Author | Luo Zhengsheng
The eighties and nineties of the 20th century was the golden age of Hong Kong cinema. The Hong Kong film market at that time was splendid and brilliant. Various types of films, such as the sands of the Ganges River, were on the top of the mountain.
In such a fierce struggle, Stephen Chow's movie appeared to be born out of nowhere. Once it was released, it quickly occupied half of Hong Kong movies. Together with Chow Yun-fat and Jackie Chan, it was called the "double Monday success" that created the myth of Hong Kong's box office.
Xingchi Chow's movie has become popular for half of the sky. There are many reasons for various reasons. For the film itself, the postmodern consciousness that is almost distinct from traditional movies in Chow's films is the primary factor for his film success.
Postmodernism originated after the Second World War, and it was a cultural trend of thought arising from reflection and criticism of modernism. In terms of movies, it is mainly reflected in the selection of themes, narrative methods, and innovations in expression forms. Throughout Hong Kong films, only Stephen Chow can make the post-modern consciousness alive in films. In Stephen Chow’s comedy films, his stories, passages, performances, and dialogue are all full of post-modern phenomena.
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From the perspective of the storyline, most of Stephen Chow’s films are about a sad story, a sad journey of the struggle of a small person. However, Stephen Chow regards the suffering and setbacks as the normal life, and uses a witty and funny way to interpret the small person. The joys and sorrows and the interpretation of the optimistic spirit of the little characters have shaped the impression of "Xiaoqiang" who cannot be killed one after another.
Aside from Stephen Chow’s personal interpretation, the story and plot setting are a highlight in Stephen Chow’s movies, and they all have distinct labels of anti-tradition and subversion. Whether it is the boldness of the whole movie style and the ingenious plot setting, it all reflects the ingenuity of his movie.
is like "A Journey to the West", which subverts the traditional "Journey to the West" impression of a master and apprentice; the bad students in the drama "Play Back to School" make people love and hate; "Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrance", Tang Bohu's madness and rogue We saw the alternative Tang Bohu under the gentle surface...
and in the plot setting, there were surprises and surprises. One after another, unexpected sections continued to subvert the audience's inertial thinking.
In "Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrant", Tang Bohu chased Qiuxiang on a boat and asked the boatman to shake it quickly. The boatman boasted: My boat is famous fast! Tang Bohu exclaimed: Hey, your boat is sinking! Boatman: Yes, it sinks fast!
In "Nine Pins of Sesame Officials", Zhou Xingchi escaped on the boat of the troupe and practiced real-life flying knife skills. In the shot, the flying knife was placed around the human body like the vital parts of the flying knife as if it had eyes. Everyone thought that Zhou Xingchi's knife skills were as magical. When the camera was turned, the poor worm under Zhou Xingchi's knife had been pierced with riddled holes, staring at him.
Zhou Xingchi is chased and killed at home in "The Hundred Change Stars". A group of people in black wearing Mochao wearing neat suits broke in and surrounded Zhou Xingchi by the wall to shoot and kill Zhou Xingchi. There was a chaotic round of gunfire. After that, none of the handsome killers who were near Chichi hit.
Traditional movies can often predict the development of the plot based on the outline of the story, allowing you to watch it quietly. In Stephen Chow’s movies, there are many scenes of changes and peaks, which are astonishing. The funny effect is even more unexpected and impressive.
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Traditional movies mostly follow the standards of "heroism" and "perfectionism" when shaping the protagonist. The protagonist always exudes infinite light that is almost god: hard work, enterprising, sunny, bloody, loyal, strong, hard work... …
, even if you have to present the shortcomings or shortcomings of a certain aspect of the protagonist according to the needs of the plot, it must be just a little bit tricky. The protagonist is "bad" in a certain aspect, and must use a lot of "good" to complement him. In the movies of the same period as Stephen Chow, whether it is Hollywood Western movies or local Chow Yun-fat, Jackie Chan movies, all are typical hero movies. The "Gao Daquan" of
movie characters, in the eyes of the audience, worships respect, but has a sense of distance, which makes it difficult to connect with their own lives. The stories of these characters received applause, but they were unable to have a spiritual and emotional resonance with the audience, and lacked basic fireworks.
