406 Embroidered Spring Knife, Flying Fish Suit, Jinyiwei (Happy New Year's Eve)
Chen Mao is a senior movie fan + amateur film critic.
The reason why he is an amateur film critic is because he has just become a film critic, or he is a wild person who is not accepted by the film critic circle.
But this does not mean that Chen Mao’s influence is weak.
With the online name [Mao Mao Orange], he is very popular on Penguin Blog and has more than 500,000 fans, which is more fans than many celebrities.
This also made Chen Mao one of the amateur internet celebrity representatives of Penguin Blog’s non-star public figures, and the first batch of amateur bloggers to receive a yellow V.
What Chen Mao relies on for his fame is commenting on the newly aired TV series and movies, either making derogatory remarks or praising Amway.
He first became famous when "Ma Dashuai" was broadcast in January. He made a series of special blog introductions.
He has accumulated more than 120 blog posts and single-handedly made "Ma Dashuai" famous on Penguin Blog. I heard that Lao Zhao even sent someone to contact him and wanted to take him under his wing, but he was declined.
Another masterpiece is Fanxing's "Armor Warriors" series, which Chen Mao has spoken highly of and hailed as a milestone in Chinese special-photography dramas.
But when it comes to what really made Chen Mao famous and attracted 500,000 fans, we must also talk about the "Yan Shuang Eagle" series.
The first part of the "Yan Shuangying" series was aired in 2001, in which Yan Shuangying learns his skills to kill bandits, and then fights Japanese ronin. His wife dies, and he is seriously injured and is taken in by the Eighth Route Army.
"Yan Shuangying 2", which was broadcast last year, tells the story of Yan Shuangying joining the Eighth Route Army, becoming a blockbuster, becoming a lone hero, and then forming a martial arts team to kill the Japanese like crazy.
The heroine played by Fan Xiaopang is the daughter of a traitorous county magistrate. She is dissatisfied with her father being a slave of the country and rebels in various ways.
Later, she accidentally helped Yan Shuangying, and then had various chance encounters. Finally, she joined Yan Shuangying's team and was responsible for the team's intelligence analysis and logistics. At the same time, she used her father to help the martial arts team in various ways.
During this period, she fell in love with Yan Shuangying and pursued her every day. However, Yan Shuangying still thought about her sister (Li Bingbing) who died before the first movie and did not dare to accept it.
In the end, the character Fan Xiaopang used her father to sabotage the Japanese operation and was discovered by her father. In order to save her life, the traitor father reported her to the Japanese.
Fan Xiaopang was arrested and tortured without saying a word. The Japanese had no choice but to execute her in public, but the actual purpose was to use her as bait to kill Yan Shuangying.
However, Yan Shuangying and others were indeed preparing to rob the execution ground. Fan Xiaopang knew it was a trap and tried to commit suicide in public to destroy the Japanese conspiracy.
Later, Yan Shuangying killed the murderous Japanese Lieutenant Colonel and Fan Xiaopang's traitorous father, avenging her.
How to tell this story? Not to mention that future anti-Japanese dramas will be poorly acted, at least they will not be very fresh. However, in 2003, this plot was far from reaching the old-fashioned evaluation.
The heroine played by Fan Xiaopang is extremely lovable, with a very clear distinction between righteousness and small family. She has a generous personality and is not shy about pursuing love. She is smart, has outstanding abilities and does not hinder the team, and finally sacrifices herself for her comrades.
But then again, the "Yan Shuang Eagle" series takes the heroic route after all, and the starring ability is relatively "outstanding".
For example, the martial arts team, needless to say, Yan Shuangying himself is [half human and half ghost, the best gunner], and his fighting ability, resourcefulness and other aspects are also top-notch, which can be called the ceiling of mankind.
Especially after joining the organization, I received the blessing of faith and became even more effective in combat.
In a plot of "Yan Shuang Eagle 2", he used two box cannons (with enough bullets) to block two full squads of Japanese soldiers by relying on street fighting in complex terrain.
In the end, more than 20 Japanese were killed, and all of them left calmly.
There is also a bombardier in the armed forces team. The distance error within a 100-meter radius is no more than 2 meters. Within 50 meters, the shot is always successful. It is an absolute close-range human mortar.
No, even mortars are not accurate...
In addition, there is a strong man played by actor Jin Song, who was born as a warrior monk and is extremely powerful. The light machine gun in his hand is like a machine gun, firing at will.
There is also a tomb robber who is good at cracking traps and digging holes in disguise. With a Luoyang shovel, he can dig from the city gate to the city's military police department. He is nicknamed "Tu Xingsun".
In order to prevent him, after the heroine was caught, she used multiple suspended reinforced iron cages and placed them in the yard. There were seven or eight checkpoints around, and they were monitored and patrolled 24 hours a day.
Including the heroine Fan Xiaopang, she is actually a genius, with a photographic memory, careful thinking, and a little master of making money, so that the military workers have no worries about food and clothing, and enjoy good food and drink.
In a sense, this can no longer be considered a military team, but a low-end version of a superhero team.
It is precisely because of this that it is different from the War of Resistance that many people understand.
Although the Japanese were cunning and insidious, the traitors were slippery, and even caused great losses to the military workers, some viewers still couldn't accept it.
Chen Mao is one of them. He made various complaints about the "Yan Shuang Ying" series, questioning that "Yan Shuang Ying" is too non-human and is a "thunder drama".
For this reason, the official blog of the "Yan Shuang Eagle" series personally went out and started a debate with Chen Mao, citing many war gods of our army.
Hu Xiudao, known as the "King of Individual Soldiers", participated in the Battle of Shangganling when he was still a new soldier.
With all his comrades injured and killed, one man held his position for a whole day, repelled 41 enemy charges and wiped out more than 280 enemy soldiers.
Also in Shangganling, [Sniper God] Zhang Taofang killed 214 enemies with 442 rounds of bullets in 32 days, which frightened the US military and the United Nations.
Li Fei, the hero of the Volunteer Army, led a team of 6 people to hold off two U.S. battalions and one Dutch battalion, killing 360+ enemies and suffering no casualties.
Pang Guoxing, the man who said "The enemy not only refused to surrender, but also dared to fight back against me", three people held an artillery battalion.
All these things, our army has many legendary combat powers and warrior kings.
