Why do people always say that a "big event" in 2004 "saved" Ren Xianqi and Zhang Jiahui at the same time.
Hong Kong films experienced the "darkest year", that is, in 2003, the outbreak of the "SARS" virus, coupled with the successive deaths of Cheung Kwok Wing and Mui Yanfang in the same year, the whole of Hong Kong was "dead and silent".
In order to revitalize the "Hong Kong spirit", At that time, Du Qifeng of Universal Film and Television wanted to "inspire" Hong Kong to return to the right track through movies, and that year Du Qifeng filmed 3 works in one go: "Judo Dragon and Tiger List", "Dragon and Phoenix Fight" and "Big Event".
At that time, Du Qifeng was "strategizing" and wanted to use the two works of "Judo Dragon and Tiger List" and "Dragon and Phoenix Fight" to "awaken the Hong Kong market" for Hong Kong films.
Then he wanted to open up the mainland market through "Big Event", and pointed directly to the "Cannes Film Festival" that year, it can be said that Du Qifeng was really "ambitious" that year.
However, the result was a complete failure, with "Judo Dragon and Tiger List" grossing HK$8.23 million and "Dragon and Phoenix Fighting" grossing HK$15.48 million. And "Big Event" is the focus of the next step.
Du Qifeng's prestige in the Hong Kong film industry and even in the Chinese film industry is extremely high. At that time, Du Qifeng set a goal with a "mission of Hong Kong films": to break into the mainland market and shock overseas.
The theme of "Big Event"
With the goal, ordinary themes can certainly not be achieved, but they cannot give up the "gunfight violence aesthetics" that they are good at, and they think about Du Qifeng to freeze the theme in "the adaptation of real events". The character is based on The new Hong Kong thief King Ji Bingxiong: in the 1980s, Ji Bingxiong robbed several jewelry gold shops, and in 1994, he re-killed, robbed two gold shops in Causeway Bay and Central, and shot and killed 1 passerby, injured 6 people, and robbed more than 16 million watches.
"Big Event" attaches great importance to the mainland market
In order to be able to release it in the mainland, Du Qifeng co-produced this "Big Event" with the "China Film Group", which was the only company in the Chinese mainland with the right to import films. Cooperation does not mean anything, in order to be more secure, Du Qifeng even revised the script and added a line: another group of mainland gangsters, so in the movie can see the picture of two gangs of gangsters eating under the same roof.
And "Big Event" has used a lot of mainland actors, but there is a failure is that mainland actors You Yong and Ding Haifeng are police professionals, and this time they arranged to play gangsters, really a second to play.
Casting for the starring role in "Big Event"
To this day, there are still many friends who do not understand why Du Qifeng chose Chen Huilin, Ren Xianqi and Zhang Jiahui?
Time back to 2004, these three people are not famous in the film industry, not even "masterpieces", Chen Huilin's fame at that time was slightly higher than them, but the acting skills were general, Du Qifeng had said: "Choosing her as the heroine was really "not chosen" at that time.
Because the Hong Kong film circle after 2000, especially most of the actresses are in a state of "semi-retirement" for the sake of their families, only Chen Huilin is suitable for this age.
Chen Huilin plays police superintendent Fang Jiexia, the original role is an aura and a deterrent, but Chen Huilin can not show this state, for which Du Qifeng even scolded and cried Chen Huilin. Of course, in the end, there is still no feeling, and perhaps Du Qifeng is also very regretful, otherwise he would not have said the sentence "no choice" to the reporter.
And the male actors are very selective, at that time Hong Kong popular Liu Qingyun, Wu Zhenyu, Huang Qiusheng these are all actors who cooperate with Du Qifeng, according to the reason of such an important work, any choice is none other than them. But why is it Ren Xianqi and Zhang Jiahui?
Ren Xianqi began to develop in Hong Kong in 1999, but due to the appearance and accent problems, there has been no breakthrough, acting in some warm romance films like "Star Wish", "Summer MomoCha", "The Best Man in the World", "Flower Good Moon", etc.
