Stephen Chow's New king of comedy and Ng Man Tat's The Wandering Earth.
1999, "king of comedy" won the annual box office champion of Hong Kong films, and it was also "Stephen Chow &; Ng Man Tat's best partner at the peak.
Unexpectedly, 20 years later, they "met" like this. Stephen Chow is already a big director, while Ng Man Tat is still a supporting role, but Stephen Chow is not.
A few days ago, Ng Man Tat was a guest at Thirteen Invitations. When talking about this friendship with Stephen Chow, his heart was full of helplessness and regret:
"Now I feel a little ... disconnected."
The "girlfriends" who once fulfilled each other are now the most familiar strangers who are "old and dead", which makes people feel infinite.
However, is that really the case between them?
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The "cooperation" between Stephen Chow and Ng Man Tat began at 1989.
At that time, Stephen Chow had just entered TVB, acted as a walk-on and hosted children's programs, and was left out in the cold. At this time, Ng Man Tat is already a "red star".
Ng Man Tat and Chow Yun Fat are classmates in the wireless artist training class, and his performance is much better than that of Fage.
Before Fage appeared in Xu Wenqiang, Ng Man Tat had already become popular with Chu Liuxiang starring Adam Cheng. But after becoming famous, he expanded, got lost in the unruly life, and soon owed a debt.
1989, Stephen Chow was 27 years old, and Ng Man Tat was 9 years older than him. There is an age gap between brother and brother.
Together, they starred in a movie Heroes on Earth, with Lan Jieying as the heroine. She was only 25 years old that year.
A once depressed walk-on met a death star who fell from the "altar" and enjoyed each other very much.
The following year, they collaborated on He Comes from Jianghu, and their friendship deepened, and they talked about everything.
At that time, there was a 24-hour tea restaurant downstairs in their room, where they chatted and ate when they were free. The night was long and lonely, but each of us found a confidant to talk to.
More often, Ng Man Tat plays the role of a listener. Stephen Chow, who comes from a single-parent family and has always been autistic, talks about everything and regards him as his brother, even a teacher and father.
Stephen Chow knows that Ng Man Tat likes abalone. They often buy canned abalone and eat it secretly on the set. You eat with me, and it's clean.
For Ng Man Tat, Stephen Chow is not only a brother, but also a child who needs to be taken care of. He heard Stephen Chow yelling when talking to his mother on the phone, so he took him to the balcony and criticized him.
Stephen Chow has a lot of ideas about filming, but the director doesn't believe him, so his ideas are often put forward by Ng Man Tat and conveyed to the director for him.
If love has sparks, so does friendship.
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The tacit understanding between Stephen Chow and Ng Man Tat in the camera quickly attracted Wu Siyuan's attention. He is the producer of the movie Gambling Saint, and also the Bole of Star Boy and Dashu.
At that time, gambling films in Hong Kong were all the rage. The gambler starring Stephen Chow set the highest box office record for Hong Kong movies with 1990.
The most popular combination in the film is "A Xing" and "San Shu", which makes people laugh.
After The Gambler, Stephen Chow and Ng Man Tat ushered in a golden age of cooperation. For more than ten years, they have cooperated in 28 films, which have brought countless joys and tears to the audience.
In many Stephen Chow movies I watched in the 1980s and 1990s when I was a child, there was always a chubby Ng Man Tat with a moustache and a little "obscene" smile.
In Gambling Saint and Gambling Man, Xing Zi is a gambler with special functions, and Dashu is his third uncle who is greedy for money and afraid of death.
In "Playing Truant", Xing Zi is an undercover policeman in the school, and Dashu is his lazy subordinate.
In Jiupin Sesame Officer, Xing Zi is the upright county magistrate Bao Longxing, and Dashu is his favorite Bao Youwei.
In The Duke Of Mount Deer, Star Boy is smart and humorous, and Uncle is the father-in-law who teaches him martial arts.
In King of Destruction, Xing Tong is a fast-food teenager who wants to learn martial arts, and his uncle is a "master" who cheats him for money.
In king of comedy, the star boy is a frustrated walk-on, and the uncle is an undercover policeman who asks him to help solve the case.
In King of Surprise, Star Boy is the overlord of the school, and the uncle is the housekeeper who takes care of him and his father.
The awkward dance of a Chinese Odyssey can make the audience laugh without a single line, and it is still a classic in cross-talk drama.
Among so many works they have worked together, one scene is the most classic. However, what caused this scene was because of their laughter.
At first, Ng Man Tat laughed at the scene of "trying to recognize relatives" in Truant. At that time, Stephen Chow looked at him with a dull face. When he said his lines, he forgot and couldn't help laughing.
