For most mainland film fans, in the long list of nominees at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards.
Perhaps the most attractive thing for us is "Tomorrow's War" starring Gu Tianle, Liu Qingyun and Liu Jialing.
But from a local perspective in Hong Kong, this successful commercial sci-fi film cannot be compared with "The Corridor of Justice" or "To the Nineteen-Year-Old Me" in terms of artistic level and topicality.
"The Corridor of Justice", as the most powerful contender for the "Academy Awards", is not even a movie that can be watched by teenagers alone.
Because this is a movie based on real events.
The story and character prototype of the movie were originally from the "Tai Kok Tsui Dismemberment of Parents Case" that occurred on March 1, 2013.
Before "The Corridor of Justice" opened the official competition of the "41st Hong Kong Film Awards", he had already achieved good results in many selections.
In the "46th Hong Kong International Film Festival", "AEG Entertainment Popularity King 2022", "The 29th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards", "2022 Hong Kong Film Writers Association Awards", "16th Asian Film Awards", "2022 Hong Kong Film Directors Association Annual Awards", "The 1st Hong Kong Online Film Critics HIGHLIGHT Awards" and other selections, they have obtained good results and recognition.
"The Corridor of Justice" is a movie in which all the characters are "protagonists"
Although "The Corridor of Justice" is based on a real case, he does not focus all his attention and focus on the two protagonists of the case itself.
Instead, more shots and pages were devoted to court trials and procedural discussions.
Except for the two defendants in the case itself, Zhang Xianzong and Tang Wenqi, it is like an "offensive and defensive battle" between the defense lawyer and nine jurors with completely different social and identity backgrounds.
There are also magazine reporters who represent the news media and social opinion, all of whom occupy a large number of scenes in the film.
It can be said that "The Corridor of Justice" is a movie without a primary and secondary relationship, a movie that is close to the primary and secondary chaos.
In this film, each character plays a very important role.
As the audience, we can hardly miss the performance of anyone in the movie, and even have to experience and taste the hearts and thoughts of each character in order to truly experience the wonderfulness of "The Corridor of Justice".
And the most admirable point of "The Corridor of Justice".
It is also in such a state of "big smash" that every character in the film has an extraordinary performance, while not stealing the limelight from other characters, and even showing full tension and oppression in the opponent scene.
Especially in the court debate, the "surreal" treatment method that is both novel and full of tension has made many viewers addicted and exciting.
"The Corridor of Justice" is a movie without "garbage time"
Whether it's a movie or a TV series, it's almost inevitable that there will be some so-called "garbage time".
When the audience sees these plots, either fast forward and skip, or iQue is too empty, in short, it is difficult to make people concentrate on the plot throughout the process.
But "The Corridor of Justice" seems to solve the criticism of "garbage time" very well.
By interspersing the protagonist's main Manifestation fantasy plot in the film, he not only brought out the suspect's ideological bias and inferiority and cruelty in character.
Let the audience in the process of case development, through these constantly appearing interspersed shots, not only deeply understand the characters' hearts, but also add a little interest to the depressing plot.
The most applauded place is the important trial stage of the entire movie, and it is also the most exciting and dramatic stage.
In these episodes, both pro and con lawyers revisit the crime scene from the courtroom scene along with jurors and suspects.
And through this way of wandering back and forth, the audience has a feeling of being in it, which is a clever trick.
"The Corridor of Justice" is a movie where everyone is a "murderer"
In the real "Tai Kok Tsui Dismemberment of Parents Case", in addition to the extreme cruelty of the murderer's modus operandi.
What made society and public opinion most controversial was the media and magazines that reported the case at that time.
As the "fourth right" that should be fair and self-disciplined, it can be described as "ugly" in this case.
There was even a disturbance that the defendant was blocked from the courtroom for "contempt of court" and was not allowed to enter the trial.
"The Corridor of Justice" fully interprets and dramatizes such details.
Not only does his reporting bring out the focus that the killer has empathy, but it also highlights how the media influenced court decisions.
And through such performance and description, it is proved that the murderer in the movie has become the "most honest and empathetic person" compared to it.
The media or us, which is used as a reporter or a public opinion guide, is more like a group of indifferent bystanders who do not care about themselves.
In order to speed the flow and tongue, the whole thing is constantly pushed to the deterioration side.
Although criminals are still criminals after all, aren't all those so-called high-ranking people "murderers"?
Write at the end
Although the list of nominees for the "41st Hong Kong Film Awards" is relatively small among the previous Academy Awards.
But in this edition of the Academy Awards, there are also very outstanding works.
Like this "Corridor of Justice", which is very outstanding in terms of level, creativity and production.
There is also "Tomorrow's War", which has revived the majesty of Hong Kong films.
and "Narrow Road Dust", which has a unique charm in telling about small people.
There is also the most controversial and topical "To Nineteen-Year-Old Me" in terms of society and public opinion.
Although "The Corridor of Justice" shines, it is likely to lead to a series of familiar names and old faces of Koo Tianle, Zheng Xiuwen, Liu Qingyun, Mao Shunjun, Zhang Aijia, Sammo Hung, Yuan Heping.
But this also proves from the side that the future of Hong Kong films is promising.
At least a new generation of young directors and actors may have found a path more suitable for the future of Hong Kong films.
As a film that has a box office of more than 43 million Hong Kong dollars, "The Corridor of Justice" with a budget of only 10 million Hong Kong dollars proves with strength that good movies do not have to have big productions.
(After reading it, remember to pay attention to "Hua Yuhan" Oh, the picture comes from the Internet)