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it was not until i learned of his death that i realized that the screen classics belonging to our generation have disappeared!

"as a human being, harmony is the most important thing. i stand in the middle."

"oh, so you are a fence-sitter!"

"okay, okay, safety first!"

he is a famous hong kong director who not only made michelle yeoh and stephen chow famous, but also successfully helped jet li ascend to the throne of kung fu emperor.

as a fellow disciple of sammo hung and jackie chan, he not only has profound martial arts skills, but is also an outstanding martial arts instructor in hong kong.

he is yuan kui, one of the members of the "seven little fortunes".

"i am huo huan tiebushan. i have been roaming the martial arts world for decades. i am the only one who hurts others. no one can hurt me. come on!"

yuen kwai was born in hong kong, china in 1951. due to his poor family background, his parents sent him to drama academy to learn kung fu at an early age.

as a result, due to the shape of his legs, yuan kui found it difficult to complete difficult moves, and his martial arts skills were much inferior to those of his fellow apprentices.

so master yu zhanyuan simply let yuan kui manage the costumes backstage. when other brothers could play and rest after their performances, yuan kui could only pack up the costumes and props dejectedly.

he even had to sleep alone in the prop room at night to guard the supplies, which made the young yuan kui feel aggrieved.

"why did you only let me guard the backstage? why not someone else? i was young at that time and liked to play with everyone. i felt very pitiful when i was alone."

however, peking opera declined soon after, and in order to survive, yuan kui led his brothers to join his senior brother sammo hung, and since then began his career as an extra and a martial arts stuntman.

but yuan kui knew that his skills were not as good as those of his other brothers, so he began to think about new ways out. at this time, the director and martial arts instructor on the set attracted his attention.

"i know i'm not good at flipping, so you have to figure it out yourself. why don't i develop my guidance and start paying attention to how others use their moves."

so when others were playing cards and sleeping after filming, yuan kui began to observe the photographer's shooting and the actors' martial arts moves. it was this action of his that caught the attention of the great director wu siyuan.

finally, on the set of "tower of death" directed by yuen woo-ping, yuen kwai took the position of executive director.

since the film was a mix of bruce lee's footage and his stunt double's martial arts moves, it didn't make much of a splash due to the incoherent plot, but it gave yuan kui a chance to showcase his talent.

because during the filming process, yuan kui not only managed the scene in an orderly manner, but also demonstrated his outstanding talent as a martial arts instructor. only then did he understand his master's good intentions.

eventually, yuan kui decided to step back and polish his work carefully until 1982, when yuan kui directed his debut film "dragon ninja". as a result, the film took in hk$7.5 million at the box office as soon as it was released.

not only did it make siyuan pictures earn a ton of money, but yuan kui himself was nominated for the best action director at the academy awards, which truly marked the beginning of his directorial career.

"who would have thought that he would shoot it so well, the plot part was very good, not only the action scenes, but the plot part was also very appropriate, and the shooting effect was very impressive!"

however, it was his senior brother sammo hung who really helped yuan kui to reach a higher level. michelle yeoh, who had just signed with sammo hung's company at that time, decided to transform herself into a martial arts actor.

so sammo hung tailored the movie "royal sister" for her, and yuen kwai cleverly used on-site props and camera shooting techniques, coupled with michelle yeoh's crisp and neat fighting moves, to show the femininity and fortitude to the fullest.

this film not only made newcomer michelle yeoh famous, but also consolidated yuen kwai's status in the industry. at the same time, the appearance of another new actor once again attracted yuen kwai's attention.

the god of gamblers

he is an underrated figure in the hong kong film industry and one of the best martial arts instructors in the industry. he can design tough and courageous one-on-one combat scenes, as well as magnificent one-on-ten melees.

not only did it make stephen chow and michelle yeoh famous, it also opened the door to the hollywood world for jet li.

"this is director yuan kui, a great director, brother dan, he has made countless movies and made many action actors famous."

when it comes to the name yuan kui, perhaps few people know it, but when it comes to the works he directed, i'm sure everyone knows them. "royal sister" and "law enforcement" that were popular in hong kong at the time are all classics.

the movie "god of gamblers" directed by him was a phenomenal hit that year.

when chow yun-fat's "god of gamblers" dominated the film industry in 1989, gambling films instantly became a trend in the hong kong film industry, so wu siyuan found his old partner yuan kui to prepare a similar peripheral product.

however, yuan kui came up with the design inspiration of special abilities because he thought of a story that jet li once told him.

"yuen kwai told me about the shuffling of cards, saying that jet li had seen a man named zhang baosheng shuffling cards."

this is how the setting of gambler axing having the ability to see through things came about. after that, the two of them found the gold medal screenwriter liu zhenwei, and the three of them decided to start filming this movie immediately after discussing it.

however, the casting of actors became a headache for the directors. at the critical moment, yuen kwai and liu zhenwei recommended the newcomer stephen chow to the director, so liu zhenwei immediately wrote the scene-by-scene script for god of gamblers in 4 hours.

after that, he spent 11 days to write the entire movie script. in the end, liu zhenwei and yuen kui joined forces, and the movie "god of gamblers" came to life.

not only did it become hong kong's first blockbuster to break 40 million in box office revenue, it also transformed stephen chow from star boy to star master overnight.

"from now on, your nickname in the underworld will be the gambler saint!"

however, this movie not only made stephen chow famous, but also pushed yuen kui's directorial career to its peak.

after that, yuan kui finally indulged in his acting addiction and co-starred with stephen chow in the movie "new fist of fury 1991" as huo huan.

