Max Zhang： Martial arts films are representative types of China films, and someone should shoot them.

Special feature of 1905 film network "Martial arts movies are very representative types of China movies, and someone should shoot them!"In an exclusive interview with the 1905 film network, this paper interprets the reasons for re-appearing in martial arts films after a lapse of 10 years.

The movie "A Stranger’s Mad Knife" tells the story that when the dynasty changed, the King of Qi assassinated the prince and pursued his orphan. Tian Anye (Max Zhang), the head coach of Mo Dao Army, came to the rescue, but was caught in the storm and fought for justice.

The film has many elements such as chivalry, Machiavellian, betrayal, redemption, etc. Several action scenes with real knives and real kung fu also make the audience enjoy themselves, especially the strange knife with a length of 2.5 meters, which is full of prestige and domineering.

Behind the flowing action scenes is hard work. In the process of filming, Max Zhang accidentally suffered the most serious injury in his performance career — — Achilles tendon rupture.

But in his view, as an action actor, injury is inevitable and will not affect his persistence and love for action movies."As long as my hands and feet are still there, as long as I can’t kill me, I can stand up."

Talk about new plays

"Pay equal attention to civil and military affairs" to a new height

"Stranger Knife is not like the martial arts film I imagined."

The most attractive thing about Max Zhang’s outspoken script is the complexity of Tian Anye. From the beginning of decadence and world-weariness, to the awakening of chivalry, this character shows a more real and humane side different from traditional martial arts films.

In order to cope with the psychological changes of the characters, the style of action drama in different stages is also different. "The drama in the dyehouse in the early stage, as well as the drama in the tower by Tian Anye and Zhang Xuqing, are all short weapons, and the character’s state is also closed. When he takes out the strange knife in the later stage, he is full of anger and strength, and his emotions are wide open."

This kind of unity of literary drama and martial arts drama is also what Max Zhang has always pursued. "I always feel that action is part of performance, and civil and military can’t be separated."

Although he has been practicing martial arts for many years and has real kung fu skills, the drama playing in A Stranger’s Sword is still full of challenges for Max Zhang.

The first is the strange knife that is 2.5 meters long. Max Zhang revealed that the length of the design was 2.1 meters at first, but the director felt that the momentum was not enough, so he added 40 centimeters. "I told the director that I really couldn’t move if I added it."

In order to present the flowing action effect, Max Zhang "ran in" with the stranger’s knife for more than 20 days before shooting, and waved the heavy stranger’s knife while wearing armor, which put forward high requirements for the strength of his hands and waist.

"I believe that the audience can feel the heaviness of the knife. This sense of strength is what we want to express. The momentum is very shocking and full of masculinity."

In addition to the long knives, another fireball rope dart play is equally difficult.

Max Zhang should not only master the movement essentials of soft weapon rope dart, but also always guard against fireballs flying everywhere. "It is full of Mars. You don’t know where it will bounce. If it bounces on your body, it will burn blisters, and if it bounces on your face, it may be disfigured."

During the filming of "Stranger Knife", Max Zhang also accidentally suffered the most serious injury since filming — — Achilles tendon rupture.

In the days when his feet could not move, Max Zhang was not idle. On the tenth day after the operation, he walked into the gym and started upper limb training. In the year of injury, Max Zhang not only developed proud muscle lines on his upper body, but also obtained a driver’s license for advanced operation of unmanned aerial vehicles.

"Being injured seems to be a very unfortunate thing, but on the other hand, I prefer to use this rare rest time to actively do something useful, which is better than lying flat at home!"

As an action actor, Max Zhang has long been "accustomed" to all kinds of injuries, bluntly saying that "this is an inevitable part of slapstick". The experience of injury will not make him worry about taking on the show in the future: "As long as my hands and feet are still there, as long as I can’t die, I can stand up."

Talk about martial arts

"Martial arts movies should be shot by someone."

"I practice martial arts and grew up reading martial arts novels. I often fantasize that I am a hero in novels." Max Zhang said frankly that he had a hard-to-give-up complex about martial arts.

Among many works, his favorite character is Ling Huchong in the legendary swordsman. "Everyone has a different understanding of martial arts, and some may be the traditional way of robbing the rich and helping the poor, weeding out the strong and helping the weak, but I prefer a more humane and real warrior, and so is Tian Anye this time."

When talking about the plight of martial arts films in the market in recent years, Zhang Jin can’t hide his regret. "Martial arts films are a very representative film type in China, or should someone do it? If no one does it, it may really disappear. This is a pity."

As for the dating of action stars, Max Zhang bluntly said that more actors with "real kung fu" should be the protagonists of action movies, which is the guarantee of wonderful and beautiful performance. "If the eldest brother’s or eldest brother’s film was replaced by an actor who can’t kung fu and hasn’t practiced, would the audience still feel good?"

Looking back on his performance along the way, from behind-the-scenes to onstage, from supporting role to leading role, Max Zhang thinks that only by daring to try and challenge can we achieve breakthroughs again and again.

"Before I played, no one imagined that I could play Ma San, and all the roles I was looking for were small classes and so on. Before "Breaking Wolf 2", no one found my side, so in the future, I want to try everything and be willing to challenge anything. "

As the "backbone" of action movies, in Max Zhang’s view, there is no shortcut to how to make martial arts movies regain their glory and capture the love of young audiences. We can only rely on the real knife and the excellent film quality to speak.

A line in "A Stranger’s Mad Knife" also expresses Max Zhang’s heart: "If you can’t save a city, you will save the people in front of you".

"I like this dialogue very much. For us actors, it is to make every movie in front of us."