Chu Yuan, known as the "grandfather of Hong Kong martial arts films", died in Hong Kong, China, at the age of 87.
He has participated in 120 films in his life, and together with Li Hanxiang, Hu Jinquan, and Zhang Che were named the "Four Great Hands" of Hong Kong films.
His "Seventy-two Tenants" beat Bruce Lee's "Dragon Fight" and became the Hong Kong box office champion that year.
Then, "The Peacock Dynasty" made him one of the best action directors in Asia, and his film experience is almost half of "living Hong Kong film history".
Like Chu Yuan, there are also a group of unknown martial arts masters who have experienced the heyday of Hong Kong action movies all their lives.
Editor: Chen Xing Responsible editor: Ni Chujiao (one)
Wei Junzi, a Hong Kong film researcher, started in 2017 and spent 3 years visiting and filming nearly 100 "Martial Arts" artists, condensing the 60 years of Chinese Hong Kong Kung Fu movies into the documentary "Dragon Tiger Martial Artist".
In addition to the well-known superstars Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuan Heping, the film focuses more on unsung heroes. They act as martial arts and stand-ins. They have no special skills and no insurance. , carried the banner of Hong Kong's "Oriental Hollywood".
Wei Junzi talked about the behind-the-scenes of this "Dragon Tiger Warrior": "This group of people has done something that has never been done before, and now we do it again, who wants to? Hong Kong's action movies are still a treasure, the kind of spirit that fights for life, It is irreplaceable.” In August last year, when the documentary “Dragon Tiger Martial Artist” was released, the film placement rate was less than 1%, and the box office was less than one million.
The cold reception it received from the market just confirmed the decline of Hong Kong kung fu movies.
But Douban 8.2, with more than 8,000 comments as long as a small composition, undoubtedly proves that the heyday of the Hong Kong martial arts film that punched the flesh, although it was short-lived, it has always been hidden in the memory of fans.
"Dragon Tiger Warrior" is a film dedicated to the unsung heroes of that era.
Even Wei Junzi, a Hong Kong film enthusiast, learned for the first time after studying Hong Kong films for 19 years that these unsung heroes are called "Dragon Tiger Martial Artists", and they replaced many of the actions that the big brothers couldn't do.
Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung were both dragon and tiger martial artists before they became famous.
In that era that did not rely on special effects, as bright as these martial artists were, there was so much bitterness.
How can you play well with one hand and two legs?
These terrifying "Ye Qing Hui" pictures are reproduced in "Dragon Tiger Warrior"...
All live action non-computer special effects point pictures to see how the dragon and tiger martial arts "fight for life" in those years ▼▼▼
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Shang Qi | Inspired by Jackie Chan's film and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", the director pays tribute to Hong Kong-made voice actors in Hong Kong-made action films.
In the early 1980s, Hong Kong, China, had become the Four Tigers of Asia.
The whole of Hong Kong is full of vitality and gold is everywhere.
The Shaw Brothers studio in Clearwater Bay was at its busiest, with 2,000 employees, 14 studios, and several major directors working at the same time, producing more than 1,000 films, known as the "Oriental Hollywood".
Another Hong Kong film overlord, Golden Harvest, is the Hong Kong box office champion every year.
Throughout the Hollywood movies of the 1990s, the martial arts instructors came from Hong Kong. Quentin paid tribute to Shaw Brothers in "Kill Bill", and in "The Matrix", to Quirrell Reeves The martial arts instructor is Yuan Heping...
But soon, after the sharp decline in the production of Hong Kong films and the popularization of post-production special effects, the way out for Dragon Tiger Martial Artist became more and more difficult.
Most of them leave or retire with injuries after being the bottom-level dragon and tiger martial artist for more than ten years.
It was the first time Wei Junzi visited the Shaw Studios in Qingshui Bay because of the filming of the documentary "Dragon Tiger Warrior". "The logo of Shaw's English alphabet studio is still there, but it is very dilapidated and desolate. The land has been sold to a real estate company. In a few days, it will also become a building.” Shaw Brothers stopped film production in 1987, and Golden Harvest’s investment failed in 1998. With the decline of the two major film giants, “Oriental Hollywood” is no longer there.
