Text: Savage Five
Edit: Mr. Friday
Image: Network
Friday's Words: Du Qifeng's "Underworld" is divided into 1 and 2 episodes, which were released in Hong Kong in 2005 and 2006. The film has an English name that is very different from the name of the Chinese, Election, which translates to Chinese is "Election". Obviously, the former is relative to the film characters, and the latter is the event and theme that the film will state.
In this way, this "underworld" is really a bit abnormal compared with similar films, because in my impression, almost all Hong Kong gangsters, police bandits, and ancient puzzle films are making articles around the brotherhood of the jianghu, full of male hormones and aesthetic violence. How did such a "mafia" open up "democratic elections"? If you can continue to delve into the film along this question, you will find that "election" is not only the story of the movie, but also exists as the story support and motivation of the whole movie.
Taking advantage of the recent "confusion between left and right" with Comrade Hua Qiang, let's talk about these two abnormal "underworlds."
One or two films tell the same thing: the election of the speaker
What is this "election of the speakers" that takes place within the Hong Kong underworld (in their own words" as a "community")?
In fact, after watching the film, you know that it is to let a bunch of retired old guys from the mixed society come out and sit around the table and vote for a person in charge. To put it bluntly, it is to choose the "boss". But one thing to note: they are no longer called bosses to the outside world, but have been replaced by a more civilized title - talkers. Moreover, this system stipulates that the speaker must be re-elected once every two years (to avoid dominance), which is a little closer to western democratic elections?
This shows that the Hong Kong underworld is also advancing with the times and is also covering the fig leaf of "black".
Know that this change is more than superficial. See:
The boss in "Underworld 1" is the new speaker played by Ren Dahua.
The reason why he was finally elected was not only based on his character and connections, but also on his arbitrariness, centralization and monopoly. He relied on the self-control, multi-system and sharing that the community promoted under his control.
Obviously, under this system, even the most uncultured and unruly big D (played by Leung Ka Fai) in the play has to admit the benefits of this system, and then give up the idea of wanting to be the boss.
Of course, just as the Western democratic system has exposed all kinds of shortcomings, behind this system is full of bribery, black-box operations, gangs and even murder and arson. But in any case, in the face of the system, those ancient puzzle boys who used to rely on fists and machetes to fight the world and grab land still converged a lot, or had a bottom line. (Of course, this system may conflict with human nature, I will not say more here)
Second, the two films are about the same group of people: the Hong Kong underworld
When it comes to the Hong Kong underworld and the ancient puzzle boys, I think this is not unfamiliar even to the generation on the mainland. We won't go into it here, but one thing to note is that in the past, Hong Kong filmmakers were no different from film company bosses, in my opinion, than Gu Qiuzai was to the underworld boss.
The comrade we mentioned in the opening chapter is the dual role of the movie boss and the helmsman of the society. But the duality of his personality is not limited to this, the other is closely related to his "left and right confusion".
The hidden persona in the two films and its impact on the characters and events
Well, this movie has the main character (the underworld) and the things they have to do (choose the person), is the story can be successfully completed?
If that's the case, we don't have to write this article. That's no different from all the Ancient Puzzle Boy series. It should be known that there are also some important character relationships and backgrounds hidden in the two "Underworld", which can be said to be crucial to the interpretation of the entire film, and at the same time, they are also the source of motivation for building the tension and contradictions of the film drama.
Two hidden characters appear as minor characters in episodes 1 and 2, namely: Superintendent Xu and Captain Shi (Director)
The reason why these are two minor roles is because they do not have many roles and are easy to be ignored. But if you dig deep into their symbolism and relationship with the protagonist, the result can be very different, look at it -
1. Superintendent Hui (David Jiang):
This character appears in the first episode, and apparently he represents the Hong Kong police (note the former Hong Kong police). From the movie, we can see that this group is always supervising, supervising, and monitoring the Hong Kong underworld, which feels a bit like a parent watching over a disobedient child.
You can clearly feel that the Hong Kong police are on fire in the process of enforcing the law – you can neither eradicate the underworld like garbage nor let them cause any big trouble. That is, they have to act according to the rules and regulations, and they have to turn a blind eye to some unsolvable problems. For a hundred years, the Hong Kong police and the Hong Kong underworld have probably maintained this awkward relationship.
But in any case, they are holding each other back to no extreme (such as the underworld side overturning the electoral system or the police beating the black).
Strangely enough, this Superintendent And even the group he represented almost disappeared in "Underworld 2". In its place is another group of forces.
