Time Writer | Tritin
Write movies with the heart of a fan.
Fans who like Hong Kong films have been blessed recently! There are two heavyweight Hong Kong film masterpieces, which will meet mainland audiences one after another this month. One is based on shocking real events, and "Under the White Sun", which is based on 16 Academy Award nominations and is the leader, was officially released in mainland theaters today (April 12). There is also a high-profile work "Youth Diary" that focuses on juvenile past events and family bullying, which will be released next week on April 19. Under the White Sun
After "Under the White Sun" was released in Hong Kong at the end of last year, it sparked heated discussions in Hong Kong. The story takes place in a disabled institution, where a mentally handicapped girl is sexually assaulted by the director, and she can't even call the police, and it is even more difficult to stand in court to accuse the abuser.
In reality, the family of the victim girl insisted on appealing for 10 years, and finally won the case on March 25 this year, and the defendant will pay a huge amount of compensation.
Justice is late, but the light of hope contained in the movie shines into reality.
"Under the White Sun" is directed by Jian Junjin and starring Jiang David, Yu Xiangning, and Lin Baoyi. This work allows us to see the sense of social responsibility upheld by Hong Kong films.
Crime and Punishment in Residential Care Homes for the Disabled
"Under the White Sun" hits the nail on the head of society and warns the public. Under the sun, there are evil deeds that the public cannot see, and they happen all around people.
At the beginning of the movie, social news reporter Ling Xiaoqi (played by Yu Xiangning) received a report that there was serious abuse of residents in the disabled home "Caiqiao Home". It specializes in taking care of the elderly with dementia, young people with intellectual disabilities, and the disabled for a fee.
Ling Xiaoqi pretended to be the granddaughter of her resident Tong Bo (played by Jiang David) and entered the Caiqiao House to conduct a secret investigation.
The problem of Caiqiao Home has become clear, Ling Xiaoqi walked around the hospital, and saw that the nurse maliciously beat the elderly, and the residents' lunch was expired food.
There are more than 80 disabled residents living in the hospital, and there are only two full-time nursing assistants, and the cooking work needs to be completed by the disabled residents.
Tongbo's room smelled foul, and Ling Xiaoqi opened the garbage heap and saw a stiff dead mouse. Such an environment is even worse than a prison.
The residents did not theoretically lose their freedom, but they were abandoned by their families, and they had nowhere to go when they walked out of the Caiqiao House.
"Under the White Sun" exposes the profound problems in Hong Kong society in caring for people with disabilities in a point-by-point manner, which mainly come from three levels:
First of all, at the residential level, making money comes first. A private institution like the Bridge House is entirely profit-oriented, and investors only want to expand their operations and recruit more residents. However, investors are not considering hardware upgrades at all, and they will not expand their recruitment of caregivers.
Dean Zhang Jianhua and two caregivers take care of the entire disabled home, they are just maintaining the vital signs of the residents, and the residents are more like their tools to make a fortune. Six residents died in the residential care home in half a year, and new people will soon be admitted to the hospital.
Under extreme work pressure, the superintendent and the nursing staff gradually developed psychological distortions. The nurse Sister Fang didn't treat the residents as human beings at all, and directly pushed the old man into the open air and washed them roughly.
Dean Zhang Jianhua already has a record of sexual assault, and with his psychological understanding of his female resident Xiaoling, he waited for an opportunity to violate him, and his behavior was no different from that of a beast.
After the crime was revealed, he tried all kinds of quibbles, coupled with the victim's complete inability to express himself normally, so that he repeatedly escaped justice.
Secondly, at the social level, laissez-faire. With a land area of 1,113.76 square kilometers, Hong Kong has a total population of 7.5 million in 2023, of which more than 1.45 million are elderly. This set of data does not specifically cover people with disabilities, as well as older people who have lost their ability to take care of themselves. Hong Kong has entered an ageing society, and there is an increasing demand for nursing homes and residential care homes for the disabled.
A Hong Kong legislator in "Under the White Sun" said that public subsidized residential care homes are overcrowded, and a disabled person who wants to be admitted to a hospital has to queue for 15 years after applying.
