On today's Internet, there is a saying that "bruce lee has legs, and chen huimin has fists."
However, this sentence is actually a fallacy.
In the early 1970s, Bruce Lee was signed into the company by Jiahe, and 1971's "Big Brother Tangshan" also successfully won the box office champion in the Hong Kong film market at that time.
When "Jiahe" and Bruce Lee were galloping the kung fu film market, the Hong Kong film giant "Shaw" at that time also pushed Chen Guantai, the "Southeast Asian National Martial Arts Boxing Championship and Lightweight Champion", onto the big screen of kung fu films, hoping to use the name of this "Southeast Asian boxing king" to compete with "Jiahe" for the box office dividend of the kung fu film market.
On the movie screen, Bruce Lee excels at the performance of the sharp leg technique, while Chen Guantai is good at the display of gang fierce boxing.
So on the big screen of the "Kung Fu Hong Kong Film" in the early 70s, there was a saying that "there is Bruce Lee in the leg, and Chen Guantai in the fist".
Originally, the phrase "bruce lee in the legs and Chen Guantai in the fist" was used to describe the film fighting style of the two kung fu movie stars in the early 70s.
However, I don't know why, this sentence has been passed down, and it has become "Bruce Lee in the leg, Chen Huimin in the fist".
Come to think of it, this may have a certain relationship with Chen Guantai's film industry in the mid-to-late 70s.
Although in the late 1970s, Chen Guantai's influence in the kung fu film market was gradually replaced by "rising stars" Hong Jinbao and Jackie Chan.
However, on the big screen of Hong Kong films in the early 70s, Chen Guantai also left many excellent film works.
Among them, "Ma Yongzhen", released in 1972, is a classic that has a profound impact on the development of Hong Kong films in later generations.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > the development of "Ma Yongzhen" and Chinese action films </h1>
For today's audiences, the name "Ma Yongzhen" has become a symbol of Chinese kung fu film creation, just like "Huang Feihong", "Ip Man" and "Huo Yuanjia".
However, compared with the names of "Huang Feihong", "Ip Man" and "Huo Yuanjia", the influence of "Ma Yongzhen" on Chinese films is obviously greater.
The name "Ma Yongzhen" first appeared in the public eye in 1879.
In April 1879, Ma Yongzhen, an equestrian jockey living in Shanghai, was "beaten to death" in the "Yidongtian" tea house because of a debt dispute with a horse dealer.
Later, the matter was published in the "Declaration" at that time. In that era of material scarcity, this "criminal case" evolved from "civil disputes" has also become a hot topic of discussion among the people.
As the saying goes: three people become tigers. In the oral tradition of ordinary people, the story of "Ma Yongzhen" has become more and more evil. Some people say that Ma Yongzhen has brought about the disaster of killing himself because he has offended "foreigners"; others say that this is not a "debt dispute", but a "hooligan fight".
In 1927, Zheng Zhengqiu and Zhang Shichuan, the "fathers of Chinese cinema", joined forces to adapt the folk "Rumors of Ma Yongzhen" into a black-and-white film "Shandong Ma Yongzhen".
In this film, Ma Yongzhen is portrayed as a skilled boxer who was assassinated by "foreigners" because he won the fight with the Russian Hercules in Shanghai.
In "Shandong Ma Yongzhen", the classic bridge section of the boxer's beating was also inherited by "Huo Yuanjia Movie" and "Ip Man Movie" later. And this "Shandong Ma Yongzhen" has also become the first "action film" in the history of Chinese cinema.
At the end of the 1930s, with the outbreak of the "War of Resistance", the development of Chinese cinema also suffered a fatal blow.
Under the chaos of the war, many filmmakers came to Hong Kong in order to take refuge. The story of "Ma Yongzhen" also spread to the Hong Kong film industry at this time.
In 1962, Hong Kong film director He Bin organized the filming of the film "Shandong Ma Yongzhen". In this movie, the story is adapted into the story of Ma Yongzhen and Ma Suzhen's brothers and sisters, in order to avenge the eldest brother and pursue the murderer for thousands of miles, all the way from Shandong to Shanghai, and then hand blade the enemy.
In 1972, Shaw's famous directors Zhang Che and Bao Xueli joined forces to shoot a new version of "Ma Yongzhen" for Chen Guantai, the "Southeast Asian boxing king".
In this version of "Ma Yongzhen", zhang and bao, two directors, integrated a large number of "gangster" elements, and made an excellent restoration of the era background of old Shanghai, making it a kung fu film with an alternative style.
This alternative style of kung fu film also had a major impact on the development of Hong Kong-style gangster films in the 1980s and 1990s.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="29" > Chen Guantai's "Ma Yongzhen" </h1>
In the story of traditional kung fu films, directors always like to portray the protagonist as a "hero".
However, in Chen Guantai's "Ma Yongzhen", zhang che and Bao Xueli, two directors, played an anti-routine and designed an anti-heroic story.
From his hometown in the countryside, Ma Yongzhen, who came to Shanghai Beach to work hard, has a strong kung fu and has always been eager to get ahead. When he and his fellow villager Xiao Jiangbei wiped the carriage for people, he accidentally met Tan Si, a "gangster gangster" in Shanghai Beach.
Tan Si told Ma Yongzhen that if he wanted to get ahead in Shanghai Beach, he would dare to fight. The rich people's clothes and food are all snatched from the hands of others.
This set of "robber logic" of the "rogue tycoon" shocked Ma Yongzhen.
In the same township of Xiaojiangbei, About Ma Yongzhen went to the "One Pot Spring" tea house to eat tea. In the tea house, the two accidentally encountered the "Axe Gang" vying for territory. Ma Yongzhen intervened and drove away the members of the Axe Gang.