2. Captain Shi (Played by You Yong)
In the first episode, this Captain Stone is a person sent by the mainland to Hong Kong to conduct a thorough investigation of the underworld, and when he returns to the mainland, he is known as Captain Stone. By the second episode, he became the head of the Stone Hall.
He is also a person who has always been spying on and supervising the Hong Kong underworld. However, compared with the social order induced by the underworld that the Hong Kong police are concerned about, it seems that the director of the shek department is more concerned about the "election" file. Specifically, he cares about who is the boss of the Hong Kong underworld and who can get the "dragon head stick".
From the perspective of soldiers, it seems that Captain Shi is a little smarter than Superintendent Xu, catching the thief first, and taking the helm of the ship first. But if we look closely at Captain Stone's control of the underworld, it is difficult to say.
His method is very simple: only recognize the boss and not recognize people! In other words, as long as you can mix with the people in the underworld, as long as you can listen to me, then the mainland can give you the green light of all the ways to make a fortune. As for what means you use to seize power, whether you bribe or cut people, as long as you don't cross the line, it is not the manager's business.
What's more, at the end of the second episode of the movie, Director Shi also put forward more stringent requirements for the new speakers -
Fourth, what is hidden in the beginning and ending of the two films
If we take the 1 and 2 episodes of "Underworld" as a whole, it can be summed up in four words, that is, the rise and fall.
Zhuang is strong in the director and screenwriter with a "Hongmen oath" to open the scene, so that those elders who established the Hong Kong underworld will read the Hongmen regulations at the introductory ceremony. I don't know if you can hear what they read, but I only hear two words in the whole article: brother.
Sadness is sadness At the end, although Jimmy (Gu Tianle) is a talker, he has to sit in the luxury car full of sorrow.
Obviously, he wants to get rich at a price, to send people to the fence, to be afraid - everyone who has seen the movie knows that at the end, Director Shi put forward a request to Jimmy to be a "always talker". He wants Jimmy to break the century-old rotational election system in Hong Kong's underworld, and he wants him to be hereditary authoritarian. No wonder the newly appointed "boss" was full of sorrow.
We are not so much talking about the beginning and ending with a grand rise and fall, but rather that it is an excessive transformation of morality and system to the rules of the other direction.
Looking at Hong Kong commercial films, if the gangster police films of the last century were sub-entertainment products that stayed on the basis of narrow morality, then this "Underworld" undoubtedly added a little more realism and political interference on this basis. These two things put the film under a kind of panic and anxiety. It may upset viewers who are accustomed to seeing the image of the stars and the positive image. But it gives the film a unique "film noir" temperament.
In addition, the film's tonal treatment adds a "black" atmosphere to this layer of shrouding.
5. The black image of "The Underworld"
Natural light and backlight are heavily used in the film, which is one of them;
There is no longer a positive or negative distinction in the film, and all the characters are criticized (even the star actors), which is the second;
The film's ending does not have a bad ending and a reunion, but instead has an ambiguous outlook for the characters and a dark and gloomy tone, which is the third.
All these elements are things that are not seen in ordinary Hong Kong-made commercial films. They set this "Underworld" apart from other films of the same genre.
Sixth, the possible impact of "Underworld" on the audience
In my opinion, movies about the theme of the underworld may have two kinds of effects on the audience (especially young people): one is to yearn for the underworld after watching it, and the other is to resist the underworld after watching it.
If you're a former person around 70 years and 90 years, think back to the people around you and see how they look and tone when they initiate mixed-society-related topics. As far as my observation is concerned, to tell the truth, almost none of these people are not with darkness and dark blowing, even if they are still persuading others to mix with society, which is not good and bad, but there is an inexplicable underworld totem in their bones.
Why this collective phenomenon is caused, I think it has a lot to do with Hong Kong gangster films. Why it has a lot to do with Hong Kong gangster films, it is very simple, Hong Kong films are constantly binding stars with Gu Qiuzi, and then constantly shaping the positive image of Gu Qiuzai, and at the same time imposing the violent language and behavior of Gu Qiuzai on the audience through aesthetic methods. This is also one of the reasons why Hong Kong-made films sold well in that era.
So, what kind of gangster movie will make people resist or closer to reality? I think it can only be achieved by tearing off the cloak of things like good and evil, aesthetics, stardom, surreal narratives, and audiences.
From this point of view, "Underworld 1 and 2" may have made some changes, which also makes it look a little different from those movies such as "Ancient Puzzle Boy" and "Infernal Affairs", closer to reality, as the dragon root in the play said:
- "I've been messing around with my boss for decades, what big brother, uncle, is actually waste." Relying on the underworld to eat mixed food, only eating, drinking and gambling, it has become like this, it deserves it! ”
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