This is a film that occupies an important position in the history of China's martial arts films. Martial arts films can get rid of the shoddy situation for a long time before and become the same level as samurai films and western films.
A few years ago, I heard that Hu Jinquan's Longmen Inn had a DVD, but I couldn't find it for a long time. Today, I have a chance to appreciate this masterpiece. What kind of surprise will it give me?
It is said that it is not a film review. First, I know that I am not good, and I am purely entertaining myself; Second, because I don't want to use the so-called film review requirements to restrain myself when writing, I am judged according to the film review requirements after writing. This is gossip. Let's get down to business.
Eunuchs in the late Ming Dynasty were the bane and poisoned loyalty. Cao Shaoqin, the eunuch of Dongchang, beheaded Yu Qian, an alien, and sent Yu Qian's family to the frontier. Cao Shaoqin sent troops to assassinate Yu Qian's family in order to uproot the grass. Unexpectedly, the descendants of the general's general Li secretly protected their descendants and attempted assassination. Cao Shaoqin Jiapai's right-hand men led most of the troops to Longmen before their families, preparing to ambush in Longmen. As a result, Dongchang people, Li's brother and sister, the descendants of General Li, Wu (the shopkeeper of Longmen Inn) and his righteous brother Xiao Shaozhi all gathered in Longmen Inn and staged a good play in the little Longmen Inn, which is inaccessible on weekdays.
When I wrote it, I was still watching a movie. When I wrote this, Xiao Shaozhi just appeared, and the music played by Xiao was very nice. This is the highlight of the movie soundtrack that sounds a little rough now. Sure enough, the hero appeared, extraordinary. In fact, there is another person in the movie-the local garrison. However, these garrisons were killed by the troops of the East Factory from the beginning without any resistance. Later, a garrison leader came out to get even with Wu. When the East Factory attacked the Longmen Inn, he realized that people were killed by the East Factory, so he ran to Cao Shaoqin Theory and was killed by Cao Yi. So this road was ignored. However, this group of people is portrayed in Tsui Hark's New Longmen Inn. This is another story.
Xiao Shaozhi is a strange man, handsome, charming, intelligent and capable, with high martial arts. The first scene of Xia Xia's appearance was that he was poisoned in the wine by several minions from the East Factory at Longmen Inn. Xiao calmly responded and showed Xia's image incisively and vividly. Wonderful appearance. There are also several battles between Xiao and the East Factory, and the dealings with the owners of the East Factory are also brilliant and full of characters. The final battle between the film and Cao Shaoqin is also a highlight. In "Success or Death", Bernard Shaw kept calm in times of crisis, satirizing and denouncing Cao Shaoqin with words. Before the fight, Xiao said, it's not easy for Cao Gonggong to hear that you have practiced boy's kung fu. This thing must be quiet. But it's none of your business. It's hard to be young anyway, and you can't calm down. Cao cut clothes with a knife, and Xiao said, it's really hanging, just like you. He knocked Cao's hat off with a sword and proudly said, Grandpa Cao, there is nothing below you. You must keep it above.
The emotional drama between Xiao and Li is just a passing sight. It seems that the director at that time was shooting real talents and learning. In Tsui Hark's new edition, there are more emotional dramas, forming a triangle. This is not to say that Tsui Hark has no real talent, but because the audience loves to watch it now.
Besides Xiao Shaozhi, let's talk about two movie styles.
The first is the martial arts style. And now are completely two styles. It was hand-to-hand combat, and there was very little flying in the sky. The pursuit is strength and speed. Very realistic, and the design is also very real. The master's hands are unusual.
The second is to create an atmosphere. For example, when Xiao Shaozhi was poisoned in Longmen Inn after his appearance, Xiao felt that the atmosphere was wrong when he entered the door, as well as the reaction of all the minions in the East Factory, the reaction of Xiao Er and the reaction of the cashier. Then Xiao er's bookkeeping behavior panicked. People in the east factory hinted at each other to do it. Small leader provokes small, small show martial arts. When the slave of the East Factory saw the defeat, he poisoned him. When Xiao knew it, he drank the poison, pretended to be dead and got up to fight back. The atmosphere is just right. Tsui Hark's films also pay great attention to the creation of atmosphere, which is a tradition. This atmosphere is one of my favorite elements in martial arts movies.
I saw Longmen Inn last week, and when I came back, I went to see the newly opened Longmen Inn by Tsui Hark. There is really no chivalry in Xinlongmen Inn. Although these two loyal ministers appear frequently, they have no real meaning (they are almost completely ignored at the end of the film and never appear again after being sent away ... = =). Love/desire is the real power to promote the development of the plot. For such a story that happened in an inn, the film compressed it into the small hearts of several people in the inn-only the ambiguous spark that flashed in that small heart was the focus of the film.
In Longmen Inn, Yu Qian's descendants only appear at the beginning and the end, but as the representative of "loyalty", it has become the spiritual context throughout the film. The same story happened in an inn, but it didn't seem cramped at all. Behind the beams and columns is China's profound cultural heritage. This is the pure sense of China and history that Director Hu Jinquan gave us. It comes from the fusion of drama elements and stage pictures, from the perfect China personality represented by Xiao Shaozi, but ultimately from the mainland feelings and profound cultural background of director Hu Jinquan. I often feel ashamed of my shallow understanding of China culture, and director Hu makes me feel ashamed. How lucky I am to be born in such an ancient civilization, but I have neglected those ancient wisdom. ...
Some students said in class that they felt that the characters in Hu Jinquan's films were not full of emotion. And if I understand correctly, he refers to personal feelings such as love and friendship-these feelings themselves can only act on every specific individual, and the characters in Longmen Inn are not only themselves, but also loaded with some representative personalities. Director Hu Jinquan didn't show love, but because he thought there were more important things to show. That kind of thing is extremely important. In the world and logic imagined by director Hu, the position of love is really embarrassing. No wonder Longmen Inn only has a few seconds to hint at the existence of an affair.
Nowadays, there are not too few affairs in movies, but too many. What is grand and what calls for the soul of the group has really become a scarce product. Of course, it's not that personal feelings are unimportant ... How to put it, we have enough people to pay attention to the subtle waves in our hearts, and enough people are licking wounds-sensitive and delicate nerves are important, but we also need another kind of mind, another kind of vision, not only inward but also outward. After witnessing the vastness of time and space, we have given up self-pity and narcissism. Hu Jinquan showed this vision, so why should we ask him for everything? He is trying to portray a China, and that's enough.