And the protagonists in Stephen Chow's movies have never been mentioned as "Gao Daquan", they are all shortcomings or ruffians. Variety StarThe unlearned and arrogant dude in "Journey to the West", the bandit who sees profit and forgets righteousness and the rudder of the wind in "Journey to the West", the bad student who wears school and violates discipline and plays tricks in "Play Back To School", The ridiculed, frustrated and depressed county magistrate in "Pin Sesame Officer", the spirited and aggressive chef in "The God of Cookery", the wealthy, arrogant and arrogant child of the rich family in "Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qier"... There is at most one other film protagonist. Shortcomings and countless advantages, while the protagonist of Stephen Chow's movie is countless shortcomings and one advantage. Traditional films of
satisfy people’s desire for heroes, but Stephen Chow’s films just want you to be yourself. From those protagonists who combine shortcomings, you seem to see the real yourself or the people living by your side. Stephen Chow’s film seems to have never intended to be a missionary and convey to the audience the moral concept of "tall". It tells the story of a frustrated little person through hard work, luck, struggle and wisdom to complete a counterattack, thus conveying a story Simple but simple truth: Don't underestimate the little people, don't suffer from being a little person for a while, little people have spring.
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The heroines in Stephen Chow's movies are each a big beauty or a traffic star of the year. For example, Gong Li, beautiful and dignified, euphemistic and restrained, was already a well-known international movie star when filming "Tang Bohu Spots Autumn Fragrance"; for example, Anita Yuan, with bright eyes and white teeth, capable and neat, the champion of Miss Hong Kong and the most photogenic girl, when filming "Ling Ling Paint" , Is already a new Golden Star Award-winning actress; such as Zhong Liti, bright and dignified, bright and dignified, sexy and attractive, when filming "The King of Destruction", the absolute peak of beauty...
Traditional movies tend to be poor for taking into account the image of the heroine. By all means, the heroine is beautifully shot, but when you look at the heroines in Zhou Xingchi's movies, you find that the heroine's image is often subverted beyond the limit.
Like the wild Karen Karen in "The God of Cookery", Gigi Leung wears super myopia glasses + steel braces in "The King of Stars", and the sweet and beautiful girl Cecilia Cheung plays the prostitute with heavy makeup in "The King of Comedy". Mei Zhu Yin played Zhu Bajie in "A Journey to the West", and the worst is Zhao Wei. In "Shaolin Football", Zhou Xingchi abruptly portrays her as a sloppy, dirty, and sore-looking image. The subversion of the heroine's image in
Zhou Xingchi's film is not unrelated to his pursuit of film perfection. He only has movies in his eyes. No matter what role the actor is, how famous, famous, and beautiful, when you come to the crew, you are an actor, and you have to put down everything you have to create this role and serve this movie well. the film. From the perspective of film critics, the heroine he portrays has a strong post-modern consciousness, while from the perspective of the audience, he is a true filmmaker.
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In Stephen Chow's movie, the supporting role is a topic that can never be bypassed. It is estimated that the supporting role in any other movie is not as dazzling and radiant as in the movie. Regardless of the relatively large number of supporting roles, even if it is a dragon set with as little as a few lines of dialogue or a shot that takes less than a second, the demeanor, the emotional investment, and the sharp dialogue can all be portrayed in the woods.
Therefore, Zhou Xingchi's movies usually have to be watched several times to comprehend the excitement of the complete movie. The first time is to watch the storyline and see the protagonist; the second time to play with the bridge and watch the supporting roles; the third time to absorb the essence and watch the dragon set. If you compare Stephen Chow's movie to a book, it is a book worth reading even the corner notes.
There are some actors and actresses who are just a flash in the play. You don't seem to have much impression when you watch the movie, but when you look at the stills, you will definitely notice their wonderful interpretation. For example, in "Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qier", because he saw Xiao Qingbing cheating in an exam holding a "shameless" card, the camera flashed by. The attention of the movie was only on the content of the plaque, and it was impossible to see Xiao Qingbing clearly. facial expression. After the photo was frozen, Xiao Qingbing's little angry look, contemptuous little eyes, and the kind of petty psychology that dared to judge people's morals but did not dare to make a statement, the portrayal was extremely accurate and in place, people can't help but laugh.
