Wu Zhenyu, Xie Junhao, Li Lizhen, Ye Tong... Performed by generations of powerful actors, adapted from a true story.
The Golden Horse Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing and other 12 nominations led the audience.
FIRST Youth Film Festival Jury Special Award...
Known as "The Inspiration of New Hong Kong Cinema", the jury of the FIRST Youth Film Festival commented:
"The author breaks through various limitations with the power of creation, and with his sincere social concerns and controlling writing and production, he constitutes a powerful image and narrative. Touching the traces of life from a sincere and speculative perspective provokes intense empathy in the storyline that is surging in the undercurrent. ”
Today, I'll talk to you about it —
"Turbid Water Rafting"
Drifting
2021.6.3 Hong Kong, China
>>>> Hong Kong version of "Manchester by the Sea" / "The Life of abandoned pine nuts"?
"Turbid Water Drifting" is director Li Junshuo's second feature film.
It shows the life of a small person in Hong Kong.
It can be said that the story of "Turbid Water Drifting" does not have a contradiction point that detonates adrenaline.
Even if there is, it has been spoiled in advance, just at the beginning of the chapter -
Hui Ge (Wu Zhenyu) is out of prison again.
He was so familiar with the procedures for his release from prison that even he forgot that this was the first time he had come in.
He was back on the street in Sham Shui Po.
When the old man (Xie Junhao) saw him return, he returned to him the belongings he had kept for him, a bag of dirty clothes.
Hui Ge has nothing of value, the most precious thing is a group photo of him and his son.
But almost as soon as that, this thing is gone.
Late at night, FEHD raided the streets.
They chased away Hui Ge and the others, and packed up the things of the rough sleepers and threw them into the garbage truck.
Seeing that photo, it should also be taken away as garbage.
Hui Ge rushed up and tore at the FEHD people.
As a result, Hui Ge only saved the photo.
Everything else was thrown away as garbage.
His, his master's, the other sleepers'...
Hui Ge and the others had nothing, so they looked for a way out for a social worker.
The social worker, Miss He, kindly received them, offered advice, and supported their prosecution.
Everyone wanted to complain and get their things back, but no one thought that there was a way to appeal.
Or rather, it's something they don't dare to think about.
So when Aunt He made a suggestion, they were silent.
In the middle of the night, a man whispered:
"We've all been in prison, have we ever won a case?"
It's a question, it's a lament.
The crowd still listened to Aunt He's words and applied for an appeal.
After a long wait, the wanderings found another place to build a tent and a house, and began a boring and boring life again...
>>>> superb acting skills
Without any dramatic tension in the fragments of life, without the background of the characters who read the white, the story can easily make the audience lose interest.
But if you carefully re-taste it, you will find that the strong character impact is hidden in their every action and expression.
Chen Mei, played by Li Lizhen, most of the time has a wooden face and droops her eyes.
When chatting with Hui Ge, I can see her brief relaxation and reveal a rare delicacy.
It's just that as soon as she mentions the past, she will immediately relent.
Such a moderate performance, even if there is little time to play, you will still be amazed by Li Lizhen's acting skills.
There is also the old man played by Xie Junhao.
That kind of dying old state is not born, it is a kind of old decay from the inside out.
Or he had seen too much impermanence, and most of the time he was indifferent.
It doesn't matter if you appeal, you can live anywhere.
Other times it was just a silly laugh with black teeth.
The only time he took the initiative was when he pulled the foreign child who was ready to join the underworld.
Only because he did not want his children to repeat his suffering, to commit crimes, to be expelled, and to never see his relatives.
The old man has the fewest lines, but you will understand that he has the most stories.
Of course, the most worth mentioning must be Wu Zhenyu.
It can be said that Hui Ge is his best character after Ni Yongxiao in "Infernal Affairs 2".
At that time, Wu Zhenyu's loss to Andy Lau's big guy should be regarded as a major unjust case of the Academy Awards.
Infernal Affairs 2
This "Turbid Water Drifting" is enough to make the Academy Awards pay back the movie emperor owed to him.
From the moment he is released from prison at the beginning of the film, Wu Zhenyu can make you believe that he is Hui Ge.
Many times, he was like a wild dog that had been wandering the streets for a long time.
Walking is always dragging, without a little spirit, but subconsciously remaining vigilant.
Alertness, exhaustion, is the norm for wanderers.
Anxiety, irritability, is the state of a drug addict.
Under the dual identity, Wu Zhenyu can always accurately grasp which stage the character is in.
Sometimes chaotic, sometimes angry.