After the members of the Axe Gang were driven away, the owner of the tea house rushed to offer Ma Yongzhen a "protection fee", and Ma Yongzhen also became a new "viewing boss" in the "One Pot Spring" area.
Tan Si and Boss Yang of the Axe Gang are the two major "gangster forces" in Shanghai Beach.
Boss Yang is bent on eradicating Tan Si, and for Ma Yongzhen, who suddenly appears, Boss Yang decides to tolerate him and concentrate his forces on Dealing with Tan Si first.
Boss Yang's tolerance allowed Ma Yongzhen to gain a firm foothold in the "One Pot Spring" area. Everyone mouthed a "horse boss", which also made Ma Yongzhen gradually lose himself.
After having his own territory and stabilizing his economic income, Ma Yongzhen also began to buy houses, buy carriages, support scenes, and swing.
The owner of the carriage shop told Ma Yongzhen that every day people on the beach got up and people fell down every day. However, Ma Yongzhen turned a deaf ear to this.
After some squandering, the protection fee that Ma Yongzhen received from the "One Pot of Spring" area was quickly spent. In order to find a new way to make money, he snatched several territories from the hands of Boss Yang with the axe.
In order to deal with Tan Si, Boss Yang decided to preserve his strength, so he made concessions to Ma Yongzhen again.
However, at this time, Ma Yongzhen believed that Boss Yang of the "Axe Gang" was afraid of himself, and as a result, he became more arrogant.
Boss Yang arranged his men to attack Tan Si and annex Tan Si's territory. After solving the big problem of his confidants, Boss Yang also began to turn the gun head to deal with Ma Yongzhen.
Yang boss Asked Ma Yongzhen to negotiate in the "One Hole Heaven" tea house and secretly set up an ambush. Ma Yongzhen, who was arrogant and arrogant, went to the banquet alone, and as a result, after a bloody battle, he was killed in the tea house.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" > was imitated by Jackie Chan and remade by Yuan Kui </h1>
This 1972 version of "Ma Yongzhen", although cloaked in "kung fu films", is a "gangster theme" work in its bones.
The excellent restoration of the background of the times and the wonderful film soundtrack also added a lot of era epic temperament to this 1972 version of "Ma Yongzhen".
It is worth mentioning that in this "Ma Yongzhen", Zhang Che and Bao Xueli, two directors, carried out film and television image creation of the mysterious organization "Axe Party" circulating in the folk, and designed a special "gangster organization" such as the "Axe Gang".
The prototype of the "Axe Party" is the "Iron-Blooded Hoe Gang", a non-governmental organization active in the 1920s and 1930s. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, members of the "Iron-Blooded Hoe Traitor Group" often carried out "assassinations" against high-ranking Japanese officials and traitors. Because they often use axes as a tool for "assassination", they are also known as "axe parties" in the folk.
In this 1972 "Ma Yongzhen", Zhang Che and Bao Xueli made a drastic adaptation of the folk image of the "Iron-Blooded Hoe Gang", making it a gangster organization "Axe Gang", and the members of the organization had an axe in their hands.
The inadvertent design of Zhang Che and Bao Xueli has been imitated and used by many filmmakers in later generations.
In Jackie Chan's "Plan A Sequel" and Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu", the image of the "Axe Gang" with an axe in each hand has repeatedly appeared on the big screen.
Jackie Chan's "Plan A Sequel" pays tribute to the classic "five-on-one axe fight" in "Ma Yongzhen".
In addition to the unique film element of "Axe Gang", the unique theme expression of the 1972 version of "Ma Yongzhen" also had a profound impact on the development of Hong Kong gangster films in the 1980s and 1990s.
In "Ma Yongzhen", zhang and Bao two directors show the story of a group of "evil people" from the perspective of the growth of an "evil person".
The ugly faces of these evil people in the power struggle, the dark side of human nature, are fully displayed. And the ultimate death fate of the protagonist also makes the story full of desolate fatalism.
Under the foundation of this "Ma Yongzhen", gangster film works with "evil stories showing vicious humanity" began to rise step by step in the Hong Kong film market in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 2005, Du Qifeng's "Underworld" made this type of "gangster theme" work reach its peak.
In 1997, Yuan Kui cooperated with Yuan Biao and Jin Chengwu to remake the 1972 version of "Ma Yongzhen".
In the remake version of the story, Yuan Kui downplayed the "serious gangster theme" in the original work, focusing the story on the performance of the two emotional scenes of "Ma Yongzhen and Jin Lingzi" and "Tan Si and Sunny Day", and added a lot of comedy and entertainment elements to the film.
The integration of comedy elements really added a lot of entertainment to the 1997 version of "Ma Yongzhen".
However, the overly entertaining way of expression also makes Yuan Kui's remake lose the depth of the original story and epic temperament.
This also makes Yuan Kui's version of "Ma Yongzhen" and Zhang Che's and Bao Xueli's version of "Ma Yongzhen" open up a certain gap in terms of market reputation.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="66" > conclusion</h1>
In the early 70s, Chen Guantai launched his film industry with this "Ma Yongzhen".
In 1972, Bruce Lee, after watching this "Ma Yongzhen", deliberately went to the "Thorn Horse" crew to visit Chen Guantai, Jiang David and others, and hoped to cooperate with Chen Guantai, the "Southeast Asian boxing king", a film work.
Unfortunately, Bruce Lee died suddenly in 1973. This "one punch and one leg" on the big screen of Hong Kong films ultimately failed to get the opportunity to cooperate.
- End