"Who says heroes are lonely? Our heroes are happy."
"Fugui Villa reminds me of Tongfu Inn."
The two sentences above have their origins. One sentence comes from Gu Long's famous work "Happy Heroes". The sentence
is the dialogue of the martial arts comedy " Happy Hero: Young Heroes Gaiden " which will be aired tonight. The one who speaks the dialogue is Xing Captou, ah no, it is Fan Ming.
Shang Jing and the ancient martial arts comedy, long time no see.
In 1994, the ratings of "I Love My Family" reached a peak of 85% after its launch, marking the first sitcom of its kind.
In 2004, "Story of the Cooking Class 2" received great ratings and reputation, but in the opinion of director Shang Jing, it was time to change the subject matter.
If you want to make a movie, make a costume martial arts comedy.
He found a group of unknown actors back then, including Yao Chen, Sha Yi, Yan Ni, Yu Entai, etc., and filmed 80 episodes in one go. The
series adopts the narrative mode of traditional Chinese classical novels in chapters, perfectly blending martial arts and sitcoms, and uses the form of ironic martial arts to conduct a new deconstruction of the traditional chivalrous spirit. The
drama series was broadcast in 2006 and became the national champion in ratings that year. It was " Wulin Gaiden ".
18 years have passed and it has become the pinnacle of domestic sitcoms and costumed martial arts comedies. But after " Love Apartment ", let alone costume martial arts comedies, the entire sitcom fell into a slump.
Until last year, Goose Factory broadcast Zhao Benshan's "Legend of the Magpie Sword Gate", which finally made the long-dormant martial arts comedy come to life again.
It’s time for Shang Jing to take over.
Just today, another 51-episode costume martial arts comedy will premiere in Goose Factory. It is still a time familiar to the audience: 12 noon.
"The Story of Happy Heroes".
directed by Shang Jing, starring Bai Ke, Lan Yingying , Sun Yizhou , Jia Bing , Fan Ming and others.
The best sitcom director in China has finally started working on Gu Long's favorite novel "Happy Heroes".
01, original work: Gu Long’s novel that is the least popular among Gu Long, is it also Gu Long’s favorite novel?
Among Gu Long's many works, "Peerless Two Prouds" should be the one that has been remade the most, followed by the "Chu Liuxiang", "Lu Xiaofeng" and "Little Li Fei Dao" series.
"Happy Heroes" is the first time it has been moved to the screen.
Because "Happy Hero" is the most special one among Gu Long's many works.
Gu Long's novels are good at depicting human nature. Most of the protagonists encounter ups and downs, which have nothing to do with comedy.
But it is such a martial arts master who writes the funniest martial arts novels.
A dilapidated villa that is unlucky and poor, but its name is Fugui Villa.
The whole story is about the four protagonists: Guo Dalu, Yan Qi, Wang Dong, and Lin Taiping, a hard-working quartet, and their experiences in the down-and-out Fugui Villa.
Like Jin Yong's "The Deer and the Cauldron", "Happy Heroes" can be said to be the most anti-wuxia novel.
The book has a total of 326,000 words. It contains no martial arts secrets about grievances and grievances, but only talks about the friendship of four unlucky ghosts in the martial arts world.
is Gu Long’s favorite novel.
Although both are return-to-basics works by the master of martial arts novels, "Happy Heroes" is indeed far less famous than "The Deer and the Cauldron".
On the one hand, "The Deer and the Cauldron" is a relatively popular novel, but it is still too literary, the story is not lively enough, and the protagonist does not have seven wives.
Even though it is a comedy, in fact the ending of Guo Dalu and Yan Qi is still disappointing.
Only Lin Taiping and Wang Dong had a good ending.
Compared with Gu Long's other novels, the difficulty of adapting "Happy Heroes" is too great, and almost all major directors have chosen to bypass it.
Unexpectedly, the first person to bite this hard nut was Shang Jing.
02, Story: Fugui Villa, another Tongfu Inn? Wulin Gaiden is here again?
Compared with "Happy Heroes", Shang Jing, who is also the screenwriter and director, has adapted the original story quite a bit.
"Fugui Villa" in Pingan Town is the residence of the "Bailaohui", the largest gang in the world. The three elders who are eager to retire are their sons Lin Taiping (played by Yang Jue), Wang Dong (played by Sun Yizhou), Yan Qi (played by Lan Ying) Ying (played by Ying) trained as successors, not only interrupting their living expenses, but also trying to accelerate the growth of their children by creating problems.
Unexpectedly, the civilian knight Guo Dalu (played by Bai Ke) appeared halfway and disrupted their plan.
He became friends with three young heroes, and ran a martial arts school, a newspaper office, a theater troupe, and a detective agency... Not only did he become more and more poor, but he also attracted opponents to take advantage of the situation...
At the same time, the four young heroes also faced internal conflicts. Issues of unity, hostile forces, love disputes, and more.
Gradually, they gained the ability to make a living, cherished each other, and their love relationships blossomed...
When the third elder decided to pass the elder's position to the three young heroes, the young heroes refused. They believe that people who bring joy to themselves and others in the ordinary are also heroes.