He was a poor man, a man who needed to lower his dignity from time to time.
So, when he heard the boss say that his son's shrine needed to be renewed, he carefully leaned over and squeezed a smile out of his wrinkles to please.
He pretended to have forgotten and would pay it back as soon as possible.
The boss ignored him, and he still nodded his head in apology.
After turning his head, he slowly put away the smile that had dried on his face, and rubbed his hands helplessly.
Obviously, the family is the lifeblood of the role of Hui Ge.
Once mentioned, the intricacies of the character can be touched.
Such a role is easy to say and easy to act.
Just show explosive pain at the right time.
However, Wu Zhenyu did not.
Whenever he mentioned the old things, he just looked away for a long time, and then changed the subject bluntly.
After a long period of complex stagnant expressions, he thought of what no one knew.
But we all know that this is the most untouchable pain.
No vicious scolding.
Just be careful, be afraid.
>>>> the prison outside is bigger
Whether it is Li Lizhen Xie Junhao, or Wu Zhenyu.
Their performances are indescribably wonderful.
It's just that such a wonderful thing is difficult to capture everyone.
Because of the identity of the character, it will inevitably arouse the disgust of some viewers.
Director Li Junshuo also does not want to give these characters bottomless sympathy.
He didn't deliberately erase the bad.
Even unabashedly recounting their confusion.
The old man's gift to Hui Ge's release from prison was a drug.
This is the unspoken rule of their rough sleepers.
To drag people out of prison, "We like to have companionship. ”
Some of the overnight people were addicted, and Chen Mei quietly stuffed him with money.
Hui Ge saw it and complained to her: You will spoil him, and next time he will haunt you.
Chen Mei said that he never stole money, meaning that he still wanted to live with us. I appreciated that we stayed together.
Yes, they are confused.
Is it bad to struggle out of the mud?
But in a way, it's better to say they're sober.
They are very aware of their situation.
As the prison guard said to Hui Ge at the beginning, "Don't see you again, warn you, don't come back." ”
Hui Ge skimmed his lips and just replied, "Anyway, the prison outside is bigger." ”
What is the outside world like?
It is the entrance of the drug rehabilitation service station, still wandering with drug dealers selling goods.
It is the citizens who come and go, only to use them as a tool for exams, a welcome show...
It's the reporters who come to interview and try to capture the best-selling and eye-catching stories, regardless of their real demands.
They live like normal people, but no one treats them like human beings.
So, they need each other.
Only each other can allow themselves to perceive a little bit of the sense of existence that they are born to be human.
As for the choice?
After living in hopelessness for a long time, I didn't believe it.
Since you can't wait for redemption, you don't deserve redemption.
They continue to fall willingly.
Then, wait for a suitable opportunity to leave completely.
At the end of the movie, the prosecution finally came to an end:
Indemnification, yes.
Apologies, no.
This is already a big surprise for the rough sleepers.
Hui Ge refused.
The others were furious at Huigo's stubbornness.
From beginning to end, Hui Ge only repeated one sentence: if you do something wrong, you must admit it.
This is naïve.
It's not like a guy who's in jail can say it.
He should be more worldly and interesting.
It's not that he doesn't care about the money, and Hui Ge needs this money more than anyone else to renew the fee for his son's shrine.
However, he is more obsessed with the meaning behind the "apology".
Apologizing means understanding that this was a mistake.
Apologizing means acknowledging the existence of the rough sleepers.
Otherwise, what if they accept compensation?
There will be a next time, the next time...
Continue to be swept around like a dog.
There is no dignity.
Apologize for your mistakes.
Hui Ge did not understand that if the simplest universal principles were subverted, then what else could be believed?
If this last line can be maintained, is there still a little hope in the world?
Of course, he was the least qualified to come up with the idea.
It's just that who are qualified wants to speak up?
Many people will compare "Turbid Water Rafting" to 1992's "Caged Man".
It is said that "Turbid Water Drifting" is too tepid and not as sharp as "Caged People".
Yes, from beginning to end, "Turbid Water Rafting" is not hurried.
It doesn't have the most impactful scene of Caged Folk.
The cagers were carried out of the house like livestock.
It means inhumanity and inhumanity under the rules of money.
Caged People
Caged People has always been burning with anger.
And "Turbid Water Drifting" is more like a silent lament, powerless to complain.
Its existence is like showing a doomed cycle of death.
Suffocation, depression.
But can you say that Muddy Water Drifting doesn't have a hint of anger?
Perhaps, its anger is even fiercer than that of Caged People.
If you understand the fire at the end, you will understand.