Chapter 55 Martial Arts Movies
A whole plate of fried leek and bean sprouts was put on a makeshift table. A group of people gathered around the plate and began to each the dish under the old dragon king’s signal. Zhou Yu’s stir-fried dish was, in fact, no that bad. But it was certainly not that good eighter. Anyway, the real purpose of the village banquet was that Mini Luhua Village finally had farmlands. But if they really wanted delicious food, they could only wait for a chef to show up in the village.
The scene of small people eat big dishes was very interesting. When Zhou Yu was a child, he had seen an animated series called “Little Memole”. What Zhou Yu yearned for the most was, that if he could eat a fruit that was as big as himself. That kind of feeling must be awesome. Now that what he had dreamed, finally came true. However, he was not the one who was eating it. He could only watch on the side.
Long bean sprouts were like white radish to those little people. Taking a small bite, it was very juicy and crunchy. And dipping them in soy sauce, it was quite okay. The happy group of the villagers of the ACG world did not complain about there was just one dish. They were singing and dancing together to celebrate a bumper harvest.
Zhou Yu also clapped his hands on the side to liven things up. Of course, he also tasted the vegetables of the ACG world as well. He did not know whether if it was the atmosphere of the banquet that affected him or the vegetable of the ACG World was actually better than the vegetables in the real world, he felt that it was the best stir-fried leek and bean sprouts he ever had.
The village banquet was over when the leek and fried bean sprouts were all eaten. Fortunately, there was no one in the village at the time of classes. Otherwise, if anyone saw Zhou Yu clapping his hands at a dish in the flower greenhouse, they might think that he was experiencing the periodic psychosis again.
In the evening, in the longing eyes of the old drunkard, the brewery finally finished brewing tasks. A bottle of bean sprout alcoholic beverage, a bottle of leek alcoholic beverage. Surprisingly, these two kinds of vegetables could really be made into alcoholic beverages. Zhou Yu was even a little curious about the taste of them.
However, Zhou Yu did not have such a good fortune to drink it, because the two bottles were only about one finger high. For the old drunkard, he could drink for a day, but it might not even be enough for Zhou Yu to take one sip.
Oh well, he did not like drinking anyway. So he did not really mind it.
With alcohol in his hand, their positions were instantly changed. The old drunkard was constantly scratching his ears and cheek while waiting nervously, while Zhou Yu was like a rich landlord taking his time to mention his condition slowly.
“Want to drink them? There is no free lunch in the world? Work for me! Tonight you will have to take part in the animation production of the animation base. One bottle of alcohol for each participation. How is that sound?”
The old drunkard no longer had his imposing manner. He obediently went to Yang Kuai’s house to discuss the production of the next movie.
The long-awaited Martial Arts movie was finally ready to go!
Luhua Village had a long history of military background. Therefore the people in the village had strong martial spirits. PE classes of Luhua Primary School occasionally trained kids for cross-country running. That was why Little Rat was so good with the oral command. In this kind of environment, Martial Arts were naturally very popular.
On this week’s screening day, when the movie title “Real Kung Fu” appeared on the screen, the enthusiasm of the children immediately rose to the peak.
The story flow was simple and clear. It was a story about a timid teenager, who was sent to practice martial arts in a mountain by his parents, gradually become brave and mature. There were no bad guys, no conflicts between good and evil, only the knowledge of the various schools of martial arts, and the knowledge of the essence of martial arts.
The main focus of the first martial art movie of the animation base was not on the story, but on the beauty of martial arts. There was really not much to critique about fighting styles. Having the old drunkard this martial art instructor, the fighting style could only be described as perfect. Coupled with music, the environment that served as the utmost foil, the movie directly brought everyone to “the palace of martial arts”.
The mountains were lofty, the Taoist temple was magnificent, and the changes of the four seasons’ sceneries in the mountains were even more beautiful and intoxicating. The details of the movie were beyond any words could describe. In the grand Taoist temple, the timid teenager was wearing the Taoist robe, doing his practice with others. In the beginning, it was just some children having fun every day. Occasionally, there were some minor conflicts, but it was just children’s pranks.
As the story progressed, the first brilliant fight appeared. With a group of his Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers, the timid teenager saw the Zen-filled sparring between their master – Qingyun Toaist and The Meat-eating Alcoholic Monk in the peach blossom forest. While they were exchanging the hand moves and leg moves, they were also exchanging Zen-filled allegorical words, they seemed so free and relaxed.
Children did not understand the allegorical words, but they were still thrilled by the wonderful fighting moves. There was no Reiki, Soul Power, or Chakra like that they had in Japanese animations, nor was there superpowers like what they had in American cartoons. It didn’t even have lightness skill like what they had in those traditional martial art fiction novels. It only had real hand and leg skills.
No wonder why the title of the film was called “Real Kung Fu”.
Zhou Yu liked this film very much. Previous movies were just simply telling stories. But this one seemed to have its own soul. It was constantly giving people an overwhelming feeling of an animation blockbuster. It seemed like after the martial arts instructor joined the animation base, what it increased was not simply just some martial arts movements.
If Zhou Yu needed to make a summary, he would describe this martial arts movie was a Literati-style martial arts movie. It was not all day long, you love me, I love you, you do not love me, I am very sad that kind of melodramatic minstrel, but a proud and unyielding scholar, who versed in both the sword and in songs, wandered the world freely wherever fate wills.
The second wonderful duel was the reflections of speed and skill.
The woodcutter and the fisherman were fighting fast by a stream. The woodcutter cut a piece of wood into a sculpture with a hatchet swiftly, while the fisherman finishing drawing a paint on a piece of white cloth with a fishing rod.
Combining martial art skills with art, the awesomeness of the movie was off the chart.
The third duel was all kinds of weapons show. And it was completed by a gardener and Sweeping Monk. Two men were constantly changing their weapons to fight, and every time when they changed their weapons, their aura would also change dramatically. The domineering broadsword, the nimble thin sword, the unpredictable spear moves… It dazzled people.
The whole movie was like a documentary, showing the brilliance of each martial arts one by one, but as the protagonist of the movie, the young man did not have a real fight with anyone. Until the end of the film, after the protagonist’s body was fully tempered and mind was finally sublimated, his master Qingyun Taoist said, “You may leave the mountain now.”
Then the movie was over.
From the point of view of the general commercial movies, it gave people a feeling, that the movie ended where it had just begun. What people often liked to see were the things that the protagonist was going to do after leaving the mountain. Things like teasing girls and expanding his harem, fighting against ruffians and defeating bad clans, and then uniting Wuling and becoming the leader of Wuling. Without these things, the audiences would not enjoy the movie. And if the audiences did not enjoy the movie, how was the movie going to sell well?
A martial art movie without any exciting moments might be a failure if it was displayed in regular cinemas. But Zhou Yu did not care about if the movie was going to sell well or not, as long as he liked it. And the children in the yard were not picky. To them, as long as it was an animation, they were happy about it. Besides, they all thought that this movie was very interesting. At least, it made them understand that Kung Fu movies were not just fighting some bad guys, Kung Fu movies could also be very beautiful.
Of course, this kind of movie was only good to show once in a while. In terms of the next movie, Zhou Yu decided to make a commercial-style martial art movie. In that way, he was able to see where the limit of the old drunkard was.
That’s the end of today’s movie.
