Retro is subversion： Kingsman’s confession of British classic spy film
"Fashion is the most fashionable"
Salute: as exquisite as Bond? Make costumes into high-end customized brands.
Kingsman is adapted from a cartoon of the same name in mark millar, which mainly tells the story of Harry Hart, an old agent of Kingsman Secret Service played by colin firth, training Egsey, a little agent played by taron egerton. However, Harry didn’t teach Egsey any real skills. It’s all up to Merlin, the bald instructor played by mark strong. Harry’s task, to be elegant, is to help Egsey, a street thug, become an elegant aristocrat, and to put it bluntly, to teach him how to dress. Therefore, the biggest attraction in the first half of this film is not fists or high-tech weapons, but Harry keeps showing off his suits, shoes, ties, watches and glasses. "Oxford is better than Brock", this clever trick of wearing shoes is an admonition that Harry emphasized to Egsey the most times. I think I was influenced by the spy film ipcress file starring michael caine in 1965.
Just like Bond, those clothes in Kingsman are well-known. In fact, the Kingsman Secret Service is ostensibly a tailor’s shop, located in the famous Saville Street in London. The shops in this street are all top clothing stores that serve the royal families and nobles of various countries. The prototype of Kingsman storefront is actually a world-famous custom clothing store Huntsman. It is worth mentioning that the film hired Ariane Phillips, who once served "Single Man", as a fashion designer, and cooperated with Mr. Porter, a British men’s fashion e-commerce, to create a customized series of "costume to collection" inspired by movies, which was sold in real life. In addition, the luggage accessories in the film are also of great origin: Turnbull & Asser’s shirt, Drake’s tie, Culture&Gross’s glasses, Swaine Adeney Brigg’s suitcase, Bremont’s watch and George Cleverley’s shoes.
Subversion: gentlemen don’t need muscle blocks!
Colin firth once played a homosexual in Single Man, and his performance style inspired Matthew Vaughn. We can hardly see any masculine flavor in Harry Hart, but we can experience a different kind of feminine charm. It is not difficult to understand that Matthew Vaughn is deliberately playing against Bourne ultimatum, Mission Impossible and the daniel craig version of 007. "Now spy films are getting more and more boring" is exactly what he thinks of these films. It doesn’t matter to him whether he has a muscle mass or not. The important thing is to wear a suit, which is the kind of elegance and grace shown between gestures. What he wants to pay tribute to is "Underwater City of 007" starring roger moore in 1977. Although this version of Bond has limited physical fitness, it has become the most attractive Bond in Vaughan’s mind because of its ease of weight and humor.
[Carrying equipment can kick and hit]
Salute: Which agent didn’t order high-tech goods?
Harry is naturally very proud of his image and clothes, but Egsey, who just came out of the slum, doesn’t buy it. He grew up on the street and likes to wear hoodies or sportswear with hip-hop style. The rebellious teenager was easily fooled by Harry to report to the Secret Service, mainly because Harry’s cool weapons and cool skills shocked him. Like most spy movies, Harry’s high-tech equipment is enough to make him blind. The umbrella he carried when he first met him is a powerful weapon that can be attacked and defended. The tip of the umbrella can fire and the tarpaulin can prevent guns. And almost every accessory on him is a weapon at the same time. There is a sharp knife hidden in the toe of leather shoes, a 500,000 Ford catapult hidden under the dial of the watch, a miniature explosive with the power equivalent to a Grenade in the lighter body, and a toxic pill in the pen tube. Of course, his haute couture suit is also made of special bulletproof material.
Subversion: the moves are fierce and the hair can’t be messy.
When it comes to fighting, Harry’s action features are bright and neat, which can not only deal a powerful blow to the enemy, but also maintain the elegance of his posture and ensure that his carefully managed hairstyle will not be messed up. It was also in the scene where they first met Egsey that they met a gang of gangsters to provoke them. Harry calmly closed the doors and windows of the hotel, knocked down the gangsters one by one with three strokes and five divisions, and it was like a dance. Colin firth trained for three hours every day for several weeks in order to make a good show. The crew specially invited a number of experts to help, including Jackie Chan’s training team, world Muay Thai champion and Olympic gold medal gymnast. There is also a special forces guy who is responsible for guiding how to use a gun.
However, if you really meet a strong opponent, it is out of place to consider the image of a gentleman. Terrorists who intend to cleanse mankind are all ruthless dissidents, and agents can only protect themselves if they give them back in their own way. Vaughn deliberately designed the action scene to be fierce and abnormal, which led to the final R rating of the film. Take the opening scene as an example. Agent Lancelot went deep into the tiger’s den to save the hostages and killed all the terrorists. He was so ruthless that people thought he was a villain. Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, the goods were split in half by the female killer Jia Zeiler (sofia boutella). Cruel enough! That’s not all. Vaughn later let this sad agent appear again, and his two halves of the body were sewn together by a rope for the villain Valentine (samuel jackson) to "enjoy and ponder". Such humor may be the essence of Vaughan’s aesthetics.