Watching the "Ancient Puzzle Boy" series of movies as a teenager makes people's blood boil, as if the watermelon knife is in hand, I have it in the world, grabbing the turf, watching the field, soaking horses, how beautiful!
Looking back on it 20 years later, it is simply Too young, too simple, isn't this the story of a group of small people who are used as cannon fodder under the manipulation of a few big guys?
Han Chen said that "one will achieve ten thousand bones", you think you are the "general", in fact, you are one of the "ten thousand bones", you think you will become the bearer of Causeway Bay or the speaker of Hongxing, but in the end you will become the big day two, banana skin and the big head of the magazine in the newsstand. If Chen Haonan did not have the aura of the protagonist, it was estimated that the grave head grass was several inches high.
This movie has the nature of the times, for specific groups of people and scenes, after that era, after that age, there is no resonance, it is difficult to empathize, can not find the original feeling.
This is a pity, but it is not a good thing: if a person's mentality and thinking are still stuck in the era of "Ancient Puzzle Boy" after a decade or two, it is terrible.
The process of saying goodbye to and denying the past, which we usually call growth.
Bidding farewell to the people of the "Ancient Puzzle Boy" era, the next step will enter the "Underworld" era.
"Underworld" is a 2005 film, and it is now obsolete by time, but it is different from "Ancient Puzzle Boy", and the things in it, as well as vitality, can make people often look new.
For example, "Ancient Puzzle Boy" is a rough cool film that tells the story of Chen Haonan and pheasants fighting monsters and escalating along the way, while "Underworld" is a sophisticated art film that talks about the power struggle within the underworld and explores the relationship between the underworld and the police and politics.
Linked to the history, the background of the times and some details in the film, from a grander perspective, it can be found that although the film is talking about the underworld, it is not only talking about the underworld, just like "Smiling Proud of the Jianghu", which is ostensibly talking about the jianghu, but in fact, it is talking about human nature and the temple.
This kind of work has a commonality, all borrow a story to reveal something universal, they are like formulas, principles, can be put into all similar scenes, upside down, can be isolated from the invasion of time, lasting.
Such works, we call classics.
01 Balance of power
The original title of "Underworld" was "Election Guy", and the English name was "Election", which means election and election of people.
The "Helian Sheng" society has once again reached the two-yearly re-election, and among all the regional bosses, Ah Le and Big D are the two most powerful players.
The election mechanism of "Helian Sheng" is very interesting, and the voting rights are not in the hands of all members, but in the hands of the 9 uncles and elders.
As for why in the hands of his uncles, the most senior elder, Deng Bo, explained it like this:
"When I was young, I was already chosen by my uncles, and at that time I thought, these old things are already old, have no power and no power, why?" Later, I learned that it was a generational division, and everyone would respect what they said. ”
A few uncles and elders close the doors and windows, close the curtains, swallow clouds and spit mist, drink tea and chat, and then you can choose the next speaker.
Since power comes from the Council of Elders, Ah Le and Big D want to be the people in charge, and they must get these elders to support themselves.
Behind closed doors, choose the person to talk to
Big D is the boss of the Tsuen Wan area, he is the most powerful, the most subordinates, but he is arrogant, the way of doing things is simple and rude, a few days before the election, he directly spent money to bribe the elders, 200,000 yuan per person.
Ah Le is the boss of Jordan District, the strength is not as good as the big D, for people low-key city government, he usually tries his best to win over the elders, the elders have something, he tries his best to help, pay and contribute, the popularity is very good.
One is powerful, one is popular, and during the voting, the elders argue endlessly, and begin to explode, and the smell of gunpowder gradually thickens.
At this time, Deng Bo spoke: "Having money can make the ghost grind, it is nothing to get some benefits, if whoever gives more money will choose whom, it is better to auction it, we have no credibility, what do you want us to do." ”
After speaking, Dumber threw out the most crucial sentence: "The community cannot be dominated by one person, it must be balanced." ”
China's thousands of years of history and ancient theory of power and strategy have repeatedly confirmed a truth: power needs to be balanced.
Dumber
Civilian officials and military generals need to be balanced, imperial power and bureaucratic groups need to be balanced, local and central governments need to be balanced, and the strongest people need to have certain constraints, without constraints, there is no balance, without balance, there is no order, and then it is not sustainable.
A dominant strongman will become a wild horse that will eventually lead to self-destruction and pull everyone together to accompany the funeral.
There was a novel called "Chief Number Two" that repeatedly addressed the balance of power.
What is the essence of officialdom? It's the balance of power. The upper strategy is to use political wisdom to achieve the balance of power, the middle strategy is to use power substitution or mutual compromise to achieve the balance of power, and the next strategy is to use strong force to solve the balance of power.
