Shaw Brothers Movies·Yesterday
In 1958, Shaw Brothers Film Company was established in Hong Kong. In the following 30 years, Shaw Brothers Films gradually grew into a unique force in the Chinese film industry. When it comes to Chinese-language movies, the unavoidable topic is Shaw Brothers movies. The 1960s and 1970s were the golden period of Shaw Brothers films. It was in a dominant position in the Hong Kong film industry and no one could surpass it. The important thing is that its influence is not limited to a small place like Hong Kong. The fan base of Shaw Brothers movies can be found in Chinese communities in Southeast Asia.
[b]Old Glory{/b]
The history of Shaw Brothers is actually clear: from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, it was the entrepreneurial period of Shaw Brothers. The character is Li Hanxiang, and his Huangmei School films have become the main genre of Shaw Brothers. After the mid-1960s, under the strong advocacy of Chang Cheh, Shaw Brothers brought martial arts films into a glorious period. Among them, they were divided into two branches. One is The new martial arts movies that Zhang Che advocates; the other is Chu Yuan, who is good at cooperating with Gu Long to shoot those surreal martial arts works. It is a pity that Li Hanxiang and Zhang Che left us in 1996 and 2002 respectively.
However, the above is only about Shaw Brothers movies in a narrow sense. The earliest history of Shaw Brothers can actually be traced back to 1925 when the Shaw brothers established Tianyi Studio in Shanghai to make films.
Shaw Brothers stopped film production in the mid-1980s, and the halo of Shaw Brothers began to fade away. Of course, no one will deny that Shaw Brothers movies are a treasure that fans can never let go of. We are looking forward to its return, or just the restoration and re-release of old films, or the development and innovation of Shaw Brothers style in the new era. In short, we are waiting for it to spread its dazzling light again. ——Editor's Note
Li Hanxiang
Huangmei Films
In Shaw Brothers movies, Chinese costume films have always occupied a very important position, and Li Hanxiang is A master of shooting period romance films. Li Hanxiang joined Shaw Brothers during its entrepreneurial stage. At that time, he advocated the production of Huangmei-diao films and chose Lin Dai as the starring role in the film "Diao Chan". The film was released in 1958 and immediately broke the box office record of Mandarin films in Hong Kong. This success made Shaw Brothers' bosses strengthen their confidence in Li Hanxiang. With the encouragement of the company, Li Hanxiang subsequently produced "The Beauty of the Country". This film won the best film award at the 6th Asian Film Festival. Li Hanxiang The Huangmei School films gradually became a major branch of the films produced by Shaw Brothers.
Before the mid-1960s, the Huangmei School was the mainstream of Shaw Brothers films, and Li Hanxiang was the star director of Shaw Brothers at that time. Most of the stories in Huangmei Pai films are based on folk tales and are deeply loved by Chinese in foreign lands in Southeast Asia.
Chang Cheh and Hu Jinquan
New School Martial Arts Films
Different from Li Hanxiang's style, Hu Jinquan and Chang Cheh are famous for shooting martial arts films, and their styles are defined as new school The pioneering work of this genre of martial arts movies is King Hu's "The Drunken Man" in 1966. The following year, Chang Cheh's "The One-Armed Sword" was released and became the first film with a box office of over one million. Chang Cheh's "One-Armed Swordsman" The title "Director" started from that time.
In Chang Cheh's films, the male actors really win the leading role. In previous works of the Huangmei School, male actors played more of a foil role, but Chang Cheh is different. In his films, the male protagonists are mostly knights with strong personalities. They have independent personalities and have their own way of being. As for the standard of doing things, what they value most is the friendship between men, but the love between children often takes a back seat and becomes a foil to the main plot of the film.
Hu Jinquan and Chang Cheh belong to the same period of directors, and they are also the originators of new martial arts films. However, he and Chang Cheh are still somewhat different. Hu Jinquan puts more emphasis on the beauty of the action on the screen, unlike Zhang Che. Like Chang Cheh, he pursues cruel beauty and quickness and reality of action. Moreover, the characters created by Hu Jinquan are not as tough as Chang Cheh's characters, and most of their characters are more reserved.