Almost all of the supporting actors in Stephen Chow’s movies are outstanding. Often the films of Stephen Chow have been released for more than ten or twenty years. Those actors who have served as supporting actors in Stephen Chow’s movies have since filmed many other movies. But what people remember is usually only their roles in Stephen Chow's movies, and even their roles in the play have been called into real life, such as Yuan Qiongdan-Pomegranate Sister, Huang Yishan-Xigui, Li Jianren-Ruhua etc. Wait.
Zhou Xingchi's movies have won many supporting roles, such as Wu Mengda, Luo Jiaying, Huang Yishan, Yuan Qiongdan, Tian Qiwen, Chen Baixiang, Huang Yifei, Li Jianren and so on. Faced with different types of actors, Stephen Chow is always good at putting them in the right place, designing the right shape for them, polishing the right lines, and adding the right actions to make them shine.
In general movies, the protagonist is always the protagonist, and the supporting role is always the supporting role. They are always the relationship between flowers and green leaves. Sometimes they even deliberately suppress the supporting role, so that the supporting role cannot be too brilliant to steal the protagonist's light. And in Stephen Chow's movie, you will find that the protagonist is just a role with more drama, and the supporting role is just a role with less drama. They are no longer the relationship between flowers and green leaves, but the relationship between big pearls and small pearls.
Zhou Xingchi seems to have never feared that the supporting role would steal the protagonist's limelight by being too much. For each supporting role, he will not hesitate to devote a lot of effort to polish it, which is not available in other traditional movies. His redefinition of supporting roles permeates respect and understanding of the role.
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In Stephen Chow’s comedy, the character dialogue is the most brilliant part and bears a large part of the jokes. Whether they are exaggeration, hypocrisy, publicity, satire, or affectionate, ridicule, these dialogues are all impressive and endless, and some of them are full of post-modern consciousness. They are wonderful.
To put it simply, there are two main types of post-modern dialogue in Stephen Chow's play, one is "Little Yellow Stem", and the other is reasonable and unexpected.
During the heyday of Hong Kong movies, all kinds of movies were splendid. According to the age of the people who are suitable to watch, all kinds of movies are clearly graded. The first class is suitable for all ages, the second class is not suitable for children, and the third class is for adult movies. The first and second levels are serious narratives, dialogues, and fights, while the third-level movies are naked love action movies, with straightforward dialogue and white flesh on the screen.
Zhou Xingchi's movies are first-class movies in terms of story and plot, and in some dialogues, they often walk between a serious and straightforward romance, using some cryptic "little yellow stems" to make you smile.
As in "Chili Curry", the foreign girl knocked Stephen Chow down and ridden him on his back. Stephen Chow drew his guns to each other: Now I have two guns at you, which one do you want me to fire? In "Tricky Expert", Zhou Xingchi explained to Andy Lau at the bar what is the bridal anthurium: First of all, both men and women will be in a very excited state. What will the man say about him? what? The trouser belt loosens. The woman will put her piece—what? The red turban was loosened, and then the bridal chamber began. In "Play Back to School", at the murder scene, there is a figure of a human figure underground, but the middle part is like a slender arm. Zhou Xingchi asked: Is this a human or an animal? Professor: It's human. Stephen Chow: How can a person have a tail here? The dialogue in the movie of
Zhou Xingchi is a model of dirty and funny. He has a good grasp of the scale, a little bit dull, a little bit vulgar, and he speaks so politely to some little yellow stalks without showing signs of beauty, and then it doesn’t make people. He is the only one who feels trivial.
's unusual path is another characteristic of his postmodern dialogue. His movie dialogues are often unexpected, but they are reasonable and full of jokes.
As in "Domestic Lingling Paint", Luo Jiaying: I have a part-time job in Academia Sinica. Stephen Chow: What to study? Luo Jiaying: Being researched. In "Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qier", Zhou Xingchi fights in a brothel, Wu Mengda brings people to help, Wu Mengda: Son, who is bullying you? Stephen Chow: I am bullying others! Wu Mengda: Does his family have money and are they qualified to let you bully? In "Journey to the West", Tang Seng: Wukong, do you know what clang clang clang? Supreme treasure: what clang clang clang clang? Tang Seng: Dangdangdangdang, just (singing), ONLY...YOU...can accompany me to take the Western Classics...
