on the big screen of martial arts movies, Tsui Hark’s directorship has left a deep impression on many audiences.
On the Hong Kong film screens in the late 80s and early 90s, Director Tsui Hark has won the love of many movie fans through his unconstrained imagination, unique art style, and exaggerated action design from the sky, and from Zhang Che, Hu Jinquan, Chu Yuan and the others took over the banner of "Master of Martial Arts".
and "New Dragon Inn", "Swordsman in the East", "Huang Feihong" and other works have become unforgettable martial arts classics in the hearts of many fans.
is free and easy and full of imagination, which has always been a major feature of Tsui Hark's movies. However, in his long filmmaking career, Director Tsui Hark also occasionally tried realistic action subjects. Today we are going to talk about a realistic action movie created by Director Xu.
This film was created during the low career period of Director Tsui Hark. The story of the film is full of Director Xu's reflection on life and career. The film is compact, well-made, and the actors performed very well. However, because of the absence of stars in the film and the influence of the background, the film was eventually buried by the box office torrent, only the theme song was widely circulated.
It is "San Da" jointly created by Tsui Hark and Mai Zishan in 2004.
In "Sanshou", Tsui Hark abandons the movie style of the previous martial arts movies, where the world goes into the earth and satisfies the old and the present. Instead, he transitions from a "routine champion" to a "Sanshou athlete", and has a strong attitude towards "Kung Fu", Discussed and reflected on "life".
The story of "San Da" started with a fierce boxing match. Two Sanda athletes fought fiercely, and in conjunction with the off-site commentary, they introduced the rules and scoring standards of Sanda to the audience.
With the fall of a boxer, time slowly goes backwards, and the story also enters a flashback. The protagonist of the
story is called Zhang Guoqiang. He learned martial arts routines since he was a child and practiced routines on the bridge in the village every day. The villagers in the past praised Zhang Guoqiang and believed that he would definitely win a national championship when he grew up. And he didn't disappoint the folks, he really won a junior martial arts championship.
Zhang Guoqiang grew up gradually amidst the praise and applause of the folks. As an adult, he believed that he should not stay in the countryside and should have a higher stage of development, so he and his friend Xiami from the same village came to Shenzhen to work hard. After
came to Shenzhen, Zhang Guoqiang and Xiami looked for jobs, and their money quickly ran out. Zhang Guoqiang and Xiami have a small hair, called Tie Dalong, and are now professional Sanda athletes. The two decided to borrow money from Dalong and promised to introduce a girlfriend to Dalong.
Zhang Guoqiang and Xiami made an appointment with Tie Dalong. They met at a food stall in the evening, but Dalong never showed up. While waiting for the food stalls, Zhang Guoqiang and Xiami saw several men embarrass a girl. Zhang Guoqiang wanted to see righteousness, but he was knocked to the ground by the opponent without expecting a few tricks.
Afterwards, Zhang Guoqiang arrived. The man who fought with him was Zhao Wei, a professional Sanda athlete, and the girl that night was called Aling. A Ling's sister, and Zhao Wei were originally lovers. Three years ago, in order to achieve good results in his career, Zhao Wei chose to break up with Ah Ling's sister and concentrate on training.
Now Zhao Wei has won two national Sanda championships and wants to reconcile with Ah Ling's sister. A Ling's sister has always avoided Zhao Wei, Zhao Wei can only stop A Ling and ask her sister where she is going.
Although Zhang Guoqiang's "Courageous Action" was just a misunderstanding, but because of his reckless action, it caused a chaos in the food stall, and Xiami broke his leg in the chaos. Zhang Guoqiang and Xiami, who were already living in poverty, had to face 20,000 yuan in medical expenses.
Although Ah Ling said that the matter started by herself and was willing to share the medical expenses for Xiami, she, who sang at the bar, couldn't get so much cash for a while. In order to treat Xiami, Zhang Guoqiang went to the Sanda team and asked Tie Dalong to borrow money.
Tie Dalong's father is the coach of the Sanda team. After he heard that Xiami was hospitalized because of a fight, he thought that Zhang Guoqiang and Xiami are now scumbags. Tie Dalong was at the peak of his sports career. Tie's father didn't want his son to be distracted by these "fox friends", so he drove Zhang Guoqiang out.
When Zhang Guoqiang left the Sanda team,I accidentally learned about the "Rookie King Sanda Contest" a month later, and the prize of the contest was 30,000. So he decided to borrow usury to give Xiami to see a doctor, go to the competition one month later, and took the bonus to pay off the debt.
Zhang Guoqiang found Tie coach and said he wanted to learn Sanda. Tiefu thought about his relationship with his son, so he stayed behind. In the Sanda team, Zhang Guoqiang cleaned during the day, and at night followed Tie Dalong to secretly learn practical skills.
During training, Dalong warned Zhang Guoqiang not to participate in the "Rookie King" contest. After only studying for a month, he went to the competition. After going there, he was also a target for people. However, due to economic pressure, Zhang Guoqiang still entered the ring. However, as Dalong expected, Zhang Guoqiang was eliminated in the preliminaries. After
lost the game, Zhang Guoqiang returned to the Sanda team. Tiefu's cold words made Zhang Guoqiang's heart suffer. I have lived in praise and applause since I was a child, but now I always face blame. Zhang Guoqiang, who was under pressure, finally left the Sanda team. After
left the Sanda team, Zhang Guoqiang became a taxi driver and worked hard with Ah Ling and Xiami to pay off his previous debts. And Zhang Guoqiang and A Ling have also developed feelings during their long-term relationship.
