1: The script
"The Watchers" is almost exactly the same as "Tracking" in general. There are three robberies throughout the movie, the beautiful police flower who just joined the work, the fat gangster who was first tracked and so on. But the original "Tracking" movie is one and a half hours long, while "The Watchers" is two hours. This extra half an hour has the refinement of the same scene, and there are also minor plot changes and additions. But it is these differences that show the difference in the artistic pursuit of the directors and screenwriters of the two films.
First of all, I have to admit that "Tracking" is not a magnificent and compassionate historical blockbuster like "1942", nor is it a sentimental drama like "Sister Tao". To put it simply, this is actually a gangster movie. Police and criminal films are probably the most filmed genre in Hong Kong film history, and it is difficult to have any new ideas anymore. The selling point of "Tracking" is that the protagonist of the story is no longer a righteous detective who is born to death with Wu Yi Gaoqiang, but is always a casual "stalker" who is only responsible for finding and tracking suspects in the vast sea of people, and obtaining relevant information. , To provide clues and intelligence to the police in the Criminal Investigation Section.
Generally speaking, this is a feature film. The focus of the movie is on the plot, not on the characterization. In You Naihai's "Following", there are only three people who really have a role in the police: the captain of the wretched uncle played by Ren Dahua, the young police flower played by Xu Zishan and madam played by Meiqi Shao. The rest of the investigative department can basically be regarded as extras, and The situation and personnel in the office are just a flash. The bandit party also has only two people: the bandit leader played by Liang Jiahui and the fat man who was first tracked by Lin Xue. However, in "The Watchers", the police team added a teammate who was finally killed by the gangster, played by the beautiful boy Li Junhao, and the description of the police office personnel is much more detailed than in "Stalking". In this regard, "Watchers" does a better job than "Tracking." In fact, judging from the overall comparison of the two films, this South Korean remake is more effective than the original and has many wonderful details. For example, the bandit, played by Zheng Yusheng, deliberately waited until the glass on the opposite building had strong reflections in order to avoid being shot by the monitor. Just walked into the car to plant the bomb. There are many such examples.
The role of Li Junhao is not available in "Tracking", and the young traffic policeman who was killed in "Tracking" is just a ghost. In "The Watchers", the screenwriter changed him into a teammate of the Investigation Division, and he is a beautiful boy with youthful vigor. This modification has both good and bad sides. The good side is to make the overall team image of the Investigation Division more plump, so that it is not just a two-person play like the original. The bad side is that it destroys the connotation contained in the original plot. In the original work, the young traffic policeman had nothing to do with the whole thing, but because he appeared at the wrong time and place, he was killed. He has the typical fatalistic sense of You Naihai's movies. However, the modification of this plot in "The Watchers" is not completely convincing. At least Li Junhao's character already knows that he is asking about a gangster, but he is easily stabbed to death, so he has to be suspected of being a police officer. Professional competence. Of course, if there is no such setting, there will be no sensational scene of police officers from behind collectively saluting in front of his grave.
The second plot change is the scene where the first robbery is over. The main story is that in order to get more money during the robbery, a little brother did not escape according to the scheduled plan, and almost caused all the gangsters to be caught by the police. The gangster severely punished him for example. This scene in both movies is cruel and full of tension. But in "Following", the scene takes place on the rooftop. During the punishment, the movie camera shows a close-up of a sexy beauty undressing at the window on the opposite floor. Then the gangsters watched together, the whole tension was relieved, and finally started together again. Eat BBQ. This unexpected treatment gives people the illusion of a typical Hong Kong tertiary film, and the most important thing is that it gives people a particularly "dirty" feeling. Here, the bandit played by Leung Ka Fai is no different from his subordinates. They are all greedy and lustful. Desperadoes. The scene of "The Watchers" is set on the seashore at night. While Zheng Yusheng's bandit leader burns the robbery tool with an ignition stick, he teaches his subordinates who refuse to obey orders. The real shot is cruel and fierce. The most important thing is to distinguish the bandit leader from his subordinates. In fact, Zheng Yusheng's role is the planner of the robbery, which is still different from the bandit who actually carried out the robbery. The treatment of "The Watchers" is very good for Zheng Yusheng's character creation. There is even a plot of heroism in it.
The third plot change is the newly recruited policeman's reaction to unexpected situations that are not within the scope of his duties. The policeman played by Xu Zishan in "Following" has just entered the post, so he chose to listen to the captain's order and did not intervene in this situation. This plot mainly paved the way for the subsequent kidnapping case. However, in "The Watchers," Han Hyo-joo chose to disobey the order to rescue the injured, but in the end he did not receive criticism, which was very sensational and highlighted the contradiction between the system and reality. I have no opinion on this change, but because of the length of the film, the plot does not show its inner meaning, which is a bit painless.
