The most concerned movie in this year's National Day file is undoubtedly the war epic "Chosin Lake".
The investment of more than one billion yuan is unprecedented in the history of Chinese cinema, coupled with Chen Kaige, Xu Ke, Lin Chaoxian, three big directors, to earn enough expectations from the audience.
In fact, since the founding of New China, films with the theme of war history have always been the mainstream of film production and are deeply loved by the people.
From the earliest "Southern Expedition and Northern War" and "Reconnaissance of Crossing the River", to the later "Great Armageddon" and "The Great March", these films' true presentation of historical situations and war scenes has created their classic status in the hearts of the audience.
In 1997, Xie Jin also directed a war history film, which won a critical acclaim after its release, and has now been regarded as a classic.
This is the film "Opium War" that created a domestic film investment record that year, the film brought together many powerful actors, and the production cost was nearly 100 million yuan, which was comparable to the scale of "Chosin Lake" today.
The magnificent display of the war scenes in the film, the group portraits of historical figures and the touching feelings of home and country are still unforgettable.
01, invest 100 million yuan to create an epic blockbuster
As a tribute film to welcome the return of Hong Kong, "Opium War" began to be prepared in 1995 and released in 1997, and took more than two years to complete.
The film's behind-the-scenes team is also quite luxurious: film master Xie Jin as the director, Hong Kong film director Hui Anhua is the planner of the film, in addition to the North Film Studio, Emei Factory, China Film, Hong Kong Jiahe and other film giants have participated in the production and distribution, the scale of which is unprecedented.
For the "Opium War", a turning point in the history, everyone is familiar with it, and many movies have also filmed this history.
For example, in 1959, when the "Tenth Anniversary of the National Day" was held, the movie "Lin Zexu" starring performance artist Zhao Dan was called an epic blockbuster of that era.
Although both films feature Lin Zexu as the protagonist and present a panoramic view of that period of history, the former is limited by the times and does not show some historical plots completely.
Therefore, "Opium War" learns the lessons of films of the same theme, not only more mature in technology, but also more objective in the restoration of historical scenes, such as the role of Lin Zexu, while maintaining a positive image, there are also more complex levels of performance.
In order to eliminate the overall situation, Lin Zexu destroyed the account books of the bribes to win the support of officials; later, because of his blind confidence in the strength of the Heavenly Dynasty, he gave the British army an opportunity.
At the same time, the film also joins the camp of the invaders from the perspective of foreigners: there are black-hearted businessmen who are mercenary, there are ambitious politicians, and a small number of peaceful people who do not approve of the invasion of China.
Although a fierce dispute broke out in Parliament over whether to invade China, in the end the arrogance and greedy ambitions of the invaders devoured their sanity and launched this war of aggression that changed the map of history.
For history, it is no longer just to follow the stereotypical historical cognition, but to excavate richer historical materials and connotations from it, and this respect for history, coupled with the magnificent war scenes, makes "Opium War" highly recognized by the public.
After the release of the film, the mainland won more than 70 million box office, second only to the Hollywood blockbuster "Jurassic Park 2", becoming the box office champion of the domestic film that year, and also opening the prelude to the later domestic vigorous "blockbuster era".
02. Hengdian Film and Television City was built for the filming of "Opium War"
"Opium War" is still mentioned many times today, not only because of the charm of the film itself, but also because this film led to the establishment of Hengdian Film and TELEVISION City, known as the "Oriental DreamWorks".
In order to shoot a scene in the movie that year, Xie Jin and the entire film crew ran most of China and did not find a suitable shooting location.
At this moment, Xie Jin met Xu Wenrong, the owner of Hengdian, Zhejiang, and at his invitation, Xie Jin went to Hengdian for a field investigation.
At that time, Hengdian was far from such a large scale, and even the set place was very simple, but Xu Wenrong immediately gave Xie Jin a guarantee ticket: give him 3 months to build the scenes needed for the movie!