It is not difficult to see that compared with Gu Long's original work, the drama series has been marked with a strong respecting label from the story level.
Combined with the trailer, it is not difficult to see the three major highlights of the series:
The first is the "Wulin Gaiden" style comedy gag.
It is impossible to mention Shang Jing without mentioning Wulin Gaiden.
Major online forums have conducted many votes to select the goat of Chinese sitcoms, and "Wulin Gaiden" won without exception.
In addition to the funny story and the wonderful performances of the actors, the greatest contribution of this drama is that it completely breaks away from the creative template of American sitcoms and creates an original Chinese "costume martial arts comedy" in the form of chapter chapters of classical novels.
Rather than saying that Shang Jing is the father of Chinese sitcoms, it is actually more accurate to say that he is the father of domestic costume martial arts comedies.
And Shang Jing himself directly called "Happy Heroes" a companion piece to "Wulin Gaiden". Bai Ke's domineering "hero" in the trailer of
. The original high-end and domineering words of
instantly became grounded, and a Wang Dachui temperament was ready to emerge.
There are also Fan Ming’s teasing at the beginning, Jia Bing’s fight with others, Yang Jue, ’s supreme master fainting with blood, and the mysterious organization behind Liu Yajin’s character, the "Bailaohui".
The baggage revealed in these stories can accurately hit the audience's laughter.
"Happy Heroes" is indeed not a sequel to "Wulin Gaiden", but its comedy techniques will definitely remind the audience of "Wulin Gaiden".
The second is joy in the world.
Judging from the trailer, Shang Jing is serious about filming action scenes.
In the trailer of dozens of seconds, the protagonist is almost all showing off his kung fu.
shot every scene unambiguously, and every move is no less than a real martial arts drama.
For example, Yan Qi, played by Lan Yingying, fights with several villains. With her sharp figure, clean swordsmanship, the action scenes are quite smooth.
Especially, there is no slow motion. There are no special effects, not to mention making people excited to watch, at least every move is clear.
One of the things that made "Legend of the Magpie Sword" highly praised was that it was unexpected that a bunch of comedians would produce the purest costume action scenes among domestic dramas last year.
I watched "Happy Heroes", maybe there is a way.
The third is a comedy group portrait.
Is there any domestic director who is better at shooting comedy group portraits than Shang Jing? I think not.
If we don’t talk about Wulin Gaiden, let’s talk about “The Story of Cooking Class”.
The serious and responsible monitor Hong Pang, the deputy monitor Lao Gao who loves to make small reports, the enthusiastic and impulsive buyer Da Zhou, Xiao Mao who has many clever ideas, Hu Shuai who loves literature and art and Xiao Jiang who likes to brag, all of them are shining brightly.
The actors performed so well that in the end Shang Jing directly brought Sha Yi, Fan Ming and Jiang Chao into "Wulin Gaiden".
This time, Gu Long’s original work is a classic group portrait martial arts novel.
If you let others go, that really won’t work. Shang Jing came to shoot, I was relieved.
In short, "Happy Heroes" will most likely deconstruct the martial arts elements we are familiar with one by one and turn them into comedy jokes with their own humorous attributes.
It can be said that this is another collision between martial arts and comedy.
The only suspense is whether the sitcom king who once set the standard for period martial arts comedies can prove himself again?
03, lineup: Sun Yizhou Bai Ke takes the lead, Jia Bing and Fan Ming help out, this casting is a bit amazing
The main actors of "Happy Heroes" include Sun Yizhou, Lan Yingying, Yang Jue, Bai Ke, Fan Ming, Jia Bing, Liu Yajin and other 7 powerful actors group.
Shang Jing’s casting is still outstanding, and several actors who were only moderately popular back then are now popular.
No. 1, Jia Bing
Jia Bing's comedy talent goes without saying, but as an actor, he first proved himself in "Hurry". At the beginning, I also thought he was here to be funny. As a result, the Xu Jiang he portrayed was indeed funny, but the character was also really ruthless.
The highlight scene of Jia Bing's acting that impressed me for the first time was the scene where he went to the mobile phone store to find Gao Qiqiang for the first time.
As Gao Qiqiang spoke, he walked to the water dispenser and took a glass of water. The moment he raised his hand, Xu Jiang went over to take it. Unexpectedly, Gao Qiqiang started drinking by himself.
Xu Jiang could only subconsciously stroke his beard. This kind of unintentionally funny little humor is too precious, and there are very few actors in China who can really do it.
He also had an excellent performance in "Flying Life 2" released during the Spring Festival.
The land dragon king he plays this time will probably shine, just wait and see.
is second, Baike
I never expected that after so many years of transformation, Baike finally looks like an actor.
Baike has been experimenting with various genres in recent years. He can play Chiang Kai-shek in the historical drama "Ask the Cangmang", and he can also play the social animal in "The Annual Party Can't Stop".
Facts have proved that in the popular track of wimpy social animals, Baike has few opponents and the future prospects are bright.
His role as Guo Dalu this time is also very impressive. Even if he only has a penny, he can still share it with others.