In such an environment, Caiqiao Home has become a "safe haven" chosen by many families with disabilities. Abuse of residents in residential care homes for the disabled has been repeatedly reported and punishment is rare.
Third, at the family level, there is no power to protect. The residents of the Homes for the Disabled are disabled people who are unable to take care of themselves, and they have become a burden on their families. The average family in Hong Kong is already cramped and cramped, and if an adult is needed to take care of the disabled at home, family life will face more problems.
Therefore, even though the house is shabby, crowded, and dirty, there are still a large number of families queuing up to apply for admission.
In the film, Ming Tsai, a young man with intellectual disabilities, is treated roughly by a nurse, and his mother does not dare to blame him;
"Under the White Sun" makes a comprehensive complaint against Caiqiao Home, but it does not avoid the meaning and difficulties of the existence of the disabled home.
Private institutions such as Caiqiao Home have indeed solved the living problems of some disabled people. However, if the abuse of residents is not improved, the vicious incident of Caiqiao House today may happen in other institutions tomorrow.
Old drama bones VS newcomers
"Under the White Sun" received 16 nominations at the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards, and all the acting awards were shortlisted.
The finalists are: Best Actor nominee Lin Baoyi, Best Actress nominee Yu Xiangning, Best Supporting Actor nominee Jiang Dawei, Best Supporting Actress nominee Liang Yongting, and Best New Actor nominee Xu Yuexiang.
In addition to the nominees, "Under the White Sun" also brings together other actors, such as Bao Qijing, Gong Cien, Hu Feng, etc., plus the shortlisted Jiang David.
These older generation actors are first-hand witnesses of the golden age of Hong Kong films, and they have starred in countless masterpieces, building a good memory for Hong Kong film fans.
"Under the White Sun" promotes the gathering of old drama bones and Mesozoic actors out of the needs of the plot.
Such a "grand occasion" is rare in today's Hong Kong film industry, and the annual output of the Hong Kong film industry is as low as 50 films, it is difficult to give new and old actors more opportunities to perform, and the former glory of Hong Kong films is gone.
Bao Qijing
However, the strong realism of "Under the White Sun" and the wonderful performance of all the acting skills online have added another outstanding masterpiece to Hong Kong films. Although Hong Kong films are no longer thriving, they are tenacious.
In the film, actor Yu Xiangning is a big surprise. The reporter Ling Xiaoqi she plays is used to seeing the dark side of society, and in an environment where paper media is declining, she will complain every day. However, she is still committed to her job and is dedicated to investigating the truth about the abuse in the disabled home.
Aftertaste
Yu Xiangning endowed the character with the character traits of fortitude and courage, cold on the outside and hot on the inside. She does not use powder in the film, and completely impresses the audience with the inner beauty of the character.
She is able to show both the responsibility of a journalist and the compassion of being a woman. Ling Xiaoqi is not a perfect character, for example, she herself can't handle the relationship with her mother. It is precisely because of the imperfection that the characters appear real.
Yu Xiangning has a bit of Maggie Cheung's early performance temperament, showing off her wisdom and being quiet and introverted. If she is in the golden age of Hong Kong films, she will probably have a lot of masterpieces.
Lin Baoyi is a big star in the field of Hong Kong dramas, and she was previously famous for starring in classic dramas such as "The Great Era", "Golden Branches", "Fire Dance and Yellow Sand".
Lin Baoyi has lacked film masterpieces for many years, and "Under the White Sun" was nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards, filling this gap.
Lin Baoyi portrayed the role of Zhang Jianhua in an all-round way, he grew long hair, grew a beard, and made up as a patient with amblyopia. After Lin Baoyi set the look, he went home every day from work and looked at himself in the mirror, sometimes he felt in a trance, and he felt very strange to the person in the mirror.
Zhang Jianhua in the film is hypocritical and cunning, and can speak well. The scene where Zhang Jianhua was interrogated in the police station was calm and calm, and the answers were fluent.