Surreal and strange martial arts film
It is also a martial arts film. Chu Yuan’s style is different from that of Hu Jinquan and Zhang Cheh. In comparison, Hu Jinquan and Zhang Cheh are more realistic, and Chu Yuan belongs to Surrealism is related to the fact that most of his films are based on Gu Long's novels. His "Meteor Butterfly Sword" and "End of the World Moon Sword" are all representative works of this type of surreal martial arts films.
Most of the characters in this type of film are suave and bohemian. They wander around the world, and from time to time there are some unreasonable plots. This is also the characteristic of Gu Long's novels.
The actor who often appeared in Chu Yuan's films was Ti Lung. Back then, people used to call Chu Yuan, Gu Long and Ti Lung the Iron Triangle.
Shaw Brothers’ leading female actor
Article: Lin Dai
This four-time Asian Best Actress ended her life at the age of 30, leaving It brought brilliance and brought endless sighs and sighs to movie fans. She was born in Guangxi in 1934. She settled in Hong Kong when she was 15 years old, and began to enter the entertainment industry at the age of 16. During her time at Shaw Brothers, she filmed "Diao Chan", "A Thousand Sisters" and "Unbreakable", all of which brought her the honor of being an actress (her other time as an actress was for "The Golden Lotus", which she filmed at D&M). In 1964, she committed suicide due to love, leaving behind two unfinished works, "Blue and Black" and "Lotus Lantern". Her costume appearance is particularly charming, and she was the leading actress during the period when Shaw Brothers romance films were in vogue.
Wu: Zheng Peipei
Unlike Lin Dai, Zheng Peipei is a martial arts actress from Shaw Brothers. She made 23 movies in Shaw Brothers, which is not too big. Much, but because almost every part of it left a lasting impression, it felt like she devoted all her energy and time to Shaw Brothers. When she first debuted, she took over the filming of "The Drunken Man" directed by King Hu, and became famous as a "chivalrous heroine". In 1970, she retired and moved to the United States to live with her husband. When Ang Lee was filming "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Zheng Peipei, who was still very skilled, became the "blue-eyed fox" in it. Now, she is working on the sequel to "The Drunken Man." She now has 3 daughters and 1 son. The eldest daughter Yuan Liqi is currently developing in the entertainment industry. She hopes that Yuan Liqi and her third daughter Yuan Liqi can cooperate with her in the sequel of "The Drunken Man".
They are from Shaw Brothers
Wu Siyuan
Wu Siyuan was trained by the Shaw Brothers Southland Directors and Directors, so it is inevitable that he will bear the shadow of Shaw Brothers .
Ng Si-yuan is known as the "Godfather of Hong Kong Film Industry". He was born in Shanghai in 1944. In 1966, he joined Shaw Brothers Co., Ltd.'s Southern Experimental Theater Company to study in the directing department. After graduation, he stayed at Shaw Brothers to work. I have worked in positions such as recorder and assistant director. After leaving Shaw Brothers, he did not forget the essence of Shaw Brothers' Kung Fu films. He later founded his own Siyuan Film Company and continued to direct Kung Fu films such as "The Kidnapping of Rome" and "The Little Godfather of Hong Kong". Now, in addition to being a director himself, Wu Siyuan also uses his social prestige to work for the entire Hong Kong film working environment.
Wu Yusen
Like Wu Siyuan, Wu Yusen also graduated from the Directing Department of the Nanguo Experimental Theater. He was Zhang Che's favorite student. Chang Che wanted to see Wu Yusen before he died. It's a pity that John Woo couldn't catch up in the end.