All of them were masters who went to the underworld, slapped the Lords of Hell, and then came back in a swaggering manner. Yan Shuangying could barely pass the test when compared with them.
Later, considering some people, the official blog of "Yan Shuangying" also listed several foreign war god legends.
The most famous one is Simon Haye, the king of human snipers. During the Soviet-Finnish War, he killed 542 people in less than four months, an average of almost 4.5 people a day. In the true sense, killing people is like killing chickens.
As the screenwriter and director of the "Yan Shuangying" series, Qian Yanqiu also responded on his blog, saying that Yan Shuangying himself actually integrated the experience of the King of War and the God of War, and he wrote it in a disguised way.
After all, reality does not require logic, but film and television works do not.
Some people were dissatisfied with Yan Shuangying's sniper escape from the two Japanese squads. If, like Pang Guoxing, he captured all two Japanese squads, the outside world would be upset.
But in fact, in the late stage of Japanese surrender, it is common for small troops at the squad and platoon level to directly take over several times or even dozens of times more soldiers than the Japanese troops on their own side and surrender.
Later, this incident also caused many netizens, especially the patriotic young people called "angry youth" and "50 Cent Party" by some, to worship our military heroes, and a lot of information was dug up in advance for the public to know.
Chen Mao also retracted the "thunder drama" evaluation, but he is still not too interested in the "Yan Shuang Eagle" series, but anyway, he is famous because of "Yan Shuang Eagle", and the "Yan Shuang Eagle" series is also popular online because of him
Explosive.
Although word-of-mouth is still polarized, its influence is indeed further out of the circle.
Zhang Zijian also became famous because of the scenes of Yan Shuangying and "Armor Warrior" Wind Eagle Man.
What's even more awesome is that his two "women" are Li Bingbing and Fan Xiaopang respectively, and there will be two new female leads in "Yan Shuang Eagle 3", tentatively Gao Yuanyuan and Liu Yan.
The former is more of a cameo role, not a real heroine. It was completed quickly, and Liu Yan has more roles.
Later, in "Yan Shuang Ying 4" and "Yan Shuang Ying 5", the proposed female lead candidates include Yang Xue, Damimi is likely to also participate, Guo Zhenni, Lan Xi from the Chinese drama class 02, and Zhang from the 03 class.
Li is also on the list of candidates.
Forget about Liu Tianxian, he could just make a guest appearance as a nurse from our army or a silly and sweet person. It would be too inconsistent to be the heroine of the "Yan Shuang Eagle" series.
At the same time, the heroine Ru Yan of the "Detective Di Renjie" series will be played by Dong Xuan if nothing unexpected happens.
Considering the lineup of female protagonists who will star with Zhang Zijian, Zhang Zijian is likely to become the envy of many LSPs in the future.
Men treat them like swallows and double eagles!
Women should avoid snakes and scorpions, they are too much trouble for the wife, and they are destined by the evil star...
Back to Chen Mao, he thought he had offended the stars after experiencing "Swallows and Eagles", but he didn't expect that for this premiere of "Embroidered Spring Knife", he was specially sent an invitation letter and even included food, accommodation and travel expenses.
Of course, Fanxing was not the only one to invite him. Fanxing also sent invitations to influential amateur film critics from Penguin Blog and related websites, and considering that most of these people worked part-time and had limited liquidity, food, accommodation and travel expenses were included.
This is also the first time a theatrical film has paid attention to online amateur film critics.
Before this, mainland films were dominated by a group of professional film critics and media. The reputation of a film was often based on these film critics.
But with the development of the Internet era, the voices of the public are becoming louder and louder.
Especially with the rise of community network platforms such as Tianya Forum, Baidu Tieba, and Penguin Blog, online public opinion has an increasing impact on a movie's reputation.
At present, most film producers have not changed from their past inherent concepts.
It was not until "The Promise" was released next year and Director Chen was pushed off the altar that everyone realized the power of netizens.
And Cao Xuan has a golden finger, so he naturally reacts faster than others, especially when the Penguin blog went online, which created a small number of influential amateur film critics.
The impact of one of their film reviews, spread through the convenience of the Internet, is even greater than that of many professional film critics.
At this time, most of the netizens are young people, who can be regarded as the main contributors to the movie box office. Therefore, online promotion can replace the media and offline and become the number one tool for movie promotion.
Cao Xuan has already tasted the benefits of online publicity for "When Men Are in Love" before, and now with the help of the Penguin Blog launched this year, he will intensify his efforts.
Although Sina's cooperation last year was good, it was not as powerful as the Penguins' own home court. The publicity and momentum was like free money...
Of course, online promotion belongs to online promotion. Professional film critics and media, as well as offline road shows, Cao Xuan is not idle either.
Although the Internet is on the rise, it does not mean that other aspects of publicity are unimportant, and even these still occupy the absolute advantage of film promotion and distribution.
There are definitely only a lot more professional film critics and media attending today's premiere than amateur film critics like Chen Mao.
………
Chen Mao, who was sitting in the front row, looked at Cao Xuan and others who were answering questions, and did not forget to record the key points in his notebook.
This premiere was not for nothing. Fanxing sincerely hoped that they could watch the movie, write a review and post it on their blog, and even gave them a certain amount of editing fees.
Moreover, the conditions are very relaxed, allowing film critics to express themselves freely as long as they do not smear prejudice.
It was this condition that impressed Chen Mao and others.
These people are basically senior movie fans or movie enthusiasts. They are film critics out of hobby or persistence, and because they have just emerged, they are more sentimental and have guaranteed moral integrity, so they will not give in easily for five buckets of rice for the time being.
In another two years, most people will have tasted the sweetness of Qiafen and have become the new film critics. The so-called creative freedom is just a bargaining chip for asking price.
Others may not know it, but Chen Mao himself is relatively aloof.
He himself has a formal job at the university, his family is well off, and he is not short of money, so he is one of the few film critics who refused Fanxing's writing fee and food, accommodation and travel expenses.
When he first accepted Fanxing's invitation, he made it clear that he would give all his opinions fairly and objectively.
Regardless of whether "Xiu Chun Knife" is a bad movie or a good one, I will honestly give my most honest evaluation based on my own thoughts or interviews with other people.
If Fanxing doesn't want him to go to the premiere, then he will pay for the tickets himself and then write about it on his blog.
