Thailand in 1946, a tragedy for the Chinese
In 1945, the news of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression spread all over the country, and people rejoiced and hoped that peace would come sooner. However, for Huang Lihui, victory does not bring joy, he has just sent off his younger brother who died of his injuries, his mother is sick and weak, and he himself looks sick.
The mother handed a dagger to her son, placing the family's anticipation: "Go to Thailand and join your uncle, maybe there is a way out." ”
Huang Lihui held the dagger with a complicated gaze. He knew that his mother was for his good, but he had no faith in his heart.
As soon as the ship leaves the shore, the shadow of home is blurred. In the sound of the whistle, Huang Lihui looked at the undulating sea, and his heart was mixed. He couldn't help but think of his brother's tragic death and his mother's expectant eyes.
"Hey, where's your identification?" The customs officer had a pipe in his mouth and beckoned him to come over. Huang Lihui hurriedly took out his crumpled residence permit, and the staff stared at it for a long time with a frown, said a few words in Thai, and then hastily wrote a few words in the notebook.
"My name is Huang Lihui!" He said anxiously, for fear that his name would be written incorrectly.
"I know, I know, your name is Xi Wei!" Personnel waved their hands impatiently and turned to leave.
Huang Lihui stood in place, his face pale.
Killing the chicken factory and the dock, despair is spreading
The uncle didn't give much help, but only introduced Huang Lihui to work in a chicken killing factory. The boss learned that his name was "Xi Wei", so he called him the same. Huang Lihui wanted to explain clearly, but was stopped by his uncle, so he could only compromise temporarily.
The chicken killing farm was full of blood. Huang Lihui was depressed and was often bullied by the boss's family. The proprietress only gave him leftovers, and the boss's children maliciously splashed him with chicken blood...... These excessive actions made Huang Lihui feel humiliated.
Huang Lihui, who couldn't bear it, chose to flee and came to the dock to find a new job. But the dock colleagues discriminated even more against the malnourished, laborless Chinese.
Once, Huang Lihui took the medicine he had saved for half a year, but before he could eat it, he was snatched away by his colleagues and thrown into the sea.
The quagmire of despair seemed to sink deeper and deeper, leaving Huang Lihui breathless. Until one day, a little girl, Amei, appeared like an angel and treated him gently. She gave him a small flower, which became the only light in Huang Lihui's heart. But tragedy struck overnight. In his sleep, Huang Lihui had nightmares in which he dreamed that he was killing an enemy in a war.
The beginning of a tragedy, loneliness drives crime
After Amei's death, Huang Lihui's world fell apart. He lived numbly, and the foreman fired him, so he could only live in the countryside farming.
At first, farming became Huang Lihui's salvation. He worked hard and poured his heart and soul into it, and finally grew a lot of vegetables. This is Huang Lihui's most rewarding thing in recent times.
However, a torrential rain destroyed all the crops. Huang Lihui knelt in the muddy water in despair, picking up the stumps and leaves. His body was also getting weaker and weaker, and he needed medicine to maintain it, but he had nothing left.
That's when the news began to report on the disappearance of children. Huang Lihui saw the photo of the child, and his heart moved. He remembered that his mother had cut off the heart of a dead man to boil medicine to save his younger brother...... Absurd thoughts sprouted in his mind, and he began to crave the collection of "human medicinal herbs".
The first victim was a street child. Huang Lihui led him to a secluded place to kill him, and took out his heart and liver. Back at his lodgings, he trembled and put his organs into the pot, for fear of being discovered.
It took a long time for the decoction to boil. The feeling of drinking the human blood decoction was very strange, and Huang Lihui did not experience the "spiritual effect" in his mother's mouth. But comforted by the desperate situation, he decided to continue.
The second and third children quickly set their goals as well. Before each crime, Huang Lihui was extremely excited and uneasy, and felt that it was blasphemous and wrong to do so; But once it started, it was like he was possessed by the devil and lost his mind.
Maybe from the beginning, he wasn't here to live. It's just the desperation of life that is approaching step by step, and the abnormal behavior driven by loneliness. And he gradually became addicted to this "killing pleasure". When the police finally arrested him, Huang Lihui also felt a sense of relief.
The story behind the filming of the film
In order to portray this extremely complex character, Duan Yihong went to visit the museum that houses the corpse of the real "ogre". Facing Huang Lihui's dried corpse in the glass window, he stared for a long time, as if looking for the secret of his soul.
"I'm going to do my best to play you well. He made a vogue promise.
However, the filming process was extremely difficult. Every time there is an emotional scene, Duan Yihong seems to have really become a murderer, and he frequently falls into extreme panic and can't extricate himself. The sleep was also full of eerie nightmares, which made the assistants deeply uneasy.
Once, he even hallucinated and saw a "bloody" scene on the set, which shocked the entire crew. This has seriously affected Duan Yihong's mental state.
"I'm really going crazy to be tortured by this character......," Duan Yihong poured out in pain.
Under the advice of many parties, Duan Yihong gritted his teeth and decided to change his name, hoping to redefine himself and get rid of the shadow of the role. The new name is "Duan Yihong", which is also homophonic to "Yihong", implying a new magnificent chapter in life.
The moment the scalpel cut through the flesh, Duan Yihong couldn't help but shudder. The bloody picture came to mind again, and he realized that what he could not completely forget in this life was this name - "Huang Lihui".
Editing issues affect the value of a masterpiece
In fact, the original script structure of "Ogre" was huge, and it was intended to explore the theme of human evil. It portrays a character who has become a murderer due to the tragedy of the times, hinting at the reflection of various social problems behind it.
But the post-editing made a crooked brain, and a large number of Duan Yihong's scenes were deleted, leaving only the bloody, thrilling and terrifying pictures. This directly positions the film as an eye-catching B-grade film, weakening its depth of reflection of reality.
"I can't wait to find this clip and beat it up!" Duan Yihong slammed his fist on the table during the interview, "He ruined our hard work!"
Indeed, the excessive commercial packaging of "Ogre" has made "Ogre" lose its original value, and it could have been a masterpiece that explores human nature. Looking back now, Duan Yihong would rather it be a niche art film than be obsessed with shooting characters that are only thriller and horror.
In addition, a large number of bloody scenes in the film also attracted censorship. Coupled with Duan Yihong's later choice to change his name, this movie ended in failure due to the superposition of various factors.
The meticulous planning of the year has been shattered, and it is nothing less than a nightmare.
Today's Duan Yihong no longer has the passion he had back then, but he can't forget the painful name of "ogre" until he dies. It has become a knot in his acting career, and it is the biggest regret of the movie itself.
Let's look at human nature and the times
When we judge a murderer, we only see the crime, and ignore the secrets behind it. "Ogre Maniac" gives people a glimpse into the heart of a fallen person, and also reflects the various social problems in the environment of that era.
The crime itself is something we will deplore and demand severe punishment. But the meaning of the movie is to let the audience understand and put themselves in the shoes of this tragic character.
It is a mirror that shines on the darkest side of the common man.
When the environment oppresses and there is nowhere to appeal, when the heart is fragile and cannot be cared for, all the accumulated despair is enough to make people go crazy. We should not turn a blind eye to our own weaknesses, but we should also pay attention to the suffering of others.
"I couldn't tell if he was a murderer or a victim. This is the most shocking sentence in the film. It reminds us not to define it lightly, but to look at the context of the era in which the person lived.
When we stand in front of the mirror and look at ourselves, we also look at this era. Eventually, we will realize that all evil originates from within, and that external circumstances are only the fuse.
We must look at humanity from the ground so that we don't repeat the mistakes of the past.