The fourth major plot change is the relationship between the bandit leader and his superiors. In "Following", Liang Jiahui's master has been in jail for 18 years, and his tasks are assigned by his master. The master was released early, but Liang Jiahui had to run away because of the Dongchuang incident. The master and disciple could only see one last time. It's just a picture of the mentor and apprentice relationship of the underworld. In "The Watchers", Zheng Yusheng and his contacts are also in the relationship of master and apprentice, but there is no relationship at all. After Zheng Yusheng refused to do the last robbery, the master sent someone to kill his apprentice and threatened him to continue to behave. It's hard work. After the last failed robbery, Zheng Yusheng broke into the tiger's den alone and killed his master. You Naihai's handling of this plot is actually continuing his fatalism, and the gangsters are actually ordinary people, and they also have ordinary people's emotions. But "The Watchers" has a cold style throughout, with a sense of violent aesthetics.
The last major plot change is the end of the story. The captain Ren Dahua was punctured by the bandit's artery and lay down in a pool of blood, telling all the teammates the plot of a joke story. This scene is the climax of "Following", sensational to the extreme. However, in "The Watchers", the plot was weakened and no jokes were told. Xue Jingqiu's captain was sent to the ambulance and ordered a few times on the neck with a stapler to stop the bleeding. He returned to the crime scene and shot himself personally. Zheng Yusheng. Full of heroism. In "Following", Liang Jiahui did accidentally hang his neck on an iron hook and died while escaping. It is still Yu Naihai's fatalism.
2. Photography
From a photographic point of view, "The Watchers" outperformed "Tracking". On the one hand, "The Watchers" was released six years later than "Tracking", and the development of photography equipment and photography technology made the latter unable to compare with the former. But removing the technical factors, the two works' attention to detail is not on the same level. "The Watchers" used a lot of good close-up shots, which played a key role in portraying the character's psychology. In addition, the scene where Xue Jingqiu jumped off a building to chase the fugitives used follow-up shots, which gave the audience a strong visual impact and sense of presence. A similar technique was used when a police car crashed into a truck. The scene of "Tracking" was set in an ordinary residential area of Hong Kong, plus The upper tone is gray and dark, giving people a shabby and depressed feeling every moment. The scene of "The Watchers" is set in a modern Korean city, and the color tone is slightly brighter, and it feels much better to watch the movie. Nominations should be given to the photographers of "The Watchers".
3. Actor
The cast of these two films is very strong, Hong Kong has Ren Dahua, Leung Ka Fai, Xu Zishan, Lin Xue and Shao Meiqi. This South Korean movie has Jung Woo-sung, Seol Jing-kyu and Han Hyo-joo. It will be interesting to compare and analyze.
1) Ren Dahua VS Xue Jingqiu
Ren Dahua broke the always cool gangster image this time and played a brave and insidious uncle. When I first came out, I always felt that he must have something in his stomach, which made me entangled for several minutes. It should be said that he is one of the three actors with the most plays in this film, and he does live up to expectations. I don’t know much about Korean actors. After reading it, I checked Xue Jingguo's information, especially after reading his promotional photos, and found that there is a big difference from the image in the movie. It really is a lot of effort for this movie. Both of them performed very well.
2) Leung Ka Fai VS Zheng Yusheng
Leung Ka Fai is also an old drama, this film is just a qualified assignment for him. The director's positioning of his role also limits his performance. The only film that Zheng Yusheng has ever seen except "The Watchers" is "Sword Rain" directed by Wu Yusen. His performance in "Sword Rain" is very good, the image of a calm and calm niche. Because the image in "Sword Rain" is too different, in the opening minutes of "The Watchers" I didn't realize that he played this man with rough hairstyle and bold demeanor. In this film, he performed the character's vigorous and brutal character to the fullest. The same role is obviously better than Zheng Yusheng.
3) Xu Zishan VS Han Hyo Joo Han Hyo Joo
is one level higher than Xu Zishan in terms of appearance and acting skills. It can be said that the performances of other actors in "The Watchers" are expected, and Han Hyo-joo is the biggest surprise and highlight. In fact, she is not the top beauty among Korean actresses, but she has a unique youthful temperament. And the grasp of the character's character is more delicate and in place. After watching "Follow", many people felt that the film was finally filmed as "Girls Growing Up". This complaint is not only related to the director's plot design, but also to Xu Zishan's performance.
Among other actors, Lin Xue is the biggest highlight. This fat man is really the best candidate for this kind of role. Recently, Johnnie To’s movie "Blind Detective" also has his wonderful performance. It seems that Hong Kong directors like this special actor very much.
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