"my right hand is truly blessed with divine power. it's so powerful that you won't believe it!"

"i am huo huan tiebushan. i have been roaming the martial arts world for decades. i am the only one who hurts others. no one can hurt me. come on!"

but just when yuan kui was planning to take stephen chow to big hits, he was intercepted by director wong jing, who directly signed stephen chow to yongsheng film company.

however, not long after, kung fu boy jet li took the initiative to find him. at that time, jet li and golden harvest had a complete falling out. after many twists and turns, he finally established the zhengdong film company.

later, jet li invited yuan kui to be the company's director. at that time, jet li, who had become famous for his role as wong fei hung, planned to create a character that would surpass the classic and completely tear off the label of wong fei hung.

so the two of them immediately decided to shoot the movie "fang shiyu". for this purpose, yuan kui specially found his good friend liu zhenwei to write the script himself.

as a result, liu zhenwei was too busy filming the movie "a chinese odyssey", and yuan kui, unwilling to give up, stayed in his room for five days and five nights.

"there was a director named yuan kui. he slept on the bed in my room and stayed with me for five days and nights. he never left my side. if i didn't write, he would get angry. i finished writing fang shiyu in five days!"

with the script in hand and the powerful combination of jet li and yuen kwai, the movie "fong sai-yuk" eventually became another classic masterpiece surpassing wong fei-hung, and also allowed zhengdong film to gain a firm foothold in the hong kong film industry.

but just when the two were planning to work together to create a film legend, an accident happened!

hollywood

if it weren’t for yuen kwai, it would have been difficult for jet li to break into hollywood in his lifetime!

in 1998, jet li received an audition invitation for the movie "lethal weapon 4". jet li, who originally wanted to enter hollywood, decisively accepted the invitation, but everyone advised jet li to give up this opportunity.

because at that time jet li was already an asian superstar who was popular in mainland china, but the role he auditioned for was a villain with very few lines.

"everyone thinks, you have been a hero for so many times, and suddenly you become a villain, is it worth it?"

but in order to open the door to hollywood, jet li, who had never auditioned in his life, finally decided to go to country m.

"being famous in asia doesn't mean you're famous in the united states. you are data for the asian market, not global data, so i knew very well that i had to start from scratch and do an audition that i've never done in my life!"

finally, jet li successfully got the role with his real ability, but when negotiating the cooperation, jet li was discriminated against and ridiculed by the other party again.

you should know that jet li's salary at that time was 16 million hong kong dollars, but the united states not only gave him an ultra-low salary of 1 million us dollars, but also lowered the price again and again in person.

"will you do it for 1 million?"

"no, okay, give me a chance and i'll do it!"

"750,000!"

"why are you back again? i did it!"

"you do it, 50!"

with few roles and low pay, even though jet li is an excellent kung fu master, it is difficult for him to have room to perform. at the critical moment, jet li's golden partner yuan kui stood up.

"the m countrymen treated us like minions. i told jet li that the money was too little. i said, how about this? i don't want a dime and i will follow you!"

so yuan kui quickly packed his luggage and rushed to country m to serve as jet li's martial arts instructor. he even tried his best to design highlight moments for jet li in the few minutes of fighting scenes.

"it was better for jet li to stand on top during the filming. he is a villain, so he looks cool. mel gibson also has an action director. when they saw it, they were shocked to see how our boss was made to look like this, so low-brow, with the gun dropped from the top and then removed again. it's really embarrassing!"

finally, under yuen kwai's protection, jet li broke through the siege. as soon as the movie was released, it amazed the american audience with its several minutes of superb fighting scenes. however, this was not the first time that yuen kwai pushed jet li to the altar.

in 1993, jet li, who had just founded his company, decided to shoot the movie "fong sai-yuk". yuan kui, the director and martial arts instructor, changed jet li's usual image of a gentleman and added comedy elements while designing clever fighting scenes.

it not only combines the cleverness and righteousness of the young hero, but also interprets the feelings of family and country vividly.

not only that, yuan kui also discovered the new generation actor zhao wenzhuo through this film.

"i've been wondering all day why villains have to be ugly and evil. i wonder if we can find a villain who is more gentle and handsome!"

however, when they met for the first time, zhao wenzhuo was extremely arrogant. not only was he wearing slippers, but his expression was also quite impatient.

"zhao wenzhuo looked a bit arrogant, and was walking in slippers, so i asked him if he could show me some kung fu, and he did some tongbei, crackling, crackling, and he looked pretty good.

i asked him if he liked filming and if he was interested in it. he said yes, whatever, it doesn’t matter.

but it was precisely this cynical attitude of zhao wenzhuo that attracted yuan kui's attention, and zhao wenzhuo successfully played the role of ordo, the nine-gates admiral.

his fighting scenes with jet li contributed to the film's classic scenes.

in the end, the movie won the best action choreography award at the taiwan golden horse film awards as soon as it was released, becoming another milestone work for yuan kui and successfully putting the kung fu boy jet li on the throne of the kung fu emperor.

afterwards, the golden partnership of yuen kwai and jet li became well-known in hollywood, and yuen kwai created the youthful memories of a generation through one classic masterpiece after another.

but even though he created brilliant achievements, yuan kui was terribly low-key. it was not until jackie chan posted a message to mourn him some time ago that everyone knew that he had passed away two years ago. but his works are always worth remembering.