Special feature of 1905 film networkThe premieres of the first two films of "Di Renjie" series were both in Beijing.
This time, the premiere of "The Four Kings of Di Renjie" was transferred to Suzhou. Why?
Because this highlight is not only movies, but also Suzhou Huayi Brothers Movie World Reality Park, which cost 2 billion yuan and will officially open on July 23, the world premiere of "Four Kings" was held here.
Before entering the gate of the real paradise, you can see a huge bronze statue — — — The Tongtian pagoda in Suzhou, a building dubbed "Carina Lau" statue, has become a new landmark in Suzhou. (Xiao Dianjun: Actually, it’s nothing like Carina Lau.)
The premiere of "Four Kings" was held under this 75-meter-high pagoda. Before the event started, it brought us into the world of Datang in the "Di Renjie" series.
One of the park concept maps
This real-life paradise is divided into five theme areas: Avenue of Stars, You Are the One, Assembly Number, Taiji and Tongtian Empire, all of which are movies and IP produced by Huayi Brothers, and the premiere venue is located in Tongtian Empire theme area.
Under the Tongtian pagoda, it is the Palace of Vientiane Shrine where Wu Zetian ascended the throne, and it is also the hall where Tongtian pagoda fell and smashed in Tongtian Empire.
The second concept map of the park
The red carpet for the premiere was laid in the big square in front of the Vientiane Shrine, with the "Infinite View" and the "Hall of Immortals" on the left and right sides. One was the place where the Buddhist teacher practiced in "Tongtian Empire" and the other was the temple where Wu Zetian used to recuperate.
After the red carpet was over, the creators climbed the steps and entered the Vientiane Shrine. In the place where Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian were "two saints in the court", the behind-the-scenes creators and five leading actors of "Four Kings" shared before and after the stage in front of the gorgeous dragon chair. The whole process was really full of ritual!
On the day of the premiere, Typhoon Abe landed in Shanghai. The director Tsui Hark was worried about the weather, but fortunately, the weather was beautiful, or the four heavenly kings in this movie were effective in "guarding". During the day, there was only a little wind and rain on the scene.
When he walked down the red carpet smoothly, he saw Tongtian pagoda and sighed, "This is a great thing. Tongtian pagoda appeared in reality, and it was very shocking."
Producer Wang Zhonglei revealed that the picture that Tsui Hark gave him eight years ago was just a visual sketch of Tongtian pagoda lying on one side and still cracked in the air. It took them three years to restore Tongtian pagoda and the palace to a scale of 1: 1.
Back to the film "Four Kings", he praised, "This is the best Di Renjie series and Tsui Hark’s best work in the past ten years".
At the press conference, Mark Chao, William Feng, Kenny Lin, Ehan Juan and Sandra all mentioned several details and changes in the film.
First, compared with the previous work, Di Renjie in this film has more obvious weaknesses, that is, the heart disease haunted by demons, which was also a small suggestion given to Tsui Hark by Mark Chao in the early stage of script creation.
Second, Di Renjie’s "good friend" Sha Tuozhong had his own emotional line, and played an ambiguous drama with Sandra’s Shui Yue, which may have buried a hidden stalk for Sha Tuozhong’s final blackening.
Third, Wei Chi Jin, played by William Feng, is even more tragic than before. He has to stare at the big eyes all the time in the film, while Ehan Juan’s scene of Master BOSS’s round repair is very easy. He teased, "What they think is very troublesome inside, I think it is just like drinking a water."
At the end of the conference, the starring actor also had a few "earth-flavored love stories" with the interactive audience. After laughing and having fun, we moved to the "Superstar Cinema" in the park. In this screening hall that can accommodate 1,000 people, Xiao Dianjun watched "The Four Kings of Di Renjie" for the first time.
So, is this movie really the best in the Di Renjie series and Tsui Hark’s best in ten years, as Wang Zhonglei said? Did Xu Laoguai’s explosive imagination and visual effects conquer Xiao Dianjun? I’ll give you an exclusive look at it right away!
(slightly spoiler, read carefully)
For a long time, the audience has always labeled "Xu Laoguai" as Oriental, Martial Arts and Fantasy.
But what director Tsui Hark does is not tear off these labels, but amaze you after every movie. I didn’t expect to play like this.
Whether the Di Renjie series is good or not depends on the story.
"Tongtian Empire" is a mystery film, a story line, which makes a fuss about the red scarab.