Ma Chucheng is a noble person that Ren Xianqi met in "coming to Hong Kong for development", and "Big Event" is also an opportunity to "win" with the help of Ma Chucheng
Ren Xianqi, who has just come to Hong Kong to develop, in order to "integrate into the Hong Kong circle", constantly practices Cantonese every day, even if the people around him laugh at his accent, but Ren Xianqi is still very persistent, and this perseverance makes Ma Chucheng, who has just begun to cooperate with "Summer Momo Tea", very appreciative.
In 2003, Ma Chucheng went to the mainland to develop, preparing for the first work "Flying Eagle", this some science fiction drama-based film starring Yang Ziqiong, but also with the young Li Bingbing, as for the police male protagonist, Ma Chucheng gave Ren Xianqi.
In this "Flying Eagle", Ren Xianqi's action scenes are very many, and Ma Chucheng is very worried that he can't act, but Ren Xianqi not only plays well, but also does not use a stand-in, which makes Ma Chucheng like it more.
After that, Ma Chucheng in 2005's "Hancheng Raiders" once again let Ren Xianqi play with Liang Chaowei on the same stage.
Speaking of 2004's "Big Event" Gangster Ji Zhengxiong who will play? This problem was not determined for a long time, when Du Qifeng set "to have a fresh contrast", so those "old acquaintances" are not suitable.
When he was worried, Du Qifeng once met Ma Chucheng, and the two talked about their next work, when Ma Chucheng said that in the preparation of an "international blockbuster", there were Liang Chaowei and Ren Xianqi.
It was precisely because of this dialogue that Du Qifeng became curious about Ma Chucheng's "preference" for Ren Xianqi, and Ma Chucheng, in addition to expressing his appreciation for Ren Xianqi's efforts, also said that Ren Xianqi wanted to break through. In this way, Ren Xianqi was appreciated by Du Qifeng and starred as the male number one in "Big Event".
Of course, Ren Xianqi did want to break through and broaden the drama road at that time, but the acting skills at that time were really "not good", and the "calmness" of the gangster Ji Zhengxiong was still not expressed.
Looking back at "Tree Trick" Ren Xianqi is also playing the gangster Ye Guokuan, but that acting skill is really visible to the naked eye "in place", Ren Xianqi's acting skills in the past ten years have definitely grown.
From 1999 to 2003, Zhang Jiahui starred in a total of 18 movies, and Wang Jing threw money again and again in order to praise Zhang Jiahui, and did not hesitate to invite Li Xiuxian, Andy Lau, Zhou Xingchi, including Wang Jing himself, in order to win the red Zhang Jiahui, but the drama path was wrong.
When Zhang Jiahui "had nothing" signed to Wang Jing, and at that time Wang Jing had already "parted ways" with Zhou Xingchi, and Wang Jing, the "cake" of the comedy market, did not want to let go, so it was urgent for someone to come out and "replace" Zhou Xingchi's position.
Wang Jing, who "suffered losses", finally valued Zhang Jiahui, and also learned a lesson from the failure to praise Ge Minhui in the beginning, Ge Minhui at that time just wanted Zhou Xingchi too much, in other words, "Zhou Xingchi's shadow is too obvious", does Ge Minhui have comedic talent? some! But the performance style is almost the same as that of Stephen Chow.
At that time, Zhang Jiahui only wanted his wife Guan Yonghe to "live a good life", Guan Yonghe was a TVB boss Hua Dan, but also a rich family, in order to marry Zhang Jiahui for true love, how many people did not understand where Guan Yonghe looked at "slag slag Hui"?
The love between the two made Zhang Jiahui "full of pressure", guan Yonghe in order to encourage Zhang Jiahui resolutely moved from the family mansion to Zhang Jiahui's small apartment of dozens of square meters to live together, but also reduced a lot of performance work, in order to take more care of Zhang Jiahui.
After experiencing the discussion of "female superiority and male inferiority", Zhang Jiahui especially cherished the job opportunity, when Wang Jing let him take the comedy route, Zhang Jiahui accepted unconditionally, and was also very open, with a little "lowly" personal style is still different from Zhou Xingchi.
But no matter how hard Zhang Jiahui tries on the road of comedy, no matter how Wang Jing praises it, the result is that "the male second supporting role can be, and the male one cannot afford the box office."