At the premiere of "Dragon Tiger Martial Artist", Director Tsui Hark took the stage, sighed and said, "Hey, what can we do? We all have gray hair." Time and life.
The following is Wei Junzi's own statement:
Hong Kong film, it is a river and lake.
From the 1970s to the 1990s, it was the golden age of Hong Kong cinema.
When it comes to that era, everyone will remember the peerless beauty of Hong Kong stars, and the rest will follow the wind.
In fact, the behind-the-scenes stories, grievances and hatreds, are more exciting than Hong Kong movies.
"Dragon Tiger Warrior" records a group of action filmmakers. In order to compete with the most powerful Hollywood at the time, they fought their lives to create visual spectacles with their flesh and blood, and finally succeeded in making action films in Hong Kong, China, a foothold A sign of the world.
The audience only remembers those big brothers, Sammo Hung, Liu Jialiang, Jackie Chan, and they all lack my documentary.
I want to tell the story behind the scenes of this group of people who are not paying attention.
"Dragon Tiger Martial Artist" visited nearly 100 senior dragon and tiger martial artists in Hong Kong, including familiar faces and "unsung heroes" (click to enlarge) ▼▼▼
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Shang Qi predicted that the bad reviews were like a wave of failure, because Liu Simu was not too ugly, but mistakenly regarded Chinese Kung Fu as a superpower. Japanese 10-year-old "muscle boy" regarded Bruce Lee as an idol with good fists and kung fu, and he would play nunchakus
I started to create this documentary in April 2017. It took me three years to visit nearly 100 seniors of Hong Kong action movies.
The youngest Qian Jiale is in his 50s, and the oldest is Hua Ziyuan, who is close to 100 years old.
In 2000, these people were still in their prime.
After 20 years, it has become a rescue, and there is a sense of urgency in time.
Slow down a little bit, and some people die.
This group of people is doing things that no one has ever done before.
"Dragon Tiger Martial Artist" sounds very nostalgic, the name comes from the troupe.
A group of people who studied drama put their skills into movies, without special skills, "steel-making with local methods", which completely changed Hong Kong's action movies.
In the 1950s, Northern Opera was spread to the south.
The Peking Opera martial artist Yu Zhanyuan and Wudan Fan Chrysanthemum came to Hong Kong to develop, and each opened a drama academy.
But no one was watching the show, so they went to the movies to find their way out.
The first generation of dragon and tiger warriors, first seen in 1962.
Liu Zhan, the father of Liu Jialiang, who played authentic Chinese martial arts, and Yuan Xiaotian, the father of Yuan Heping, who played the northern style opera, all entered the "Once Upon a Time" played by Guan Dexing as martial arts instructors.
At the very beginning, they brought the original set of stage and opera to the big screen, such as the stage art film "Wild Boar Forest", and helped the stars to design some movements, and the movements were relatively simple.
In the late 1960s, Hu Jinquan and Zhang Che's "Drunken Man" and "One-Armed Swordsman" began, and one person beat 200 people at every turn.
At this time, a large number of martial arts are required.
These people are mainly from the four major drama schools: Chinese Drama School, Chinese Drama School, Spring and Autumn Drama School, and Oriental Drama School. They are mainly from Master Yu Zhanyuan's Seven Little Fortunes, and Fen Chrysanthemum's apprentices: Lin Zhengying, Dong Wei, Zunlong .
People who studied drama in the past came from poor families, commonly known as "red pants". After graduating from drama school, they went from singing, to performing in nightclubs, to entering the film industry.
Until the 1970s, the emergence of Bruce Lee was a watershed.
Hong Kong movies used to rely on two to conquer the world, one was Li Hanxiang's pillow and the other was Bruce Lee's fist.
He began to take action movies into reality. "Jingwumen" and "Big Brother Tangshan" began to make the audience believe that kung fu can be very real, with his strength and skills, just like dancing, with excellent and next.
