This year marks the 45th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and celebrations are abounding across the country. Many state-owned film studios have produced patriotic gift films, among which "The Wind" produced by the above film studios is particularly eye-catching.
The director is Feng Xiaogang of "Beijing in New York", and the screenwriter is the international great director Kang Jianfei. The names of these two people alone are enough to carry weight.
The starring roles include Leslie Cheung and Nick Cheung, both of whom are familiar to mainland audiences from "Farewell My Concubine" and are both superstar-level existences. There is also a handsome young boy named Wang Bozhao, who is the little white dragon in "Journey to the West"; a Hong Kong star
Tang Zhenzong, who played Boyikao in "The Legend of the Gods"; mainland star Zhang Guangbei, who played Lu Bu in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", not to mention, this person became famous in the 1980s.
Just the bunch of handsome guys in the front are enough to excite mainland audiences, not to mention the two beauties Chen Hong and Li Bingbing. "New Dragon Gate Inn" starring Chen Hong has been a hit on major provincial channels in mainland China some time ago
, making her a hot star.
There is a huge poster posted on the outer wall of the Dashilar store of Oriental International Cinema in Beijing.
The main picture of the poster is Chen Hong and Li Bingbing. Both beauties are wearing military uniforms, showing a heroic and heroic temperament. Behind them are Zhang Guorong, Zhang Fengyi, Tang Zhenzong, Zhang Guangbei and Wang Bozhao, five handsome guys.
Surrounded by beautiful women.
At first glance, one might think that this is an idol drama, which has nothing to do with people’s traditional impression of patriotic films.
…
Chen Hong was wearing sunglasses, with the brim of her hat pulled down to cover her face. She held Kang Jianfei's hand and walked inside like a thief.
In the dark screening room, the movie will not start showing for a few minutes, and the sounds of eating melon seeds and chatting can be heard from everywhere.
"I'm telling you, this movie is so good. I've watched it for the fourth time."
"You still need to tell me? Yesterday's People's Daily editorial praised "The Wind" as a good movie and called on literary and artistic workers across the country to study it seriously."
"How come Feng Xiaogang is able to make patriotic movies so beautiful?"
"Nonsense, he is the director of "Beijing in New York", his strength is there!"
"That's true, I like that TV series too."
"You are all wrong. The reason why the movie "The Wind" is so good is because of the script written by Kang Jianfei."
"Who is Kang Jianfei?"
"Hey, you don't even know that Kang Jianfei is the richest man in Hong Kong!"
"Hong Kong's richest man doesn't do business, but he comes to write scripts?"
"I can't tell you clearly!"
"..."
Listening to the conversation in the back row, Chen Hong laughed secretly, leaned into Kang Jianfei's ear and said, "Brother Fei, it seems you are not famous enough. No one else knows about it."
"Yeah, I'm done with it," Kang Jianfei said with a smile, "and here you are, now you have become a big star, not inferior to Gong Li at all."
"Compared with Gong Li, I am definitely not as good as me." Chen Hongpo is self-aware.
The two chatted quietly, and the movie soon started.
Although the plot is roughly the same, with a different director, the style has completely changed.
Feng Xiaogang is a very ambitious person and has always wanted to make good films with great content. It can be seen from the fact that after he became famous through many comedies in the future, he switched to filming "The Night Banquet", "Assembly Number" and "1942".
This man is not willing to just be a comedy director.
It's a pity that he took too big a step and unexpectedly imitated Jiang Wen in artistic exploration. The movie "I'm Not Pan Jin/Lian" made him disgraced.
Feng Xiaogang's version of "The Wind" in front of us is more depressing than the one in Kang Jianfei's memory. Although some of the comedy plots in it make people laugh, the overall feeling is suffocating. By the time the narration at the end of the film came out, the audience was already overwhelmed.
Can't breathe anymore.
Especially now, China's film censorship standards are more relaxed than they were 20 years ago. Some bloody torture scenes that were deleted from the original version are so straightforwardly displayed in front of the audience that it makes people's scalp numb and they can't bear to watch them.
The audience still laughed a lot when they first watched it, but the more they watched it, the less they laughed. Until the end of the film, some emotional viewers even shed tears.
In the words of the People's Daily, this is an excellent and touching film that praises the fearless sacrifice of underground workers and reveals the face of the Japanese imperialist invaders.
Putting aside these official remarks, for current domestic film workers, "The Wind" has given them infinite shock.
It turns out that patriotic-themed movies can still be shot this way!
The men are more handsome than the other, even the Japanese villains are handsome. The women are prettier than the other, and their clothes are fashionable. This kind of petty bourgeois sentiment cannot be used as an underground party in the past.
These are all superficial skills, but what makes them think more deeply is the narrative structure and method of "The Wind". This kind of suspense drama-like spy film can be said to have broken the conventional routine of domestic films and is a groundbreaking artistic exploration.
.
After the hit release of "The Wind", patriotic-themed films are finally no longer clichés and can have a second life.
It has been more than half a month since the National Day, and there is no need for various units to organize movie viewings. Countless viewers spontaneously paid for it and walked into the cinema to receive a profound baptism of patriotism.
Many official media, including People's Daily and Guangming Daily, praised "The Wind" by name. Newspapers from all over the country followed suit and even aroused great social discussions. Many long-lost deeds of underground workers were revealed.
Take it out and sing praises.
Feng Xiaogang has gained the most. He has jumped from a hit TV actor to a director and artist. His status in the mainland film industry is second only to Lao Mouzi and Chen Kaige, and various honors are coming to him.
Kang Jianfei held Chen Hong's hand and slowly walked out of the cinema. There were many audience members around him, who were discussing the plot of the movie intensely.
Chen Hong leaned on him and suddenly said: "Brother Fei, my parents are coming to the capital in a few days. You go and meet them."
"Well," Kang Jianfei quickly made excuses, "I have to attend the Golden Horse Awards in a few days."
"That's it." Chen Hong felt a little depressed. She found a good boyfriend and couldn't wait to tell her parents, but she never had the chance.
Kang Jianfei wasn't just making excuses. He was really busy, with a lot of things going on in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The most important thing was that there were many beauties waiting for him to comfort him, so it was impossible to just accompany Chen Hong.
Tomorrow, both Ye Zipei and Peng Guohua will go to Beijing to discuss the acquisition of China Fire and the joint establishment of Magic Rock Records. Kang Jianfei has to come forward. His main job is not to participate in the negotiations, but to accompany Ye Zipei, whom he has not seen for a long time.