In this equilibrium, some will be deprived of their powers, while others will be adjusted by means of promotion, transfer, or normal retirement, and a new distribution of power will be completed in order to achieve a new equilibrium.
"He Liansheng" is a 2-year election, not allowed to re-elect, the time is very short, it seems unkind, the first year of the person familiar with the situation, the second year just found a little bit of the feeling of being the boss of the leader, you have to step down, it is not conducive to the people to play their talents, is not conducive to the long-term development of the community.
O note
However, from the perspective of the balance of power, this is a good mechanism. The time is too long, the talker tree is deeply rooted, no one can move the talker, the talker will continue to work until death or designate the next speaker, just like the new record (another society in the film, the talker is hereditary).
At that time, everyone's "he liansheng" will become the "he liansheng" of the people who talk about the matter, the individual will overwhelm the community, and the whole community will be unlucky together.
In addition, the position of the "He Liansheng" speaker does not have a great impact on the overall development of the community, such as the former speaker blowing chicken, how to see how garbage, but "He Liansheng" is still developing, and has not fallen into fragmentation.
In the final analysis, the seat of the speaker can command the society in the hands of the fierce man, and in the hands of the mediocre, it is the moderator who convenes the meeting.
Big D is too arrogant, disrespectful to the elders, and the most powerful, once he becomes a spokesman, the whole community will be trampled under his feet.
Therefore, Dunber should support Ah Le and let Ah Le balance the big D.
Sure enough, as soon as Deng Bo made a statement, those centrist and the elders who supported big D turned to support Ah Le.
Dunber's support for Ah Le as the speaker, as well as his opposition to Ah Le's re-election in "Underworld 2 Peace is Precious", were all for the sake of a balance of power.
02 Living space
Dumbo talked to Ah Le alone and told him that the speaker needed to get the dragon head stick, which had been in the hands of dozens of people for more than a hundred years, and it was the authority of the community and a symbol of power.
When Ah Le was about to find the former speaker to blow the chicken to hand over the dragon head stick, Big D called the blowing chicken and asked him to hand over the dragon head stick to himself.
Blowing chicken took the benefits of Big D, to see the face of Big D to act, but the dragon head stick is very important, he did not dare to break the rules to give big D, so he let his subordinates four eyes bring the dragon head stick to Shenzhen.
Ah Le wants to do everything possible to get back the dragon head stick, big D also has to grab the dragon head stick by any means, and the people and horses of the "Helian Sheng" parties have launched a fierce competition for the dragon head stick, and a storm has gradually formed.
The storm set off by the change of "He liansheng" triggered police interference, and Ah Le, Big D, Deng Bo and the relevant elders were arrested.
The police have been paying close attention to the change of "Helian News Agency", and if the power is smoothly transferred, the police are too lazy to take care of it. Once there is an act of violence that affects social order, the police will intervene.
As Commander O said, "If you make trouble, I will do something."
Chief Xu lectured Deng Bo and others: There are dozens of associations in Hong Kong, there are many people like you who eat mixed meals, it is impossible without the underworld, I am fighting against the underworld, I want order, whoever makes trouble I will beat him and beat him to death! I don't care who of you supports Ale and who supports Big D, I want you to balance the two of them. I don't want to see a "fight with Liansheng".
Dumbo asked Ah Le to talk to Big D, who did not recognize the election and threatened to form a "new and joint victory" and set up another portal.
Chief Xu asked Deng Bo for results, and Deng Bo said: Fight.
Chief Xu: Are you playing me?
Dumber: I said no, the brothers would disobey, and everyone would eat in the name of the community (Big D committed the taboo of the community and must be destroyed).
Chief Xu was very dissatisfied: You think you are doing legitimate business? Whether you have food or not depends on whether we give it or not, we don't give it, and valet parking doesn't do it for you. Try it out, whoever commits the crime I catch.
Dumber was very calm: What if you see no valet parking on the street? What happens if the underworld has no food to eat? We have 50,000 people in "Helian Sheng", and there are hundreds of thousands of other associations in total, there is no order without rules, see if your cells can sit down. Some things have to be principled.
This conversation is interesting.
Chief Xu wants order, he understands that there can be no underworld in society, one society has been eradicated, another has risen, a big brother has been arrested, and another has emerged, as long as the underworld does not make trouble and the society is prosperous and stable, he can allow the underworld to exist.
Dumber also wants order, but he wants the order of the community, if someone does not obey the rules, robs the dragon head stick, and sets up another portal, then call on everyone to rise up and destroy it, this is the operation law of the society, and it will not change because of police intervention. This is also what Dunber calls "principles."
