Interview with Liu Weiqiang： Recalling the decline of the pinnacle of Hong Kong’s man-made movies
InterviewwithLiuWeiqiang:RecallingthedeclineofthepinnacleofHongKong’sman-mademovies
Asanimportantsourceforthecreationoffilmandtelevisionworks,comicadaptationshavealwaysbeenpreparedtoberespected.InadditiontothediffusedmoviesproducedbyMarvelPicturesoftheUnitedStates,ithasbecomepopularallovertheworldandestablishedasuperherouniverse.TherearealsomanyTVmoviesadaptedfromcomicsinJapanandSouthKoreaeveryyear.Therehasbeentoomuchreputationamongcomicfans.InChina,HongKong,onceknownas”OrientalHollywood”,comicswereoncethelife-savingstrawsofthemoviecircle,andtherearenotafewlocalmoviesadaptedfromlocalcomicsthatarealltherage.ThehistoryoftheadaptationofHongKongcomicsintofilmworksisabouttobelaunched.EvenearlierinJapanandtheUnitedStates,HongKongcomicscancompeteforoneday.Inaddition,manycomicsareverypopularamongthecrowdbecausetheyareveryclosetostay,enrichinggenerations.Youthmemory.Thereisnodoubtthatthetheoryof”HongKongManisdead”isfrequentlyreportedinthenewspapers.UnderthewaveofHongKongMan’srecession,therearefewerandfeweryoungpeoplewhopayattentiontoHongKongMan,buttherearestillmanycreatorswhoinsistonandworkhardinthisregard.SaunaInaninterviewwithLiuWeiqiang,YeWangrevealedthesweetandsourtasteofthefilmadaptationofHongKongMan.HehopedthattheexperienceoftheadaptationofHongKongManinthepastcangiveinspirationtothedevelopmentofChinesecomics.The1980swasagoldenage,andHongKongwaspopular.Infact,HongKongcomicsaredifferentfromJapanesecomics,andtheyhavemaintainedtheircost-effectiveness:color-paintedversions,single-editionpublications,mostofwhicharemainlymartialartsorfantasy,andthestyleisfanaticalandextensiveAndintheproductionprocess,itabsorbstheindustrializationprocessofEuropeanandAmericancomics.Mostoftheworkshaveastrongcommercialcolor,andtheyaremainlymartialarts,andsciencefiction,society,andinspiration.”Gudou”comiccover.The1980swasthegoldenageofHongKong-madecomics.The”BruceLeefever”ignitedtheboomofHongKongcomics,allowingHongKongcomicstoformtheirownstyleinthe1980s.HuangYulangunifiedthepublicationofHongKongcomicbooks.Inordertoincreaseproduction,hedividedthecomicsintopipelineoperations,andeachstepwashandledbyadifferentperson.Anothermaster,MaRongcheng,hasemerged.HissurpassingdetailsandrealisticstylehaveresetthedefinitionofHongKongcomics.Hiswork”ChineseHero”setanastonishingrecordof200,000copiesperissue,whichwasthehighest-sellingatthattime,followedby”DragonandTigerGate”,”DrunkenFist”and”RulaiShenzhang”,etc.alsohavehighsalesof70,000to80,000copiesperissue.InLiuWeiqiang’sview,HongKongcomicsareaculturethathasgrownupwithgenerations.”ManyHongKongcomicshavebeenserializedforalongtime,andsomehaveevenreacheddecades.Theyaretheoneswegrewupwithwhenwewereyoung.Kindofculture.Atthattime,onthebus,intherestaurant,everyoneheldaroll,whichhadagreatinfluenceontheimaginationofyoungpeopleandgeneralculture.Thepopularcomicsinthe1990sfedbacktheextremebrillianceoftheHongKongfilmindustryinthe1970sand1980s,andprovidedendlessnutritionforHongKongcomics.Inthe1990s,theformedHongKongManalsocametothestepoffeedingbackthemovie.Foratime,therewasawaveofadaptationofHongKongManmovie:”TheUncleoftheFortuneSweptThousandArmy”byXuKeandChengXiaodong,adaptedfromXuGuanwen’sAnti-JapaneseComic”UncleCai”;directedbyYeWeixin,adaptedfromHuangYulang’scomic”DragonandTigerGate”thatoncecausedasensationinHongKong;”DaggerandSword”ledbyLiuDehuaandLinQingxiawasadaptedfromFengZhiming’scomicofthesamename.inthelate1990sWiththeinnovationofCGspecialeffectstechnology,moreandmoreHongKongfilmmakersbegantoputtheoriginalcomicsonthebigscreen.Genresspanmartialarts,animation,comedy,love,war,andmore.Intheend,whenitcomestotheadaptationofHongKongMan,intermsofinfluence,manypeoplerecognizethatitisnoneotherthantheseriesoffilms”Gudou”directedbyLiuWeiqiang.Beginningin1996,thismovieseriesputtheNiuMancomicsonthebigscreen.ThenameoftheactorChenHaonanalsoresoundedinthemovieindustry.HongKongmanresearcherPengZhimingsaid:”InsomanysetsofcomicsinHongKong,themostsuccessfulscreenwriterisNiu.Inadditiontotherelationshipbetweenriversandlakes,Guy’s”Gudou”isboundtobethebestcomicintermsofdramaandexpression.ThescreenwriterWenJunalsorecalledthatthepopularityof”OldandDangerous”injectedanewforceintotheHongKongfilmindustrythatsurroundedthequagmireatthattime.Themovieposterof”OldandDangerous”.ButinLiuWeiqiang’sopinion,themostdifficultplacetochoosethisclassicwastherightcast,andtheactorswithrichcomiccharactertemperamentwereselected:”Ourcombinationisdiverseandpowerful.DirectorWangJingandproducerWenJunarebothdeeplyinvested.TheproducerthatFangknowsandtrusts,thefundshavenottoomanyshortcomings,andIhavealwaysbeeneasytocarryoutpre-planningwork,preparedwellinadvance,theshootingwillbequick,andthebudgetwillnotbetooexaggerated.Onthecontrary,choosinganactorisamoreproblematicproblem.Youmusthavethetemperamentofthecharactersinthecomics,haveareputation,haveaschedule,andhaveachemicalreactionwhentheactorsarecombined.”Atthattime,theactorswhomatchedZhengYijian,ChenXiaochunandothercartooncharactersmadethisseriesaninsurmountablepeakinthefilmandtelevisioncareersofZhengYijian,ChenXiaochunandothers.TherolesofChenHaonan,PheasantandDatian2alsobecamefixedonthem.Charactersymbol.LiuWeiqiangsaidthatcastingisalsoadifficultissueinthemovie.Theactorswillhavetheirownconsiderations,suchaswhetherthecartooncharactersfittheirownimage.Thisreallytakestimetofindandblendin.Modernandcontemporaryself-styled,graduallyquietthegreatsuccessofthe”Gudou”seriesoffilms,butalsoopenedtheprecedentofthefilm,itsbigsaleletLiuWeiqiangandWenJun,thecoupletotastethesweetnessofthefilm.So,thetwoofthemplayedtheideasofMaRongcheng’sclassiccomics”FengYunXiongBaTianXia”(hereinafterreferredtoas”FengYun”)and”ChineseHero”.”Fengyun”isafirst-levelmeaningfuladaptationwork,inwhichtheHongKongMan’sbloodisimplantedinthepicturestyle.Itisnolongerassimpleas”Gudou”toinsertafewcomicsintothemovie,specialeffectsExtensiveusemakesthefilmfullofcomiccolors,andtheoriginalstyleoftheswordandQi,theWarcraftUnicornhasalsobeenalmostrestored.Asthemostpopularandbest-sellingfilmoftheyear,”FengYunXiongBaTianXia”hasalsosqueezedintothetoptensellingmoviesofHongKongfilms.Afterwards,thesuper-sellingmoviesof”ChineseHeroes”,”LaoFuzi”andotherpopularmovieshavealsoconfirmedtheHongKongdiffusedmovies.Usherinthebestera.”FengYunXiongBaTianXia”poster,picturedNieFeng(left)andBuJingyun(right).”LaoTzu”isthemostpopularworkonthescreeninHongKong,andhasbeenmadeintothreeCantoneseblackandwhitefilmsasearlyas1960.Inadditiontothesemainmartialartsandfightingcomics,thereare”100%Feeling”and”LefttoRight”abovelove,andtheMcDullcreatedbyXieLiwenandMaiJiabihasbeenserializedsince1990andhasbeenadaptedsofar.7movies.LiuWeiqiangsaidthataftertheserializationofthecomics,thestorylineisverylong.Therearemanymaincharactersandsub-linecharacters.Eachstorylineisintertwined,andthemovieisonly120minutes.Choosingsomeofthemtocombineintotherhythmofthefilmisthemostdifficultforthefilmdirectortochange.Choice:”Comicshaveauniquemethodofexpressingartisticconception,accompaniedbytext,whichcanexpresstheauthor’smentaldescriptioninthissituation,andcandirectlyexplainthecharacter’smentalstate,butitisnotsuitableforuseinmovies.Movieshavesound,musicandcomputerspecialeffectstohelppromotetheatmosphere,whichisnotincomics.Howtosublimatetheartisticconceptionofcomicsintothelanguageofthefilmindifferentwaysofinterpretation,hastherhythmofthefilm,andnurturesthelifeofthefilm.Thisisadifficultpartoftheadaptationofthefilm.”TheHongKongmangaconfesseditselfintheplacewhereitachievedglory,thinkingthatitsstylewasthebest,anddidnotchangetheexistingstyle.Thenewly-madeHongKongMan’sworkdidnotfollowtheoriginaloldroad,andwasoncequietinthelongcourseoftime.ExclusivedialogueLiuWeiqiangSaunaNightNetwork:Asaparticularlysuccessfuldirectorinthemanga,howdoyouthinkGuomancanlearnfromthepreviousoperationofmangaadaptationinHongKong?Whatisthecreativedirectionthatcanbetakeninthefuture?LiuWeiqiang:Ithasneverbeenour”DeadofNezha”or”Avengers”intheUnitedStates.Ibelievethataslongasthepersonalityofthecharactersisdugoutintheadaptation,therhythmofthemoviecanbedesignedforthestory.Thisisasuccess.Thestartingpointandkeypoint.Itisalsoveryimportantthateveryfilmisindustrializedbyprofessionals,fromscripts,styling,finearts,photographytopost-specialeffects,music,sounddesign,discreteness,eachpursuesaprofessional,andatthesametime,itmustabidebytheprofessionalStandard,eventheplaybackequipmentshouldkeeppacewiththetimes.Therefore,inthefuture,wemustpayattentiontocommercialization,specialization,andartistryofthefilm,andtheaudiencecanonlyagreewiththefilmwork.SaunaNightnet:Willyoutrytoadaptmainlandcomicsinthefuture?WillGuomanbeanewoutletfortheadaptationoffilmandtelevisionworks?LiuWeiqiang:Therearedifferenttypesandcontentsineachperiodofrevampedworkstoattractthepublic’sattention,whetheritistherecentlypopular”Nazha’sDevil’sComingDown”orthe”ReturnoftheGreatSaint”,including”PleasantGoatandBigBigWolf”and”BearInfested”havetheirownaudiencetypesandmarkets.Idon’tdaretosayanythingaboutGuoman.Butthereisnogenre.Aslongasthestorytouchesme,Iwillconsiderit.Sauna,YeWangZhouHuixiaowanEditorWuLongzhenProofreadingZhaiYongjun