Faced with Chen Mao like this, Fanxing could not assassinate him. When the publicity personnel reported, Cao Xuan was very interested in Chen Mao and specially invited him.
This is why he, an amateur, surpassed many professional film critics and authoritative media reporters and sat in the front row.
After the interview was over and the movie officially started to play, Chen Mao also put away all distracting thoughts and seriously watched the feature film of "Xiu Chun Knife".
It begins with a monologue from Cao Xuan’s voice, introducing the background of the story——
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Tianqi passed away, and Emperor Chongzhen had just ascended the throne and immediately began to attack the eunuchs headed by Wei Zhongxian.
Wei Zhongxian was demoted to Fengyang, and Emperor Chongzhen immediately ordered all parties to suppress and arrest eunuch members.
As the emperor's personal soldier, he naturally became the sharpest butcher's knife in the emperor's hand...
This beginning is actually not a secret. The trailer of "Xiu Chun Dao" has already released the background of the late Ming Dynasty.
It also caused a certain amount of turmoil at that time. "Ambush from Flying Daggers" is about two policemen in the late Tang Dynasty, and "Xiu Chun Dao" is about three imperial guards in the late Ming Dynasty.
In the eyes of the outside world, the two movies are more or less competitive.
It was not until later that both parties came up with script filing schedules that the matter was settled.
Even before "Hero" was released, the outline of the script for "House of Flying Daggers" had been filed. "Spring Knife" was a little later, but at the time of filing, "House of Flying Daggers" had not yet started filming, so the script was kept strictly confidential.
So from a clear point of view, there is no claim of plagiarism between the two parties. It is completely coincidental.
And when the trailer of "Xiu Chun Knife" comes out, viewers who have watched "House of Flying Daggers" will find something wrong when they compare it.
Wei Zhongxian, the great eunuch of the Ming Dynasty, and Chongzhen appeared in "Xiu Chun Dao". It is obvious that the movie story is inserted into the historical background.
Just like Jin Yong's martial arts, it has been extended and adapted to a certain extent while the historical framework remains unchanged.
As for "House of Flying Daggers", to put it bluntly, it borrows the background of the late Tang Dynasty to create a fictional flying knife sect that competes with the Yamen. In fact, it has nothing to do with history at all.
If the late Tang Dynasty is replaced by the Three Kingdoms, the Five Dynasties, the late Song Dynasty, the late Ming Dynasty, and even the Republic of China, there will be no violation.
This is also a common problem with Lao Mouzi's costume movies. Except for a few movies such as "Hero", the rest of them don't like to write about specific eras, borrowing a framework and then magically changing it.
This is true for "The Great Wall", "Shadow", "A City Full of Golden Armor" and "Three Guns".
The plots of his movies are suspended, which is partly related to the lack of a complete world view, which makes many plots look a bit "ridiculous".
For example, "The Great Wall" fought against the gluttonous army, and "Shadow" relied on a few broken umbrellas and slides to win a city.
The story of "Thunderstorm" is very exciting, but the internal fighting within the family involves the struggle for imperial power, which is more or less false. The whole family stabs each other, and the ministers seem to have disappeared. This is completely impossible in the real world.
On the contrary, it is in line with the background of the real era, and many of the stories Lao Mouzi did well, even stunningly.
That's why Wei Zhongxian was shown in the trailer of "Xiu Chun Knife", just to attract some interested viewers.
Among the powerful officials of the Ming Dynasty, apart from Zheng He who made seven voyages to the West, Wei Zhongxian is the most famous. This is mainly due to his contributions to film and television dramas and various magazines and wild publications.
As for Liu Jin, Wang Zhi, Wang Zhen, Feng Bao and others whose reputation in the Ming Dynasty was not inferior to that of Wei Zhongxian, most ordinary people today do not even know about them.
The most famous people besides Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor, are Chongzhen, the king who lost his country. Even Zhu Di is now ranked behind Chongzhen.
This is also the reason why "Xiu Chun Dao" is set in the late Ming Dynasty. If Wei Zhongxian were replaced by Liu Jin or Wang Zhen, many people would probably not know that this was a story about the Ming Dynasty unless it was made clear directly.
This is not an exaggeration. There are still many people who do not understand a lot of historical common sense in 2022, let alone 2004, when the Internet has just emerged.
You know, in many TV dramas set in the Ming Dynasty, especially those with directors from Hong Kong and Taiwan, many of the Ming Dynasty emperors' subordinates were called Ouchi guards or imperial guards with swords.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he had to crawl out from the ground with his Jin Yiwei to skin them and skin them...
Therefore, when the trailer for "Xiuchundao" was aired, it spent half a minute explaining that the Xiuchundao was a weapon of the Ming Dynasty's Jinyiwei, and what kind of people the Ming Dynasty's Jinyiwei were.
Back to the movie, it opens with two patrol officers and soldiers wearing flying saucer hats, patrolling the streets late at night with lanterns, and complaining from time to time.
One of the officers and soldiers named [Ma Ye] has a guest appearance by Ding Haifeng, who is Wu Song from the 1998 version of "Water Margin".
Mr. Ma was alert. When he passed by a dark alley, he immediately sensed something was wrong. He carried a lamp in one hand and drew a knife in the other, forming a defensive and counterattack posture, with a serious and stern look on his face.
"Who is it, come out."
A person slowly walked out of the dark alley. Mr. Ma held up a lantern. Through the light, the person's face was revealed.
It was Cao Xuan who was wearing brocade clothes and carrying an embroidered spring knife at his waist. Behind him were about a dozen school captains, warriors, etc. who were similarly dressed but without embroidery on their black clothes.
Cao Xuan, whose face was expressionless under the shadow, gave Ma Ye a cold look. The other party saw the embroidery on his body through the light, and was so frightened that he fell to the ground.
"Jin...is Jin Yiwei."
When Chen Mao saw this paragraph, he quickly wrote down a few points in his notebook that he liked more.
Ma Ye, who plays a guest appearance by Ding Haifeng at the beginning, is alert and brave. When something goes wrong, he directly draws his knife to face the enemy, looking like a ruthless character.
As a result, the next second, when he saw Cao Xuan's clothes, he was so scared that he peed.
Because of the previous foreshadowing, the audience will not think that Mr. Ma is timid and incompetent, but will be surprised by Jin Yiwei's fierce reputation, raising their sense of expectation.
