In 1998, a Hong Kong crime film "Haojiang Fengyun" starring Ren Dahua suddenly became popular in the Hong Kong film market and became a dark horse. At a time when other Hong Kong-made films were generally in a slump, this film about an underworld character who designs revenge on the enemy, but with solid acting skills and rich production investment, it successfully opened the market and achieved box office results that exceeded expectations.
However, what people didn't expect was that when "Hao Jiang" became one of the most popular Hong Kong films in 1998, its producer and investment leader "Macau Godfather" Wan Guoju was arrested and imprisoned by the Macau police for this movie, and was finally sentenced to 13 years in prison.
It turned out that Yin Guoju used the name of the movie to show off his influence in the underground world, and as a result, he collected a lot of criminal evidence for the police. His imprisonment cast a shadow over this "Haojiang Fengyun", and at the same time became the biggest drama of the story.
As depicted in the film, the protagonist will do whatever it takes to get revenge on his enemies, but in the end, he loses his freedom. Yin Guoju also repeated the mistake of the past, reaping the consequences of his momentary arrogance.
He made "Haojiang Fengyun" starring Ren Dahua and other artists become a time bomb for his own sentence, which can be described as karma.
In the 90s of the 20th century, Macau gangster Wan Kwok Kui was already a highly prestigious underground magnate in the local area, and he even accepted an exclusive interview with Time magazine in the United States, known as the "godfather of the late Portuguese period in Macao".
However, his ambitions did not stop there, Wan Guoju decided to further promote his status in the rivers and lakes, and let a group of powerful Hong Kong actors make a "heroic biopic" based on his personal experience.
As a result, through Yin Guoju's high investment, in 1998, Ren Dahua, Fang Zhongxin, and Zheng Zeshi co-starred in the movie "Haojiang Fengyun" came into being. The film tells the story of underworld characters who design to frame old enemies, and many of the scenes are derived from Wan Guoju's real experience of fighting in the underground world of Macau.
With a production budget of up to 14 million Hong Kong dollars, it can be seen that Wan Guoju has put a lot of effort into creating this movie. In this way, he hopes to further assert his status and prestige in Macau's underworld.
However, what Yin Guoju never expected was that this movie, which was originally intended to show off his grievances in the rivers and lakes, finally became one of the key evidences that he was investigated and purged by the police. Using film and television to promote private rights and illegal acts, Yin Guoju can be said to be asking for hardships and harming himself.
In 1998, after the release of "Haojiang Fengyun", it sprung up in the Hong Kong film market, not only won the affirmation of the critics, but also exceeded expectations in terms of word-of-mouth and box office.
However, the good times did not last long, and while this movie expanded the underground prestige of investor Yin Guoju, it also made the police eyeing him.
Through investigation, it was found that many of the episodes in "Haojiang Fengyun" coincided with the personal experience of the "Godfather of Macau" Wan Guoju in the material. The police seized this breakthrough and finally arrested the embarrassed Yin Guoju in 1999, and sentenced him to 13 years in prison based on some of the illegal and criminal acts involved in the movie.
It can be seen that Yin Guoju's move to promote his status and sphere of influence through movies eventually became the fuse that planted the root cause. Just as the protagonist in the movie still can't escape justice after designing to kill the enemy, the real Yin Guoju was also caught by the police because of the various illegal scenes shown in the movie.
He wanted to use the film to establish his prestige, but it led to his notoriety and imprisonment.
Wan Kwok-kui was arrested by the police for directing and acting in the film "Hao Jiang Fengyun", which also had a profound impact on the development of Hong Kong-made blockbuster films in the 90s. In fact, it became the last brilliant theme of this kind in the Hong Kong film market.
Since the mid-90s, the Hong Kong film market has continued to shrink, and movies about gangsters have been neglected. And the final ending of Yin Guoju, the investor of "Haojiang Fengyun", also made more filmmakers dare not touch such sensitive themes again.
All kinds of signs show that Hong Kong-made heroes have come to the end of history.
At the same time, Wan Kwok Kui himself was convicted of various illegal scenes reflected in the film, and he not only completely lost his influence in Macau's underground world, but also was imprisoned for a long time.
As a generation of "godfathers", it can also be said that he reaps the consequences and brings about his own destruction.
The story of Wan Kwok-kui and "The Wind and Cloud of the River" has become a typical case of the color change of black and white in Macao. They all wrote the end of this period in their respective fields, and both ended tragically due to the arrogance of the protagonists.
The story of Wan Guoju's self-destruction because of his momentary pride and arrogance is also instructive for the rest of us.
First, it illustrates the fact that flaunting one's power and illegal actions will eventually lead to burning. Yoon Kwok-ju used the movie to promote his sphere of influence, but as a result, he was targeted by the police for providing evidence of the crime.
This shows that people can't be empty-eyed and self-righteous, and need to understand their own bottom lines and limitations.
Secondly, it has also become a symbol, heralding the end of the era of Hong Kong tyrants. Movies with similar themes have become unsustainable in the market, and investors will stick to the old ways and stick to the rules.
Yoon's fate proves that this old path of relying on violence and illegal means alone will not go far.
Finally, despite these negative lessons, we can't dismiss the movie itself because of a fixed opinion. It is still a huge success as a commercial film, and we have seen excellent performances from actors such as Ren Dahua, which is worthy of recognition.
The subject matter and the legal dimension can be discussed and disputed, but the artistic achievement itself can be extracted.
In 1998, Ren Dahua starred in "Haojiang Fengyun", which was invested by gangster Yin Guoju, which eventually led to the latter's arrest and imprisonment, which can be described as a surprising ending. We should not criticize the film itself and Ren Dahua and others who participated in the filming simply because of this.
In fact, "Haojiang Fengyun" has been a huge success as a commercial film in its own right, and it can be seen from the box office that it provides a high-quality entertainment experience, which is the result of the efforts of Ren Dahua and the entire production team, and needs to be recognized.
There is nothing wrong with the filmmaking itself, it also operates within the framework of the law.
On the other hand, Wan Guoju's promotion of his illegal acts and sphere of power through movies is mainly a matter of personal behavior. His final imprisonment was just the result of his own power trading and burning, and had nothing to do with other filmmakers.
Therefore, we should not one-sidedly complain about "Haojiang Fengyun" itself because of this ending. From both the commercial and artistic levels, it has delivered a satisfactory answer.
The ultimate lesson of this incident is that people should abide by the law and morality, and not covet irrational interests. Movies are just a platform for expression and influence, and the most important thing is to see the original intention and bottom line of the people who use it.