<h1>Kill, or be killed? </h1>
Filmed in 1978, Sun Zhong's "Cold-Blooded Thirteen Eagles" is not very good, but it is an old martial arts movie with style.
It is still one of the basic motifs in martial arts: the killer.
It should be said that the gain and loss of human nature, the loss and recovery is the most important proposition in the history of human civilization, placed in the martial arts, placed in the extreme environment of "killing, or being killed", the deep paradox contained in this proposition itself will be magnified to the limit that human beings can hardly bear, thus tearing open all cover-ups and nakedly torturing people's bottom line -
If one day you had to face such a dilemma, how would you choose?
For this film, Dillon won the 25th Asian Film Festival (1978) Award for Outstanding Actor in Acting
The Black Hawk Qi star in "Cold-Blooded Thirteen Eagles", like the other Twelve Eagles, is an orphan adopted by Yue Xihong, the leader of the first gang of iron boat gangs in the jianghu, and Yue Xihong trains them to be emotionless and obedient to his own killing tools in an almost cunning manner. After a robbery, Qi Xingxing was seriously injured and was rescued by a family in hiding. The meticulous care given to him by this family made him feel the warmth of the world for the first time, who had never been loved before. He also developed a stirring emotion for the savior's sister. For this favor, he began to think about his past life. After the injury, Qi Xingxing, who has nowhere to go, can only return to the Iron Boat Gang, but quietly putting away the token of "Thirteen Eagles" has reflected the changes in the humanity of others... Subsequently, he was sent to destroy the gate god to hunt down Wang An. Unbeknownst to him, he discovers that Wang An is his benefactor, and he has tried to stop his "brother" from acting, but in the end he is powerless to watch his beloved fall into his arms and die. Although he was later confronted with Yue Xihong's questioning, he could only beg for forgiveness and admit his mistake, "I was wrong, I was really wrong!" ", the seeds of questionability have been planted. When he had no desire to kill anyone at all, he had to be forced to kill Sima Xin's pregnant daughter, he made up his mind that he must kill Yue Xihong...
Wang An's sister hoped that he would be a person in the future. When retrieving the token connected to the past, at that moment, Qi Xingxing felt ashamed.
The theme of "Cold-Blooded Thirteen Eagles" is not uncommon or even a bit old-fashioned in martial arts. Peach's impression, the theme of "the confession of the killer" is best handled, or the youth memory "Langke Sword Heart", an executioner who is too emotionally rich, alone embarked on the bloody storm of the big era, after the end of the war, he began to repent deeply, wanting to make up for the pain caused by blood and violence. The difference is that Qi Xingxing was adopted and brainwashed from childhood, becoming only obedient, fearful, numb and depraved, and his repentance was more because he tasted the taste of being loved and loved, thus breeding emotional needs. However, Jianxin has always held his own philosophy, and is willing to bear the "killing" in exchange for the peace of the "new era". To this end, he did not hesitate to take the initiative to get involved in the dirty chaotic world, and let his hands be stained with countless blood. The concept of "killing to stop killing" is very innocent and stupid, because killing brings only killing, and after the end of the curtain, the rapid right turn of the whole of Japan has set off an even greater bloody storm, completely trampling on the efforts of the sword heart. However, the confession of the sword heart is not only for the purpose of redeeming itself, in the "Star Frost Chapter", the sword heart that confesses to the family of the person he killed in the rain, carries the power of the whole hell - I do not go to hell, who goes to hell, even if he is in hell, deeply tormented and tortured, still longs for light.
That is true nobility, real power.
In contrast, perhaps because of Shaw's assembly line production, Sun Zhong's "Cold-Blooded Thirteen Eagles" does not have the depth of repentance of "Langke Sword Heart". However, Shaw always has his own aura, especially in the heyday of Hong Kong martial arts movies, although Qi Xing's body has not been able to sublimate the "divinity" of the sword heart, he at least eventually learned to be a person. "I'm still a person!" Such a sound is still deafening even today.
Therefore, the focus of this film is not Qi Xingxing, but Zhuo Yifan, played by Fu Sheng. As Sima Xin's son-in-law, he spared no effort to help Qi Xing escape the pursuit of the "Thirteen Eagles" along the way, in fact, to avenge his wife and father-in-law's family. In the face of his own killing of his wife and enemies, he also experienced temptation, hesitation, hatred and sympathy, and witnessed the struggle of Qi Xing from his perspective. In the end, after the two joined forces to kill Yue Xihong, Qi Xingxing asked him why he did not avenge his wife, and Zhuo Yifan said that my enemy was already dead. However, Qi Xingxing refused to let him go, and in the final duel, he directly hit his sleeve knife: "I swore that I must die under your knife, if you don't kill me, your wife will not be blind under the Nine Springs." Even though Zhuo Yifan had forgiven him, in the end he still couldn't forgive himself—that's the price of spending twenty years learning about "right and wrong, good and evil."
Qi Xingxing is an orphan who has never had a home, and has been indoctrinated since childhood with the law of hatred of the law of the jungle. But Zhuo Yifan is a son of the family, with a wife, relatives, and a family. Although "wanderers" and "homelessness" have finally put them on the same starting line, whether they have truly experienced love is doomed to think and behave in a way that is not the same - this is the root of the tragedy of Qi Xing. Everywhere you go, it's an end.
In the narrow jianghu world, people like Qi Xingxing really have no way to go, if they numb themselves to degeneration, but become the swords and guns of others, in the struggle for fame and profit, it is difficult to escape the head of the other place; if there is an awakening, and it is difficult to escape the temptation of interests and power, if lucky enough, smart and talented, he is likely to become another Yuexihong; if you want to change evil and put down the butcher knife? I am afraid that the hardest, and the end is predetermined early on: as a human being, how to see and accept the self that was once a beast and a demon?