Bruce Lee's martial arts, kneading each director, so he is like a martial arts dictionary.
Let's see in "Raptors Crossing the River", his beautiful serial legs, he can kick sideways 6 times a second, very fast.
The nunchucks he played in "Jingwumen" are still imitated by people.
At that time, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan were still tool men beaten by Bruce Lee.
But many people don't know that Yuan Hua, known as the "King of Somersaults", is the substitute for Bruce Lee's sparring.
Bruce Lee passed away unexpectedly while filming the fifth movie. Yuan Hua, who was much loved by Bruce Lee at that time, couldn't believe it. He was still filming "Game of Death" in the morning, and suddenly notified everyone in the afternoon that Bruce Lee passed away.
Everyone thought it was a joke.
As a result, Hong Kong martial arts films have experienced a downturn for several years, and the film market is full of literary films.
During this period, some martial artists went to sell blood, some worked as restaurant counselors, and some even worked as thieves. Life was very bleak.
By the late 1970s, the turning point came.
The martial arts instruction has developed into various major classes, and has become a fixed small group with a dragon and tiger martial artist as the core: Hongjia class, Liujia class, Chengjia class, Yuanjia class, basically bringing together the most core dragon and tiger martial arts.
Sammo Hung takes the market route and is known as "the most flexible fat man".
Hong Jiaban's "Fast Food Truck", Lucky Star Series, "Oriental Condor", 10 of which are 10 million at the box office, 7 of which are produced by Hong Jiaban.
During filming, ambulances are often parked at the door.
Liu Jialiang is the descendant of the authentic Hongquan.
A dozen is a few minutes, dozens of tricks down, every move and every style can not be wrong.
The movements in Liu Jiaban's "North and South Shaolin" and "Drunken Fist 2" tend to be sturdy and dexterous.
Yuan Heping found Jackie Chan, who started by imitating Bruce Lee, and filmed "Snake Shaped Hands", which made Jackie Chan's kung fu comedy.
Jackie Chan is familiar with the movements of Peking Opera and juggling, so in "Plan A", "Police Story" and "Miracle" of the Married Family Class, Jackie Chan is no longer a tough guy, but a witty, naughty and kind image.
The four major groups are fighting each other and invoking each other.
Basically, if you jump from the 8th floor, I will jump from the 9th floor. If you jump, I will be burned and start to die.
If you have a 50% certainty, you will dare to go, and if you have a 30% certainty, you will try it.
Yuan Wu of the Hong family class is known as the death squad. He jumped off the shopping center and threw his back directly on the ice rink, daring to fight for anything.
When he went to the hospital, the doctor asked him, "Are you playing Superman?" This group of people can be called desperadoes.
No insurance, no armor.
No company dares to insure them. Their insurance is their eldest brother. If they are injured, the eldest brother will take care of them.
The conditions and treatment of Dragon Tiger Martial Artist are very good. They are in Shaw Brothers during the day and Jiahe at night, and they are all making money.
There is a salary of 2,3,000 a month, and everyone drives a private car.
At that time, the average monthly income of ordinary people was only 100 yuan.
Just in time for the right time and place, Hong Kong created this miracle.
In a small place, there are nearly 10,000 film staff, and 200 films are produced a year, ranking third in the world.
This is simply impossible.
The next generation, like Qian Xiaohao and Qian Jiale, were part of the group in the 1980s.
"Dragon's Heart" 8 people jumped down from the 7th floor, it was true, no fake can be done, only the protection of paper boxes and tatami mats.
After the gasoline exploded, Qian Jiale's eyebrows were all burned out.
Going to the younger generation, it will be discontinued.
Wu Yonglun, who entered the industry around 2000, was taught by a family class, and their group called themselves the last generation of dragon and tiger martial arts.
Then there is the Hong Kong stunt actor youth training class that was organized in 2015. We saw the young Chen Zhuyin and others in the film. They can basically make a living by working as martial artists on weekdays, but they also need to distribute flyers part-time and work as real estate agents to make a living. .
Now no one will do such desperate things anymore, because this era does not need it.