John Woo was born in Guangdong Province in 1946 and moved to Hong Kong when he was 4 years old. He began making films at the age of 25 as an assistant director at Shaw Brothers Film Company. However, his time at Shaw Brothers was not long, and he later joined Golden Harvest and New Art City Company. Films such as "A Better Tomorrow", "A Better Tomorrow", "Across the World", "Blood on the Streets", "A Better Tomorrow II", and "Hot Detective" are all his masterpieces.
After entering Hollywood, John Woo directed "Target", "Broken Arrow", "Face", and "Windtalker", bringing the Eastern action film style to Hollywood.
Repeat the Splendor
Shaw Brothers Films stopped producing films in the 1980s, and its studios were transferred to television stations for filming TV series. Shaw Brothers gradually became more popular among Chinese films The industry has lost its former edge, but no matter what, no one doubts that Shaw Brothers movies are a treasure in the Chinese film industry.
In 1999, an exciting news came. The Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd consortium in Malaysia purchased the copyrights of more than 760 Shaw Brothers films, and then set up a film studio in Hong Kong with the help of Shaw Brothers' rich film library. Tianying Entertainment Company. In the three years since its establishment, Celestial Entertainment has been committed to restoring the former glory of Shaw Brothers films. First, it spent huge sums of money to restore the old negatives of the films through digital technology; then it put these restored works on the market, allowing people to see Shaw Brothers again. next year, the nearly HK$1 billion Tseung Kwan O Cinema jointly owned by Shaw Brothers and China Star will be completed. By that time, Shaw Brothers will re-sign artists to invest in new films.
Celestial Entertainment is playing the Shaw Brothers brand
According to the reporter’s investigation, Celestial Entertainment is divided into four parts: Shaw Film Library, Celestial Channel, Celestial Production and Tianying Entertainment Audio and Video. Among these four major sectors, three major sectors are closely related to Shaw Brothers movies.
The first thing is of course the Shaw Brothers film library. The resources of this film library come from the copyrights of 760 Shaw Brothers films acquired by a Malaysian consortium in 1999. After these films were acquired, Celestial Entertainment invested heavily in restoring the images of these films. This film library provides strong content support for Tianying Entertainment. Mr. Wang Zhixiong, chief representative of Tianying Entertainment in China, told reporters: "A large part of the movies we have now have never been released to the public. Although some have been released to the public, no TV station has obtained their rights on the TV network. Broadcasting rights, we will definitely make good use of these classic Shaw Brothers works. For some of them, we may reappear them on the screen in 35mm film, and for others we will also use home video products and pay TV Waiting for the platform to be launched to cater to Shaw Brothers movie fans.”
In addition, Celestial Movie Channel and Celestial Entertainment Audiovisual also have a deep connection with Shaw Brothers movies. Celestial Movie Channel is a pay movie channel. Currently, most of the films played on this channel come directly from the Shaw Brothers film library. Tianying Entertainment’s current main focus is also on Shaw Brothers movies. Mr. Wang Zhixiong said: “We will distribute Shaw Brothers movies on the market through VCD, DVD and video tapes. We now have 760 sets of Shaw Brothers movies a day. The plan is to release 10 to 20 sets of works every month. It is estimated that by 2007, all the videos we have will be distributed.”
The restored videos will look brand new
After years. After the baptism of film, Shaw Brothers films have gradually become blurred on the negatives. For Celestial Entertainment, their most important task after their establishment was to repair these faded negatives. It is said that Celestial Entertainment used the most advanced digital equipment and technology to restore these old Shaw Brothers films. The specific work included color adjustment, removing stains, repairing damage and scratches, etc.
So, how about the effect of the restored Shaw Brothers movie? Zheng Peipei spoke very highly of the effect of the restored movie. She said that in the past, if she wanted to watch her own movies, she could only buy those gun-disc versions. The video tape was extremely blurry, and many of the images were incomplete, but it is now better. After seeing the restored version of "The Drunken Man," she said excitedly: "The restored version is just like the new one, including the clothes." The colors on it are very realistic. To be honest, if I hadn’t seen this restored version, I wouldn’t have remembered what color clothes I was wearing. “It turns out that Shaw Brothers’ photos were already in color. It’s a movie, not all black and white as we imagine.