And this is also the intention and style of this film.
I don't know if Qi Xingxing's death has really bought Zhuo Yifan's respect? Makes him truly identify with the friendship between the two? Before that, the two were comrades-in-arms, but in the face of Qi Xingxing's pushing, Zhuo Yifan was still suspicious and tentative.
In modern society, the choice of "Qi star" seems to be more, but the presentation method is more diverse and more hidden, basically it is still only a few. How many of the countless murderers, especially those who were "forced" to kill people in the so-called chaotic era, will repent? Almost without exception, they choose to glorify the killing, to glorify their motives and ends, as if the ends could make the means right. For example, killing people is to save people, thousands of millions of people are dying for harmony, stability, independent development, and so on, and so on, and at the same time condemning people who are innocently killed or who are not guilty of death, as if labeling others and malicious behavior can have natural and reasonable legitimacy, and finally block everyone's mouth with fear. By emphasizing eleven million and ten million lies, and deceiving yourself into believing them (in fact, the lies are only for yourself in the final analysis), you can whitewash the executioner as a hero for whatever you want, and perhaps you can be complacent and complacent for a long time. If one day you really can't beautify it, you can still shout that you are also fooled and deceived by others, "I am also a victim!" This is the norm in the world.
Shame is probably a rare thing for people in a cultural context that lacks a sense of original sin.
It is precisely because the Heavenly Dao is not clear, right and wrong are not distinguished, good and evil are muddy, people like Qi Xingxing, and his death, have thrilling power. He wants to be a human being, but to be human means to first destroy the once "not human" self, because the evil and cruelty have long since merged with him: put down the butcher's knife and maybe become a Buddha on the ground, but that has to be exchanged for life. Everything that is gained on the knife and gun is destined to be lost on the knife and gun. It is a pity that ordinary people still escape to religion while chanting the sutra and worshiping the Buddha and worshiping the great god of the master, and at the same time "kill" all the way without changing their color - the world always seems to think that ghosts and gods are good at deception, sins are easily washed white, and conscience is easily suffocated. However, even if you kill all the way to the end without guilt, the psychological endurance and killing ability of the murderer will sooner or later decline, and it will still be difficult to escape the fate of being killed.
Once you open the killing ring, whether you turn back or not, it will be a dead end, the difference is only that when you die, you still do not retain the appearance of a person: dignity and humanity.
Qi Xingxing has no choice, so he can only choose to kill, and many times we obviously have a choice, but we do not choose compassion.
Curious is why there are always people like Yue Xihong in the world, always think that control, brainwashing and violence can make people obedient and loyal and frightening, but if the brainwashing is successful, it is to cultivate a group of people like you, and when your strength is weak, countless "themselves" will be eager to insert a knife and crush you into powder. If brainwashing is not successful, one day the regurgitation will be inevitable and devastating. "It's easy to raise a person, it's hard to raise a person's heart." The terrible thing about violence is not its efficiency (which is also its greatest temptation), but its borderlessness and uncontrolledness. It is bloodthirsty and fleshthirsty, and it will only spread and spread, and one day the perpetrator himself will be reduced to its food, and there will be no residue left. Of course, arrogant people like Yue Xihong do not believe in karma, and he will laugh obscenely and say, "Anyway, you will die in front of me." ”
Violence is always the lowest-cost and long-term most expensive way to control.
However, whether you believe in the weakness of the flesh and the supremacy of interests, I still hope that everyone can remember a sentence: human nature is inherently evil, but people are ultimately good.
Whenever you are, you are a person after all. Even if you don't want to be a person, it's not so easy.
This film is played by Dillon, our family Di Bao Bao is a straight man, straight male temperament is huge, you see in this film he and Fu Sheng emotional scenes are huge, but also bent on dying under his hands, jumping up and down, flirting and swearing, in the end how to see is just a wind and dust double hero. Why is it that as soon as he is with Azun, he is born and twisted? There is a spell in this world called "Di Jiang"! (Forgive the author for starting to go insane again.) ）
Although Dillon grew a beard and pretended to be a tramp, the acting skills were decent, but it felt that the protagonist of this film was still robbed by the cute Fu Sheng. Before watching Fu Sheng's scenes, I didn't pay special attention to him, and this movie fully felt his unique agility, such a cute voice boy, gags and heroic arrogance combined so perfectly. There is indeed a sound boy, and there may not be a later Jackie Chan, but also a jealous talent.
Sun Zhong designed interesting and personality-appropriate weapons for all the characters in this film, but his martial arts rhythm is really not good (I am almost asleep after seeing it), some places are headless and brainless, which is puzzling, such as the final sneak attack as long as Qi Xingxing has a knife in the back to solve the problem, I don't know why I have to jump to the sound boy to kill head-on? Before killing Yue Xihong, Qi Xingxing and Zhuo Yifan inexplicably fought and why? Complicated for human nature? But no matter how you look at it, there is no self-conflict and lack of logic.
In my opinion, Sun Zhong's good is precisely a small number of literary dramas, with pure temperament, sharp and crisp emotions, atmospheric scenes, natural rhythms, smooth plots, precise details, concise lines, very few laying outs, but can hit it in one hit. Sun Zhong is indeed a director with a good style.
The moon rises from the heavenly mountains, between the vast clouds and the sea.
The long wind is tens of thousands of miles, blowing the jade gate off.
Hanxia Baideng Road, Hu peeping into qinghai Bay.
Since the conquest of the battlefield, no one has returned.
The swordsman looked at the side and thought about how bitter he was.
The tall building was this night, sighing and not idle.
(At that time, the martial arts film studio shooting, the scene was limited, but the pattern was far better than today.) ）