Du Qifeng once said in an interview: "You can see the underworld as a shame of the Chinese, but you can also regard it as a cultural or historical part."
Indeed, as a director of the mainland, it is impossible to shoot a real underworld appearance no matter what, and perhaps there will be a figure like Liu Huaqiang who cuts people all over the street with a machete, but Liu Huaqiang and his horse boy can only be regarded as criminals who endanger society at best, and cannot be included in the ranks of the underworld at all.
Therefore, the directors in Hong Kong, China, have a much deeper understanding of the culture of the underworld than the directors in the mainland, one is because they have the soil for the actual development of the underworld, and the other is because they have a cultural history of the underworld for almost three hundred years.
The underworld, which developed from the anti-Qing dynasty and restoration of the Ming Dynasty, has successfully used modern commerce as a disguise to achieve transformation, but those traditions that should belong to rules and regulations have long been replaced by interests, so the collapse of the underworld has both external and internal factors.
If I were to choose a film that depicts the underworld genre, I would first recommend the "Underworld" series directed by Du Qifeng, of course, to watch two consecutive films, and to see the original, so that on the basis of diluting moral and legal kidnapping, I can understand a more real underworld.
The first "Underworld", there are 100 minutes and more than 80 minutes of two versions, even if it is an uncut version, when it is released in Hong Kong, it is still classified as a third-level rank, but for Du Qifeng, his own film can be released is already a victory, as for how to define his two films, it depends on the audience's own understanding.
If the first "Underworld" is more inclined to the style of elegant confrontation, then the second "Peace is Precious" directly tears off the mask of hypocrisy and embraces the purest violence.
Violence is to cover up fear, and behind fear is a triad culture that is increasingly being swallowed up by the social environment. This kind of annexation is actually to adapt to the development of the times, but when those moral and rule orders can become a sustainable culture with the times, most people in the underworld turn a blind eye to the choice of interest fighting, which may be one of the cores of this film.
"Underworld" begins with the "He liansheng" elders discussing the next session of the speaker, and Big D and Ah Le are the two main competitors.
Big D has money and people, and has strong strength, although his heart is fierce, but he is all on the surface, and Ah Le's strength is weak, so he is always forbearing, and always buys people's hearts as a peacemaker, but as long as he touches his own interests, he can treat the enemy in the most ferocious way, and it is still the kind of insidiousness behind his back.
For the election of the speaker, in fact, Deng Bo, who has the most right to speak, already knows in his heart, he chooses Ale, and coerces other elders to choose Ale as well. On the surface, it is to maintain the balance of strength, in fact, it is more important to be able to control both sides well, balance is just a pretext, do not want to give up power is the focus.
Therefore, Big D began to jump out and publicly oppose, and the dragon head stick, which represented the authority of the speaker, became the target of the two people's contention, and the story of "Underworld" began. The dragon head stick is only a symbol, the collapse of the underworld culture is the focus of the performance, and when everyone fights like a wild dog, in fact, it is already doomed to be played by the times.
This is not a one-man show movie, but a group drama that shows the power struggle within the underworld, if you simply watch "Underworld" is unable to understand the full picture of the struggle, you must watch "Underworld" and "Peace is Precious" in its entirety to be able to analyze.
The elders headed by Deng Bo, although they have seniority, are gradually losing control, and in the constant challenge of the younger big brothers, they are trying to maintain absolute tradition and authority; the big brothers, led by Big D and Ah Le, expand their own power in the pursuit of interests, are also inflating their ambitions, they already have the accumulation of money, so they urgently need the decoration of fame; and the new generation led by Jimmy, Dongguan Zai, and the plane has long been unable to fully understand the meaning of the existence of the entire gang. And this confusion and overwhelm, let them either fight for their own interests, such as Jimmy, or become the scapegoat of big brother, such as Dongguan Boy and airplanes.
Du Qifeng's narrative style in the first part is quite restrained, before Ren Dahua's Ah Le did not smash the big D played by Liang Jiahui, he also let the audience have a certain illusion about the underworld's efforts to maintain tradition, imagining that such a far-sighted and tolerant new speaker Ah Le can lead the community to continue to develop.
But at the end, when the stone suddenly took a sharp turn, when the stone fell on Big D's head, I also understood the main reason why the underworld could not coexist with social development, that is, they had long lost their reverence for rules and regulations, and this reason was also the main narrative theme in the second "Peace is Precious".
Everyone is jealous of each other, everyone is venting violence, all darkness and cruelty are all on the surface, the so-called rules and regulations are only means to gather power, the so-called righteousness and morality are only strategies for the sake of temporary convergence of interests, behind the grand sound is a series of lies, behind the smile is the sharp blade that is being pulled out, the surface of the first part is a harmonious society, and in the second part the fangs are completely exposed.
Think about it, it is enough to take the name of "Peace is Precious", the movie is about eryu and deceit, but the title has made a peace and anger, is it quite ironic?
I don't want to talk too much about the political metaphors in these two films, because the development of society is always premised on the stability of the general environment, so even if the underworld is allowed to exist, it will disintegrate them in a long-term dilution, even if some people in the underworld adhere to the rules and rules, but this huge volume, if it always exists, is also a destabilizing factor for society.
Therefore, the role of Captain Shi played by You Yong cannot simply judge him by good or bad, this is the inevitable and trend of the development of the times, without Captain Shi, there may be other captains who will appear and use the underworld to achieve the purpose of disintegrating the underworld.
Du Qifeng made these two films, just to expound a fact that once existed, there is no judgment of right and wrong, there is no distinction between good and evil, he just tells the audience that in the land of Hong Kong, China, there was once the emergence of underworld culture, and then, this culture slowly fell silent until it disappeared, which is a historical necessity.
Realistic style, low atmosphere, dim light and shadow, sharp rhythm, Du Qifeng used two "Underworld" to take stock of the demise of a certain culture.
Some people will see this movie as a Chinese version of "The Godfather", but I think that Hong Kong is not the United States, Dunbor is not Vito, Big D is not Sonny, Aller is not Fred, Jimmy is not Mike, the social environment is different from the natural and cultural background, among them, for the Hong Kong underworld at that time, survival is the goal, interests are dominant, as for the inheritance of tradition, it is not a matter of consideration.
What is jianghu? I'm sorry, there is no longer a jianghu that pays attention to morality and rules, only a jianghu that is full of interests and sophistication.
In this way, the "Underworld" series seems to be a certain prediction of the current society, and Du Qifeng is really a clever director.