Who wants to do it with computer effects?
Who is to die?
"Dragon and Tiger Martial Artist" had a special screening of martial arts in Hengdian, and invited a group of young martial artists to watch it.
Most are post-00s and post-95s.
Action stunt performers are young people, like athletes, they are all young people.
When they saw their predecessors in the 1980s hit the road with their heads directly, they were all dumbfounded.
They all said that they didn't expect it back then, but it turned out to be a real game.
When asked them, if you were asked to do this, would you do it?
I didn't expect them to say, "We can too." Young people are terrifying after birth, and new-born calves are not afraid of tigers.
Donnie Yen said in the film, "In order to prove that you are the best in the kung fu world, you will do a lot of stupid things."
The involution is directly related to the midnight scene of the 80s.
The midnight show is to test a commercial film, genre film, and entertainment film, and the audience's most timely response.
A week before the release, the film company will show the film early at midnight for publicity.
A midnight show can hold 800 to 1,000 spectators.
Many directors and actors will watch it together.
If the film is not good, the audience will directly criticize it.
Neither Yuan Heping nor Tsui Hark dared to enter the midnight arena.
When "The True Color of a Hero" was on, everyone was not optimistic. John Woo watched it in the cinema, and Tsui Hark was waiting for him outside. He was relieved when he finally exploded.
This is very obvious for Dragon Tiger Martial Artists, who go to the cinema to watch their own films.
When the audience applauded, he felt that I was worthy of doing this.
At the same time watching other people's films, they have already achieved this point, we have to surpass them.
One movie market and four home classes are equivalent to one Olympics and four sports teams.
They also don't have any grand goals, saying they want to surpass Hollywood.
They are all very simple Jianghu people.
What big brother wants us to do, we will do it.
Xiong Xinxin said, "stuntmen never never say No (Martial masters never say "no")!
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Qian Jiale injured his tailbone in "Food Truck", Lin Zhengying suffered a concussion in "Mr. Zombie", Jackie Chan broke his skull in "Dragon Brothers and Tigers", and Michelle Yeoh was almost paralyzed in "A Jin"... There is a saying in martial arts. "The masochistic vanity."
Sometimes I am embarrassed to wear protective gear because of my self-esteem, for fear of being laughed at.
At that time, foreigners came to Hong Kong to visit the class and said in surprise, "Whoever does these actions will die!" Donnie Yen and Yuan Heping said in the interview that this kind of desperate attitude is of course unhealthy.
But they were more than anyone else back then.
In the past, it was precisely because of the spirit of this group of dragon and tiger warriors that Hong Kong action movies were at the peak moment, and Hollywood faced Hong Kong movies and bowed their heads.
Since the 1990s, Hollywood has been taking Hong Kong action movies as its teacher.
They successively invited John Woo, Jackie Chan, Tsui Hark, Lin Lingdong, Tang Jili, Sammo Hung, Yuan Kui, and Yuan Heping.
"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "X-men", "Charlie's Angels", "The Matrix", "Kill Bill" are all martial arts instructors from Hong Kong.
In the past two years, the action team of "Mulan" played by Liu Yifei also learned from Hong Kong.
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The most powerful action guidance team in Hollywood is called 8711, and all the superhero blockbusters in Hollywood come from them.
There is also Alan, the action guide of the ace agent, who came out of the family class.
Now Black Widow has to turn somersaults when she comes out, all from Hong Kong action movies.
The business of dragon and tiger martial arts is becoming more and more withering in Hong Kong, and the operating rate is not enough.
It is really pessimistic to talk about this, because not only the Dragon Tiger martial artist, but also many filmmakers have broken generations.
Yuan Heping, Cheng Xiaodong, and Sammo Hung are still working. They are 70 years old on average.
You can't just count on this gang to make Hong Kong movies great again, they're all retired or about to retire by age.
Although there have been many arguments before that, Hong Kong movies are dead?
But I don't think so.
Those born in the 70s and 80s thought that Hong Kong movies were dead if they didn’t watch the current movies.
