Huayu Entertainment Starts with Xiang Yu, the Hegemon of Western Chu

78. He walked out of the flames. [Please continue reading]

A standard action movie usually has a relatively mild fight scene at the beginning, which is called a "setting fight" in the industry and is used to introduce the characters.

"Brotherhood of Blades" is not quite up to standard.

Its opening scene is about three brothers being ordered to arrest Xu Xianchun, a remnant of the eunuch party. Shen Lian appears first, and the prisoner escapes by jumping out of the window, which leads to the appearance of the third brother Jin Yichuan and the eldest brother Lu Jianxing, who are lying in ambush on the outside.

Very clever.

Meanwhile, Shen Lian demanded a pardon document from the Ministry of Justice from the criminal who harbored Xu Xianchun, which led to Zhou Miaotong's involvement.

Just after the arrest, Ding Xiu appeared with a whistle.

The entire opening is seamless and the narrative efficiency is very high. Those who are used to watching slow-paced, padded dramas might even feel that the characters appear too quickly and are difficult to recognize.

The predicament of the main characters was explained in a swift and decisive manner.

The eldest brother wants to get promoted and needs to bribe his superiors; the second brother wants to redeem the courtesan; the third brother is being extorted by his senior brother—they're all unlucky guys.

What should I do?

An NPC has come to issue a quest.

Zhao Jingzhong arrived at the Northern Garrison Command and forged an imperial edict saying that the emperor wanted to kill Wei Zhongxian, and the reason for choosing them was "Looking at the three of you, you are definitely not part of the eunuch faction."

That makes sense!

The three brothers were just worried about not having a chance to make a name for themselves, so they braved the rain to leave the capital and caught up with Wei Zhongxian and his entourage at a post station.

The group battle at the post station is the first major fight in the entire film. The three brothers fight against a group of rabble led by Wei Ting, and the difficulty level is not high.

The weapon Wei Ting is using here is a Western sword.

The martial arts instructor said the design was intended to represent the Ming Dynasty's openness to the outside world.

Ok.

In any case, there are other similar spacetime anomalies. For example, the Miao sword used by Ding Xiu should not have appeared in this era.

However, if someone insists that it's a Japanese sword, that's pure nonsense.

Run Sao, who plays Wei Ting, can't even do her old job as a host well. She got this role not because of her relationship with Zhou Yiwei.

This person also has a connection with director Lu Yang, having starred in his second feature film, "RV Adventure".

Of course, there won't be any fight scenes.

Wei Tingfei's frontal shots all used a body double, but fortunately, he was dressed as a man, which made things easier.

When this character, Wei Zhongxian's goddaughter, appeared, she seemed to have a very strong presence. I thought she was some kind of powerful character, and that she would have a major role to play later.

In reality, they were just extras delivering food; there were too many main characters to portray them all.

In short, the focus of this scene is on the three main brothers.

To be more precise, it was in Shen Lian.

There's a small question about the original version: why were the eldest and third brothers dragging things out down there while Shen Lian went up alone?

Regardless of age or position, Lu Jianxing ranks first among the three. He is the commander of this operation, so why doesn't he go himself?

Is it because Shen Lian is the male lead?

That's the logic of billing order, not the logic of the plot.

If Shen Lian is the most capable fighter among the three brothers, then it makes perfect sense; the others are just small fry, and Wei Zhongxian upstairs might have some other experts by his side.

Lu Jianxing and Jin Yichuan played support and were responsible for clearing minion waves, while Shen Lian, the strongest damage dealer, tower-dived and secured kills.

How can this be demonstrated?

The simplest way is to shout it out.

For example, Lu Jianxing shouted, "We'll hold them off here. You have the best kung fu, so hurry upstairs and kill Wei Zhongxian!" He was very direct.

However, explicitly stating it in dialogue is a technique used in television dramas; it would be too crude to use in a movie.

The so-called cinematic language is what doesn't need to be said; the audience can understand it at a glance.

Sang Lin hadn't figured out how to design it yet, but Jiang Yang offered his suggestions.

"Fire can be used."

"Fire? How do you use fire?"

"Put some wine or oil on the knife, then light it. You can use it to illuminate the dark, rainy night while wielding the embroidered spring knife. The light and shadow effects should be quite impressive."

Everyone's eyes lit up, and Xie Miao felt like she was right at the center of attention.

"Genius! How did you come up with that?"

"I just thought of that too."

Jiang Yang was unusually modest, because his design was "borrowed" from Xie Miao's classic fire knife scene in "Arrogant".

Hey Meow Bro, can I borrow your idea first?

We're all brothers!

Of course, the two scenes are different in terms of environment; "Arrogant" is set in "Snowy Journey".

Considering that the scene in "Brotherhood of Blades" is set on a rainy night, the "fuel" alcohol used in the original version might not be able to ignite it, so oil could be used instead.

What's even more interesting is that this scene itself contains elements of fire.

Because the fake Wei Zhongxian was burned to ashes in the end, he was unrecognizable, and the background during the fight was a brightly lit building.

In this film, Shen Lian actually used fire attacks, but they were not combined to form a "fire blade".

The scene depicts Shen Lian going to the brothel to take Zhou Miaotong away. When Zhao Jingzhong's assassins appear, Shen Lian takes a sip of wine and, in conjunction with the candlestick on the table, exhales a mouthful of fire.

Given the physical rules of the world of "Brotherhood of Blades," there might be enough alcohol.

Jiang Yang claimed that he got his inspiration from here.

Sang Lin repeatedly praised him for his quick wit, asking how he could connect this to the "fire knife"?

Luckily you're an actor.

If you switch careers and become a martial arts choreographer, what use will I be?

In conclusion, the suggestion was adopted.

If Jiang Yang only thought the idea was promising when he first mentioned it, everyone was both surprised and delighted when they saw the actual results.

What the hell!

That's fucking handsome!

Shen Lian cleaved a wine jar in two with his sword, spilling wine all over the blade. He then slashed at the scabbard, and a spark ignited a fireball that completely covered the blade.

Enchantment successful!

This was, in itself, a dimly lit nighttime combat environment.

Even if he does nothing, wielding a fire knife, he's still the coolest guy in the room; he's too eye-catching.

Isn't this just stirring up trouble?

The henchmen shouted to bolster their courage, and emboldened by the high reward offered by Wei Ting, they charged forward fearlessly.

Shen Lian faced multiple opponents single-handedly, fearlessly charging forward and slashing left and right, taking them down one by one without a single blow.

As the muskets reached them, they provided illumination, making the terrified expressions on their faces clearly visible, much to the photographer's delight.

Rushing into the room, Shen Lian deftly extinguished the fire with a swift swing of his knife, leaving only wisps of smoke.

"Damn it!"

After filming this scene, Lu Yang excitedly started swearing wildly, almost to the point of incoherence.

This is every director's dream!

Lu Yang wanted to make "Brotherhood of Blades" because he had watched a lot of Japanese sword films and loved "Rurouni Kenshin". The inspiration for the story of this film also came from a Japanese novel, "Okita Souji's Love".

But now that I've seen Jiang Yang's fire knife scene, I feel that this show was totally worth making.

"Awesome!"

He is both Chong Jiangyang and Chong himself.

What is "Rurouni Kenshin"?

Get lost!

Jiang Yang's fire knife not only impressed Lu Yang, but also all the staff on site, who all applauded excitedly.

One round of applause came from behind, growing closer and closer with each step.

Looking back.

"When did you arrive?"

"From the moment you started showing off."

"Is he handsome?"

"Handsome, what other skills do you have that I don't know about?"