My assistant asked me a question: Why did the original Indian version of "Manslaughter" have a sequel (formerly known as "Battle 2"), but the domestic version of "Manslaughter 2" bought the rights to the American movie "Imminent" 20 years ago? Although "Imminent" has a staggering score of 9.9 in Thunderbolt, it is a social topic film that explores the rationality of the health care system, and Obama also promoted universal health care in the United States because of this film. The focus of "Contest" is suspense, and Chinese audiences have also given it a billion box office because of their anger and repressive suspense – of course, because it happens to be the last theatrical film before the epidemic, and the release time is super long.
Stills from "Contest 2"
After watching the screening of "Manslaughter 2" and looking back at the end of the previous part, I think I probably know why the version was changed. At the end of "Contest 1", the male protagonist successfully crossed the sea in disguise, and in the sequel, he was revived by witnesses, and the male protagonist's family was terrified, and the eldest daughter suffered from epilepsy. At the end of the domestic version of "Manslaughter", the male protagonist turned himself in. At that time, many fans of the original version were not satisfied, but it was impossible not to end it like this, nor did it conform to the concept of good and evil that there was a price to pay for doing something wrong.
Stills from Manslaughter
Since the male protagonist has not been exonerated, his story is over, and he can only start another stove. People who have watched "Imminent" do not have to worry that "Manslaughter 2" is too similar to the AMERICAN version, and the theme has completely changed.
"Manslaughter 2" is no longer about whether the poor can afford to pay high surgical fees, although the protagonist is also exhausted, but no money is not his biggest difficulty, his real problem can not be solved is the poor waiting in line to wait for the organs robbed by the rich and powerful. What can be done?
This theme is actually in line with "Manslaughter 1", the father who bursts out of extraordinary wisdom and bravery in a desperate situation is a complete weakman, and his seemingly cool films and the counterattack that makes the audience feel very substitutionary are just a kind of forced self-defense. With each step, he was scared to death, and with each step, he could clearly foresee his ultimate failure. Both versions of Xiao Yang are superficial kings and actual bronze.
A setting that may not be unintentional, the grassroots father and the powerful father of the two "Manslaughter" are played by the same actors, Xiao Yang is born to look a bit "nest", shrugged his eyebrows, with slack of neglect of exercise and staying up late, and his aggression is very low. The opponent is elite at first glance, thin and deep.
The plot of "Manslaughter 2" is roughly like this. A screenwriter whose script has never sold well, whose son needs heart replacement surgery, he promised the hospital to raise the full amount within an hour of having a matched heart, and he tried to do it. But when he went to the attending doctor with the huge sum of money, he heard the dean say that the adaptive heart had been given to someone else.
The male protagonist went crazy at once, he stole a police gun (there is an explanation after this foreshadowing), kidnapped the dean, the attending doctor and some patients, and demanded that the police get the heart back from the robber within 8 hours (he did his homework, during which time the heart can still be used). He's harder than the manslaughter 1 because his layout is less than an hour, and in the time of bargaining with the police, the heart will not only gradually lose its effectiveness, but also be installed in someone else's chest cavity.
How can the police really consider his appeal, will only appease while attacking, although the on-site commander played by Ren Dahua sympathizes with him, but it does not work at all, there is a bureau chief above him, and there is a greater power to deceive the male protagonist and the public.
The shouts of the crowd in "Manslaughter 1" made the parliamentarians run unsuccessful, and the role of public opinion in "Manslaughter 2" was even greater. It shows the subtle swing of public opinion in the selection of sides. The female host, who represents the elite class, has long known the male protagonist, but she is quite disgusted with him, and does not intend to file a grievance for him, but holds the goal of holding the big news, rushing into the hospital and getting exclusive news.
After the sense of accomplishment was fully satisfied, she cared about the tragic situation of the male protagonist, had a little compassion, and moved happily on the way home, doing a visit outside the scope of her profession, making the greatest contribution to the male protagonist's finding of the lost heart, and also losing her career prospects. She represents a group of wealthy people with unbroken consciences.