At the same time, there is also a little Easter egg here. Back then, Ximen Qing, played by Cao Xuan, was beaten to death by Ding Hai's storm. Now, in "Xiu Chun Knife", he scares the opponent and runs away, which can be regarded as a bad breath.
The next plot shows why Jin Yiwei is so fierce and powerful.
Under the reminder of the on-screen subtitles, the audience learned that the male protagonist Shen Lian, played by Cao Xuan, was ordered to come to the Chen family to capture the eunuch Xu Xianchun.
Mr. Chen was discussing with his younger brother to send Xu Xianchun out of the city. The next second, he saw his wife and daughter coming in wearing pajamas. Just as he was questioning them in confusion, Cao Xuan led them in.
He took out the token with [Beizhen Fusi] printed on it in his hand and announced his home address: "Master Chen, I am the Jinyi Guard Beizhen Fusi - Shen Lian."
The two sides exchanged a few words of attack. Mr. Chen and his brother both suppressed their fear and took the lead. Shen Lian defeated the opponent three times, held the opponent's knee up, drew the knife and stabbed it neatly into the opponent's shoulder, turned the handle of the knife, and screamed.
Feng Danyun rapped lightly and asked Mr. Chen.
Mr. Chen collapsed to the ground, but still did not spit. Shen Lian grabbed his daughter and kicked Mr. Chen down.
"Your daughter is only 14 years old. If she goes to the Jiaofang Division, Shen will not have to say much about the consequences. And this is all caused by your secret eunuch."
Under the collapse, Mr. Chen explained the situation, and Shen Lian led his men to arrest them. The other party had the chance to escape beforehand, and Shen Lian pursued them. There were central subordinates who stayed to intercept them, but he killed them one by one.
This scene and the previous scene where Shen Lian playfully takes down Mr. Chen's brother, both initially showed the martial arts style of the movie "Xiu Chun Dao".
It is crisp, sharp and decisive, but it is indeed a down-to-earth realistic style.
Apart from other things, Shen Lian scaled the high wall during pursuit by sprinting a short distance to accelerate, and then flew up on the ladder set up by two of his men.
This made many people accustomed to the protagonists flying around in martial arts movies, and the movie critics' eyes lit up.
Of course, although the fighting scenes in "Xiu Chun Dao" are excellent, this is the era when martial arts movies are prevalent.
Whether it's the previous "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" or "Hero" or the recent "House of Flying Daggers", the action scenes are all very brilliant.
"Xiu Chun Knife" is at most on par with them, or it can be said that each has its own merits, but to say it exceeds them is a bit unrealistic.
Although the main film has not yet been released, the small test has also allowed many experienced movie fans to see that the action elements of "Xiu Chun Dao" are absolutely top-notch.
This is not unexpected. The martial arts directors of the "Xiu Chun Dao" crew are Zhang Lei and Yuan Kui.
The former is regarded as Fanxing's royal martial arts instructor. He has appeared in most of the films and TV shows produced by Fanxing such as "Armor Warrior", "Yan Shuangying" and "Eternal Dragon Sword", as long as there are martial arts scenes.
The latter is one of the Seven Little Blessings, a representative figure of Xiangjiang action instructors, and one of the few martial arts instructors who can go abroad.
It is worth mentioning that Sang Lin, the martial arts instructor of the original Xiuchundao, is actually a disciple of Yuan Kui, and he also participated in the action design of "Xiuchundao" this time.
He was even seduced by Cao Xuan, and he was vaguely planning to return to China and join Fanxing.
In addition, director Xu Laoguai is a representative figure in martial arts movies and is an excellent martial arts action designer. Cao Xuan also invited his best friend Yuan Baye to serve as the general action consultant to oversee the film.
As for the cast, Wu Jing and Zhao Wenzhuo are professional stars, and they both became famous through action scenes.
Cao Xuan plays roles in "The Legend of Heaven and Sword of the Dragon" and "The Swordsman". He can be considered a representative actor in the martial arts genre, and his appeal in fighting scenes is even stronger than that of some movie stars.
The same is true for Hu Jun. With the help of "Dragon Babu" and his majestic and burly figure, he is obviously a Chinese drama major, but he is regarded by many as an action actor. This shows that his fighting skills are very much appreciated by the audience.
All of these things, the behind-the-scenes and cast of the martial arts drama "Xiu Chun Dao" cannot be said to be the ceiling of Chinese-language films, but they are definitely at the top level in the industry nowadays.
Under such circumstances, the outside world also has high expectations for the fighting scenes in "Xiu Chun Dao", which has attracted a large number of martial arts fans and action fans.
As far as Chen Mao is concerned, he doesn't have much interest in action scenes, but the clean and neat fights in the first two scenes of "Xiu Chun Knife" still made me like it very much.
The next plot is that Xu Xianchun, who was pursued by Shen Lian, was captured by other Jinyi guards who were ambushing around.
At the same time, through dialogue, part of the situation of the male protagonist Shen Lian was also explained, and his two brothers also appeared one by one.
The boss, Lu Jianxing, played by Hu Jun, holds the title of General Banner, and is armed with two-handed wild goose-wing swords. He was expected to make up a hundred households, but was destroyed by Xu Xianchun.
The second eldest son, Shen Lian, has the same position as the general banner. He has weapons such as Yanfei Dao and crossbow. His position is also the general banner. According to the dialogue, we can know that Shen Lian was formerly a hundred households, but was demoted to the general banner for some reason.
The third youngest, Jin Yichuan, is played by Wu Jing. His position is Xiaoqi. His weapon is a pair of daggers. He has a lively personality but has his own secrets.
At the same time, the situation of the three brothers was not very good. They were "lonely ghosts" with no backers in the yamen, and the jobs they took were all hot jobs that others did not want.
The next few plots further introduced the situation of the three brothers and pointed out their dilemma.
The eldest son wanted to fill the gap left by his father, and fulfilled his mother's wish. Not only did he give the credit to his boss, but he also spent all his savings on it.
However, his boss, Zhang Ying, delayed his promotion in every possible way on the grounds that he had too little money.
The second child fell in love with an official prostitute from the Jiaofang Division and wanted to redeem her, but he had no money.