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A person’s growth is inseparable from his childhood, and the adult world is largely childhood The reflection of life, many behaviors in adulthood can be interpreted from his childhood. Zhou Xingchi was born in a poor family and ranked third in the family.
Zhou Xingchi's father is ignorant and romantic. Zhou Xingchi's mother is a teacher, knows books and courtesy, and is strong and tenacious. Two people with very different personalities, cultures, and lifestyles live together, and they are destined to be incompatible with each other, and finally divorce ends.
Zhou Xing in his early yearsChi often witnessed his parents arguing and growing up in a family lacking love, which created his insecure and reluctant personality. After the parents divorced, the mother lived alone with three children. The husband’s divorce, the hardships of bringing children, and the exhaustion of work, all the burdens of life fell on the mother Ling Baoer alone, and the mother’s character was staunch and strong. A deep rebellious gene is buried in the bones of the inferiority Stephen Chow.
is calm on the surface and rebellious in his heart. This is Zhou Xingchi's most distinctive character, and his rebellion cannot be achieved in real life. Movies have become the only window for him to release himself, so Zhou Xingchi put all his crooked ideas, scumbags, bad thoughts, his wild ideas and suppressed arrogance, arrogance, and madness into his movies.
Therefore, we have seen all the anti-conventional, anti-rational, and anti-regulations in his films, which is what we call post-modern consciousness. Postmodern consciousness originated from Zhou Xingchi's own painful experience summary, but it has also become a sharp sword for him to conquer cities in Hong Kong movies. From the story, plot, role to dialogue, he made the word "subversion" to the fullest.
Hong Kong people who are used to watching old-fashioned movies suddenly realize that movies can still be made in this way. They are nonsense, funny, and interesting. Hong Kong people call Stephen Chow's style "wonderful." The film of Stephen Chow entered the Hong Kong market like a wedge, and then drove straight into the strategic location, working with Chow Yun-fat and Jackie Chan to create the box office myth of Hong Kong movies.
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Postmodern consciousness is labeled as rebellious in any field. It has never been the mainstream of culture, but exists as a supplement to modern consciousness and culture. It may be accepted by the public at a certain period of time. People seek it, but they can't conceal its niche nature of being divorced from reality and spoofing. The development of postmodern films must meet the following three conditions: one is the audience's traditional ideology, the other is the blank of the film market, and the third is Zhou Xingchi's performance style. The first two conditions are the soil for the growth of postmodern consciousness, and the latter condition is a necessary condition for the prosperity of postmodern consciousness movies.
When the audience's understanding of movies continues to deepen, the scope of their understanding of movies continues to broaden, and the movie market continues to be flooded with movies of the same type. This naturally niche soil nutrients are constantly being consumed and overdrawn. Postmodern movies lacking nutrients must be Weak development and insufficient stamina. This is evident from the sorrow of movies imitating Stephen Chow in recent years. And Zhou Xingchi also continued his original style. In recent years, several films have a strong post-modern consciousness and distinctive signs of Zhou's comedy, but all have encountered Waterloo at the box office, and word-of-mouth. The audience of
is no longer the audience of more than two decades, and the market is no longer the film market of more than twenty years. This is equivalent to a crowd of well-dressed people, suddenly coming in a bastard wearing sunglasses, wearing jeans, dancing hip-hop, you will feel refreshed and attract everyone's attention. But if such bastards in jeans come in in batches, you will be nothing new. Stephen Chow has not appeared in movies in recent years, but even if Stephen Chow came to perform in person, it would be difficult to turn the tide. Without sufficient nutrients in the soil, no matter how strong the seedlings are, it will be difficult for them to thrive with leaves and fruits.
Zhou Xingchi's style of post-modern movies has gradually become a past tense, slowly fading out of the movie market. Of course, postmodernism is a very broad category. Whether there will be another form of postmodern film that will come out, refreshing people's impressions and cognition of movies, and entering the film industry to conquer the city, let us wait and see.
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