As an escort, he gave money to the robbers because he helped them, and lost his job.
went to the pawn shop and asked for 80 taels of silver to pawn one tael. Such an image of an unlucky guy couldn't be more suitable for a guest appearance.
In third place, Sun Yizhou
Sun Yizhou played Bai Dong.
In the original work, Bai Dong, who has extraordinary light skills, is the owner of Fugui Villa, named Wang Dong, but he never moves because he is too lazy to move.
His famous saying: "Carry me to bed, I am too lazy to move."
This picture seamlessly connects me to Lu Ziqiao in Love Apartment.
Sun Yizhou has also stepped into comedy in recent years. He has been featured in the spy drama "Spy of the Deep" and the suspense film "Solid as a Rock".
It cannot be said that the acting is not good, but the most classic role is Lu Ziqiao.
I can only say that some people are born comedians, and I think the director knows how to play Bai Dong.
No. 4, Yang Jue
In the original work, Lin Taiping is a boy under 20. It seems that the director took the elegant side of Yang Jue.
Yang Jue's father is Yang Lixin, a famous actor in Renyi, but he is considered a second-generation star who will not embarrass his father. He has performed steadily in many dramas.
Some people are worried that he can't act in comedy. In fact, Zhu Ranjii in "The Wind Rises" is a comedy character. He was originally thought to be a supporting role, but he ended up being played as a popular character in the drama. He can play the role of "raking ears". His acting skills can also be seen in the shocking scenes.
I hope that this time he can use his acting skills to make up for the age difference with the original character.
No. 5, Lan Yingying
Many viewers know her because of "The Birth of an Actor ".
She became the only actress in the finals and competed for the championship on the same week. Although she lost, her acting skills were highly recognized.
In comparison, her performance in Chinese dramas is not as dazzling as acting and variety shows.
In addition to audience popularity, another problem is that I have not encountered the most suitable role.
Yan Qi in this drama is called Yan Qi because he has died seven times and does not want to die an eighth time. He is a middle-aged man and a bit dull, and he likes force very much.
From the trailer, it seems that Lan Yingying is still working very hard, and the action scenes are well-organized. She must have worked hard. I hope she can win back the audience with her strength this time.
No. 6, Fan Ming
Speaking of audience popularity, this one has nothing to worry about.
Although he plays a big thief, no matter how the audience looks at it, it looks like Mr. Xing has returned to the inn.
As a national first-class actor, Fan Ming actually has good acting skills. In his early years, he participated in masterpieces such as "Migrant Workers".
His performance style is humorous and natural, and his comedy is also invisible. It is very suitable for him to evoke the audience's martial arts feelings.
With him, it has the flavor of a costumed martial arts comedy.
04, Success or failure: Reinvent the sitcom world?
In martial arts films, when a master returns to martial arts, there are generally two results: one is to return to his former glory, and the other is to say goodbye to the martial arts in loneliness.
Shang Jing is a name that cannot be avoided in sitcoms, but as a master, he has to face an unfamiliar world.
Many people are wondering: Why are domestic sitcoms almost extinct now?
The answer is simple: sitcoms require screenwriters the most, and good screenwriters almost don’t work on sitcoms anymore.
Among the more outstanding costume sitcoms in recent years, one is "The Magpie Sword" and the other is "The Happy Affair". In fact, the actors have more credit, but the scripts are not low.
These costume sitcoms are popular because they have no traffic or huge amounts of money, but they are extremely funny.
Shang Jing's "Happy Heroes", whether the ending is happy or not, the most important thing is actually the script. Without Ning Caishen, can Shang Jing, who is personally involved in the battle, write a comedy that is pure and refreshing and can completely relax people?
will soon find out.
But at least one thing, I believe that Shang Jing is irreplaceable.
Back then, Gu Long wrote "Happy Heroes", which was similar to Jin Yong's "The Deer and the Cauldron". They both shattered the martial arts world that he had built himself.
But it also has a lot to do with Gu Long's state of mind at the time. Cologne was a good drinker, and he sang and drank all day long. At this time, he was already suffering from illness, and his writing was no longer a glass full of spirits, but a bowl of boiled water like "Happy Heroes". All kinds of tastes in the world can be found in it.
True friendship in the world is the most touching part of the original novel.
The Tongfu Inn created by Shang Jing is like a vast universe. On the surface, several protagonists are making jokes and fooling around, but in fact, scenes of human tragedies and comedies are staged here.
This last small place has moved us for many years with its endless human touch.
In this sense, Shang Jing is indeed the most suitable director for "Happy Heroes".
When Wong Kar-wai made "Ashes of Time", he borrowed a line from the book "Happy Heroes": They were happy when they drank, and they were equally happy when they drank water. So they live happier than others.
But there is at least one difference between drinking alcohol and drinking water. The more you drink, the hotter the wine becomes, and the more you drink the water, the colder it becomes.
Wong Kar-wai changed this sentence to: The more you drink wine, the warmer it becomes; the more you drink water, the colder it becomes.
hopes that this "Happy Hero" can bring a touch of warmth to the costumed martial arts comedy in this spring when it is still warm but still cold.