The third child is because he has a dirty background. He was originally a gangster, and later entered the Jinyi Guards under someone else's name. Now he is being blackmailed by his fellow disciple Ding Xiu.
Moreover, the third child was suffering from tuberculosis, which was why he was teased and applauded by his senior brother, but could not be beaten.
The three brothers each have their own difficulties. Although they are Jin Yiwei, their lives are actually quite miserable.
At this time, the newly appointed governor of Dongchang, Eunuch Zhao (Zhao Wenzhuo), found them.
Because the three brothers were in such a miserable situation, they were obviously members of the eunuch party who had gained power before, so Eunuch Zhao found the three of them and claimed that the emperor asked them to lead people to catch up with Wei Zhongxian who had just left the capital and eliminate the root cause.
The imperial edict is my own. This is a big errand. If it is completed, the three brothers will be in good luck.
When the audience in front of the screen saw this scene, people who were familiar with history immediately remembered the fate of Wei Zhongxian recorded in history.
According to Ming history records, Emperor Chongzhen attacked Wei Zhongxian and first sent him to Fengyang to guard the mausoleum, intending to test the situation of the court. After all, there were many members of the eunuch party, and if Wei Zhongxian was not handled carefully, it would cause major turmoil.
After seeing that this order did not arouse much reaction, Chongzhen sent Jin Yiwei to escort him back to the capital for punishment.
When Wei Zhongxian arrived in Fucheng, he received a secret report. In fear, he hanged himself.
It seems that the general plot is the same as that of "Xiu Chun Dao", with minor changes, changing the emperor's arrest to death, but it still makes sense.
After all, there have been several conspiracy theories saying that Wei Zhongxian did not commit suicide, but was assassinated by members of Chongzhen, the Donglin Party or the Eunuch Party.
Chongzhen is the least suspicious, after all, Wei Zhongxian is still useful to him.
The suspicion of the Donglin Party is not small. On the one hand, the two sides have deep grievances. On the other hand, considering that Wei Zhongxian returns to Beijing, something may change, so it makes sense to take action to prevent future troubles.
The biggest suspect is the Eunuch Party, because Wei Zhongxian is the core of the Eunuch Party and has too many secrets.
Many people wanted him to shut up. In addition, considering the situation, once Wei Zhongxian died, the culprit would be executed. It is likely that their accomplices would be given a lighter sentence, or even be accepted into the emperor's service.
Considering the moral integrity of the gang of eunuchs, killing the boss should have no psychological pressure on them.
However, killing Wei Zhongxian may not necessarily be good for the eunuchs. It is also possible that the eunuchs are leaderless and targeted in various ways, so the suspicion of the eunuchs can also be explained in the opposite direction.
But no matter what, the chance of Wei Zhongxian being assassinated is still very high, so the deduction of "Xiu Chun Dao" is very consistent with the psychology of many viewers present.
Returning to the plot, on a thunderstorm night, three brothers wearing leather hats and raincoats came to the inn where Wei Zhongxian was staying.
Shen Lian planned to send a signal and call on the people who were ambushing around to take action, but was stopped by the boss.
It was a good job this time, and many people in the yamen were jealous of their brother, especially his boss Zhang Ying, who might have had some trouble in today's team.
If everyone is summoned to take action, if something goes wrong and Wei Zhongxian escapes, all three of their brothers will die.
Of course, the boss also has another idea, which is for his three brothers to take the credit and get promotions and salary increases.
The two brothers, who were also in a dilemma, were persuaded by their boss, and the three of them chose to take matters into their own hands.
He originally planned to clear the checkpoint and quietly assassinate him, but Wei Zhongxian's bodyguards also had experts.
In desperation, the three brothers revealed their identities, but they were still besieged by the highly rewarded guards. On a thunderstorm night, a tragic fight took place.
The crew of "Xiu Chun Dao" has carefully designed both the weapons and the movements.
The boss, Lu Jianxing, used a two-handed saber with a broad and heavy blade. His sword skills were wide open and closed, and his momentum was like a rainbow.
The second child, Shen Lian, used the Yanling Sword, which was a standard sword for officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. It was very useful in actual combat. It could cut, stab, and pick. Its moves were changeable. It was quick and sharp in committing crimes and had an impressive momentum.
Jin Yichuan, the third youngest, wields a pair of daggers, taking a light and agile approach. His sword skills are concise, vertical and horizontal, fast, accurate, and steady.
Although there were many guards besieging him, the three brothers fought in a tacit understanding and still fought vigorously. They even eventually covered Shen Lian and entered the inn to kill Wei Zhongxian.
Shen Lian slashed all the way to kill the guards upstairs, and finally saw the powerful eunuch.
With a knife to his neck, he would take action after saying a few sarcastic words, but Wei Zhongxian's two or three words made him hesitate.
"Lord General Banner, if you kill our family, you won't survive."
"Why did Chongzhen son kill me? Is it because our family is full of evil? Hahaha, then you have to overestimate the emperor. I, Wei Zhongxian, have been in power for eight years, but now the tree has fallen and the hozens have scattered. There is nothing left but money."
"The banditry in the northwest and the emperor Taiji in Liaodong. The emperor needs military pay, and my money is military pay."
"If you kill me and don't get the money, you will still die."
Mr. Jin Shijie, who plays Wei Zhongxian, has superb acting skills. Under Wei Zhongxian's crazy and sinister appearance, there is a generation of powerful officials full of schemes and palaces.
The cunning Wei Zhongxian trapped Shen Lian in just a few words, threatening him and tempting him with huge profits.
This money is very hot. If you take the money, Shen Lian and others will die if something happens.
But if Wei Zhongxian is killed, his descendants will risk their lives to avenge him, which is also a death.
It's a dead end, so it's better to take a gamble.
There were more and more guards downstairs, and the two brothers couldn't stand it anymore. They kept urging, and Wei Zhongxian kept threatening and tempting like the devil.
On the other hand, the book boy who had been beside Wei Zhongxian suddenly assassinated him, which undoubtedly made the matter a "conspiracy".
You must know that although Wei Zhongxian is lonely now, he was nine thousand years old before. Being able to stay by his side and serve him is undoubtedly a close confidant.
And whether he is instigating rebellion or being an undercover agent, if he can make the book boy obey his orders, the person behind him must be unfathomable.
No matter what, since they sent the three brothers here and hired an undercover agent, if Wei Zhongxian is really dead, the three brothers really can't escape their involvement.
