When the grief of losing a loved one turns into a nightmare, and when law and order are temporarily difficult to reach the other side of justice, countering violence with violence becomes a knife raised by the desperate for revenge.
The movie "Raging Tide" was officially released, and the story revolves around the struggle and fight between the underworld syndicate, the mysterious killer and the police. In the film, Hongtai Group straddles black and white, and has been secretly engaged in criminal activities such as human organ trading for a long time, and Chen An (played by Zhang Jiahui)'s sister Chen Le is one of the victims. In order to take revenge, Chen An brazenly entered the game and fought hand-to-hand with the policeman Mai Langwen (played by Ruan Jingtian) and gang member Ma Wenkang (played by Wang Dalu). This is a gangster infighting with all the villains, a well-planned hunt for justice, and an undercover servo who enters the game, a bloody melee is about to break out, and the delicate feelings behind the revenge story are gradually emerging in the film's double-line narrative.
At the roadshow in Shanghai, director Ma Yuke and leading actors Zhang Jiahui, Ruan Jingtian, Wang Dalu, Chen Guokun, and Chen Xiaoyi met with the audience. Ma Yuke is an experienced actor, but as a director, "Angry Tide" is the first time in his career. The newcomer went into battle and admitted that he was "very nervous".
At first glance, this is a crime action movie full of "buffs": human trafficking, organ trading, drug production and trafficking, cement sealing corpses, and political and business collusion appear at the same time, and in 2023, when suspenseful revenge movies are piled up, it can also fight for the largest scale, and another fierce general has been added to the Southeast Asian crime universe.
But as the narrative of the film deepens, the story shifts from a fast-paced fighting film to a warm redemption narrative, when the revenge plan is successful, the protagonist group does not forget to see the unevenness of the road, draw a knife to help, and save other victims in the city.
The cold weapon fight scene makes people dream back to the golden age of Hong Kong films
If "Rage Tide" has the characteristics to break through in this year's crime films, it should be a large number of hard-hitting and hard-bridge fight scenes in the film. Hammer and dagger combat, dark and damp fighting environment, black and white suit group fight, the movie is full of sharp and cold texture. In terms of editing, there are two major scenes of fighting: indoor gangsters, brothers killing each other in the narrow and bright hospital corridor, and on the other side of the open-air dock in the cold and heavy rain, Ma Wenkang played by Wang Dalu was ambushed and fought to the death. The fast-paced pictures alternately match the action group scenes with fists to the flesh and knives to the blood, which makes the audience who loves action movies scream.
After the roadshow, the audience asked Ma Yuke if he paid tribute to old Hong Kong movies. The director said that his creation has always been based on the theory and Xi of his predecessors. Regarding the choice of cold weapons, he believes that cold weapons are more direct, more cruel, and can be extreme, which is also in line with his statement in the trailer: I want to make a "powerful" action movie.
Surprise reversal injects soul into the characters
Suit thugs, scar god of war, top killers, violent black police, elite villains...... the characters of "Rage Tide" almost step on the audience's cool point, but each character is far more than such a stereotyped setting, in terms of the diversity of roles, director and screenwriter Ma Yuke has put a lot of effort into it: "I want to try to break the stereotype, bad guys will not be bad for no reason, and I hope that every character can really be like a person in the creation, not just a tool man."
Taking Ma Wenkang (played by Wang Dalu) as an example, the reversal of this role is an important dark plot of the film. The cold-faced and ruthless "Brother Scar" hides unspeakable forbearance and depression in his heart, touching and affectionate. In the second half of the film, it provides the audience with important emotional value, from the cheerful and kind sunny boy to the cold and gloomy murderous weapon, the character's growth experience and behavioral motivation create a relatively open imagination space. Ma Wenkang's ordinary past of the little character provides an opportunity for coupling with the audience's emotional resonance, and at the same time, it also gently drags back the themes of "what kind of person do you want to be" and "wash away the darkness of the city" that are easy to float. Justice is such a grand concept, and it is too exaggerated to directly put the missions of saving the city and eliminating the power of the underworld on an ordinary teenager, but the director cleverly set up an easy-to-understand and enduring obsession bonus of "revenge for the beloved", which makes the characters plump up and charms at the same time.
The tide of anger originates from the surging of love
A dark revenge film, the final foothold of the story is the cherishing of love between people, regardless of the positive and negative characters, the background color of people is love. The unscrupulous gang boss who is committed to his daughter, Chen An (played by Zhang Jiahui), who depends on each other to avenge his sister, and the policeman Mai Langwen (played by Ruan Jingtian), who seeks revenge after his master is killed...... The act of countering violence with violence is peeled away, and it is all the despair of losing a loved one forever.
Tian Yusheng, director of the film "Ex" series, said: ""Raging Tide" seems to be a gang police and gangster genre film, but it makes people feel a lot of emotions destroyed by money and power: the father-son relationship that is evil to each other when the power is handed over, and the brother-sister relationship that depends on each other for their lives."
Ruan Jingtian also mentioned when interpreting the corner of McLambon Bund, "There is no way to fight evil and evil, in addition to being refreshing, "Angry Tide" also hopes to remind everyone to care more about the people around them."
After the tide of rage, the sun is born. Sunflowers are an important image in the film. When the turmoil subsides, the big screen is filled with warm colors, and the bright sea of sunflowers comforts the departed loved ones, but also points to the future and destiny of the film's main characters: born to the sun after struggling in sin and mud.