At present, Hong Kong movies can still produce 30 films a year. How about which city in the world produces 30 films?
Shanghai doesn't have it, New York doesn't have it, and Hong Kong is still the best.
"Bomb Handler 2" and "Anti-drug 2" still sold more than 1 billion at the box office.
Now our main theme movies, there are still many directors from Hong Kong, China, such as Tsui Hark, Lin Chaoxian, Liu Weiqiang, Li Rengang, Yau Litao... Hong Kong movies, they still have talents, such as Chen Kexin and Zeng Guoxiang, with their skilled skills, they can still do it The national explosion ("Youth of You").
It's just a lot worse than the talent and romance that were everywhere in the past.
It was so strong back then that we would have a perception that "Hong Kong cinema is dead".
Hong Kong still has its heritage.
Action movies in Hong Kong also remain a treasure.
Since the late 1990s, Hong Kong has started co-productions with the mainland.
Hong Kong action filmmakers brought this craft back to the mainland, and mainland action filmmakers are slowly absorbing it.
For example, "Embroidered Spring Knife" is Sang Lin who studied with Yuan Kui; Wu Jing's entire apprenticeship and action style are all from Hong Kong, and "Wolf Warrior" also uses Hong Kong's martial arts instructor Li Rongzhi; Xu Haofeng is the "Master", Went to learn Wing Chun from Bruce Lee's younger brother Liang Shaohong.
The martial arts in the mainland basically come from the Shaolin Temple and the national martial arts teams, and their skills are very good.
If you let them understand film technology, it will be more effective.
I have been fond of Hong Kong movies since I was a child.
I grew up in a rural area with very little entertainment.
Basically, it is to watch Hong Kong dramas and outdoor movies broadcast on the 14-inch black and white TV at home.
My mother likes Shanghai Tang and Xu Wenqiang, and my father likes Huo Yuanjia.
Hong Kong movies are very B-grade films and Cult films.
The one that impressed me deeply is "Eagle Claw Iron Cloth Shirt", directed by Wu Siyuan and Yuan Heping as the martial arts instructor.
At that time, a scene of "grabbing the crotch" left a shadow on my childhood.
I've always been a wild man with no professional film education.
When I was a child, I completely relied on watching the subtitles of Hong Kong movies, and I actually figured out the context behind the scenes of Hong Kong movies.
Whether it is the cast and crew, or the production company, they have formed a network by themselves.
With the rise of the Internet, I wrote articles about Hong Kong movies on BBS and blogs, and I entered the media.
In my spare time, I have been doing Hong Kong film research, and I publish a book every few years.
Later, I slowly became a working partner of these Hong Kong filmmakers.
In the past few years, the time to meet those seniors, to accommodate everyone, to wait for copyright, etc., has been intermittent and very trivial.
2 photography, 1 radio, 1 planning, plus 5 of me, and we're done.
When I filmed "Dragon Tiger Warrior", it was considered to generate electricity for love.
It's actually a small result of one of my research, not a formal job.
When my documentary premiered, Director Tsui Hark said on the stage that this should be done by professional organizations, which have professional funds.
But this is a personal behavior of mine, and it is too difficult to handle it myself.
American TV once made a documentary about Hong Kong action movies, and it cost 10 million to buy the copyright.
Therefore, for the copyright of "Dragon Tiger Warrior", I would like to thank many predecessors of Hong Kong movies.
For example, Wu Siyuan, "Snake Shaped Hands" he gave me free of charge, such as Jiang Zhiqiang, Boss Jiang, "Storm", "My Secret Agent Grandpa", Brother Hong's "Family Fun", Huang Baiming's "Fuse", they are willing to help me.
Last year, there were theaters in the mainland and Hong Kong. Everyone saw the box office, but it was only 1 million, which was not ideal.
But this is indeed expected, plus the overseas distribution, there is a slight surplus, and I will also distribute dividends to the union.
I have done a very good thing and have a very good result, and I am very happy.
If I can do more dissemination work for Hong Kong films, no matter what form it is, I will continue to do it.
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