Wei Zhongxian's words, "He is a chess piece, and you are also chess pieces," further illustrates that there is something really fishy about this matter.
In an instant, countless pieces of information were mixed in Shen Lian's mind, making it impossible for him to make an accurate judgment.
Seeing that the situation outside is becoming more and more critical, Shen Lian is forced to make the fastest decision. In addition, he is originally worried about money, and it is difficult to stop his greed.
In the end, Shen Lian staged a scene where Wei Zhongxian "immolated himself" and handed over a charred corpse.
This point needs special explanation. Many people are disgusted with Shen Lian and feel that this person is indecisive and cheated his brothers for women.
In a sense, this evaluation of Shen Lian is correct, but he definitely did not deliberately deceive his brothers.
After carefully studying the situation at the time of the assassination of Wei Zhongxian, Shen Lian was unable to make the most accurate decision in a very short period of time.
In other words, it was useless whatever he chose. As Eunuch Zhao said later, from the moment the three brothers were selected, the three of them were almost in a deadlock.
Even if they kill Wei Zhongxian, the money will not be used at all and they will have to fight their way out of the crazy Wei Zhongxian.
Back in the capital, Eunuch Zhao, who pretended to spread the imperial edict, also wanted to kill their three brothers...
So it can be said that Shen Lian's choice was wrong, or even that he was naive or stupid, but there is really no big problem with the plot logic, and Shen Lian definitely did not deliberately deceive the two brothers here.
When they saw this plot, many film critics were writing and drawing in their notebooks. This section brought out the main plot line of the movie.
The movie also changes from a simple martial arts to a more or less historical plot.
How three miserable low-level civil servants were involved in this whirlpool and how they struggled to escape unknowingly made some viewers gradually immersed in the plot.
Back to the movie, the three brothers brought back Wei Zhongxian's "burnt corpse" and showed it to Han Kuang, the new chief minister of the cabinet, and Eunuch Zhao.
The former is played by Weizi, the actor of Yue Buqun in "The Swordsman". With his acting skills, it is no problem to play Han Kuang, a scheming and scheming man who hides his sword in his smile.
As the new chief minister and leader of the Donglin Party, Han Kuang wanted Wei Zhongxian to die, but he had a hard time trusting a charred corpse and felt that there was something deceitful about it.
He asked the three brothers repeatedly, and at the critical moment, Eunuch Zhao came to help and smooth things over.
Afterwards, the three brothers thanked Eunuch Zhao, but Eunuch Zhao retorted coldly. He had just examined the corpse and learned that Wei Zhongxian was not dead.
The next part of the plot is about the mutual affection between the third child and the girl from the medical clinic, and the girl gives each other a sachet.
In the previously depressing movie plot, this plot of young love between a man and a woman somewhat relieved the tension, and many viewers smiled knowingly.
Later, Eunuch Zhao appeared again, came to a wooden house, and met Wei Zhongxian, who was still alive. It turned out that he was Wei's godson.
When father and son met, they showed off their wits.
First, he filled in the trap of the bookboy who assassinated Wei Zhongxian before. It turned out that this person was sent by Eunuch Zhao.
Eunuch Zhao was an eunuch and wanted to kill Wei Zhongxian, sever the relationship, join the emperor himself, and become his admiral of the East Factory.
So he falsely conveyed the imperial edict and asked the three brothers to kill Wei Zhongxian. After Wei Zhongxian was killed, he tried to kill the three brothers to silence them and eliminate the traces of the false imperial edict.
Unexpectedly, Wei Zhongxian was not dead, and Wei Zhongxian still had many guards. Eunuch Zhao was afraid that both sides would be harmed, so he did not dare to take action.
At this time Wei Zhongxian came up with a solution.
All Eunuch Zhao was worried about was that Wei Zhongxian had implicated him. Wei Zhongxian promised him that he could leave the Ming Dynasty, and naturally he would not be in danger.
But before leaving the Ming Dynasty, Wei Zhongxian wanted to kill the three brothers because they knew that Wei Zhongxian was not dead.
If the news leaked out, the court would send people to arrest him, so he had to kill the three brothers so that he could go into seclusion.
Of course, if there is a chance, both Wei Zhongxian and Eunuch Zhao would like to kill each other and completely solve the future troubles.
But it is very difficult, and everyone is very wary of each other, so it is difficult to get started easily.
Fortunately, both sides had common interests in killing the three brothers, so they quickly reached an agreement to kill the three brothers first.
On the other hand, Shen Lian got the money and planned to redeem the life of the official prostitute Zhou Miaotong, but unexpectedly saw Zhou Miaotong and his sweetheart Mr. Yan kissing each other.
The audience originally thought that Shen Lian, who had been cuckolded, would be furious and his eyes would be complicated no matter what, but they did not expect that Shen Lian frowned, shook his head and left.
This state obviously does not look like being green.
Combining various previous details, some viewers speculated that Shen Lian did not like Zhou Miaotong, but they remembered that he tried every means to help him redeem his life.
Could it be that this is actually Shen Lian's sister or benefactor?
The audience was confused for a moment, but Shen Lian left the priest's square and went to drink with his two brothers to celebrate, but he realized that he was being inspected by people in black.
Several people chased each other and injured each other's arms, but failed to catch anyone. Shen Lian, realizing that something was wrong, mentioned to the two brothers that he wanted to transfer to Jinling together to avoid the limelight, under the pretense that he might eunuch the gang to take revenge.
But the boss stopped the second brother's plan because he had doubts about the burnt corpse.
On the other side, the man in black who fought against the three brothers today was Eunuch Zhao. Realizing that the three brothers were difficult to deal with, he planned to kill them with a borrowed knife.
Let the three brothers arrest Yan Yushi. This Yan Yushi is a member of the Jindao sect. His family has dozens of disciples, all of whom are masters.
Eunuch Zhao got hold of his boss Zhang Ying and used promotion as bait to force the three brothers into the Yan Mansion.
Jinyiwei was notorious, and the Yan family did not want Yan Yushi to take risks, and Yan Yushi's son, Mr. Yan, was Zhou Miaotong's best friend.
During the confrontation between the two sides, Zhang Ying sent someone outside the door to shoot Yan Yushi to death with an arrow. The grief-stricken Young Master Yan planned to kill the three brothers to avenge his father's murder.
