Whether "Manslaughter 2" can undoubtedly support the box office burden from December to New Year's Day. The first box office hit, the production team found the screenwriter and wealth code, and the second processing of the film adaptation became one of the proud selling points of the "Manslaughter" series.
Like the first one, Manslaughter 2 was adapted from other films. The original "Imminent", starring Denzel Washington, scored a whopping 8.4 points, showing the charm of the character and the ability to write the screen.
In the front, the difficulty of "Manslaughter 2" is not small, but the excellent "landing" treatment, highlighting the family relationship of the Eastern way, and the influence of the media and law enforcement system on social groups and individuals make "Manslaughter 2" have its own unique screen charm.
The media led by public opinion
The story of Manslaughter 2 is not complicated. In order to regain the transplanted heart that originally belonged to his son, he was forced to embark on the dangerous road of taking hostages in the hospital and asking the media to intervene in the exposure.
Lin Rilang entered the hospital at gunpoint, took the director, his son's attending doctor, Dharma, and several patients as hostages, and began a battle of wits with the police and the media.
Subsequently, the story unfolds in flashbacks, and the narrative truth similar to Rashomon is made up little by little, until the end of the film tells all the facts, which is a remarkable point in the narrative of the film.
Lin Zhilang is a screenwriter who has not yet become famous, for the life of his children, he has made up the most powerful script in his life, the stakes are high, the price involves multiple lives, he must tell the story completely, and it is touching enough, only in this way can he attract the media, influence public opinion, and put pressure on the top.
With the script, Lin Zhilang also needs a "screen". Having intersected with the media, he chose a journalist Li Anqi as the entry point.
Anqi Li is a newly promoted celebrity, full of sensitivity to big news, and "dare to fight and dare to fight", with a unique sense of journalistic justice and media responsibility among young people. At first, she only saw Lin Zhilang as a decoy for traffic, using him as her own news material. But as the events progressed, she gradually learned about the vast network of interests behind transplanting her heart.
From disgust and neutrality to sympathy, to the smallness of the individual, the envy of the interest group, although she helped Lin Zhilang to complete her wishes, she also completely lost the "bystander" attitude that a news person should have.
It can be seen that although Angie Li has exposed the truth under the guidance of Lin Richang, she has always been swayed by Lin Richang, and the media can speak for individuals, but should not influence public opinion, or even finally be swayed by public opinion.
The truth cannot be controlled by emotions, irrational emotions will make the truth lose its power, people will only vent, and forget to reflect.
The end of the film is intriguing, Lin Zhilang regains justice, also accepts punishment, and he completes the victory with a death. In the whole event, he was the only one who was truly successful.
However, the gushing Li Anqi finally faced the camera but "lost her voice" into silence, she understood that she was "used", lost the objective neutrality of the news people, and became Lin Rilang's private "tool" to control public opinion.
Angie Li eventually lost her identity as a journalist, but she gave herself a relief by pursuing truth and justice.
"Manslaughter 2" pushed the media to the forefront. The intervention of female reporters, the dissemination of television stations and the Internet, seem to control the development of the situation, but when the ending shows its fangs, the media is just a tool for the male protagonist to "borrow a knife to kill", and the name of "aphasia" in the final face of the camera symbolizes the embarrassment and loss of public opinion when it violates the judiciary and the truth.
Runaway law enforcement system
In addition to the news system that pursues the truth, the law enforcement system that pursues justice also occupies an important position in the film. From the beginning of Lin Zhilang's hostage-taking, the police have always surrounded the hospital and become an important member of the media material.
The veteran police detective Zhang Zhengyi, played by Ren Dahua, undoubtedly represents the ideal side of the police system and the unyielding pursuit of justice. In the beginning, the police can remain neutral, and taking hostages is naturally illegal, for whatever reason, it is a mistake and needs to be corrected.
But as the events unfolded, especially the media intervened, public opinion continued to boil. Justice oversteps the fairness of law enforcement and is questioned. While negotiating with Lin Zhilang, Zhang Zhengyi tracked down the clues he gave, gradually approaching the truth, while protecting the safety of news people.
Zhang Zhengyi's superior, on the other hand, could also be treated rationally at the beginning, demanding a "strong attack" breakthrough and not conducting any negotiations with the hostage-taking "thugs". This is a well-behaved approach and there is no problem.
But later, because the special police sent were captured, coupled with the superior's ultra vires requirements, the director and Zhang Zhengyi were forced to compromise, and even made some unruly and immoral moves against their hearts.
In the face of the excitement of the crowd, the police had to begin to protect the "retreating" officials, in opposition to the public, becoming the background for the reporter's lens to foil the "martyr" Lin Rilang.
In this regard, "Manslaughter 2" completes the theme of the comprehensive negation of the media and law enforcement system, and deduces the moral flash and human warmth to the extreme.
Eastern-style father-son relationship
The tear point of "Manslaughter 2" lies in the deep father-son relationship between Lin Rilang and his son Xiao Worm. The father is willing to save his son with his life, and one life is exchanged for one life, which is a model expression of the father-son relationship in the Eastern way.
The white-haired man sends the black-haired man, which is a tragedy in the Eastern context. Lin Zhilang could not accept sending away his son, but it was acceptable to sacrifice himself, exchange his life for success, and let his son "send" himself.
This proposition is also that although the film is adapted from the American movie "Imminent", but because of a good "localization" treatment, "Manslaughter 2" is the same as the first part, so that the audience will not be familiar with the plot when watching the film, even if they have seen the "original version", everyone can also have a deep resonance because of the "proximity" of the story and the characters.
After all, the father's feat of "dying to complete a victory" has made people cry, and the victory and awakening of the people at the bottom are exciting.
The foreshadowing and twisting of the narrative, because of the blessing of Lin Zhilang's screenwriter identity and the creation of the "drama within the play" structure, brings a good sense of narrative rhythm and suspense atmosphere.
It is worth mentioning that several of the film's metaphors are thoroughly done and have both oriental beauty.
Fireflies are undoubtedly the theme of the whole film, they can not shine in the light, because they are accustomed to shining in the dark, when countless "little insects" incarnate as "fireflies", they can illuminate the entire dark forest, complete the miracle of "grasshoppers shaking the tree".
The family affection between father and son "playing football" is intertextual with the irresponsible behavior of civilians encountering problems and being thrown by various institutions.
These landing "adaptations" are the most important magic weapon for "Manslaughter 2" to arouse the audience's deep empathy, and also provide a methodology for similar films in the future.
In an exotic "vacuum" zone, "Manslaughter 2" made a scale, and the metaphor was clear and profound, which is very rare for mainland films.