5 years passed quickly, the time came to 2004, Zhang Jiahui and Wang Jing's contract also expired, at this time Zhang Jiahui expressed to Wang Jing his idea of "changing the drama road", the general boss threw so much money on a person, even if it was rotten in his hands, he should not let people go. But Wang Jing very much "respects" Zhang Jiahui's ideas.
In this way, in 2004, Zhang Jiahui "surrendered" to Du Qifeng's team, playing an impulsive policeman in "Big Event", although the hairstyle in the movie really made people "complain", but in the whole movie, Zhang Jiahui's performance did not "drag his legs".
This point is not said by the flathead brother, but Du Qifeng expressed in a later interview: "In the big event, Zhang Jiahui's acting skills are very good, I didn't know that he was so good at acting. ”
The "tragic result" of "Big Event": the mainland did not have the opportunity to be released, and Cannes was not qualified enough, only "fished" for a Golden Horse Award for "Best Director"
Cooperating with China Film to use mainland actors, it seems that "double insurance" is still lost to the censorship system, but it is not a problem of the subject matter, the problem is: the long shot of the 6 minutes and 55 seconds of gun battle at the beginning of the movie.
Originally set to be a 10-minute "one shot to the end" long shot, Du Qifeng insisted on shooting this section at the beginning of the purpose to "deter" the Cannes judges. This kind of long shot of more than a few minutes is very difficult to shoot, and all the actors' positions, lines, and plays must be "done in one go", and one link of mistakes must come from time to time.
The long shot begins after the opening credits, where a gang of gangsters led by Chen Yiyuan (Ren Xianqi) hide in a building, and a team of plainclothes policemen led by Inspector Zhang Zhiheng (Zhang Jiahui) of the Major Crimes Unit have already targeted them. Because Chen Yiyuan's subordinate Zhang Long (played by Ding Haifeng) was interrogated by passing patrol officers because of parking problems, a gun battle was triggered.
Even if Du Qifeng cut this paragraph to 6 minutes and 55 seconds, in the end, it was because there were too many violent gunfight shots and could not be released in the mainland.
Although the Cannes Film Festival Selection Organizing Committee came to Hong Kong many times, visited the set, and also watched some sample films and tidbits, the film production progress was slow, until the beginning of April 2004, and the post-production was time-consuming, and finally missed the competition.
The Hong Kong Film Awards that year fell short, and the only consolation was the "Best Director Award" at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards. The film invested 26 million yuan, and due to the lack of support from the mainland market, the box office in Hong Kong was only 7.84 million, and finally this highly targeted "Big Event" was "full of losses".
But this movie "saved" Ren Xianqi and Zhang Jiahui, because of this opportunity, both of them were recognized by Du Qifeng, and since then they have successively starred in Du Qifeng's masterpieces such as "Banishment", "Death Gold", and "Underworld: Peace is Precious".
It is precisely because this "Big Event" allows the two to find the right way to play, and both usher in a new peak in their careers, especially Zhang Jiahui, who gradually shows their sharp edge under Du Qifeng's "tuning".
In 2009, with "Hostage", he created a "miracle of Chinese cinema" - a movie brought 9 movie emperors, and then officially opened the "Zhang Jiahui Film Era".
Although Ren Xianqi has never been affirmed by China in the awards, for so many years, he has only won a film emperor awarded by Busan, South Korea, with "Fire Dragon Showdown".
"Deadly Gold" was also nominated for the Academy Award, but lost to Liu Qingyun in the same movie.
"Tree Trick" was also nominated for the Academy Award, and also lost to Lin Jiadong in the same movie.
But now no one will say that Ren Xianqi can't act, even if he is more than half a hundred years old, he is still working hard to get recognition.
14 years later, Zhang Jiahui and Ren Xianqi once again framed the 2019 "Silent Witness", which did not react well due to problems with the story setting, even if it was also released in the mainland, it was still "bad reviews".
However, Zhang Jiahui and Ren Xianqi's acting skills in it have been affirmed by many audiences. No wonder the audience said: only the plot is too weak, but it is a pity that the two "movie emperors" did not soar to the play.
Finally, let's take a hypothesis: if "Big Event" could be released in the mainland that year and also catch up with the competition in Cannes, would the result be different? Will Ren Xianqi and Zhang Jiahui have already achieved higher achievements?