Zhou Xingchi's movies are the childhood memories of a generation, and a series of classic comedies have made him the king of comedy. But few people know that in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a person in Hong Kong who gave the nickname "Sneakers" Xu Guanwen. He is the first generation king of comedy in the Hong Kong film industry. Unlike Stephen Chow’s nonsensical movie style, Xu Guanwen’s comedies mostly feature small characters as the protagonists, and they are all about daily life events, which makes people laugh and feel ironic. It resonates very much.
Xu Guanwen worked for Shaw Films in his early days. He was not satisfied with being an actor. He found Shaw Shaw with the script of "Ghost and Horse" and wanted to shoot the film in a cooperative way. Run Run Shaw rejected him on the grounds of poor script. At this time, Zou Wenhuai of Jiahe saw the time and invited Xu Guanwen to join Jiahe and helped him establish Xu's film industry. Later, "Ghost and Horse" was released, breaking the Hong Kong movie box office record in one fell swoop. Has also become the trump card of Jiahe. After
"Ghost and Horse Double Stars", Xu Guanwen and his three younger brothers have jointly created "Genius and Idiots", "Half a Catty", "Deed", "Modern Bodyguard" and many other classic films that are well received and popular. The four brothers of the Xu family and the second child, Xu Guanwu, focused behind the scenes. The other three were in charge of the performance. Xu Guanwen was responsible for self-deprecating and Xu Guanying had always been declining. "Duck Talk" collaborated again, but in the film Xu Guanjie only played a cameo, starred in himself, cutting the ribbon for his eldest brother Xu Guanwen’s "rival" shop. This was the last time the three brothers Xu’s cooperation in the 1980s, and 1990’s "New Half a Catty" was The last swan song of the Xu brothers, because Xu Guanying is no longer there and there is no chance to cooperate again.
"Chicken and Duck Talk" mainly tells the story of Lao Xu, who opened a roast duck restaurant, faced the competition of Danny's fried chicken in the same industry, how to find a way out in a difficult situation and defend the story of the roast duck restaurant. At first glance, this is a rather novel subject. However, under the circumstances at the time, Hong Kong in the 1980s was facing the impact of Chinese tradition and Western ideas. Remaining on its own feet and not seeking innovation can only be eliminated by the times. Seeking innovation and change. How to maintain a balance between the preservation of tradition and innovation requires more exploration. The most intuitive example of
is the battle of wits between Lao Xu and his fellow orangutan on the secret recipe of roast duck. The orangutan racked his brains to steal the teacher when Lao Xu made roast duck, while Lao Xu was a soldier to cover the water and earth. , So that the orangutan could not start. This battle of wits and courage in the film
can be called a classic, and it is amazing. The one that does everything possible to do strange tricks frequently, the other is better to guard against death. With the background music full of spy war style, it is even more interesting and exciting to the audience. The details of Lao Xu hiding the last spice in the secret recipe in his pocket are even more magical.
Old Xu's behavior is nothing more than answering the old saying, "Teached the apprentice, starved to death the master." Chinese masters always keep a hand or two when teaching their disciples, so as not to let the apprentices learn them all, and there are even stereotypes of passing on males and not females. These stereotypes and bad habits are undoubtedly harmful to the inheritance of traditional skills. Ironically, Lao Xu's wonderful roast duck craftsmanship was also stolen from his early years.
Faced with the menacing trend of Danny's fried chicken, Old Xu has not tried to change it. He copied the western-style business philosophy of Danny's fried chicken mechanically, but in the end it was only the effect of the east, making the business more bleak.
Old Xu didn't care about it at first, but later he became discouraged. He felt that the roast duck he made was not bad. Why was there no business? At this time, Lao Xu still did not see the key to the problem.
He treats employees harshly, and the overtime pay is only 10 yuan, just like the present Grande; ignoring the dirty and messy environment in the store, duck bones are everywhere, and even the soup bowl has gaps and cracks, so that the guests who come here are complaining. . These are in sharp contrast with Danny's fried chicken, which is spacious and bright across the street and the staff is polite. Just like when we are walking on the street for food, our first choice restaurant must look clean and hygienic. If we walk into the restaurant and see flies flying around and cockroaches, the mood of eating will be mostly wiped out.
Fortunately, Mr. Xu finally saw the crux of the bleak business. With the investment of his mother-in-law, he drastically reformed the roast duck restaurant. He passed the secret recipe to the orangutan, no longer worrying about the secret recipe leaking, the new apprentices have also been taught, and at the same time opened up a new way to protect the secret recipe, they let the new employees as an alliance (actually drinking duck blood) ), stand in front of Guan GongSwear to ensure that the secret recipe will not be passed on. This kind of faction can not help making new employees complain about whether this is a triad. Although this episode is funny, it also shows that Old Xu abandoned the old customs and taught the secret recipe to others, which also allowed the craft to continue to be inherited and carried forward. They found a balance between tradition and innovation.
Xu Guanwen’s movies are full of jokes, and there is no lack of thinking about the current situation of society. In his movies, there are no pure good people and bad people. Everyone has shortcomings, but there are also advantages. Like the old Xu he plays, he lives shrewd and stingy and treats his employees extremely stingy. He sews clothes under street lights in the middle of the night just to save a little electricity bill; he deducts employee subsidies and only pays 10 yuan for overtime.
but will also re-accept the clerk who has left, and will rush into the flames desperately to save others. Old Xu is like the most common type of boss, mean and mean, so that the audience can immediately resonate and penetrate into the plot of the movie. The self-deprecating performance style of
has always been passed down in Xu's movies. He makes each character vivid and three-dimensional, full of human touch, so that the audience can find their own shadows, and they can get some insights after laughing. Xu Guanwen has won the Hong Kong Film Annual Box Office Championship 5 times, which also shows the popularity of his works. In his films, he can feel the style and people of all walks of life in Hong Kong in the last century, with distinctive characteristics of the times and regional colors, which have played a role in boosting the development of Hong Kong films.
Today's Xu Guanwen hardly makes movies, his style is slowly changing, the jokes are decreasing, and the thinking about human nature is increasing. This also made him lose part of the audience. Some people may think that he is exhausted, but his response is "On the road of creation, there will never be exhausted, because God will never give you exhausted, only a little hard work." Just like Lao Xu from a roast duck restaurant, Xu Guanwen is still creating to this day. He treats the movie like Lao Xu is gentle and full of enthusiasm when facing roast duck.
