- Catering to Social Psychological Needs from the Movies of the "Ip Man" Series
Freud believed that in dreams, fragments of our past memories, traumatic stimuli, daytime experiences, etc. Mixed together, after a series of unconscious processing, mixed together, so that our dreams that we cannot achieve in real life can be realized. According to this theory, it is not difficult to find that movies, especially mainstream commercial movies today, have very similar characteristics and functions to "dream" itself. In fact, as early as the beginning of the film's birth, some people have proposed that the film is the DreamWorks. The stories we watch in the movies, the satisfaction and pleasure we get, come from the regrets and deprivations in our real life. Through an hour or two of watching the movie, our deficiencies are filled and the soul is comforted, albeit a wonderful hallucination. The only difference is that, compared with the unconsciousness of dreams, the movie is a conscious creation of people, so it is more logical and complete, and it can be said that the movie is a happy "daydream".
In just over a hundred years since the Lumiere brothers made their first film, films have rapidly covered and replaced many of the basic functions and social positions of traditional arts. Thousands of people dig into the "daydreams" woven by the film without hesitation, gain lessons, gain beliefs and values in daily life, obtain information on ways of life and fashion, and pray to escape from the tediousness of daily life psychologically. And pain, forget the suffering and injustice of the world, so as to enter the perfect world where justice always conquers evil and love always conquers death. As a result, the cinema has become a "church" across races, nationalities and cultures. Between electric and light illusions, people enter a kind of collective ritual, get catharsis and comfort, and enjoy peace and solitude.
However, the public's psychological deficiencies and needs will change with the changes of the times. Successful films are precisely at such a rhythm, and timely deliver the "daydreams" that are most in line with the psychology of the times to fill the deficiencies and meet the needs. , so it was accepted by the public at that time and gained a lot of box office and reputation. "Ip Man" and "Ip Man 2" are two films that are not very good in nature. It is because they conform to this rule that they have created successful models. "Ip Man" won the best film at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards and a box office of over 100 million yuan, and the current performance of "Ip Man 2" is the most powerful proof.
Throughout the history of Hong Kong kung fu films, there have been several ups and downs.
[Ma Yongzhen]
The mid-to-late 1960s to the 1970s was the mature period of Hong Kong's manufacturing industry and the heyday of modern industrial development. At that time, most people in Hong Kong devoted all their energy to rushing to their careers and earning money. Therefore, through arduous efforts alone, they became the darling of the era and became the darling of the era. The "Hong Kong Dream" became the unshirkable responsibility of the films of that period. At the same time, in that period of male dominance, the audience of the theater was also dominated by males. Therefore, the Hong Kong kung fu movie, which used male masculinity to adapt to the psychological needs of the dominant male audience, ushered in a climax period. The characters include Zhang Che, Hu Jinquan and Bruce Lee.
Taking Zhang Che's "Ma Yongzhen" as an example, the Shandong boy Ma Yongzhen came to Shanghai alone in Shiliyangchang to work hard. Although he worked as a coolie at the bottom of the society, he gradually became a well-known figure in Shanghai because of his unique skills. After gaining fame, Ma Yongzhen gradually lost the nature of first arriving in Shanghai, began to become domineering, and rose to become a force in Shanghai. However, the tiger eventually died on the mountain, and he could not escape the fate of being in the arena, taking the lead, and being brutally killed.
At that time, Hong Kong has gradually developed from a "market town" under the background of traditional agricultural civilization to a "city" of modern industrial and commercial civilization. Its strong secularization and utilitarian values have influenced the value orientation and development of kung fu films. Ma Yongzhen is no longer the mature, prudent and righteous gentleman in the old Cantonese martial arts films, but a "modern" young man who is young and vigorous, happy and vindictive. His humble background and miraculous success all cheered the struggling young people sitting in the theater, and effectively advanced their joy of success. At the same time, for those who have already benefited from the economic tide, Ma Yongzhen's experience in the second half of the period caters to their confusion and thinking. In the period of rapid economic development, in the face of many temptations of interests, for their own purposes, in order to realize their personal ideals and aspirations, or simply to climb up, they inevitably replaced the distinction between good and evil and the distinction between right and wrong with personal desires. In the collision between tradition and modernity, ideal and reality, morality and desire, collective and individual, these people will inevitably have a sense of helplessness. Ma Yongzhen's success reflected their reality, and at the same time Ma Yongzhen's failure also made them seek a virtual sense of redemption, as if they were praying in a church. What people fear most is the uncertainty of the unknown. When the final ending shown by the movie appears in front of them, their fear disappears, and what they get is a certain relief. At the same time, Ma Yongzhen's failure also sounded a wake-up call for them. They wishful thinking that it is precisely because of such an early warning that they can be alerted, and finally get through it safely, which gives them great comfort.