The director didn't delete the play, and this scene became a classic picture by mistake. If Ng Man Tat were someone else, I'm afraid it wouldn't have such an effect.
I have only watched this play dozens of times.
03
In Stephen Chow's films, Ng Man Tat can be said to have no decent role, either cowardly or obscene, or grassroots or insidious.
He knows that his looks can't be idols like Andy Lau and Chow Yun Fat, but he is willing to set off Stephen Chow and be a green leaf around him.
Between Stephen Chow and Ng Man Tat, it's hard to say who made who, because they are the best partners.
Stephen Chow made Ng Man Tat. Without this "king of comedy", there would be no "golden supporting role" like Ng Man Tat.
But without Ng Man Tat's foil, Stephen Chow could not leave so many classic characters that people can't get tired of watching. Just like Jay Chou and Fang Zhouzi in the music industry, Zhou could not have created an era of Chinese style without Fang Ci.
They are one, and they are each other's shadows. As long as you look at each other, you can understand what they want.
In the play, Stephen Chow is unconstrained and unconstrained, and the cooperation with Ng Man Tat is perfect. They opened a new era of comedy films in Hong Kong and created the glory of box office hegemony.
Off stage, they are also the best partners.
In the early stage of the variety show, Stephen Chow commented on Ng Man Tat, saying that others were good and the play was good, and his eyes were full of admiration and appreciation.
On the 25th anniversary of TVB's stay in Hong Kong, they also talked about cross talk together. You tease me, hug me, and have a tacit understanding.
Everyone knows that Stephen Chow is not a talkative person. He is afraid of facing the media, he will be nervous and his expression will be stiff.
At that time, where there was Stephen Chow, there was Ng Man Tat; Where there is Ng Man Tat, there is Stephen Chow.
As long as he is with Ng Man Tat, he will be completely relaxed.
Ng Man Tat, like Stephen Chow's spiritual antidote, cured his autism.
04
200 1, shaolin soccer by Stephen Chow and Ng Man Tat.
This time, Star Boy is the five senior brothers with the supreme leg of Omega, and Uncle is the retired "golden right foot" and the "Oscar winner".
Shaolin soccer won Stephen Chow the Best Actor and the Best Director.
Ng Man Tat, like the "golden right foot" in the film, chose to bless silently behind his back after completing the "Omega Ultimate Leg".
After that, they were not in the same box.
There were different opinions at that time, and many people speculated that Stephen Chow and Ng Man Tat had broken up.
Some media said that their relationship was bad because Stephen Chow's Kung Fu didn't invite Ng Man Tat.
In fact, the truth is that Stephen Chow and Ng Man Tat have already made an appointment to shoot Kung Fu, and the schedule has been set.
But when we started shooting, we caught up with SARS, so we had to postpone it. As for the extension, no one knows.
Finally, it's time to start shooting, but there are other films in Ng Man Tat. So the role of Ng Man Tat in Kung Fu was given to Lin Zicong.
This movie realized Stephen Chow's dream of paying tribute to Bruce Lee, but it also became his and Ng Man Tat's regret.
Once some fate is missed, it is difficult to get together again.
Ng Man Tat always likes smoking, drinking and overeating, and his life is irregular and restrained.
Finally, his body collapsed.
The situation was so serious that it was admitted to the intensive care unit for treatment, and even the news of death was repeatedly reported.
When Stephen Chow heard the news, he immediately sent a text message to say hello. He didn't settle down until he recovered
Later, Stephen Chow invited Ng Man Tat to star in The Mermaid. It's a pity that his body was not allowed to shoot at that time. He didn't want to drag Stephen Chow down, so he refused.
For a long time, Ng Man Tat didn't take part in the work. He disappeared not only in Stephen Chow's films, but also in the public's field of vision.
Gradually, the intersection between them became less.
Fate, this thing, can arrange two people to meet, but can't arrange two people to accompany. As Jacky Cheung sang in Autumn, "It's not up to me to gather and disperse in the wind".
After Stephen Chow became a great director, many people called him heartless and ungrateful.
But in fact, he is just not good at dealing with the world. In the face of malicious speculation from outside, he chose to use silence to prevent the situation from deteriorating.
Many rumors between them are false. Their relationship is unclear to outsiders in a few words.
05
"He is the boss and I am the old man."
"His status is different now, his career is successful, and I am still far from him."
Stephen Chow once said that he didn't have many good friends, but he didn't need too many confidants. A few is enough.
He didn't say who his confidant was, but Ng Man Tat must have a special place in his heart.
06
Stephen Chow Ng Man Tat mixed scissors
We don't just miss Master Xing and Uncle Da.
And our youth. ...