When it comes to "The Dragon King of Gods", it is a double case, with a small play.
As the third part of the series, the story of Four Heavenly Kings follows the story of The Dragon King of the Gods, and the opening is that Di Renjie, who settled the case of the Dragon King of the Gods, was given a dragon mace. Explain the origin of this artifact in the first movie "Tongtian Empire".
The story also revolves around this Kang Long mace. It is very simple to say that it is nothing more than someone who doesn’t want him to get this imperial gift.
It’s really complicated to say that it’s complicated. Behind Kang Long’s mace, there are many story clues in a down-to-earth way.
"Four Kings" can be said to be the one with the richest relationship among the three films at present.
For example, is it the age difference or greed that makes the court life of the Empress Dowager so discordant?
Is it feudal superstition or predestination of past lives that makes foreign groups want revenge on Datang?
Is the atmosphere open or just in the flower season, which makes boys and girls feel excited?
Although it is a joke, it is true that these are the story clues buried in the Four Kings.
In an interview, Tsui Hark once said: "The story of Di Renjie is about the lust for power, the weakness in one’s life, some fears, and the purpose of life you pursue." These are really what Four Kings wants to talk about.
And his films, naturally, are full of various imaginative visual wonders.
When talking about Tsui Hark’s imagination, what should we talk about? In a word, it is his innovation that makes the film look unorthodox.
For example, in the recent acclaimed war in Hong Haier, Sanwei was really cremated into a horde.
In the trailer of "Four Kings", we have seen the golden dragon on the pillars of the main hall activated and flew away by the wind.
Of course, there is also the glaring king who appeared on Dali Temple at the end of the trailer. How big is the king of heaven? One hand can hold an official of Dali Temple.
But the trailer didn’t tell you that Tsui Hark also made a huge white ape. A master of circle measurement can meditate on his head. This white ape can be serious in a feature film or cute in an egg.
You can also stand on the roof of Dali Temple like King Kong and fight against the demons. In a story of the Tang Dynasty, the appearance of this shot is not at all inconsistent.
Do you think this is the end? Not really. There is also a king who did not appear in the trailer, and this white ape will push the 15-minute war to a climax.
This is the most exciting 15 minutes in the summer of 2018!
When we asked Tsui Hark what other wonders of imagination he could present, the fear of being dominated by huge things began to spread on the screen when he made the glaring king with eyes rise from behind the tall building.
What is more noteworthy is that in this film, the audience will see pictures that have never been seen before in Chinese movies.
We can see these wonders except Tsui Hark’s imagination. One reason is that Wu Zetian, played by Carina Lau, loves magic.
She is also the key to this story.
In the story of "Four Heavenly Kings", Wu Zetian and Tang Gaozong have been renamed the Queen of Heaven and the Emperor, and said that the two saints are in charge of politics. Her desire for power has also become very obvious in this film.
After telling these three stories, the image of the role of Wu Zetian has also become fuller.
In addition to the constant Carina Lau, each Di Renjie series will have a heroine who is also an enemy and friend.
Li Bingbing, who is heroic and dashing, is in "Tongtian Empire".
Angelababy is like flying in Dunhuang in "The Dragon King of the Gods".
In The Four Heavenly Kings, Sandra is regarded as a punk style.
The hidden moon she played should be the most unique role in this movie. It’s not styling, but she takes on the only emotional clue between men and women in the movie.
What Tsui Hark arranged is a drama in which women are strong and men are weak.
Although it is a woman who "molests" a good man and a boy, Shui Yue is a person who seems to be cold and fierce but is simple and loyal at heart. Sha Tuozhong, played by Kenny Lin, seems to be simple and honest in appearance, but there are also many tricks.
When these two people get together, the comedy effect is very strong.
At the end of the film, Shui Yue seems to be joining this detective team in Di Renjie. I wonder if Di Renjie, Sha Tuozhong, Wei Chi Zhenjin and Shui Yue are the "Four Heavenly Kings" referred to in the film title.
So, this emotional line arranged by director Tsui Hark, could it be one of the reasons why Sha Tuozhong and Di Renjie turned against each other in "Tongtian Empire"?
Among the three eggs at the end of the film "Four Kings", the longest one is directly connected with "Tongtian Empire".
Although it is not clear whether there will be any new mystery, at least one film is needed to explain how Di Renjie and Sha Tuozhong in Four Kings grew up to be them in Tongtian Empire and where Wei Chi’s real gold went after 20 years.