On a hot afternoon, two panicked youths robbed a bank, and after the action was exposed, they took more than 20 hostages in the bank. Because of their not bad nature, the robbers won the support of hostages and citizens in the confrontation with the police and became the heroes of the people, but in the end they still could not escape the fate of arrest. This is the story content of the movie "Hot Day Afternoon" and "People's Hero". In 1975, Hollywood adapted this true story into the movie "Hot Day Afternoon", and in 1987, Hong Kong director Er Dongsheng filmed the Hong Kong version of "Hot Day Afternoon": "People's Hero". If "Hot Afternoon" is the wonderful of Al Pacino alone, then "People's Hero" is Dillon and Liang Chaowei. The carnival of Liang Jiawei's three film emperors.
"Hot Afternoon": The wonderful of Al Pacino alone
"Hot Day Afternoon" is a cross-era American film, the film is based on a real case in Brooklyn, New York, 1972, when the United States was in the quagmire of the Vietnam War, the film through a ridiculous robbery with black humor to reflect the overall confusion of American society at that time and the contradictions between various social groups.
Al Pacino plays Sonny, a Vietnam veteran and gay man. In life, he has to face his chattering wife and two daughters every day, emotionally his other half argues all day to have sex reassignment surgery, and he chooses to rob the bank with his friends. But unfortunately, when they robbed the bank, the car had just left, and not only did they not get the money, but they were found by the police, and they had no choice but to take hostages. At that time, because of the "Attica Incident" (the U.S. government shot 42 prisoners) and the effects of the Vietnam War, people did not trust the U.S. government. On the contrary, Sonny's bravery and sincerity won the support of the people, Sonny admitted that he was gay in front of the public, took good care of the hostages with thoughtfulness and care, and at the same time strictly and witfully negotiated with the police, and became a heroic idol reported by tv for a time. But the momentary scenery could not escape the punishment of the law, and in the last moment before escaping, Sonny was captured alive.
In addition to the practical significance of the social acupuncture of the time, the biggest surprise brought by "Hot Day Afternoon" was the performance of Al Pacino, who had already emerged with "The Godfather" but made another subversive performance in "Hot Day Afternoon". All the scenes in "Hot Afternoon" take place in a bank, but it involves the turmoil of the entire American society and the entanglement of Sonny's entire life, and all this performance pressure is concentrated on Al Pacino alone, in that tense moment of life and death, he has to face the responsibility of the family, the entanglement of lovers, the emotions of accomplices, the safety of the hostages, the public opinion of the masses and the pursuit of the police, such a complex character emotion, only in Al Pacino's body can be perfectly displayed. The character of Sonny has been on the verge of despair and collapse, and when he leaves a will in the bank, we see the helplessness and stubbornness of his entire life, and this stubbornness and helplessness is also the epitome of the entire American society at that time. "Hot Afternoon" is a wonderful film that belongs to Al Pacino alone.
"People's Heroes": The Carnival of Three Movie Emperors
The success of "Hot Day Afternoon" in the United States attracted the attention of directors around the world, and in 1987, Director Er Dongsheng filmed a Hong Kong version of "Hot Day Afternoon": "People's Hero". Compared with "Hot Afternoon", the filming of "People's Heroes" encountered difficulties: first, Hong Kong did not have the turbulent social background of the United States at that time, and second, there was no Al Pacino in Hong Kong movies. The first problem, avoiding the heavy and light, Er Dongsheng only pays attention to the expression of the film story by weakening the practical significance in the film; while the second problem, a good man and three gangs, Er Dongsheng uses the combination of Dillon, Liang Chaowei and Liang Jiahui to share the performance of Al Pacino alone.
The beginning of "People's Hero" is that Liang Chaowei played by Ah Xi with his little brother to attack the bank, but because of the lack of preparation, the little brother suddenly fell ill in the bank, and before the robbery began, they were exposed, and all of this affected the habitual bandit Gu Xiangyang (Dillon), who also wanted to rob, and gu Xiangyang's exposure ushered in the attention of everyone in the police force, including Officer Chen (Liang Jiahui), who had been hunting down Gu Xiangyang for many years, and the subsequent plot and style were extremely similar to "Hot Day Afternoon", Gu Xiangyang confronted the police on the one hand. Taking care of the hostages in the bank embodies the warm and human side of a robber. But in the end, the evil did not suppress the right and could not escape the legal net. "People's Heroes" is basically a complete copy of "Hot Afternoon", the only difference is that Al Pacino's Sonny, played by Al Pacino, was cut into the roles of Ah Xi and Gu Xiangyang in "People's Hero", but if you look deeper, you will find that there is also a shadow of Sonny in Officer Chen's body.
In "Hot Day Afternoon", Al Pacino's Sonny characters are too emotionally complicated, and in "People's Heroes", Er Dongsheng directly divides him into three parts, Sonny's kindness and cowardice belong to Liang Chaowei's A-Xie, who is full of tension and oolong when robbing the bank; Sonny's wit and bravery belong to Dillon's Gu Xiangyang, who deals with various crises well when they calmly and wit face the entanglement of the police; Sonny's helplessness and depression belong to Liang Jiahui's Officer Chen, although one is a bandit and the other is a policeman, but they are all faced with helplessness In the face of a chaotic life of family and love, Officer Chen is mixed with Gu Xiangyang and his superiors, and he is a pawn with no initiative. Combining Ah Xi, Gu Xiangyang and Officer Chen is a complete Sonny. Er Dongsheng's innovation of dividing into three precisely reflects the personality and charm of Hong Kong films, when Dillon was already a golden horse film emperor, Leung Chao-wai and Leung Ka-wai, although they were slightly immature at the time, but later became the representative film emperors in Hong Kong films. "People's Heroes" is a carnival of three movie emperors.
"Hot Day Afternoon" and "People's Hero"
"Hot Day Afternoon" is more like a people's hero movie, Sonny's encounter is the product of the whole social tragedy, his shout out of the people's hearts; "People's Hero" is like a hot day afternoon farce, although Ah Xi and Gu Xiangyang have bitterness, but their behavior is more self-inflicted. "Hot Afternoon" or "People's Heroes", the farce of robbery is eventually drowned in the crowd of people watching, but the excitement brought to us by the movie has always been unfinished, Al Pacino's madness, Dillon's calmness, Liang Chaowei and Liang Jiahui's shyness, these green years are gone, but the movie records their beautiful appearance.