It is precisely because it appropriately caters to the needs of the times that "Ma Yongzhen" has achieved great success, winning the Best Director and Best Actor Awards at the 16th Asian Film Festival, and at the same time becoming a landmark masterpiece in Hong Kong cinema. Eventually inspired an entire era of Hong Kong gangster movies. The screen image of "Ma Yongzhen" has also become a household name since then. His personal struggle, rapid prosperity, and violation of established rules have also become the label of that era.
【Once Upon a Time】
From the 1980s to the early 1990s, the people of Hong Kong who worked hard at that time have achieved different achievements, and they have begun to enter the middle class and even the rich. The youth and recklessness of the year have faded, and they have been replaced by maturity and rationality. They began to care about larger themes, such as countries, nations, etc., and the influence of colonial culture made such thinking more complicated. At the same time, after achieving their own success, men begin to demand emotional comfort and pursue beauty and romance. Because of economic independence, many women are no longer simply vassals of men. They have entered the society and are increasingly pouring into the cinema, becoming an audience that cannot be ignored. At this time, many directors of kung fu films in Hong Kong followed suit in a timely manner, creating successful, prosperous and caring male images in their works. At the same time, to strengthen the status of women, they also added emotional elements to kung fu films. As a result, it was a great success and became another climax of Hong Kong kung fu movies. Its representatives include Yuan Heping, Tsui Hark, Jackie Chan, Jet Li and so on.
Take Tsui Hark's "Huang Feihong" series as an example. Huang Feihong is a successful man who owns his own industry - Bao Zhilin. He also serves as the head of the local militia group. He has a deep friendship with Lin Yongfu of the Black Flag Army, and has a considerable At the same time, the relationship between Huang Feihong and Aunt Thirteen is also flourishing. It can be said that such a character setting fully met the psychological needs of the mainstream audience at that time.
In fact, there have long been films featuring Huang Feihong as the protagonist. From the first "Once Upon a Time in the First Episode of Huang Feihong" filmed in Hong Kong in 1949, more than 100 "Huang Feihong films" have been released. Huang Feihong in each movie has a completely different interpretation, or a strict old man, or a naughty teenager, or a submissive boring melon, or a sage with extraordinary bearing, but no matter what changes, Huang Feihong is a warrior after all. , chivalrous. By the early 1990s, this positioning had undergone a fundamental change. The six "Once Upon a Time" directed by Tsui Hark really pushed Jet Li's Huang Feihong to the status of the great "Xia" and a generation of masters.
Tsui Hark's version of "Once Upon a Time" inherits the inner essence of "Once Upon a Time in the Movie", but completely recreates a new "Once Upon a Time" image and makes it a classic. Compared with Guan Dexing's version of the serious elder who is chivalrous and righteous, Tsui Hark's "Master Huang" is in a young and middle-aged age, without the original authoritative image representing the traditional patriarchal culture in his gestures. The demeanor shows his "new generation" style of kingship. Compared with the joyful and heroic young Huang Feihong created by Jackie Chan, Tsui Hark's "Master Huang" is more mature and stable, showing the temperament of a generation of masters from time to time. Then Wu. Tsui Hark deliberately highlighted the background of Huang Feihong's era. In this social transition period of internal and external troubles, Huang Feihong would think about the changes of the times, suffer from ignorant and backward people, and be at a loss in the face of new technology. And in the face of love, there is nothing to do. Master Huang is no longer a green man who can only fight bravely, but a middle class who is willing to think and try to change in the changing society. He no longer just hangs the pot to help the world, but worries about the country, and elevates the original self-cultivation and martial arts and eliminating harm for the people to the level of ethnic conflicts between the Chinese nation and foreign invaders and the survival of the country. The heaviness of worry. Although the limitations of history doom him to have a narrow vision, his personality and state of mind make him instinctively choose a bright and correct path. He may be passive in taking responsibility, but once he takes it, he will have no turning back, and he may not be able to. Change the society, but it is definitely a witness and participant of the change of the times. Tsui Hark's Wong Fei-hung reveals the inseparable history between Hong Kong and the mainland, and deeply explores the historical complex belonging to Hong Kong people and the personality realm that people expect in that era.
