Working photo of "God of Wealth Inn", Yuan Kui, He Jiajin and Nicholas Tse. Picture courtesy of ic
Jackie Chan posted a photo of the "Yuan Team" on Weibo. Picture source: Jackie Chan’s personal Weibo
May 13, 2005, Guilin, Guangxi, famous Hong Kong director Yuen Kui at work. Picture courtesy of ic
On August 12, Jackie Chan posted a message to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Yuan Family Class, and posted a group photo with his classmates. The article mentioned that Yuan Kui had passed away, which surprised movie fans. Tian Qiwen, former president of the Hong Kong Federation of Film Workers, confirmed that Yuen Kui passed away in 2022. Tian Qiwen told the media: "About two years ago, Yuen Kui died of illness, but it has not been made public due to the wishes of his family. As far as I know, he had emigrated to Canada in his early years." As for why Jackie Chan suddenly disclosed the news of Yuan Kui's death? Tian Qiwen said: "They have always The friendship between brothers is deep, and it is normal to miss him. "
"Yuan Family Class" reunited and posted a message to commemorate Jackie Chan.
In the group photo released by Jackie Chan, the 74-year-old senior brother Sammo Hung is sitting in the C position, wearing a hat and gray eyebrows. Jackie Chan, Yuan Qiu, Yuan Biao, Yuan Hua and others also cuddled closely together. Everyone was wearing red Yuan family uniforms, and they were in a good mood to be together as classmates.
The accompanying text released by Jackie Chan reads: "'Yuan Class People' is the theme we set to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Yuan Family Class. This group of us has entered Master Yu Zhanyuan's Hong Kong China since we were six or seven years old. In drama school, we sang, read, and danced together, practiced hard together, and received beatings from the master together. We also learned a lot of real skills together that will enable us to make a living in the future. Later, we entered the film industry one after another, and our brothers and sisters helped each other and gradually made our way. Created a world of its own, the Seven Little Fortunes from the Yuan family class are becoming more and more popular among the audience. Many people have become great action instructors, starring actors, and directors in the film industry, and have their own representative works. Just like this, time passes. After a few decades, we all have a lot of wrinkles on our faces, our hair has turned gray, and many actions can no longer be completed easily. However, as Brother Sammo Hung said, we, a group of people, have been beaten and beaten all our lives. It’s a miracle that we can still be together in good health. At this gathering, we remember the passing of Master, Master, Senior Sister Yu Suqiu, Yuan Lin, Yuan Yin, Yuan Ru, Yuan Kui and Yuan Rong. Brothers and sisters also ask each other to cherish their bodies and welcome the next reunion. Bless the Yuan Family Class, forever the members of the Yuan Class!"
It is reported that 2024 is the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Yuan Family Class. The "Seven Little Blessings" mentioned in the article is the collective name of the seven disciples accepted by Yu Zhanyuan, a famous Peking opera actor, when he founded the Chinese Theater Research Institute in Hong Kong in the 1960s. It is a theater troupe. The origin of the Seven Little Blessings comes from Zhan Yuan's choice of Yuan Long (Sammo Hung's stage name at the time), Yuan Lou (Jackie Chan's stage name at the time), Yuan Biao, Yuan Kui, Yuan Hua, and Yuan Wu (real name Zhou Yuanjun) during a Peking Opera performance. , Yuan Tai and seven others serve as the protagonists of "Seven Little Blessings".
Achievements in a generation of superstars such as Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh
Born in 1950, Yuen Kui has many titles. He is not only a well-known actor and director in Hong Kong, but also a martial arts instructor and producer. In his early years, Yuan Kui, along with Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan and Yuan Biao, studied under Peking Opera master Yu Zhanyuan, and the seven of them were known as the "Seven Little Blessings".
After leaving the stage performance, Yuan Kui entered the studio as a martial arts instructor and directed dozens of films, including "Fang Shiyu", "Manga Dragon", "The Gambler", "New Fist of Fury 1991" and other masterpieces. "Fang Shiyu" won the 13th Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Action Direction.
Yuen Kui not only co-directed "The Gambler" with Liu Zhenwei, which made Stephen Chow famous, but also single-handedly promoted many action actors. It was they who supported half of the Hong Kong film industry in the future, including Michelle Yeoh and Jet Li.