Chief Xu's "order" and Deng Bo's "order" are in conflict, and this conflict cannot be resolved in Underworld 1.
Chief Xu
In "Underworld 2: Peace is Precious", Deputy Director Shi let Jimmy always hold the dragon head stick, generation after generation, and this problem was solved - without elections, there will be no disputes, the society is stable and prosperous, and everyone values peace.
"It's not that you won't be allowed to survive, but it's time to stop." Deputy Director Shi said to Jimmy, "If you manage HK 'and Liansheng', the social security of HK will be better, and the HK will be more stable and prosperous." ”
The underworld seems to be very beautiful, in fact, in the cracks to survive, the reason why they can exist, one is that the society has this soil, and the other is that it has a certain use value.
If you can't put yourself in your place, don't obey, lose your use value, and become an obstacle and troublemaker, you will not be far from death.
03 It's all business
The blowing chicken in the detention ward shakes out the black material of big D, and if it is real, big D will go to jail and die.
Unexpectedly, Ah Le let people kill the blowing chicken, helped Big D, and saved him from the police station.
Ah Le helped Big D, not because he became a person who became a person, but because helping Big D could help him maximize his interests.
Ale
In his own words: What am I helping Big D for? Seeking wealth, there is no one to live with, the times are different, talk about business. Ancient Puzzle Boy does not use a brain, and has been an Ancient Puzzle Boy all his life.
Ah Le's strength is limited, and he needs to unite all the community forces, including Big D, to seize the territory of Xinji's Tsim Sha Tsui, which is also the promise of the people he has previously campaigned for.
So the two had a negotiation in the car.
Ah Le: What the blowing chicken did before, I did it, the business you talked about, I helped you get it done as the person who talked about it, all the benefits belong to you, the territory that came back together, everyone was half divided, the next session, I fully support you as the talker. If you have to start another stove, I will do nothing for the past two years, I will take the whole community to beat you, and I will prepare two coffins, one for you and one for me. Walk together, or get off at the intersection, you decide for yourself.
Ale and Big D
Enwei and Shi, the big D suit is soft. The two became brothers with different surnames, and together they killed the new Tsim Sha Tsui boss dinosaur and took the rich territory of Tsim Sha Tsui.
After the event, the two overlooked the fruits of the victory on the roof, sang and danced, and said that they had money to earn together.
A wise man like Ah Le has no enemies or friends in his heart, only interests.
For the sake of profit, he can drink with his nemesis, or he can turn against his good brothers.
Enemies and friends are only means, not ends.
Later, Ah Le and Big D were fishing in the river, and Big D proposed that the society should add a person who wanted to share Ah Le's power.
Ah Le tried to squeeze out a smile on his face, while playing haha, while pulling the fish hook in his hand hard, tearing the mouth of the fish, the killing heart has appeared, he took advantage of big D's inattention, lifted a stone and smashed big D, ending this power struggle.
There is no father and son in front of the power struggle, let alone a brother.
Big D is stupid, it's better to call big stupid. Gu Qiuzi didn't use his brain, and he didn't know how to die when he died.
However, compared to the smartest Jimmy, Ah Le is still almost there, which is why he failed to fight Jimmy in the second part.
In the second part, Ah Le's words expire, and his greed for power and desire to be re-elected is opposed by Dumber.
Dumbo advised Ah Le: Don't be distracted, who is not greedy? When I was young, I also thought about re-election, but my uncles told me that if I want to retire, I will retire beautifully, and when I am old, I still have respect. Do something unseemly, a dead end.
However, Ah Le fell into self-grasping, he was obsessed with the position of the speaker and the prestige of the dragon head stick, and did not hesitate to break the rules and eliminate other competitors by force.
On the contrary, Jimmy has no feelings for the community, he joined the society to get protection, after becoming a member of the society, he only wants to make money in business, there is no community in his heart, and even wants to get rid of the label of the community.
Deputy Director Shi
When he went to the mainland to do business, he was rejected by Deputy Director Shi on the grounds that he was not the person who said "He liansheng", and the subtext was that he had no united front value.
In order to be able to do business smoothly on the mainland, Jimmy was forced to run for the voice.
For him, associations and people are means, not ends, and his purpose is to do business.
Obviously, compared to Ah Le's paranoia and madness, Jimmy's mentality is more detached, purer in purpose, and more controlled, which is why Deputy Director Shi chose to support him and hand over the dragon head stick to him.
Deputy Director Shi said: "We do not believe in elections, we are afraid that the people elected in two years, like Lin Huaile (Ah Le), will do a lot of illegal activities and disrupt social order. You are someone we can trust. ”
Only when they are recruited and recruited can the community survive. You help me maintain order, I let you do business to make money, everyone values peace, and each of them is safe.