Time passed bit by bit. Zhang Guoqiang, A Ling and Xiami worked hard to pay off their debts, while Tie Dalong was also training hard on the Sanda team. One day, Zhang Guoqiang passed the gymnasium and saw Tie Dalong and Zhao Wei having a game. In the arena, Zhao Wei made a fierce move and eventually interrupted Dalong's arm.
In the lounge, Tiefu comforted Dalong politely, and Dalong also said that victory or defeat is commonplace in the military, and he will continue to work hard next time. At this moment, Tiefu understood that Dalong's right hand was interrupted, and his career came to an end. While the father and son were talking, Zhang Guoqiang also came to the lounge to visit Dalong.
Zhang Guoqiang told Tiefu that he wanted to return to the Sanda team and that he wanted to replace Dalong and defeat Zhao Wei. Under Tiefu's consent, Zhang Guoqiang returned to the Sanda team, and under the Tiefu's training, Zhang Guoqiang also improved greatly. Time flies, and when it comes to the day of the game, Zhang Guoqiang has once again stood in the Sanda ring. The failure of
in the "Rookie King" contest has become a shadow in Zhang Guoqiang's heart. He was on the ring again, at a loss in the game, letting his opponent hit.
However, as the game progressed, Zhang Guoqiang gradually overcame his psychological fear and recovered his state. Zhang Guoqiang, who regained his confidence, passed all the way to the finals.
As the referee counted down, the camera returned to the opening scene. Zhang Guoqiang, who fell on the ground, stood up and had a final duel with Zhao Wei. After a fierce fight, Zhang Guoqiang defeated Zhao Wei and won the championship. Zhang Guoqiang, who won the championship, left Shenzhen and returned to his hometown. And the story came to an end at this time.
This "San Da" was created during the downturn of Tsui Hark's career. "Huang Feihong" and "New Dragon Inn" in the early 1990s brought Tsui Hark's film career to a peak. In the mid-1990s, with the rise of the boom in the United States, Tsui Hark also went to Hollywood, and directed the shooting of "Double Fire" and "K.O. Thunder Strike".
However, on the big screen in Hollywood, Tsui Hark's "Double Fire" and "K.O. Thunder Strike" did not attract much North American audiences. The bleak box office results made Tsui Hark's Hollywood road tread thin ice.
In 2000, Tsui Hark returned to the Chinese film scene and created four works: "Downstream", "Shushan", "Zombie Age", and "Black Man 2". However, after these works were released, they encountered box office Waterloo.
After several defeats, Tsui Hark filmed this "San Da" in 2003. The film was written and produced by Tsui Hark and directed by Mai Zishan. The hero Zhang Guoqiang in the film is undoubtedly a portrayal of Tsui Hark's own experience. In his early years, Tsui Hark shook the Hong Kong film scene with his martial arts film title and was called a "ghost director" by fans. This is exactly the same as Zhang Guoqiang, who was regarded as a "champion" by the villagers since his childhood.
Zhang Guoqiang was highly praised in his hometown, but he had a difficult life in Shenzhen. Tsui Hark was admired by many people in Hong Kong, but he was struggling in Hollywood. Zhang Guoqiang, who was frustrated in the Sanda ring, chose to switch to a taxi driver. And Tsui Hark, who was cold in Hollywood, had the idea of transforming the animation industry. He also filmed the cartoon "Xiao Qian" and published the comics.The painting collection "The End of the World and Moon Knife".
Tsui Hark incorporated his bitterness and depression in Hollywood into the script creation of this "San Da". The delicate story expression has also infected the hearts of many viewers.
"San Da" did not invite any stars to join during the filming process. Sang Weilin and Zhao Zilong, who starred in the film, were also professional Sanda athletes in their early years.
Because of the lack of star appeal in the acting lineup, this "San Da" failed to achieve very good results after it was released. In 2003, the Hong Kong film market was in decline, and the mainland film market at this time was sluggish due to the influence of SARS. The background of the market depression, coupled with the mediocre cast, "San Da" was quickly overwhelmed by the torrent of the times and became a buried masterpiece.
Although "San Da" is buried by the times, the theme song of the film is widely sung. It is-"Sudden Self".
When filming "San Da" in 2003, Tsui Hark invited Wu Bai to compose the theme song for the film. In the end, after Tsui Hark's lyrics, Wu Bai's revision and composition, this "Sudden Self" came into being. Although the box office of "San Da" has been cold, the song "Suddenly Self" has spread all over the streets and is still being sung. After
"San Da", Tsui Hark filmed "Seven Swords", "Searching for People in the Deep Sea", "Women Are Not Bad" and other works, and his director career gradually got out of the predicament with the birth of these works. In 2010, "Di Renjie: The Empire of the Heavens", Xu Hark found a new direction for development.
Today's Tsui Hark is taking advantage of the trend of fantasy martial arts. The Sanda, which was born during the downturn of his career, still infects more and more audiences with its delicate emotional expression and realistic action style.