Seeing that something was wrong, the three brothers wanted to escape, but Zhang Ying sent people to block the door. In desperation, they had no choice but to fight to the death with the disciples of Yan Mansion.
This is another large-scale group beating scene that is not inferior to the previous assassination on a rainy night. The three brothers each show their talents.
During this period, Mr. Yan slashed the third child wildly, but the third child suffered from tuberculosis and couldn't bear it. At the critical moment, in order to save the third child, Shen Lian chopped off Mr. Yan's hand.
Shen Lian had a complicated look on his face when he looked at the Yan Mansion with dead and wounded everywhere, and Mr. Yan holding his broken arm and muttering to himself wondering what mistake the Yan Mansion had made.
The audience outside the screen was also a little bit sad. The Yan family did not do anything wrong, but because they were as valuable as the three brothers, they were used as a knife by Eunuch Zhao.
This kind of helplessness and sadness of being at a lower level, having no control over one's own actions, and resisting and struggling but may not be able to bear fruit, is also the theme that runs through the entire movie "Xiu Chun Knife".
The door opened, and Zhang Ying, who thought he had taken care of the three brothers, saw the three brothers who were indeed bloody, embarrassed and exhausted.
Zhang Ying was furious and ran back to the government office to sulk. In the shadows, Shen Lian walked out.
His body was still covered in blood and dirt, there were wounds on his face, and even the knife in his hand still had blood stains on it.
Shen Lian had no expression on his face. He took the knife in his right hand and placed it on the inside of his left elbow. He raised his fist and bent his arm. Then he slowly pulled out the knife from the middle of his closed elbow. The blood on the knife was wiped clean by his sleeve.
This famous scene of Shen Lian bending his arms and wiping a knife with cold eyes was perfectly copied by Cao Xuan, and his style was even better. Many female viewers couldn't help but exclaim, "How handsome!"
Even those male viewers who didn't know how to do it had to admit that Cao Xuan's pose was barely on par with his own.
Shen Lian caught Zhang Ying and threatened him to write a document for him to redeem his son from Jiaoshifang. He also took out 300 taels and asked Zhang Ying to promote his eldest brother and allow the three of them to be transferred to Jinling.
Under Yan Ling Dao's intimidation, Zhang Ying agreed.
The third brother's brother came to blackmail him again, but Shen Lian used money to settle it. Each of the two brothers knew that the other had secrets, but neither of them interfered.
Back home, the boss told the two brothers that Han Kuang, the chief assistant, invited the three of them to a celebration party.
During the banquet, Han and Zhao promoted the boss and mentioned that he would be promoted to the position of Hundred Households and given robes to Hundred Households.
When the boss was overjoyed, Eunuch Zhao mentioned that Shen Lian had given Zhang Ying some silver. Everyone laughed. The boss was also a little confused. He had just been invited by Han Kuang to sit at the head of the table. He also pointed out the occasion of the appointment, saying that the three brothers had invited him to be transferred to Jinling. Give up.
All this was a secret deal between Shen Lian and Zhang Ying. The boss was completely unaware of it. Apart from confusion and embarrassment, he looked at the initiator Shen Lian in surprise and hesitation.
Shen Lian avoided the boss's gaze and looked at Zhang Ying with murderous intent. The other party responded with a disdainful sneer, completely different from the previous obedient begging for mercy.
After that, Han Kuang announced that an autopsy would be conducted in three days, and then he would know whether Wei Zhongxian was really dead.
Several parties involved suddenly felt complicated.
In fact, many people's attention in this scene was on the boss being humiliated by Han and Zhao, and the gap in the brotherhood with Shen Lian.
But in fact there is some confrontation behind it.
Eunuch Zhao humiliated and made things difficult for the eldest brother. The reason was very simple. He saw that the eldest brother didn't know anything about it, so he provoked trouble to make the brothers turn against each other.
However, Han Kuang was targeting Eunuch Zhao. The three brothers were sent by Eunuch Zhao. If Wei Zhongxian had not died, he would have deceived the emperor and ignored his superiors. He could have used the three brothers to attack Eunuch Zhao, a remnant of the eunuch party.
The boss is just a chess piece to knock Shan Zhenhu off. The dignified chief minister will not take a small household seriously at all. His target is Eunuch Zhao.
Eunuch Zhao understands this, but he has no time to care about it. All he can do is to solve the trouble as soon as possible.
Get rid of the three brothers, and then blame Wei Zhongxian's fake death on the third brother, and blame the third brother's death on Wei Zhongxian to silence him, and he still has a chance of survival.
When the autopsy was completed, it was found that Wei Zhongxian was not dead, the three brothers could not escape, and he could not escape his involvement.
Therefore, Eunuch Zhao went to find someone to borrow from Wei Zhongxian, claiming that he must kill the three brothers before the autopsy, so that there would be no evidence of his death.
But in fact, as long as there are abnormalities in the body, the court will know that Wei Zhongxian is not dead, and it is still a dead end.
But Eunuch Zhao doesn't care. When the time comes, Wei Zhongxian will be killed, all the insiders will die, and the truth will be covered up.
Wei Zhongxian is not unaware of the risks involved, but the initiative is not in his hands, so he can only take a gamble.
Eunuch Zhao got manpower and went to find Ding Xiu again, so the famous scene was staged again.
"Who do you want to kill, father-in-law?"
"The small flag officer of the Beizhen Prefecture, Jin Yichuan."
"Who? Father-in-law, doesn't he know that he is my junior brother?"
"People like you still care about this?"
"These are my beloved relatives and friends... I need to pay more!"
Seeing Duan Long, who was carrying the knife, say those words in an evil and rogue manner, the whole theater was amused.
Ding Xiu, a very hated character, suddenly seemed a little bit interesting.
On the other side, after the three brothers turned against each other and argued, Shen Lian also told the truth at that time.
Looking at the three bags of gold, the two brothers vaguely guessed why Shen Lian was acting like this. Although he had selfish motives, it was still for the best of the brothers.
During the silence, the third child suddenly mentioned that he had seen injuries on Eunuch Zhao's hands before, which were exactly the same as the injuries the three brothers had left on the man in black that day.
Eunuch Zhao is a man in black.
Eunuch Zhao wants to kill them!
