The highest point of revenge: The flow of emotions
can't help but think of the story of Qiqiao and Chang'an in "The Golden Lock" by Zhang Ailing, a modern Chinese literary classic. Enmity, the power of vengeance can only be shown if it harms the next generation: not only is it a tooth for a tooth, but also a hatred with love, and knocks down for a while with eternity (not if you die). The greatest strength of "Original Criminal" is that it is wrapped in suspense, and it was originally ambitious to reach the deepest dilemma in people's hearts: father and daughter are incestuous without knowing it, and the seeds of love have already sprouted. How does it end? The power of Lee Woo Jin (Liu Ji Tae)'s revenge plan lies in the way he does it, and he returns to the other. This is not a superficial revenge of martial arts or underworld movies, but a real emotional exchange. Li Yuzhen wants Wu Daxiu (Cui Minzhi) to truly feel the despair brought about by impossible love.
Therefore, we can no longer distinguish between hatred and love (revenge for love or revenge for revenge?), violence and tenderness (what is the biggest driving force when violence is used?), and we can no longer distinguish between us. Reason is still hypnotized (Li Yuzhen rationally uses hypnosis as a means of revenge, Wu Daxiu finally chooses to use hypnosis to modify memory—isn’t revenge the most rational hypnosis?), even if the story is fairly simple, the vein of revenge is one cause and effect. But it is rich in many elements of revenge.
Libra of Revenge: Who is the victim?
It is not difficult to find that there are multiple revenges in "Original Criminals": Li Yuzhen revenges for her sister; Wu Daxiu revenges for losing her beautiful family and freedom because of her imprisonment for no reason, and Mr. Park's fake revenge for money and other benefits. In a series of revenge operations, each avenger asked a question: Why do I want revenge? What happens after revenge?
"Original Criminal" created a scale of revenge for the characters. Wu Daxiu has always shown strong revenge power. After fifteen years of imprisonment and loneliness for no reason, he became extremely weak when the truth came to light. The reason was that his love for his daughter, love and hatred, stood up on the scales-Wu Daxiu He didn't hesitate to cut off his tongue. In the end, his prison notes became a confession. As a calm avenger, Li Yuzhen’s greatest motivation is the anger, sadness and despair derived from love, while revenge has become the only support: once successful, the whole life will collapse; Wu Daxiu’s support is from beginning to end. It's also love, but it's the same as Li Yuzhen-if he doesn't love his life, his life will fall apart-who is the victim?
So far, "Original Criminals" has not further explored the issue of "original". Who is the supreme Other who portrays the power of hatred? On the contrary, the director turned to focus on realistic love tendencies. This is the foundation work of the new violent aesthetics of a new generation of South Korean films-the tenderness of violence. It is not blindly sensational, nor is it purifying human nature, but the gray area of the cross-action of hatred and love and its overlap-the most complex area of human nature.
The most exciting part of the movie lies in the final climax: from Wu Daxiu’s excitement to tenderness, Li Yuzhen’s thrill of revenge succeeded to opening a deep hole of despair, Wu Daxiu mastered the remote control of Li Yuzhen’s life and in turn opened the vocal cords of incest with his daughter. : Vengeance or pain in exchange! Even Li Yuzhen committed suicide, all love and hatred were separated, but what was left was endless emptiness: what else do we have? Finally, the director focused on using hypnosis to solve the suffering of the unchangeable fact: forgetting is the greatest healing rather than revenge. And only if you forget, the chain of the victim will loosen and become a soft river.
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