Kung Fu Hustle - Stephen Chow's Heroic Dream

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the film's release, many theaters in Asia re-aired the work directed and starring Stephen Chow. According toSina, the film is a highlight in the career of the "King of Hong Kong Comedy", when it appeared in many lists of the 100 best Chinese films of all time. Among them, on the forumDouban, 1.2 million votersKung Fu Masterinto the top 100.

The film grossed over $100 million worldwide when it premiered in 2004, and was voted by magazineTimewas chosen as one of the 10 best films of the year and was nominated for a Golden Globe. According toSohu, when premiering in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, Stephen Chow and his crew created a scene that was more like a "lively festival" than a film premiere. Because the audience always crowded the halls, cheering and encouraging the crew.

The director said that the idea came to him in the bathroom, his idea was to tell the story of a small person who becomes a great character when he seizes the opportunity. According to Chau Tinh Tri, every man has dreamed of becoming a hero, making the film is also the process of him realizing his dream.

It took Chow and his team a year to write the script. In addition, the director's collaborators at Columbia Pictures suggested that the film be more accessible to Western audiences, so the team revised the content about 10 times. The director tried to use action instead of dialogue to make the work understandable to audiences across cultures.

The main characters are lowly people in society. The actor said that from childhood to adulthood, he was surrounded by people without power, status, or money. Therefore, his films mostly revolve around them. Stephen Chow believes that no matter how small, everyone holds their destiny in their hands and has the ability to change if they seize the opportunity at the decisive moment.

The director used martial arts techniques from wuxia novels in the film, such as Lion's Roar, Kap Mo Gong (Toad Martial Arts), or Tathagata's Palm. He used Tathagata's Palm because the martial art has the image of a Buddha's hand, representing goodness. According to Stephen Chow, the meaning of "conquering others" is not to defeat the opponent but to make the opponent admire him happily.

Stephen Chow proactively offered to pay royalties to writer Jin Yong because the film used the names of characters in his novel. Initially, Jin Yong refused to accept royalties, but the "King of Comedy" insisted on paying. Later, the two sides agreed on 60,000 HKD (192 million VND) for six pieces of content that Stephen Chow borrowed from the novel. Jin Yong used this money for charity. The writer also attended the premiere.

At the end of the film, Stephen Chow wears a white shirt and black martial arts pants, imitating Bruce Lee's appearance inDragon fight tiger, to thank the martial arts star because thanks to him, Stephen Chow knew his dream of becoming an actor.

According toMtime, some opinions say that in the role of director ofKung Fu Master, Stephen Chow is successful but as an actor, he has not made a breakthrough with the main character A Tinh. The artist agrees with this comment. He explains that the burden of the director is great, because he desires to make a film where every scene has never been seen by the audience. There are hundreds of action films of all genres, he has to create a unique work, so he puts more effort into directing than acting.

Stephen Chow once said he would make a sequel but has not announced the project. AboveSina, the director admitted that he was obsessed with repeating himself, which exhausted his creativity. This year, he focused on short films, collaborating with China's largest video platforms.

Currently, Stephen Chow's most popular project is a movie.Mermaid 2. According toNext Apple, the work was finished filming two years ago but the director was not satisfied and hesitated to release it. Director Wong Jing, who has collaborated with Stephen Chow many times, said that his colleague's recent films were not very successful, so he was under great pressure in his next work. Wong Jing hopesMermaid 2Truly a new masterpiece of Stephen Chow.