Chinatown is portrayed in the movies as a filthy, disorderly, and lawless place. Stanely calls the Chinese gangsters dwarf thugs; he believes that the Chinese will always intervene in something, and Joey Tai from the Kowloon slums is very likely to kill his father-in-law himself to become the boss, and this is what the Chinese call the "American Dream". The male protagonist hooks up with the Chinese female reporter Triss, hoping to use the power of the media to attack the Chinese mafia through Triss. He hates Tris's courage, thinks that Chinese women hook up with rich white people, he despises the rich and hates the cunning of Chinese people. The actor's wife is portrayed as a hysterical woman in the movie. Even so, the actor's infidelity and inappropriate emotional handling are black spots that are difficult to turn over, because the actor's selfishness and willful behavior lead to his wife's death. The male protagonist's attitude towards the Chinese is the tone of the whole film. Chinatown is maliciously distorted, which may be one of the reasons why the Chinese strongly opposed the film at that time.
Joey Tai is calm and calm, with an extraordinary bearing, it is hard to imagine that he has climbed up from the slums of Kowloon step by step. With the dignified appearance and the feminine atmosphere contained, Zunlong's interpretation has no sense of disobedience at all. Walking in the crowd gives him the feeling that he is "a dragon and a phoenix among people". He was ruthless enough to plan to kill his father-in-law, create a massacre in a Shanghai restaurant, squeeze out Yang Haley, and successfully ascend to the position of the gang leader. He could execute without pity any child gangsters who might reveal the truth. As the boss who just took office, he is ambitious and premeditated to use the candy store incident to break with the Italians, control Canal Street, reject the Italian Mafia arrangement, redistribute the power of the drug trade, and plan to sell drugs to blacks and Spaniards. Joey went to Thailand alone, took Vincent's head to trade with drug dealers, and successfully got the deal for Dragon Ball No. 3-. Regarding Stanely's actions to suppress Chinatown (catching Chinese gangsters, closing Chinese restaurants for violating health regulations, arresting illegal immigrants, etc.), Joey sent killers and kicked the actor back to Brooklyn if he couldn't kill them. After he found out that he was being monitored, he recognized the undercover agent in the kitchen of his restaurant and solved it immediately. As a result, the angry hero rushed into the bar and beat Joey's handsome face. Although Joey's face was injured, he still did not lose a bit of his bearing. He was almost successful, and he couldn't wait for the male protagonist who was in the way to be transferred away. He went to the pier again alone, with the black bodyguard beside him. Stanely followed Joey like a bald eagle, the bodyguard was dead, and the deal was exposed. Joey could have run away, run away along the railroad tracks, how I wish he could have wronged himself and run away. In the face of Stanely's provocation, how could the proud and conceited Joey let go of the chance of a heads-up. In the confrontation between the two, Joey fell, he failed, and finally killed himself with the other's gun.
The film has very little ink on Joey's emotional world. There are two places in the film where you can feel his warmth slightly. He listened to Auntie's cry in his restaurant, comforted her, and funded Auntie's daughter Tina to attend Columbia University. Another location is in Thailand, where he used US$5,000 to rescue his old friend Xiao Wanghong who paved the way for him in the past, and Xiao Wanghong, who was immersed in drugs, was close to being disabled. There was only one black bodyguard by his side, and when he turned against Stanely, he walked in front of the door with a cigarette in his mouth. Wherever he went, it wasn't the bodyguard who was driving, it was Joey, who took it easy. This detail is different from the gang bosses described in many movies. If the reason for doing everything is that he comes from his poor background, it is not convincing, but it reflects Joey's self-confidence and desire for control.
The film ends with Joey's funeral, but the war isn't over. The Chinese undercover faced Stanely's push, and severely accused and educated him. When your ancestors lived in the cave to graze, the Chinese had already crossed the Pacific Ocean by boat. And this did not quell the anger of the Chinese, and it is conceivable that such a film was strongly boycotted at a sensitive time at the time. But I also want to say that this is a meaningful movie. It has been nearly 30 years since the movie was released. Revisiting the movie from today's perspective will have a different experience.
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