Although many people have never heard of this name, and even if they did, they would not place him in a high position among Hong Kong filmmakers, but director Chen Qingjia has a different kind of brilliance in my eyes.
From childhood to adulthood, we have seen a lot of gangster films, from "Young and Dangerous" to "The Godfather", from "Infernal Affairs" to "Despicable Street". In sketching the concept of "gangster", we can't help but associate it with bloody violence. In fact, the characters in the gang can also have a beautiful life. Through Chen Qingjia's lens, we can see a gorgeous world of gangsters. It also gave us another insight.
Ⅰ. "The True Color of Heroes" - 'What I lost must be taken back'
Many people attribute the success of this film to John Woo's mastery of the camera and Chow Yun-fat's superb acting skills. It is true that these are the charms of this film, but we should not ignore the emotional impact of the story itself, which is maintained by love and righteousness. As the screenwriter of this film, Chen Qingjia tried his best to highlight the contradiction and balance between love and righteousness among the characters, making their images extraordinarily real. Just like the title of this film "The True Color of Heroes", if the little brother holds two guns and kills hundreds of people by himself, and castrates the big brother, is he a hero? Obviously not. As he said: I want to fight, not to prove my greatness, but to get back what I lost to the Su family. So far we know the consciousness of this man, and also know what a real hero is. Of course, we can understand that Brother Hao has become submissive and repeated for the happiness of his younger brother, but he does not understand that even if he gives up everything, it may not necessarily be exchanged for his brother's understanding. At the end of the film, a bullet pierced through the skull, and Pony fell down gorgeously, and Applejack was completely awakened. In a sense, it was Pony, not Brother Hao, who brought back Applejack's heart. Therefore, "The True Color of Heroes" made Chow Yun-fat, but Dillon, the great brother, gradually faded out. It is precisely such a flesh-and-blood character that made Chow Yun-fat's heroic image, and 'getting back what was lost' is the responsibility that a pure man should have.
The second and third parts of "The True Color of Heroes" were not written by Chen Qingjia, but were replaced by John Woo for Tsui Hark. Naturally, the style is more individualistic of martial arts. However, from the plot point of view, the younger brother is tantamount to being full of blood and resurrection in the same place, just to cater to the market's follow-up work. Since the appearance of "The True Color of Heroes", Hong Kong gangster movies are no longer just fighting and killing, fighting for power and profit, but more plots with tangled love and meaning, and gangster-themed movies have entered a new era.
Ⅱ. "Dancing Life (Jianghu Urgent)" - "Different people have different rivers and lakes."
In my opinion, this film is definitely a wonderful work of the Hong Kong film industry in the past 20 years, and its status in my heart is even more than " Infernal Affairs". In terms of genre, it is an atypical gangster film. In the words of Qian Xiaohui, another screenwriter of the film, it is an anti-gangster theme. It seems grotesque and banter, but after careful scrutiny, I find that every line is out of the way.
Let's look at the opening monologue first: "Have you heard of Jianghu? Don't try to find it on the map, you can't find it! Jianghu is a place without laws, there are only rules, morals and grievances. In fact, different people have Different rivers and lakes, if you have been to my rivers and lakes, you must have heard the famous name Ren Yinjiu." Jianghu is our world, and our world is Jianghu. Although we don't need to dance on the edge of the knife, but who can be truly free? Don't you have to abide by the rules, morals and grievances of this world? In the next set of shots, Leung Ka Fai danced an unknown dance coquettishly on the stage, while expressing his victory speech after a big mouth: "Actually, being a big brother, sometimes you have to come out and put on a scene. , the purpose is to tell your little brother that you can handle it well." So you know why Li Gang is so popular, because his son's acting for him is really good, let everyone know that Li Gang can handle it. . When the leader is not necessarily the highest level, but must be the best acting among that group of people.