At this point, the three brothers finally figured out the situation roughly. They were involved in a whirlpool that they couldn't contend with at all.
The only way to survive now is to escape.
The three brothers split up, with the eldest brother settling in with his mother, the second brother going to pick up Zhou Miaotong, and the third brother going to say goodbye to the girl from the medical clinic.
The killers and back-up men arranged by Eunuch Zhao also pounced on the three brothers one by one.
The second child went to find Zhou Miaotong, but he asked him to save his sweetheart, Mr. Yan, and told him that the reason for his cold attitude towards him was because when her house was ransacked, it was Jin Yiwei who did it.
She hates Jin Yiwei!
It was this sentence that moved him, and he went to the imperial prison to rescue Mr. Yan. However, Mr. Yan was too seriously injured and committed suicide.
Shen Lian could only take Zhou Miaotong away, but he encountered a group of people who came to intercept and kill him. With all his strength, he used explosive seeds to repel Eunuch Zhao, and Shen Lian left with Zhou Miaotong on his back.
On the other side, Ding Xiu used the sachet of the medical girl to attract the third child and staged the famous scene again.
"This girl is very smooth."
Lao San and Ding Xiu fought tooth and nail and staged a duel with their fellow disciples. Due to consumption, Lao San was no match for Ding Xiu and was knocked to the ground.
The third child closed his eyes and waited for death, hoping that Ding Xiu would spare the life of the medical girl. Ding Xiu said that he had never touched her and could not bear to kill his junior brother.
After all, his junior brother is dead, and he has no one left in this world to care about.
Although he comes to blackmail his junior brother every day, and although he is disgusting with his mean words, in Ding Xiu's heart, it may be a different kind of closeness.
However, Ding Xiu refused to kill him, and the two killers sent by Eunuch Zhao wanted to kill him. The third brother finally sacrificed his life to save his senior brother.
On the other side, the eldest son originally wanted to resettle his mother, but found that he was being followed. He knew that he could not escape, so he simply planned to surrender himself, take the blame, and save his two younger brothers.
On the way, they met Wei Zhongxian's guard. After a fight, Zhang Ying arrived and captured the boss. The boss took over all responsibilities and executed him.
However, when the matter was revealed, Eunuch Zhao could not stay any longer, so he killed Wei Zhongxian without an escort and prepared to flee outside the country.
When Shen Lian rushed to the hospital and saw that only his third brother was dead, he flashed back to the scene of his boss asking for help. Shen Lian knelt down and cried bitterly with regret.
"Third brother, second brother is wrong, second brother is wrong."
Is Shen Lian wrong? He is wrong!
But what's even more wrong is the world, and what's wrong are the beasts who toyed with and applauded them.
So Shen Lian chased Eunuch Zhao for hundreds of miles, just to seek justice for the two brothers.
When the final battle came, the audience discovered that Shen Lian was not the only one seeking revenge, but Ding Xiu also came to avenge his junior brother.
Several of his men were killed, and Eunuch Zhao, who was 1 on 2, was faced with a decision.
At this moment, a group of cavalry came from afar and asked in Manchu.
Here Cao Xuan made no secret of using Shen Lian's mouth to stuff his personal goods: "It's a Tatar."
In fact, Cao Xuan wanted to use wild boar skin, but it failed to pass the review. After all, he had to take care of some emotions.
Not the old and young, but ordinary Manchus. Besides, Empress Xigong is a Manchu, and her ancestors should have been bannermen who moved to Hubei Province.
Using Tatar can be said to be the name of the time, but using wild boar skin is a bit troublesome.
In addition to the above-mentioned private goods, Eunuch Zhao's exposed head shape is also a standard money rat tail. In order to convince Zhao Wenwen to shave this head, Cao Xuan worked hard.
The most outstanding moment for Ding Xiu in the whole movie comes when he sees a pair of Tatar soldiers. Without saying a word, Ding Xiu slaps his horse on the butt with his knife and rushes towards the cavalry alone.
At that moment, the character Ding Xiu was so handsome!
The remaining scenes of the final battle between Ding Xiu and Ding Xiu were almost non-existent. They were mainly about the fight between Shen Lian and Eunuch Zhao. When Shen Lian killed Eunuch Zhao, the camera showed the Qing soldiers all over the place, and Ding Xiu collapsed under a tree in exhaustion.
After the song ended and everyone dispersed, the two looked at the grassland, and Ding Xiu said: "I have sent Zhou Miaotong and Miss Zhang from the medical clinic to Suzhou. I didn't expect you to hide one of them there."
Shen Lian didn't reply, but just said thank you. Ding Xiu waved his hand and rode away.
The last shot of the movie is Shen Lian riding a horse on the grassland. The next second, two brothers who are also riding horses appear next to him, and the voice-over shows their previous chat.
"Brother, when we leave the capital, where do you plan to go?"
"I'm going to Quanzhou. I want to take my mother to see the sea."
"Where's the second brother?"
"I'm going to Suzhou, there's someone waiting for me there."
"Just ask us, Yichuan, where do you want to go?"
"I want to go outside the customs. I heard there are the fewest people there. I want to see a place with fewer people."
The figures of the three galloping horses gradually faded away, seeming to merge into one person again, with infinite loneliness and loneliness.
The movie ends.
"Pa bang bang..."
I don’t know who led it, but the audience gave their own applause. Cao Xuan took the creative team to the stage and bowed in thanks.
Chen Mao didn't care about this, but wrote down a summary of the entire movie in dense records.
[Fighting Scene]: 5 stars, first-class martial arts film
[Fu Hua Dao]: 5 stars, the crew definitely worked hard
[Actor]: 4 stars, mainly for actresses
[Plot]: 4 stars, there are highlights, but overall it is a bit cliched and depressing.
[Music Editing]: 4 stars, above the standard
[Intent]: 3 and a half stars, a story about the struggle of a small character, maybe a different ending would be better.
【…】:……
【Total Score】:87
Conclusion: A mature commercial martial arts movie with no obvious shortcomings, worth the ticket price.
After thinking about it for a moment, Chen Mao added: The biggest surprise for domestic films this summer is that it is better than "House of Flying Daggers"...
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ps: The 10,000-word chapter will not be available tonight, so I would like to wish everyone an early New Year.
I wish you all a happy New Year, good health, happiness to your family, and all the best!
