The guqin is an ancient Chinese stringed instrument in the zither family (sometimes just called qin, or Chinese lute, Chinese harp, or table-harp). I love that thing, especially because every time one is seen in a martial arts movie, it's used in a really cool way. It's best known to Western audiences, I think, as the instrument played in Hero during the battle between Nameless (Jet Li) and Long Sky (Donnie Yen).
The conceit is that the bulk of the battle occurs in the fighters' minds so long as the blind man's music plays. When his strings break, it signals the actual of the fight they've both already foreseen.
Another one you might have seen is in Kung Fu Hustle, where notes are used as the focus for some powerful (and insane) Chi tricks.
Where else are you going to find a harpist assassins vs. landlords battle?
Sadly, my very favorite isn't on You-Tube. You'll find it at the 55-minute mark of John Woo's epic Red Cliff, when Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro jam all night on the guqin, proving to each other that they would make good partners in war.
Bordering on anachronism, Woo filters in electric guitar riffs, but what is memorable to me is how it completely replaces a dialog scene. After the jam, the two characters have told each other everything. Tony Leung's character has agreed to join the war effort, and Kaneshiro's has revealed that he desperately needs friends. Their expressions, and those of onlookers, are full of apprehension and epiphany. Short lines later explain them, elegantly. And on second viewing, you definitely see those attitudes in the music. It's a wonderful sequence that both looks and sounds great, and yet another novel use of the guqin.
Anyone else have their favorites?
The conceit is that the bulk of the battle occurs in the fighters' minds so long as the blind man's music plays. When his strings break, it signals the actual of the fight they've both already foreseen.
Another one you might have seen is in Kung Fu Hustle, where notes are used as the focus for some powerful (and insane) Chi tricks.
Where else are you going to find a harpist assassins vs. landlords battle?
Sadly, my very favorite isn't on You-Tube. You'll find it at the 55-minute mark of John Woo's epic Red Cliff, when Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro jam all night on the guqin, proving to each other that they would make good partners in war.
Bordering on anachronism, Woo filters in electric guitar riffs, but what is memorable to me is how it completely replaces a dialog scene. After the jam, the two characters have told each other everything. Tony Leung's character has agreed to join the war effort, and Kaneshiro's has revealed that he desperately needs friends. Their expressions, and those of onlookers, are full of apprehension and epiphany. Short lines later explain them, elegantly. And on second viewing, you definitely see those attitudes in the music. It's a wonderful sequence that both looks and sounds great, and yet another novel use of the guqin.Anyone else have their favorites?
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