Xie Jin did not expect that after 3 months, the Guangzhou Street scene covering an area of more than 60,000 square meters and with great characteristics of the late Qing Dynasty was really completed, and the reputation of the Hengdian Film and Television Base was such a hit.
Since then, Hengdian has continuously expanded the scale of the film and television base, and a year later, Chen Kaige came here to shoot "Jing Ke Thorn Qin King", and it was Xu Wenrong who spent 8 months to build the Qin King's Palace against all odds, so that the film could be successfully filmed.
From the Forbidden City of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Upper River Map of the Qingming Dynasty to Hong Kong Street, Hengdian has established more than 30 live-action shooting locations to meet the needs of different film and television works, and has become an indispensable part of china's film and television industry.
03. Purchase of decommissioned ships of the Navy to restore naval warfare
Although before that, Xie Jin directed "The Red Detachment of Women", "Wrangler", "Garland under the Mountain", "Furong Town" and other popular classics, for the "Opium War", which is a large-scale production of war epic themes, Xie Jin also bluntly said that it was "the most difficult shooting in my life".
The scenes in the film are basically filmed in real time, so when filming the war scenes on the seashore, Xie Jin specifically visited He Long's wife Xue Ming and bought the decommissioned ship from He Pengfei, He Long's son and then deputy commander of the Navy, instead of using simple model special effects.
Filming the "Dinghai Defense War", the crew built the periphery of Dinghai City according to the original proportions, including breakwaters, city gates, city towers, etc., which had the shocking effect that the film finally presented to the audience.
During the filming in Zhoushan, the local navy also sent more than 70 ships and more than 2,000 people to support the filming of the film, including a scene of shaving the head and inviting naval soldiers to perform in groups.
At the age of more than 70 years old, he can still make such a painstaking and laborious large-scale production, which is enough to see Xie Jin's skill and control as an old director, and he has also been nominated for the Golden Rooster Award for Best Director for the third time with this film.
After "Opium War", Xie Jin's creativity is still undiminished, directing the movie "Women's Football No. 9" in 2000, and directing the TV series "Holding Hands in Life" starring Huang Haibo at the age of 80.
In 2008, the 85-year-old director Xie Jin died of illness, and his more than 50 years of directing career has created countless classics for future generations to remember.
04, Bao Guoan broke through the image of Cao Cao, and the old drama bone staged "Immortal Fight"
Among the actors, Bao Guoan, who played Lin Zexu, was the most recognized by the audience, which became his most successful role after Cao Cao in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".
In fact, before this, Bao Guoan had no drama to shoot for three years: because "Cao Mengde" was too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, the achievement of Bao Guoan also limited his development.
At this time, Bao Guoan received an invitation from Xie Jin to play Lin Zexu, and he was very surprised by this, and he was also a little afraid: Teacher Zhao Dan's portrayal of Lin Zexu was already very successful, am I not humiliating myself, will I destroy this historical figure and destroy this play?
However, at the repeated invitation of Xie Jin, Bao Guoan took over this role, for which he did a lot of homework, read a large number of relevant books of Lin Zexu, and gave a detailed understanding of this character, and finally presented the audience with a flesh-and-blood image of Lin Zexu.
In addition to Bao Guoan, the other actors in the film also contributed indistinguishable superb acting skills, and the whole film can be called a sparkling acting teaching class.
Lang Xiong, who plays He Jingrong, is also an old drama bone, and his most well-known identity is "Ang Lee's royal actor", and he has had wonderful performances in films such as "Wedding Feast" and "Eating Men and Women".
In addition, Lin Liankun, who plays Qi Shan, and Su Min, who plays the Daoguang Emperor, these performance artists also have a very good interpretation of the role, completely allowing the audience to enter that scene.
It has been 24 years since the release of "Opium War", although many of the actors in the film have passed away, but they have used enough vivid and sincere performances to remember their artistic image forever for the audience. (Author: Pippi Shrimp)