From the plot point of view, "24 Hours of Eight Righteous Fighters Against Five Hundred Killers" is a common "game" in commercial movies. To complete a task in the context of a specified time and place, the beginnings and transitions of the story all operate within this framework, and the idea of breaking through this setting is not considered. Not to explore the details of Sun Yat-sen's life, not to argue about his position in the Chinese revolutionary forces at that time, this is the principle set by director Chen Desen and producer Chen Kexin. The protagonists of the film are actually a group of loyal and brave righteous men who stepped into this "game" for various reasons.
The biggest success of the whole film is to portray the group portrait of this group of righteous men. In history, not everyone who died for the revolution was a revolutionary party. In Hong Kong movies in the early Republic of China, there were often ordinary people who shed their blood for the revolutionary party, and recent film and television works in the mainland have gradually accepted this setting. Some of the righteous men in "October Siege" are good at gambling, willing to do anything as long as they have money; some indulge in the love of their children and become opium smokers; although the rest have no vices, they are just ordinary people. The high-ranking ordinary people of Tongtong do not have any lofty aspirations.
The first seventy minutes of the film are full of literary drama, and most of the time is devoted to portraying their motives for participating in the defense of Sun Yat-sen. From them, young people can see the haziness of Muse Shaoai, adults can see the responsibilities brought by family and affection, and sad people can see the decision to sacrifice oneself for love. It can be said that it is an emotional drama facing all audiences. All have. The orphaned girl played by Li Yuchun, who sacrificed herself for revenge, was especially moving. According to the audience reaction, the performance of Wang Xueqi, who plays the role of threading the needle, is the most praised. He not only fulfilled the functions stipulated in the plot, but also performed the psychological struggle of a wealthy businessman to transform into a revolutionary party, as well as the deep love of a father, who can be said to be the pinnacle of the sea.
Men like to be excited when watching movies, and women like to be moved by watching movies. In the October Siege, there are many exciting and moving elements. At the beginning, the scene where Jacky Cheung played the president of the Hong Kong Branch of the Revival China Association preaching the idea of a democratic China, aroused me for a while, and the warm scenes and the scenes of the righteous people throwing their heads one after another and pouring their blood are not lacking in moving. But this also brings a problem, that is, there are too many lyrical paragraphs, which interrupt the overall narrative rhythm of the film. Especially in the second half of the fight scene, on the one hand, there is the confrontation between the righteous and the assassin, and on the other hand, Sun Yat-sen holds a meeting, and the rich businessman searches for his son. There are already enough clues, and there is an inner emotional scene for everyone, although it may be right. The audience has stronger psychological lethality, but it also dilutes the dramatic tension, making the slogan of "play for 60 minutes" in the whole film somewhat misnomered.
The martial arts drama in "October Siege" is a major attraction. The strange people in the film all have unique skills, and each fight is designed with its own characteristics. The most interesting scene of Sun Wenchu's landing is that one person falls from a building as a prelude. The Qing court assassins used crossbows, foreign guns and explosives to snipe Sun Wen, while the righteous men converted rickshaws into "armored vehicles" and used rice packets Taking cover and fighting back with weapons such as watermelons and flower pots, Battelle used a large basket to unplug the guards on the second floor along the street. It can be said that the design is novel and ingenious.
The duel between Donnie Yen and the Vietnamese boxing champion Kang Li is the meat of the entire martial arts drama. The highly realistic combat movements are in the hands of actors with real kung fu, and there is no such thing as head-to-head confrontation. In the end, Donnie Yen cut the opponent's throat with a flower pot, which reminded people of the fate of General Nalan in "Men Be Self-improvement", but with today's status, Donnie Yen naturally no longer has to play the role of the defeated general. Nicholas Tse is also a good beating person, but unfortunately in the film, like in "The True Color of a Man", he was beaten more than others. The beggar son played by Liming is a combination of infatuation and desperation, and he is also an ancestral iron fan kung fu, so he should be the most outstanding one. The film focuses on exaggerating his spirit of being a husband, but unfortunately Li Tianwang's interpretation is too dull, and the iron fan is not a strange weapon that can be played by a layman, so his fighting scene is mainly freehand, lacking. impact.
To my surprise, Li Yuchun's fighting scenes are also quite similar. The chain dart is a very difficult weapon to manipulate, but she basically doesn't see anything in her performance. Of course, there are no overly complicated movements, after all. is a newcomer.
The martial arts design is generally very exciting. The most regrettable thing is that it lacks a climax of a duel between good and evil at the end. After Donnie Yen sacrificed, the ultimate contradiction was solved with a pistol, which somewhat disappointed the audience's expectations.
The film's art, costumes, props and other departments have performed well. The old Hong Kong neighborhood, which covers an area of five football fields, is all built in real scenes, and it is said that it cost 43 million yuan. Director Chen Desen collected more than 1,000 old photos from all over the world to restore the Hong Kong cityscape at the beginning of the last century. One of the tables and chairs, the vendors and shops are all authentic and credible, and the panoramic view created by computer stunts has created the whole film. There is a real historical atmosphere. To be honest, what moved me the most during watching the film was not the story, but the rare sincerity of this Chinese-language film. And this sincerity, I believe, is based on deep feelings for a city. Only when filmmakers have this kind of feeling will they be so persistent in recreating the vitality of a city in a particular era.
The soundtrack of the film is worth mentioning. In addition to folk music, he also used bagpipes, which not only conforms to the colonial atmosphere of Hong Kong, but also exudes a chilling atmosphere. What surprised me the most was the Mongolian throat singing, which was used to set off the cruelty and weirdness of the Qing court killers, which was the finishing touch.
This year, there are blockbusters coming out of the all-star lineup one after another, but it is rare to see such a serious and sophisticated production behind it. The reappearance of an assassination history in Xiangjiang a hundred years ago is not only a ten-year sword of Hong Kong filmmakers, but also a real mature performance of the mainland market. The film's concept of focusing on the little people in the revolutionary tide is valuable, but the sincerity of meticulously creating high-quality products is even more moving. The righteousness and vitality embodied in "October Siege" can swept away the crookedness and vulgarity on the Chinese screen. Li Chongguang "As soon as I close my eyes, I see China's tomorrow." What I saw in "October Besieged" is the tomorrow of Chinese movies. How far this masterpiece can go in the mainland market, we will wait and see.
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