——The inscription
"Infernal Affairs 1" is Liu Weiqiang's important work that has won a good reputation. This movie reflecting the theme of undercover life seems very old-fashioned just from the nature of the story. In the history of Hong Kong movies, movies reflecting undercover have always been prosperous. But this movie pushed undercover movies to a peak that no one can match, which almost broke the road of undercover movies. Breakthrough film directors need to think clearly.
Not to mention a strong star lineup. The film seems to be a summary and sublimation of Hong Kong's many years of violent aesthetics, undercover life presentations, and life philosophies. In this sense, he is no longer a simple cop film or an undercover film. Instead, it gives this type of film more life thinking.
The title of the film is taken directly from the Buddhist term "Infernal Affairs," which is the Buddhist hell. Religions have different perceptions of life. Christ believes that people are born with sin and should constantly purify themselves. Taoism believes that life is nothingness, and attaining Taoism and becoming an immortal is the fruit of life. Buddhism believes that life is a misery, and their goal is to seek the blissful world in the west. Life is a hardship. In modern society, this kind of Buddhist thinking fits the situation of all living beings at a certain point. In Hong Kong, which advocates Buddhism, choosing the Infernal Affairs as a metaphor is a smooth thing.
Pain without death is an endless hell.
Chen Yongren, a high-achieving student at the Police Academy, was suddenly dismissed. In fact, he was arranged by Superintendent Huang to go undercover. Brother Chen, a drug dealer, is also holding a swearing-in meeting. He arranged several of his cadres into the police station to become his undercover agents. This is how an undercover battle started.
If the movie only shows the undercover, if it is difficult to gain the trust of the boss, and then how to obtain intelligence, and finally wipe out the gang, this movie will definitely not reach such a high level, and it will be even more cliché. The movie does something a little more appropriate in its setting of dealing with undercover life. While showing the undercover living conditions, it also shows the hesitation, confusion, and fear that will never disappear in their inner world.
At the beginning of the film, Chen Yongren is a policeman, but he is like a mouse crossing the street, while Liu Jianming is a gangster, but he is constantly promoted.
In nearly ten years of undercover life, Chen Yongren was about to lose himself. What supported him was the phrase "I am a police officer." He could only sleep peacefully in the chair of a beautiful psychiatrist. He was originally a good man and an excellent policeman, but he worked for Han Chen, a drug dealer, all day long, and at the same time provided information for the police station, so he lost his normal life. After the death of Superintendent Huang, the only person who can know his true identity, Chen Yongren's future is even more uncertain. The positioning and sense of identity of identity are necessary for people in this society. Without positioning, there is no sense of belonging. This is an important basic feeling of people in the social system. Chen Yongren wandered and switched between the police and drug dealers. On the one hand, he reminded himself that he was a policeman, and on the other hand, he worked hard in the world of the underworld.
Then, in this world, he is not alone, there are others who live a life of wandering and transformation just like him. Liu Jianming was Han Chen's undercover agent at the police station. He was shrewd and capable. When his status and status in the police station continued to improve, he wanted to wash his hands, so he used Han Chen as a bargaining chip for his promotion. After killing Han Chen, Liu Jianming got his wish. But Chen Yongren's arrival caused him trouble, because Chen Yongren knew Liu Jianming's true identity. He wanted to persuade Chen Yongren to help him realize his wish to be a good person, "I had no choice before, but now I want to be a good person."
Liu Jianming was born in the underworld, but after entering the police station, he fell in love with this kind of upright life. There is no choice for one's origin, but ambitious people will hope to change their life direction through acquired efforts. Liu Jianming thinks like this. While doing things for Han Chen, he is also using Han Chen to increase his chips in his career. Finally, after killing Han Chen, he achieved this, but he still couldn't change his black background. Chen Yongren gave the recording of the call between him and Han Chen to his girlfriend, and the colleagues who came in with him to be undercover also knew that he was from Han Chen. When he was full of thinking that the transformation was about to happen, he was pulled hard. . In the end, things came to light, and Liu Jianming's desire to be a good person was not realized. His will cannot convince others of his kindness, and others value his origin more. In the end, he could only roar like this: Why? I just want to be a good person, why don't you give me a chance?
No one will give you a chance. The composition of all aspects of this society is complicated, but for people's The identity assertion is very simple. The group only thinks once, and the group has to pay a huge price to start thinking for the second time. He was born from a bad person, but he always wanted to be a good person, and his background still determined that his road to being a good person was difficult.
Chen Yongren was killed, and he eventually received the public title of police officer. After his death, his identity was recognized, and he was considered to have escaped from the endless purgatory. Liu Jianming was wrapped in gauze at the end of the film. He did not die. In his consciousness, dead people lingered around him, and he was in endless purgatory.
Chen Yongren died, and his eyes were always open. When he was alive, he was not recognized by his identity, and he could not rest his eyes. However, in the endless hell, Chen Yongren has finished, and Liu Jianming is still struggling in it, who can redeem it?
The contrast between black and white in terms of values is stark. People's needs for their own value recognition and sense of belonging are also very necessary. The chaos and complexity of modern society makes this demand more and more obvious, and there are not many similar works in the film and television industry in recent years. A vague identity, especially when there are two opposing souls living in one's body, is a huge psychological torment.
Buddhism emphasizes cause and effect, just like that line, you always have to pay back when you come out and mess around. This seems to be reflected in the movie. Although Chen Yongren died, he got his name right. Liu Jianming did not die, but received the greatest punishment in the universe: entering the endless purgatory. Seeing this, people feel a little sympathetic to Liu Jianming's experience. At the same time, it also reminds us that if you don’t want to live in this endless purgatory, don’t try to change your identity, and do it according to your own ideas. Change is a risk, and there is no turning back for change.
Loneliness and despair are the key words of Liu Jianming's endless life, who wants to be a good person. He may be thinking about what is a good person and what is a bad person... Such a
generation will fall into the endless hell, thousands of millions of kalpas, and this
will continue indefinitely.
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