In 1985, Sammo Hung established Debao Film Company. Debao db's name comes from Sammo Hung's "宝" and the other from rich second-generation Dickson Poon's "DI". At this time, Dickson Poon had a girlfriend, Michelle Yeoh, who had just won Miss Malaysia.In order to flatter his girlfriend, Dickson Poon assigned Sammo Hung to make a movie for Michelle Yeoh. The first film "Owl and Peter Pan" took the route of a beautiful girl, with Michelle Yeoh playing a teacher in an orphanage. Unfortunately, the movie was not a success. Dickson Poon asked Sammo Hung to make other decisions, and Sammo Hung had to hand over the important responsibility to Yuen Kui.
In line with the pragmatic style of acting, Yuan Kui made a surprising statement, if you can't be a beautiful girl, you can become a beating girl. Thus, "Royal Senior Sister" came into being. The significance of this movie to Michelle Yeoh's life is self-evident, and the director is Yuen Kui. In view of Michelle Yeoh's dancing skills, Yuan Kui specially designed a set of shooting plans, which made Michelle Yeoh's successful transformation. After this battle, Yuan Kui not only became famous, but was also invited by Hollywood to film Jean-Claude Van Damme's "Game of Blood".
By 1993, Yuan Kui picked up action movies again. Jet Li had already stepped onto the stage at this time and announced the arrival of the Grandmaster with the movie "Once Upon a Time" in 1991. After that, Jet Li established the company "Zhengdong Films" and invited Yuan Kui to be the director and action director. The two collaborated on another well-known IP "Fang Shiyu". Judging from Yuan Kui's action design, it is consistent with Yuan Heping's concept. He can fly over eaves and walk over walls, and he can also make a splash when he falls. After "Fang Shiyu", Yuan Kui used his solid martial arts skills to become popular in Xiangjiang. And he and Jet Li reached an in-depth cooperation on this. Classic movies such as "Fang Shiyu Continuation", "Zhongnanhai Bodyguard" and "Letter to Dad" are all collaborations between Yuan Kui and Jet Li's brothers. The film's style emphasizes both solemnity and humor, it is humorous but not cheesy, and the fight scenes are exciting but not bloody. It is truly a masterpiece of action movies in the 1990s. Jet Li trusted Yuan Kui so much that he even took him with him when he went to Hollywood to film "Lethal Weapon 4" in 1997.
In recent years, Yuen Kui has returned to the Chinese film industry and participated in the design of action scenes in many works such as "Red Cliff" and "New Shaolin Temple". The last film Yuan Kui participated in was "The Fairy Ball War" directed by his friend Liu Zhenwei in 2017. From then on, he completely disappeared and spent his old age overseas.
“An era has passed slowly”
After Jackie Chan published his long article, hundreds of messages have flooded into the comment area. Some people mourned the death of Yuan Kui, some recalled the glorious years of Hong Kong movies, and some lamented that the frost and dew are passing by, and the sun and the moon are passing by. Like a stream, in the blink of an eye, decades have passed, and those heroes who once illuminated the dreams of young people have grown old. "An era has slowly passed."
Some movie fans left a sad message: "Yuan Kui has always kept a low profile and has no news. We wouldn't know it unless Jackie Chan told us." Some fans also wrote: "In that era of material poverty and spiritual poverty, Hong Kong movies and TV series just illuminated a The light, martial arts and action of the ignorant boy are eye-opening. If possible, I really want to go back to my childhood and just watch the movie. "
Yuen Kui
was born in Hong Kong, China on November 30, 1951. He became the Dragon Tiger Warrior in 1970. . He has participated in the action direction of many films such as "The Dragon Master", "The Royal Sister", "The Gambler" and "Fang Shiyu". After going to Hollywood, he served as the action designer of "X-Men" and also collaborated with director Luc Besson. "Extraordinary Traffickers" and "Extraordinary Traffickers 2". As a director, he has shot many popular films such as "The Gambler" and "Fang Shiyu". As an action director, he has been nominated for 18 Academy Awards and Golden Horse Awards for Best Action Design, and won 3 times.
Integration: Pan Xin
Integration: Beijing Youth Daily, Dute News, China News Service, Morning News, Jimu News, etc.
