"Carmen in Mong Kok" was Wong Kar-wai's initial cry in the film industry. A single piece was mixed with a female-washing work. There is no pony-like hero myth in "The True Color of Heroes" in the film, and it only tells the humbleness, helplessness, confusion, bitterness and helplessness of the little people at the bottom of the Black Light Green Short Society. Although this is still a film operating on a commercial track, its artistic, ideological, social and thematic development are bolder and more determined than previous Jianghu genre films.
Although Ah Hua, who was going to hide in the rivers and lakes, eventually died of his loyalty to the rivers and lakes, what swelled under this inherent theme mode of the genre films was the tiredness of the grievances of the rivers and lakes and the helplessness of people in the rivers and lakes. The contradictory theme of yearning for a plain and free life and being unable to escape the tragic fate constitutes a sense of fate that is impermanent and impossible to grasp. In the film, the protagonists are not allowed to die heroically in the idealization and romance of morality, friendship, they are just like dead rats crossing the street. This "anti-hero" sentiment goes beyond the genre formula of "hero films", creating a kind of sadness that cannot be controlled by life.
Another remarkable innovation in the film is the handling of love. In the past, "hero films" simply praised the various feelings between men, and the appearance of female characters was only to set off the dignity, status, confidence and morality of men, and love became a kind of embellishment. In "Carmen Mong Kok", love is a main line that runs parallel to friendship. The moment before Ah Hua (Andy Lau) died, there was a scene of kissing with Ah E (Maggie Cheung) on the street. The details show love in a tragic and delicate way. The sadness and romance of Wang Kar-wai have been raised from the previous secondary position to the main position, and the love and morality have been successfully juxtaposed in the same striking position, which fully demonstrates Wong Kar-wai's dedication to the theme of love.
"Rejection", a motif that appeared frequently in Wong Kar Wai's films, has been revealed in this film. "Because I know myself very well, I can't promise you anything." This is the explanation given by Ah Hua when facing A'e's questioning. The incomprehension between words is a reflection of the uncertainty of the future and the involuntary psychology of life. A Chinese in the underworld, their fate cannot be controlled by themselves, and they may die in a vendetta at any time. Everything is turbulent, everything is uncertain, so he dare not make any promises to his lover. When he wanted to get out and find his lost love, he was entangled by brotherhood and couldn't get out of his body.
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