Even in the face of evidence of sexual assault, he brazenly stated that female residents liked to come into his office. At that moment, Lin Baoyi vividly interpreted the shamelessness and fearlessness of the role.
Zhang Jianhua cunningly exploited the victim's IQ weakness and allowed him to escape legal punishment several times, which is a character that makes people look at it and gnash their teeth. This image is so real and vivid, thanks to Lin Baoyi's entry into the character's inner world, she completely turned herself into a character.
"Tongbo" Jiang David's performance in the film is also extraordinary. He was a smash hit screen hero in the 1970s, and his heroic image was once popular in Southeast Asia. 、
The handsome image that Jiang David in "Under the White Sun" completely abandoned has become a nonsense, sloppy, aging and melancholy old man Tongbo.
Above: 1970 "Thirteen Taibao" Below: 2023 "Under the White Sun"
Tumber was conscious, and he disguised himself as Alzheimer's in order to enter the disability home, and he belonged to a wise and foolish figure. He sees everything, understands everything, but there is nothing he can do. The arrival of reporter Ling Xiaoqi gave him a glimmer of hope to change reality, so he was willing to cooperate with Ling Xiaoqi to investigate the home.
In Thongber, you can see complex personalities such as wisdom, weakness, firmness, and kindness.
This is one of the most difficult roles for David Jiang to perform in his film career, and his vividness and vividness make the image of Tongbo engraved on the screen.
The context of Hong Kong film realism
Every few years, there will be realist masterpieces in the Hong Kong film industry that focus on the livelihood of the people at the bottom.
Although these realist works come from different eras and different directors, they stand in the perspective of humanistic care and speak for the people at the bottom, thus forming the related context of Hong Kong-made realist films.
"Under the White Sun" is produced by Er Dongsheng, who can be called an all-round filmmaker, screenwriter, director, actor, and producer, all of whom have done an outstanding job.
Er Dongsheng's 1986 film "The True Story of the Crazy Guy" is a classic social realistic film.
The film is based on a real case and tells the story of the problem of mental illness in Hong Kong society, a patient who has recovered, but due to the stress of life, the old illness relapses, which leads to the tragedy of breaking into a kindergarten with a knife.
"The True Story of the Crazy Man" focuses on the problem of the mentally ill, but cannot provide a solution. The director just hopes that society and individuals can give more understanding to the mentally ill and avoid the recurrence of the tragedy. This line of thinking is the same as "Under the White Sun", the movie only reflects the problem, and the problem must be solved by reality in the end.
Zhang Zhiliang's 1992 film "Caged People" depicts a group of toiling people living in cramped and dangerous houses. They can only afford to rent a single bed, and the bunk beds are separated by barbed wire, which is equivalent to living in a cage.
"Caged People" focuses on the housing problems of the people at the bottom, who even live in Hong Kong, which is in the era of economic boom, they still have to worry about three meals a day and living and traveling.
Zhang Zhiliang used the lens to write about the little-known side of history, time has passed, if the cage people disappear, the historical value of this film is self-evident.
Ann Hui's 2011 film "Sister Peach" confronts the problem of Hong Kong people's pension.
The film's foothold is a nursing home, although it is different from the disabled home in "Under the Daylight", but both works are at the core concerned with vulnerable groups who are difficult to take care of themselves.
"Sister Peach" moved the audience with the touching family affection between the master and servant, and Sister Tao was also taken care of in a nursing home. However, she still feels the dislike of the elderly in society.
Hong Kong's aging problem is becoming more and more serious, how to let the elderly have a decent old age? This is a real problem thrown out by the film.
"Under the White Sun" adheres to the style of its predecessors' works, and unfolds the narrative with realistic cases that shocked the world.
The film brings together many social problems such as sick patients, crowded housing, and elderly care, and is the culmination of previous social realistic films.
"Under the White Sun" is not only an accusation of the crimes of one person in one court, but also a wake-up call to the whole society.
Someone is speaking out about these issues, indicating that there is hope for the problem to be solved.
As the director said, "The world presented in the film is despair, and there is still hope in the story." ”
This hope is an attitude.
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