Text: Overnight flowers
"Heroes 2" is often in a slightly awkward position in the series trilogy. Although the film still achieved a very impressive rating (8.4) on Douban, it is a gangster film masterpiece, which can not be described as unsuccessful. However, compared with the previous work "The True Colors of Heroes", which is a "phenomenon- level" milestone for Hong Kong films, it has not received enough attention.
The success of "The True Colors of Heroes" is the result of a perfect balance between the commercial market (public preferences) and artistic characteristics (Wu Yusen's aesthetic style). There are infectious sensual moments - Zhou Runfa's cigarettes, guns, trench coats, matchsticks, Zhang Guorong's looking back and smiling, Dillon's "not being a big guy for a long time" of repentance and helplessness; but also has enough profound rational thinking - the helplessness of countering violence with violence, the sentimentality of the moral death of the jianghu.
For Heroes 2, it's usually considered a bland sequel, but when I opened this "lonely" sequel again with a different mindset many years later, I finally understood the details that I once seemed to understand.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >01. The "villain" killer who does not speak the whole time understands the key to the direction and theme of the story</h1>
The protagonist of "Heroes 2", in addition to the usual first trio (Dillon, Zhang Guorong, Zhou Runfa) plus Shi Tian, there is also a key figure that is often overlooked - the "villain" killer (Long Ming'en) wearing sunglasses without a single line.
Before understanding the role of the killer in the whole film, we must first talk about the narrative style and the way the characters are portrayed in the second part. Song Zihao (Dillon) after parole and Song Zijie (Zhang Guorong) after maturity are two characters whose personalities have been basically formed, and the actor's performance logic needs to continue the first part.
The significance of the role of Zhou Runfa as Ah Mark's twin brother Ah Ken is similar to that of Xiao Ma Ge, and it is similar to that of the boss of the faction played by Shi Tian, Song Zihao's teacher Dragon Fourth, which belongs to the "new role", so it is inevitable to use a lot of space and details to polish the characters.
The unfolding of the story is mainly based on the contest between the two parties - Song Zihao and Song Zijie brothers broke into the interior of the counterfeit money criminal Gao Yingpei (Guan Shan), washed away the grievances of the fourth uncle of Long, and joined forces with Ah Ken to avenge his relatives and friends.
The Sunglasses Killer is undoubtedly the most difficult character to deal with in the process of revenge. Unlike the bravado of the killer played by Cheng Kui'an and Lin Cong, his steady and fierce strength and "rules-telling" style are far from being comparable to the two.
He silently kills the target, blaming Dragon Four and plunging him into madness;
In the duel with Song Zijie's warehouse, he killed in one blow, causing Song Zihao to fall into mourning;
In the climax of the gunfight, he did not choose the commission given by the boss to escape, but chose to stay and fight with Ah Ken, at the time when Ah Ken ran out, he did not take advantage of the danger, but chose to give another gun to the other party, duel fairly with it, and finally died under the bullets of the other side.
This "sense of ceremony" is the unique feature of Wu Yusen's films.
This is the fate of the killer - not greedy for money, not unscrupulous, bloodthirsty, but to devote his life to the choices he makes about life. Contemporary pragmatists and egoists may not understand the stubbornness of this killer.
The principle of the killer is to pursue the thrill of a master duel. Each is its master, the narrow road meets, the chance of life belongs to only one party, for him, he can have a life and death struggle with Ah Ken, and die without regrets.
The passage of greeting each other with sunglasses is touching, and the sympathy between men in the jianghu is a kind of tragedy that puts life and death aside and makes desperate bets.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >02.Is Mark really "resurrected"? </h1>
Death is the fate of the killer. This is also a commentary on violence under Wu Yusen's violent aesthetics - the result of countering violence with violence is an extreme nothingness in the endless killing.
When many viewers think that Ah Ken is a kind of "resurrection" of Xiao Ma Ge, they ignore Wu Yusen's rendering of violent beauty while showing the inevitability of the disappearance of jianghu heroes in modern society.
Mark, who has passed away in the first part, is an irreproducible myth of jianghu heroes, although charming, but not worth emulating, contemporary people have a new law of survival, farewell to guns and bullets, integration into modern society is Ken's advice to his admirers.
Ken is similar to his brother Mark, but as an adult, Mark is already an "urban person" who fully accepts the laws of modern civilization. Running a restaurant, knowing how to maneuver between the three religions and nine streams, and knowing the way of forbearance in the world.
Only in extreme cases will Ken return to "violent" means, for example, he can tolerate the arrogance of customers, but when his dignity is trampled and his life is threatened, he will not be soft.
This is Wu Yusen's "reproduction" of the myth of xiao ma ge rather than "resurrection", because "countering violence with violence" can vent a momentary pleasure and revenge, but it cannot give inner stability and value.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >03</h1>
The dead killer has become a heroic myth; the living jianghu people need to redeem themselves.
Dragon Fourth, played by Shi Tian, is a pivotal character in "Hero Nature 2". As a well-known gangster in the past, his stubbornness and anger can only choose to escape, he is afraid of the sins of killing.
Therefore, after being married by Gao Yingpei, he is determined not to re-emerge from the jianghu and gain respect through self-discipline, but after his daughter was killed by the enemy family and killed by his friends, he fell into a mental breakdown.
Women, usually a gentle and harmonious force in the male jianghu world in Wu Yusen's films, symbolize a purer calm and beauty.
The death of his daughter and friends made Dragon Fourth completely frightened. When his friend Ah Ken is injured and will face a life-and-death crisis, Dragon Fourth is forced to restart the bloody storm of the jianghu world - in order to defend his friend.
The end of the film is undoubtedly very shocking. The revenge of the three people is not simply to vent their anger, but to hold a mentality of death. When the three of them finally slumped in their chairs, facing a pool of blood that came into view, the heaviness lingered.
In the end, they will only be able to continue to redeem their lives with the rest of their lives of repentance and goodness.
Many times, Wu Yusen's "aesthetics of violence" is considered a glorification of violence. In fact, the inner haggardness and powerlessness of the heart after the violence, the struggle of the spiritual world, and the self-redemption after enduring guilt are the core of the theme, which is more deeply reflected in the subsequent "The Killer" (The Killer in English).
Just like the children's chorus "Tomorrow Will Be Better" in "The True Colors of Heroes", just like the English name of the film "A Better Tomorrow", the ending of the jianghu dream is to meet a better tomorrow, which is the common imagination of modern society.