The mainland TV series “Flowers”, produced and directed by Wong Kar-wai, starring popular mainland actors such as Hu Ge, Ma Yili, Tang Yan and Xin Zhilei, has come to an end, but its popularity remains high. The plot of “Flowers” tells the story of the rise of Shanghai businessman Bao Zong played by Hu Ge, and is set in Shanghai, which has just begun reform and opening up in the 1990s and is experiencing rapid development and transformation. The film is also divided intoShanghainese versionandMandarin versionFor viewers to freely choose to watch. Wong Kar-wai’s unique aesthetic lens vocabulary, coupled with Jin Yucheng’s award-winning original work, made this series a phenomenon at the end of the year and the beginning of the year.
Will Shanghai be filmed in a Hong Kong film style?
A total of 30 episodes of “Flowers” made many netizens say: “Today’s Hong Kong movies have lost a lot of Hong Kong flavor, but Wong Kar-wai made Shanghai in the 1990s feel like a Hong Kong movie.”
In fact, in the 1980s and 1990s, Hong Kong film and television dramas were representatives of the entire Chinese-speaking world’s popular culture. They were the vane of mainland fashion and led the country’s fashion trends. Shanghai is the place with the most sensitive sense of fashion. The connection between Shanghai and Hong Kong back then was beyond many people’s imagination.
Director Wong Kar-wai was born in Shanghai. He went to Hong Kong when he was young, and most of his relatives stayed in Shanghai. Hong Kong implemented a barrier policy against immigrants 80 years ago. As long as you had contact with local relatives in Hong Kong, you could get a Hong Kong residence permit. In “Flowers” This is probably the case for Xuezhi and Mr. Bao. Among the celebrities, Cheng Peipei, Zhang Min, Christine Yang, etc. were all born in Shanghai. The original author Jin Yucheng admitted that the first words he said when writing “Flowers” were the shots Wong Kar-wai designed for Tony Leung in “Days of Wild”.
>Click on the gallery to view the stills and character relationship diagrams of “Flowers”
Hong Kong actor makes surprise appearance in “Flowers”
In addition to recreating the taste of Hong Kong films in terms of lens aesthetics, Wong Kar-wai also evokes the audience’s memories of Hong Kong emotionally. Many Hong Kong actors made surprise appearances in “Flowers”.
1. Wen Zhaolun produced zero dialogue in seconds
Wen Zhaolun, who went north to find real silver in his early years, has a scene in “Flowers”. The plot talks about the opening of the largest restaurant “Zhizhenyuan” on the Yellow River Road. Li Li invited Hong Kong star Wen Zhaolun to be the ribbon-cutting guest and performed without dialogue.
Although Wen Zhaolun’s screen time was short and he had zero dialogue, many netizens praised Wen Zhaolun, who is nearly 60 years old, for playing himself in his thirties, and his style remains the same without any violation.
2. Zhong Zhentao makes eggplant for Wong Kar-wai
When “Zhi Zhen Yuan” was rejected by the proprietresses of other restaurants, my uncle invited the Hong Kong chef “Brother B” to come to the rescue. Zhong Zhentao appeared on stage wearing a white chef robe, which reminded people of the role he played in “The House of Gold”. He played the God of Cooking again after 28 years. He brought three dishes: “Ship King Fried Rice”, “Crane Needle” and “Chuanwu” reminds people of Stephen Chow’s movie “MasterChef”.
Wong Kar-Wai also paid tribute to Leslie Cheung. The Hong Kong apprentice “Brother B” mentioned before leaving was none other than Zhao Gangsheng, played by Leslie Cheung in “The House of Gold.”
3. Zheng Xiyi plays a TV reporter
Cheng Xiyi plays a Hong Kong TV reporter who comes to Shanghai to visit the specialty restaurant “Ye Tokyo”, a local kaiseki restaurant. Zheng Xiyi was invited to participate because she was born in Shanghai and moved to Hong Kong with her family when she was 10 years old.
4. Mai Changqing plays Boss Ma
In “Flowers”, Mai Changqing plays the role of Boss Ma. Mai Changqing is an old acquaintance to those who are used to watching TVB. He has appeared in TVB dramas such as “Dragon”, “The Heroes of the Sea”, “Journey to the West” and so on. past his figure.
5. Assistant director Jiang Yuecheng became a big eggplant
On the opening day of “Zhi Zhen Yuan”, Jiang Yuecheng made a cameo appearance as one of the guests, and he is also the planner of “Flowers”. From Wong Kar Wai’s “Carmen in Mongkok”, “Days of Being Wild” to “Chungking Express”, etc., he is Wong Kar Wai’s Queen’s assistant director. Maybe everyone thinks that his name is not that familiar, but as long as you have watched the “Westward Journey” series, you will know him. He is the blind man of the Ax Gang, he is the Tang Monk’s apprentice Sha Seng, and he is the entourage of the Number One Scholar.
Cantonese songs as soundtrack
There are also many Cantonese songs in “Flowers”, including Beyond’s “I Like You”, Chen Baiqiang’s “I Just Like You”, Alan Tam’s “The Love of My Life”, Anita Mui’s “Like an Old Friend Comes”, Jacky Cheung’s “Stealing Heart” , Wang Jie’s “Annie” and other enduring Cantonese songs are implemented throughout “Flowers”. In addition to recreating the peak period of Hong Kong films from a perspective, Wong Kar-Wai also takes the audience to recall the feast of the Hong Kong music scene in the auditory sense.
Pay homage to classics with new faces
Director Wong Kar-wai’s “Flowers” has countless self-homage scenes. Whether it’s Hu Ge’s various styles imitating Tony Leung in Hong Kong movies, or Tang Yan’s various expressions and movements, it makes people feel like they are watching “Westward Journey” The Zixia Fairy Zhu Yin. Zheng Kai’s singing and dancing when chasing Tang Yan is also the nonsensical comedy style that Hong Kong movies are best at, and then the scene later in which Tang Yan tidies up the warehouse and puts her hands on her hips is reminiscent of “Kung Fu Football” and so on. In addition to these, Chen Xunqi, who left the classic score for “Ashes of Time”, also escorted the “authentic Hong Kong flavor” in “Flowers” this time.
>Click on the gallery to view more exciting stills of “Flowers”