There are three types of people in the hospital who are abducted by the male protagonist: the attending doctor who originally sympathized with him, the patients who were touched by his story, and the dean who did not soften for a second. A few other people who were also not soft with the dean also came from the authorities.
Civilians are also divided into two attitudes: the male protagonist's son is expelled by the families of the patients in the same ward until the dying child is driven to the corridor, on the grounds that they do not want to share a room with the kidnapper's child and feel unsafe; and the abducted patients, although their life safety is threatened by the male protagonist, from his story, they realize that they are in the same position as the male protagonist, and their right to survive may also be violated at any time, but they are more considerate of him, and they take the initiative to call the public for him after being released.
Human nature is like this, in a very comfortable state, empathy is very low, the slightest damage to their own interests will not let go, but if they are in danger, they can think in a different position, and even burst out of brilliance, of course, the premise is that this danger is not really a matter of life and death, and the hijacked masses have found that the male protagonist will not hurt anyone at all.
Both "Manslaughter" are set in an alternate environment, the characters speak different languages, this environment is similar to the foreign Chinatown, backward, complex, three-way, the officials are elected, but they have no fear of the people. Only in the air can the protagonist dare to fall into endless darkness.
There is a famous scene in "Manslaughter 1", Chen Chong is like a huge shadow gradually shrouded the little girl. The cost of challenging authority is simply too great. Therefore, the protagonists of the two parts have been fighting in two wars, even if they win, they are also a tragic victory, the other side may only lose momentum temporarily, and civilians pay for life and freedom. This result can be expected by everyone, and without the courage to break the boat, we will never dare to take a step forward. The overhead background makes the protagonist more like a lonely hanging in the air, alone.
The father of "Manslaughter 2" reminds me of Gu Tianle's father in "Kill the Wolf", the plot of that scene is Gu Tianle tracking down his missing daughter, and there is a very anti-Hollywood ending: when the father sees his daughter, she is already a body, the heart is gouged out, transplanted to an old man mayor. Gu Tianle stood in front of the old man with great hatred and collapse, ready to kill him to avenge his daughter. But at the same time, it was his daughter's only living organ in the world that was killed, and for the current Chinese, this choice is more substitutionary than not being able to pay medical expenses. Maybe 20 years ago, people would have been more sympathetic to people who couldn't afford to pay the fees. But times have changed, and the victim needs to be perfect.
Xiao Yang had a line that he said several times, to the effect that he didn't want to cause trouble, he wanted to live honestly, but society didn't give him a chance. "Imminent" is somewhat uncomfortable for some viewers: you are poor and you are justified. The father forced the hospital to include his son's name on the transplant list because he could not afford medical expenses, which meant that another patient who could afford to pay the fee was kicked out of the list by him, and this patient was likely to be a civilian who had emptied all his property to survive.
The original version can not solve this, only rely on Denzel Washington's acting skills and self-sacrifice to make the audience forget the original sin of his father, and in the last minute when he raises his gun to kill himself, send a miracle, but the slightly rational audience knows that the miracle will only appear in the movie.
Compared with the original version, "Manslaughter 2" is a film that does not dream, there is no idealized victory, and like the father of "Manslaughter 1", it is not even a temporary victory.
The male protagonist did not even dare to hurt the attacking SWAT officers, and there was no blood on his hands from beginning to end, except for his own. Because he was not aggressive, he was more pathetic than the other versions. And his greatest pity is that he knows that he is doomed to failure and is prepared for failure.
This father, like Gu Tianle, stepped into a dead end, no matter how desperate and smart, the grasshopper could not shake the tree after all, and they were so honest and docile.
The weak in crime films are always more despite the danger than the natural gangsters, and they have to experience a very painful sense of crime. In the two "Manslaughter", the father's purpose is not revenge, just self-preservation, such a humble appeal, no one wants to listen.