Huayu: King of Kung Fu

Chapter 145 The First in Mainland China

While filming "Heroes" with the crew, Lin Hu was also learning from others.

He was observing how Zhang Yimou directed a film and how he managed a team of several hundred people.

Zhang Yimou is very energetic. His film "Happy Times" started filming last July and was released at the end of the year.

In May of this year, the ballet "Raise the Red Lantern," which he personally directed, premiered in Beijing.

In August, filming for "Hero" resumed.

During this time, he also filmed a promotional video for the Olympic bid.

Filming in the Gobi Desert is a very tough job, as there are often strong winds and flying sand and stones.

But even in harsh conditions, he never cut corners and can control every detail, even taking care of the boxed meals.

Before each shot was filmed, he would tell the cinematographer, martial arts director, and actors what kind of effect he needed to achieve.

Then he started scrutinizing the details, and he wouldn't give up until he achieved the effect he wanted; he was extremely persistent.

In early October, the crew went to the Populus euphratica forest in Ejina to film the scene of Zhang Manyu and Zhang Ziyi dueling.

After strolling around the poplar forest, Zhang Yimou grabbed Cheng Xiaodong and excitedly shared his ideas.

"Zhang Manyu rolled up the fallen leaves, and Zhang Ziyi slapped them away. When she opened the leaves, Zhang Manyu was there, sneering. Zhang Manyu didn't have a sword in her hand, so she was stunned. She didn't know what the Flying Snow Sword Technique was. Finally, a leaf followed by a sword flew over. The leaf gave you an illusion, which made it more powerful."

Upon hearing this, Qin Shi Huang exclaimed, "Ah, I never imagined Fei Xue's swordsmanship could be so beautiful, as beautiful as sunlight!" Wuming replied, "Your Majesty, it is indeed beautiful, like sunlight, sharp enough to pierce you—"

"Great dialogue!" Ching Siu-tung clapped his hands, flattering Cheung Yi-mou.

Ching Siu-tung is a very loyal person. In the 1990s, he collaborated with Zhang Yimou on a film called "A Terracotta Warrior's Tale".

The filming of that movie was very difficult, and Zhang Yimou helped him a lot. He has always remembered this kindness.

When Zhang Yimou was making "Hero," he asked for Zhang Yimou's help. Zhang Yimou was preparing for "Naked Weapon," and he had already received the investors' money and was about to start filming.

But after just one phone call from Zhang Yimou, he returned the money to the investors and rushed over to help without hesitation.

Ching Siu-tung is a genius in the world of action choreography. He recreated the fight scene based on a quote from Zhang Yimou.

When Feixue killed Ruyue, a dazzling light flashed by, and Ruyue was struck by the sword.

It really is just like Zhang Yimou described it: "like sunlight, sharply piercing you."

Zhang Yimou might just use an analogy or describe it, but Ching Siu-tung can truly visualize his ideas.

After filming the scenes in the poplar forest, the crew went to Jiuzhaigou.

Lin Hu particularly enjoyed the duel between Nameless and Broken Sword in the Arrow Bamboo Sea, as it was very evocative.

We started by shooting wide-angle views, but later, we shifted to shooting close-ups instead of wide shots, focusing on the concept of a single drop of water.

A drop of water, tossed and turned by Nameless and Broken Sword, finally landed on Flying Snow's face.

Zhang Yimou likes to use this kind of concept of seeing the big in the small, like a fallen leaf, a drop of water, a snowflake —

After filming the water scenes, the crew moved to Hengdian, Zhejiang, to film the Qin Palace scenes.

The film crew of "Hero" moved from Jiuzhaigou to Hengdian, a journey that would have taken more than ten days. Lin Hu, however, flew directly back to Beijing.

During the past two months of filming, whenever Lin Hu was sure he didn't have any scenes to film, he would rush back to Beijing and squeeze in time to do post-production work on "Brotherhood of Blades".

Despite this, he did not delay the filming of "Hero" and instead offered many constructive suggestions.

Because he knew what the original film "Hero" was like, his opinions were often insightful and resonated with Zhang Yimou.

Moreover, Lin Hu performed better than Li Lianjie during the filming process.

Jet Li suffered several serious injuries in his early years and almost died.

He is actually disabled; there are many things he cannot do.

Therefore, he uses a lot of body doubles when filming, and only poses when his face needs to be shown.

Even in the movie "The Forbidden Kingdom," a duel between two kings, if viewers look closely, they will find that it is actually Chen Long fighting with his stunt double.

When filming "Hero", Jet Li had eight stunt doubles; Lin Hu only had two, and they weren't used much, as he did most of the work himself.

After Lin Hu completed the final cut of "Brotherhood of Blades", he invited people from China Film Group to watch the film and submitted it for review.

Han Sanping was very surprised: "Weren't you filming 'Hero' with Zhang Yimou? When did you finish making this movie?"

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Lin Hu said, "When I'm not filming, I fly back to Beijing to oversee post-production. It's been three months already, so it's not surprising that it's finished!"

"Young man, you've got real drive!"

"I hope this movie can be released during the Chinese New Year."

Everyone started watching the film. This movie, "Brotherhood of Blades," tells the story of three brothers from the Imperial Guard who are unexpectedly drawn into a power struggle in the Ming Dynasty.

This movie is very different in style from Lin Hu's previous three action movies.

This time, there will be no boxing; it will be a full-scale weapon battle.

They didn't actually make a living from patriotism; they just played around with nationalism in a small way.

At the end, after Shen Lian discovers that Zhao Jingzhong has surrendered to the Jin people, he says something.

"The Ming Dynasty is now beset by internal and external troubles, its problems are too deep to be reversed, the country is in ruins, and the people are living in misery. It is precisely because of people like you that the country is in such dire straits."

As long as I'm standing, you'll never live.

The script this time is very solid. The three brothers live and die together, but each has their own desires. They get caught up in the power struggle in the court and lose their lives, which seems justified.

But the ending reveals that they were not involved voluntarily; they were chosen pawns, destined to die even without greed.

The action scenes were filmed very coolly, with various weapons used in the battles, which was dazzling.

Especially in the final battle, Shen Lian carried not only his Embroidered Spring Blade, but also his elder brother's Goose Wing Broadsword and his third brother's Mandarin Duck Short Swords.

Four swords, three sword techniques, to meet Zhao Jingzhong's spear.

In conclusion, Lin Hu's "Brotherhood of Blades" is outstanding in both plot and action, making it an excellent martial arts film.

In the 1980s and 90s, some martial arts films were also made in mainland China, but they didn't understand camera design and only knew how to shoot routines. The effect was far inferior to that of Hong Kong martial arts films.

Lin Hu's "Brotherhood of Blades" is definitely a refreshing work among mainland Chinese martial arts films, capable of competing with classic Hong Kong martial arts films.

Although Lin Hu hired Hong Kong action choreographers and actors for this film, it is undoubtedly directed by Lin Hu and can be considered a mainland Chinese film.

The people at China Film Group were pleasantly surprised after seeing it, and immediately decided to distribute it and scheduled it for release during the Lunar New Year holiday season.

China Film Group took over the distribution task, so Lin Hu was temporarily relieved of his responsibilities and went to Hengdian to continue filming "Hero".