When the film was promoted, the business card "Hong Kong Film" was used. It seems that Chen Desen commemorates the golden age of Hong Kong martial arts films in the last century. The whole movie is said to have a strong "Hong Kong flavor". I don't know what "Hong Kong flavor" is, is it Zhou Xingchi's nonsense, Tsui Hark's martial arts, or Jackie Chan's actions? However, I know that Hong Kong movies have indeed had a glorious past. Director Ang Lee's "Food Men and Women", Zhang Aijia and Xu Anhua's women's series, "Infernal Affairs" trilogy, it seems that each of them is very Hong Kong, and each of them is not only about Hong Kong. Some people once called the decline of Hong Kong popular culture the decline of Hong Kong culture. I think this is an exaggeration. However, in recent years, it seems that Hong Kong's popular culture represented by movies and music has indeed experienced a less-than-prosperous period. There are many reasons for this, and it is not clear at the moment. However, if a culture begins to miss and pay homage, it means that the culture has begun to go to a low point. Therefore, "One Man's Martial Arts" is also a product of self-interpretation and self-intoxication of Hong Kong martial arts films. It is for memory.
Actually, I haven't seen Donnie Yen for a long time. I remember that the last time he left an impression on me was that he and Zhao Wenzhuo had a quarrel on Weibo, and in the end, Shu Qi was inexplicably implicated. There was a joke at the time, a person with 1 million followers quarreled with a person with 900,000 followers, forcing a person with 10 million followers to close Weibo. Donnie Yen seems to be Wu Sheng's life from the beginning. In the martial arts industry, Bruce Lee took the lead, Jackie Chan and Jet Li took the prime time, and the rest may be left to Donnie Yen. However, in the face of the indiscriminate bombardment of Hollywood blockbusters and the era of computer stunt synthesis technology, how much heroic complex can he and his last martial arts leave us?
As far as acting is concerned, Donnie Yen is indeed too old-fashioned and too mechanical. He doesn't have Bruce Lee's face of righteousness and national righteousness (which is not needed in this era), nor does he have the weirdness and kung fu comedy of Jackie Chan, and he does not have the sassy heroic spirit and cultural heritage of Jet Li. He is too much like a machine. With the movie on him, it is difficult to play a larger space. Just hit, hit, hit. "Ip Man" a few years ago, perhaps let us see his breakthrough. He began to pay attention to emotional input, and began to express the inner entanglement and struggle of the characters. However, this is only a flash in the pan. From "Ip Man" to "October Siege" to "Wu Xia", he began to fight, fight, fight again. It seems that the director and the audience have become accustomed to it. If Donnie Yen is present, he should play it all the way like a mobile game. He lacks the fatal wound of kung fu - softness. So, what about playing a tough guy? In Hollywood, there are too many tough guys, and the people of the world have followed Hollywood. Who still watches Donnie Yen in China? Therefore, "One Man's Martial Arts" is telling the story, but also the history, the history of Donnie Yen.
Wang Baoqiang has been trying his best to break through in recent years. However, his silly roots and Xu Sanduo are too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. I don't know if Wang Baoqiang will have a laugh in "One Man's Martial Arts". Anyway, I can't get used to watching Wang Baobao who "people are on the road" always stare at him, blow his beard and keep his mouth shut. Moreover, martial arts dramas cannot be performed well by knowing a few Shaolin Kung Fu moves. What matters is the atmosphere. Wang Baoqiang must be easy for the audience to dance.
Having said that, I feel that this movie is really a script by one person. Martial arts, in the definition of traditional Chinese culture, are often more real and full than rivers and lakes. Wulin is an exclusive cultural circle, while rivers and lakes are a mixed bag, a place where you come and go. The ancients sighed with emotion that they lived at the height of temples and far away from rivers and lakes. Martial arts, after all, cannot be self-fulfilling. A person's martial arts, that is, the last martial arts. With martial arts in the world, there is much suffocation, and it will not be accommodated by those in power. Sima Qian remarked that the chivalrous person violates the ban with martial arts. If you are an assassin or a rogue, maybe you don't need to really understand the essence of "wu", you can kill people. If you are really obsessed with martial arts, there are more scripts in the rivers and lakes of Gu Long and Jin Yong. Therefore, if one's martial arts does not capture the contradictions of martial artists in the modern cultural situation, it is a mediocre work, a product of consumer culture.
One's martial arts must be branded with the strong personal style of the director or protagonist, perhaps only Wong Kar-wai can.
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