At the beginning of the 21st century, affected by sarcomb, China's film market was not in a slump. The three film works released that year not only achieved their own box office miracles, but also became brilliant works in the classics.
The three annual films released in 2004 are, according to the box office: Stephen Chow's "Kung Fu", Zhang Yimou's "Ten Faces Ambush", and Feng Xiaogang's "No Thief in the World".
Although director Feng Xiaogang's work ranked third in the annual box office that year, only achieving a box office performance of 126 million, this did not affect the excellence of the work, because this work is also the first work of director Feng Xiaogang to exceed 100 million, which is a major breakthrough in his creative road.
Some people may feel sorry that Feng Xiaogang's "No Thief in the World" met Zhou Xingchi's "Kung Fu" in that year, but in fact, they failed to find the essential difference.
The two films may not be a level of film from the beginning, this is not to say the production level of the film, but the positioning
In order to shoot the film "Kung Fu", Zhou Xingchi invested a total of 170 million yuan in production costs, and spent a full five years of production cycle, and finally sold 800 million yuan at the global box office. This film is also the pinnacle of Stephen Chow's production, and it is also the pinnacle of the Chinese language.
The production time of Feng Xiaogang's "No Thief in the World" took less than a year, and the production cost was only 30 million, but the final box office won 126 million, which can be called a small cost and large return on production. For director Feng Xiaogang, the film's transformation success is greater than the ranking results at the box office.
The three domestic blockbusters of that year, but from the production budget, it is undoubtedly Feng Xiaogang's "No Thief in the World" that won a huge award.
As we all know, the style of Fung's films has always been witty and humorous comedies. However, in "No Thief in the World", it rises to the level of realism and human nature, which is a benchmarking significance of Feng Xiaogang's works.
However, it is such an excellent work, and its creative road is not smooth.
Behind the scenes of "No Thief in the World": The script has changed hands several times, and many times it has not been reviewed
The film "No Thief in the World" is based on the novel of the same name by writer Zhao Benfu. What everyone doesn't know is that the original novel adaptation copyright was in the hands of Emei Film Studio in Sichuan, but it has been delayed for many reasons.
Later, by chance, director Feng Xiaogang saw the script and became very interested and wanted to shoot him himself.
As a result, Feng Xiaogang got the copyright of "No Thief in the World" from the hands of Emei Film Studio after several twists and turns.
After getting the copyright, Feng Xiaogang contacted his screenwriters Wang Gang, Lin Lisheng, and Zhang Jialu to adapt the plot of the novel with himself. However, after many adaptations, each time it was sent to the General Film Administration, it was not reviewable.
It's no wonder, because the script itself is about a pair of male and female thieves whose conscience discovers that in order to protect a migrant worker's sixty thousand yuan, he and another gang of thieves fight wits on the train.
At that time, the film review was relatively strict, requiring the film's works to highlight the main theme, to put it bluntly, it was to praise and exaggerate good people and good deeds. However, the plot of "No Thief in the World" uses two thieves as the protagonist, which is contrary to the main theme, and it is naturally difficult to pass.
Behind the scenes of "No Thief in the World": A Sentence from One Man The film was successfully reviewed
Just when Director Feng Xiaogang was depressed and had nothing to do, his nobleman appeared. This nobleman has helped him many times, and this time there is no exception, he is the famous writer - Wang Shuo.
When Feng Xiaogang, who was helpless, found Wang Shuo with the failed script, the other party only read it once and gave his opinion, with only one sentence: Let the female thief get pregnant!
It was such a simple sentence, but it gave Feng Xiaogang a feeling of empowerment. Through, everything is clear, such a performance, you can reasonably solve the conscience found in the script of the male and female thieves, why change. Moreover, such changes make the work itself have the positive energy educational significance of "the prodigal son does not change back to gold".
Even Feng Xiaogang's royal screenwriter Wang Gang heard that he was sighing, and gave a thumbs up and sighed: "This old and spicy, don't obey it!" ”
This sentence is not an exaggerated compliment, but the other party does have this strength! Wang Shuo's literary works were called "leper literature" or "rogue literature" in that period, and his stubborn style of writing set off a wave of literary frenzy...
Works such as Feng Xiaogang's early "Party A and Party B", later "Do Not Disturb Insincerity", "Private Customization" and other works have Wang Shuo's participation.
Behind the scenes of "No Thief in the World": the production intentions are brilliant
Before the filming began, the crew used nearly 100 group actors to participate in the shooting. Among these group performances, there are also groups of local Xiahe Tibetans who have been specially recruited by foreign students.
In order to be able to let all the actors into the scene during the shooting, the crew specially found a box of video tapes to teach everyone how to be a qualified thief.
Rene Liu, one of the main actors, once ridiculed this scene: less than a week into the crew, it felt like a "thief's head" crash course.
Audiences who have seen the film know that this is a story set in the winter. However, the real shooting scene is a summer summer day. Because the actors have to wear thick down jackets for acting, they must let the actors eat a few herbs and drink ten drops of water before each boot to prevent heat stroke accidents.
But there are surprises. The thief king played by Andy Lau encountered an accident in which the flying car fell into a mud pit on the first day of construction, and then only a minor injury was treated slightly, and Andy Lau asked to start work quickly.
Behind the scenes of "No Thief in the World": the royal male one has become a green leaf and a grass root has been red
In many of the previous Feng's New Year films, Uncle Ge Youge was a well-deserved brother. His exaggerated expression and humorous tone are all in line with Feng's comedy.
However, in the new work "No Thief in the World", Ge You took a back seat and acted as a green leaf.
What's even more outstanding is that this film really made an unknown little person, Wang Baoqiang, popular.
It is also from this film that the audience recognizes the silly, responsible, and dialect-speaking grassroots star Wang Baoqiang.
After so many years, Wang Baoqiang has now become one of the first-line celebrities, but the film "No Thief in the World" that made him famous has never been forgotten, which may be the original intention.
In addition, this classic film also had some oolong events after its release. For example, in the play, Wang Baoqiang wanted to go home with 60,000 yuan, and when asked why he didn't mail it back, he frankly said that the mailing fee was 600, which was enough to buy a cow, and he was reluctant to do it!
After the release of the film, due to the great heat, this plot was considered by China Post at the time to be detrimental to the business image, and almost caused a lawsuit. In the end, the film side publicly corrected that in fact, the mailing fee of 60,000 yuan only needed 100 yuan, which was the end.
Conclusion: Feng Xiaogang's "No Thief in the World" won many honors at the 42nd Taiwan Golden Horse Awards, the 5th Chinese Film and Media Awards, and the 28th Hundred Flowers Awards for Popular Films. It is also this film that has won the honor of film emperor and film queen for Andy Lau and Rene Liu. I just want to say that the success of the film is the careful shaping of their actors, and they deserve to win the award!