Southeast Asian audiences have the first opportunity
In this way, movie fans have two channels to enjoy Shaw Brothers’ classic films, one is to watch Celestial Film Channel, and the other is to watch Audiovisual products.
Celestial Channel has been broadcasting in Southeast Asia since March this year, and viewers in Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia can watch this channel. It is said that veteran Shaw Brothers actor Cheng Peipei will also host a "Shaw Brothers Big Brand" talk show on this channel. Her job is to interview some people who have worked in Shaw Brothers, including directors, actors and behind-the-scenes staff. She has already interviewed People who have done it include Ling Bo, Jin Han, Cai Lam, etc. Because Zheng Peipei herself was once a celebrity of Shaw Brothers, it would be relatively easy for her to do such an interview. However, she also revealed a few things about doing this program. "Because it has been too long, some people are no longer willing to come out and show up." However, Zheng Peipei said that she would not force her old colleagues too much, and she would just try to interview as many people as possible, and the program itself was not There is no hard and fast rule on how many people must be interviewed and how many issues can be done. "It all depends on fate," Zheng Peipei said.
According to Mr. Wang Zhixiong, they have applied to the China State Administration of Radio, Film and Television for Celestial Channel to be launched in the Mainland, but the result has not yet come out. “As of September, applications for channels to be settled in the Mainland this year have been stopped. We have We have submitted the application, but we are now waiting for the approval from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and we don’t know what the outcome will be yet.”
Mainland audiences are watching the DVD to satisfy their cravings
Although mainland audiences have not yet had the opportunity to watch it on TV. I saw Shaw Brothers movies on the Internet, but I was able to make up for this shortcoming through audio and video products.
The reporter learned from Guangzhou Hongxiang Audio and Video Production Co., Ltd. that Celestial Entertainment has reached an agreement with the company. Hongxiang Company is responsible for the exclusive distribution of Shaw Brothers films in the form of DVD and VCD in mainland China.
Because the Shaw Brothers film library is extremely rich, it is impossible to release all the films at once. What should be released first and what should be released later? What are the selection criteria? In this regard, Mr. Wang Zhixiong said: "The first batch of audio-visual products in the mainland have been put on the market in July, and the second batch is being applied for. Basically, our film selection criteria is to choose some martial arts films and some romance films each time. There are many films from Shaw Brothers, some good and some bad, and we will release good films first."
We know that Shaw Brothers has produced many outstanding directors, and their films have their own style. , and in different periods of Shaw Brothers' development, Shaw Brothers also formed several of its own main styles, such as Huangmei School, New Martial Arts School, etc. I wonder if Celestial Entertainment will classify these directors and genres and launch audio and video products. Wang Zhixiong replied: "We don't have this idea yet. So far, we have only released about 100 films. When we exceed 150 Later, we may consider using this method."
Shaw Brothers Movies Worth Collecting
"The Beauty of the Country"
"When Will You Come Again"
"Red Watershed Tears"
"The Price of Love"
"Nezha"
"Shaolin Temple"
" "Princess Iron Fan"
"Love in a Fallen City"
"A Cluster of Flowers"
"Daji"
"Journey to the West"
"Flower Street Era"
"Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai"
"Seventy-two Tenants"
"Human Skin Lantern"< /p>
"Ai Slave"
"Big Sword King Five"
"Meteor Butterfly Sword"
"Love Affair"
< p>"City Lights""Golden Bodhisattva"
"Eternal Fragrance"
"Bodyguard"
"Fang Shiyu and Hong Xi Palace"
"Thirteen Taibao"
"Hong Kong Flower Moonlight Night"
"Pansi Cave"
"Chu Liuxiang"
p>"The Drunken Man"
"The Book of Swords and Enmities"
"The Unsung Hero"
"Fate"
< p>"Little Bastard""Horse"
"Blue and Black Sequel"
"Huatian Cuo"
"Tathagata" Divine Palm》