictly speaking, the two have no fate.
Cannes is the world's top art film festival. Movies going to Cannes are not only satisfied with the general needs of the audience, but martial arts films and martial arts films are too popular, and most of them do not provide "ideas".
" means that no matter how well you shoot, what you provide is just a craft, not something innovative in your thoughts. And if you provide craftsmanship, you should go to the film festival that reviews craftsmanship, because there will be different criteria for judging. "
At that time, Hu Jinquan's "The Legend of the Goddess" provided a new style of shooting martial arts films. He devoted a lot of time and energy to create the oriental aesthetics and charm of the film, so it is of historical significance in presentation.
"But at that time in Cannes, China's human feelings and worldly styles could not effectively "penetrate" into the West, because the other party was not very sensitive to these things and could not fully accept them. So in the end, what Hu Jinquan won was not the screenwriter award or the director award, but the technical award. "
"The Grandmaster" directed by Wang Kar-wai and written by Xu Haofeng
In fact, martial arts films and martial arts films have passed the era of mass production, and their successes and failures are more like cases. This is a bit like people reading Haruki Murakami and Yasunari Kawabata, but they will not bring a large number of novels of the same type.
Whether it is Chinese and foreign audiences, relying on visual wonders can no longer meet the needs of watching movies.And at a time when the "martial arts" resources have long been shared around the world, how can Chinese people develop their own martial arts and martial arts films? What else is unique to Chinese people? This is probably a serious issue facing film creators.
"Hidden on the Blade" Xu Qing
"Hidden on the Blade" Chen Guantai
"The biggest problem with our martial arts films is the lack of humanities, which is the reason for the decline of martial arts films." So Xu Haofeng concluded that his movies are all about China's unique humanities and moral rules through the passing martial arts world. Whether it is "The Grandmaster", "Master" or the upcoming "Hidden on the Blade", there is always a "Chinese style".
Before "Master", Xu Haofeng's "Traces of Japanese Pirates" and "Arrowman Liu Baiyuan" were both niche movies. After "Master" turned to popular movies, he began to do some experiments outside the public consensus.
In daily life, people do not live by their thoughts, but by snobbery and causality. If you provide thinking and a stimulating sample in popular movies, even commercial movies are not only satisfied with animal-like desires, but are what people often call "new ideas".