Then looking back, Ren Yinjiu was hunted down by the enemy, and at the time of the crisis, the second brother of Avatar Guan descended to earth, and finally reversed the whole situation. After Ren Yinjiu was rescued, he hoped to take the opportunity to fight against the various gangs, while Guan Erge believed that the word "righteousness" should be used in everything, and hoped that each other would "turn wars into jade and silk". The two conflicted, Ren Yinjiu pointed out that the second brother Guan was stupid and honest, and was destined to be the 'second child' all his life. The second brother was out of anger and asked his sister-in-law Su Hua: "I dare to ask if there are still loyal and righteous people in the world today?" Sister-in-law: "Loyalty, it's easier said than done!" The climax of the film is intended to elicit the consideration of whether "loyalty" has become outdated in our era. In the film, Ren Yinjiu's subordinate A Yu and the prisoner A Zhuo (Brother Chen) represent loyalty, (a bit of Guan Yu Zhang Fei's feeling), while A Hu, who defected to Ren Yinjiu for the superior, represents unscrupulous. Betrayal (Wei Yan Wei Yan). After Brother Guan left, Ren Yinjiu was thoughtful. At the end of the film, Ah Hu's assassination of Ren Yinjiu can be regarded as a desperate struggle between loyalty and power. Chen Qingjia failed to design Ah Hu's assassination. The position of loyalty and righteousness in Director Chen's heart is self-evident. However, in our own arena, who will kill whom?
The film lost to the unknown "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" at the 20th Hong Kong Film Awards, and Tony Leung, nominated for Best Actor, also lost to Tony Leung of "In the Mood for Love". The most embarrassing thing for me is that the heroine Wu Junru didn't even get a nomination. Personally, I think Wu Junru's performance in this film is really as good as Maggie Cheung's performance in "In the Mood for Love", especially the last scene of negotiation with Tony Leung can be described as a classic. Of course, this is also a matter of opinion and will not be repeated here. Director Chen also took Wu Junru's mouth to express the sense of family responsibility that a man should have: "It is inevitable to come out and play on the scene. I thought that he would be respectful if he contributed money and effort but not feelings." The forbearance and wisdom of a woman behind a successful man can be seen.
In terms of details, there are also many bright spots in this film. Here are two or three examples. If you are interested, you can discover the rest by yourself. First, Sir Ye, played by Eason, went to the hotel to investigate the case: "I've been thinking about it, but I don't know how to translate this 'Jianghu' in English. You've been in Jianghu for so long, will you translate it?" Ren Yinjiuleng, Who will be who will, flip down and try! Second, at the end of the film, Ah Hu and Ren Yin are in high spirits, and Ah Hu's girlfriend puts a knife on Su Hua's neck: "Baba, so many diamonds, what watch do you bring?" Su Hua said: "Vacheron Constantin" What the hell is a woman! Third, at the end of the film, a sniper aimed at Ren Yinjiu, ready to take a headshot at any time. The music at the end of the film was shady. This is my first time seeing Easter eggs in a Hong Kong film, and I was pleasantly surprised.
In addition, the episode "After" is known as the most difficult to find movie episode in history, Cantonese, it is really nice, and it adds color to "Dancing Life". As for why there is no success in various awards, I think it may be neither literary nor popular enough. A good movie is a good movie, and we can't overshadow it just because it doesn't taste good to critics. Just as "The Shawshank Redemption" lost to "Forrest Gump" without losing people's love for it.
Ⅲ. "Human Comedy" - "There is always a comedy angle in the world
" Like "Dancing Your Life", this is also a non-traditional gangster movie. Strictly speaking, it's not even a gangster movie, and it's barely a gangster theme. Chen Qingjia single-handedly arranged the two roles of the director and screenwriter (Nolan?), and has absolute dominance over the film.
Unlike Mr. Balzac's satirical novels, such a film is full of joy and warmth, a casual sketch in the guise of a gangster killer. Watching Du Wenze speak a certain mainland dialect on the beach 'clam, clam', full of joy. The content is not as exciting as the previous two, but it is very fresh. Director Chen is using his method to tell you how to treat friends and feelings. Why pick out this movie, or look at the last narration of the movie: In the world, there is always a comedy angle. There is always comedy country. This sentence represents Director Chen's attitude towards life and his choice of movies. Whether it is "The True Color of Heroes" or "Dancing Your Life", what we see is a positive expression, even in a world that is extremely sinful and dirty like the gangster, it has its kindness and nobility.
If we are all a group of little ants struggling in reality, why not open another pair of eyes and observe the world from a comedy perspective.
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