Tsui Hark's "Huang Feihong"'s experience from youth to adult mentality caters to Hong Kong's social development stage and resonates with the general public. No wonder Guan Dexing himself was too surprised to speak after seeing it. That year, the first film of "Once Upon a Time" alone garnered 30 million Hong Kong dollars, ranking among the top ten at the annual box office. At the same time, it also won the Best Director Award at the 11th Hong Kong Film Awards. The labels of the new "Huang Feihong", such as property, reflection, rationality, and concern for the country, have become a portrayal of Hong Kong people in that era.
【Ip man】
In 1997, Hong Kong returned to the motherland. With the passage of time, doubts and worries arising from political and economic differences have gradually disappeared, and Hong Kong people's desire to seek identity and cultural identity has become increasingly urgent. Therefore, films that are permeated with a strong sense of locality and homeland and show the national spirit can better meet the psychological needs of Hong Kong people at this stage. At the same time, in today's globalized world, both Hong Kong people and mainlanders feel the pressure of intrusion from Western politics, economy and culture. Such pain also needs a way to dissolve. As a result, in "Ip Man" and "Ip Man 2", there is no longer Huang Feihong's reflection on Yihequan and the exploration of the relationship between China and the West, but turned into a simple opposition of duality. At the moment of the foreign Japanese samurai and Western boxers, the Chinese people collectively released the depression in their depressed chests.
While promoting the national spirit and catering to the background of the times, the film is also further catering to the individual needs of the public. In this era, collectivism began to give way to individualism, so the film explores with people how should individuals choose when there is a contradiction and conflict between a national or more general sense of justice and individual ethical needs? At the beginning of the national crisis, Ye Wen didn't want to do justice, he just wanted to save his family and survive in the troubled times. But in the end, there are no eggs under the nest, and Ye Wen was pushed to the cusp of a historical and personal life. He must use his kung fu to fight for survival, fight for his wife and children, and fight for his friends. Maybe the audience will understand his actions as fighting for human dignity and national justice, but it doesn't matter anymore, Ip Man has become a hero. And Ye Wen's mental journey on the hero's road is very rich, creating a real person with flesh and blood and individual temperament, allowing him to make choices that are both historical and human. This moment is a glorious moment in the life of an ordinary person, and it makes us feel a more real human nature and thus a deeply moving heroism. If we say that our era is an era of lack of heroes, it would be better to say that it is an era of lack of real and credible heroes. The previous image of "Gao Daquan" has corrupted everyone's appetite, making the images of heroes become so false, so they have been rejected. to the abandonment of people. But this doesn't prove that we don't need heroes. In fact, people always expect a hero to appear. It's just that this hero can no longer jump out of the cracks like before. He is not a god who looks down on us from above. He should be a part of us first and foremost. From this point of view, Ye Wen loves his wife, has no bad habits, and works hard all day to raise money to support his family. , In fact, it is not incompetence, but for that little responsibility to the family. During the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, if the emperor hadn't done a major downsizing of the post station, and if he hadn't laid off a little post soldier named Li Zicheng, then there would never have been a "Chuang Wang" character in history, so don't make everyone anxious, maybe it's inside Just hide Zhang Wen, Li Wen and so on.
Heroes such as Ma Yongzhen, Huang Feihong, and Ip Man are not so much created by the film industry as they are called by people from different eras from their hearts. The filmmakers just catered to the needs of the times, projecting the desired image on the screen by technical means, making these "daydreams" seem so real and believable. Of course, making a "daydream" is also a technical job, and winning a film and selling it doesn't necessarily prove that it's your job. In terms of craftsmanship, Weixin Ye has to learn a lot from Zhang Che and Xu Hark.
References:
Dai Jinhua, Film Criticism, Cai Hongsheng , Eighty
Years of Hong Kong Films,
Chen Mo, The Development and Evolution of Hong Kong Martial Arts Films
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