As the first "labor model" in today's Hong Kong film industry, Gu Tianle is actually an anti-corruption pioneer - the Hong Kong film with the theme of "anti-corruption" can be described as an important part of the Gu Tianle film universe and an important part of today's Hong Kong film map.
For example, in the upcoming movie "Chasing the Tiger and Catching the Dragon", Gu Tianle played Chen Ke, an investigator at the Independent Commission Against Corruption in Hong Kong.
Chasing the tiger and catching the dragon
105 minutes - Crime / Drama / Action released in China on May 1, 2021
Set in Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s, the independent Commission Against Corruption was established in the 1960s and 1970s, when the police colluded with the mafia to embezzle huge profits and poison the citizens.
In addition to Gu Tianle, Lin Jiadong, who plays ICAC investigator Bai Song'an in the film, Leung Ka Fai, who plays the drug lord "Lame Hao", Wu Zhenyu, who plays Inspector Xu Le (and even Wang Jing, the director of "Chasing the Tiger and Catching the Dragon"), are also old faces in Hong Kong films, and they are not strangers to the theme of "anti-corruption".
At present, Hong Kong films are a small circle, and in other Hong Kong films, several actors even often "meet" or even "choose each other's identities".
Gu Tianle's "Anti-Corruption Universe"
As we all know, in addition to "Chasing the Tiger and Catching the Dragon", Gu Tianle also starred in a series called "Anti-Corruption Storm". In the series, Koo plays Luk Chi-lien, Chief Investigative Officer of the Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong (both with the name "Lian"), who investigates corruption cases.
Anti-corruption storm
Time rating 6.2
91 min - Action / Crime released in China on August 16, 2014
In the first "Anti-Corruption Storm" movie, Lu Zhilian was the first key person to crack the tens of billions of money laundering cases. Suspended from his post for investigation for 12 million unidentified income, he was unable to defend himself when questioned in the interrogation room. Lu Zhilian risked collecting evidence of the crime, but was imprisoned, and his life was hanging in the balance. In the end, he successfully found the real culprit behind the scenes and was rescued by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Lin Jiadong also starred in this movie, but he did not fight alongside Gu Tianle like in "Chasing the Tiger and Catching the Dragon" - Huang Wenbin, played by Lin Jiadong in "Anti-Corruption Storm", is the superintendent of the Commercial Crime Investigation Division, and when dealing with corruption crimes, he not only did not prevent the crime from happening, but even used his power to participate in the crime.
Because of his position in an important position, Huang Wenbin was very calm and arrogant when he was investigated by the ICAC, and was demoted after being investigated by the ICAC. He accepted money and beauty bribes, and had a gambling habit, and soon showed his feet, and was eventually arrested by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
In "Anti-Corruption Storm 4", Lu Zhilian, played by Gu Tianle, entered the prison as an undercover to collect evidence in order to investigate the suspected bribery prisoner Cao Yuanyuan (Lin Feng). As a result, he met Huang Wenbin, who was still serving a sentence, in prison. At this time, Huang Wenbin was already the leader of the gang in prison, and of course he had to wait for the opportunity to avenge Lu Zhilian who was imprisoned.
Anti-Corruption Storm 4
Time rating 6.9
98 min - Drama / Crime / Action Released in China on April 4, 2019
It is worth mentioning that Jiang Haowen, who played Huang Wenbin's subordinate Ah He in "Anti-Corruption Storm", met with Gu Tianle and Lin Jiadong in "Chasing the Tiger and Catching the Dragon".
"Mysterious organization" Independent Commission Against Corruption
From the release of the first movie of "Anti-Corruption Storm" in 2014 to the "Anti-Corruption Storm 5" that has not yet been scheduled this year, Gu Zai has been diligently doing anti-corruption work for 7 years. The Independent Commission Against Corruption, where Gu Zai "serves", will certainly not be unfamiliar to Hong Kong film fans.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption of Hong Kong, known in English as Independent Commission Against Corruption, or ICC for short, is an independent law enforcement agency in Hong Kong specializing in combating corruption, established on 15 February 1974.
It is independent of the structure of the Hong Kong government, and the IcAC is directly accountable to the Chief Executive. According to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the ICAC is located in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and has full authority to handle all anti-corruption work independently.
Before the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption in 1974, Hong Kong was a society where corruption was rife. Just a few years after the establishment of the ICAC by Governor MacLehose, Hong Kong has become one of the cleanest regions in the world, ranking twelfth out of 180 countries and regions in Transparency International and second only to Singapore in Asia. Correspondingly, the Hong Kong Independent Commission For Independent Trade Crime (ICAC) has gone from being initially questioned to quickly establishing strong credibility. In the relevant series of polls, the confidence of the Hong Kong public in the ICAC has remained at about 90%, and the support for the work of the ICAC has exceeded 99%.
In recent Years, the ICAC has also been a very eye-catching role in Hong Kong films. Not only Gu Tianle, but many Hong Kong filmmakers are addicted to "anti-corruption".
For example, "Integrity Storm", directed by Mak Zhaohui and starring Liu Qingyun and Zhang Jiahui, was named "Independent Commission Against Corruption".
Integrity
Time rating 5.9
114 minutes - Crime / Suspense Released in China on February 5, 2019
In the film, Liu Qingyun plays Chen Jingci, the chief investigation officer of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, and after taking over the case of private tobacco corruption, important witness Xu Zhiyao (Zhang Jiahui) suddenly escapes before going to court. Chen Jingci must go all out to restore the case.
For example, in the "Cold War" series that was more stunning in Hong Kong films in the past few years, there was a battle within the police force, and the Independent Commission Against Corruption did not stand idly by.
chill
Time rating 7.6
102 min - Action / Drama / Crime Released in China on November 8, 2012
In the series, Li Zhiting plays Zhang Guobiao, chief investigative officer of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. After the Force's "chill" operation, the Independent Commission Against Corruption received reports from hidden sources suspecting two deputy commissioners, one of whom was abusing his power for personal gain. The officially released version of Operation Chill is two completely different stories from the version provided by whistleblowers.
The "Cold War" series of stars gathered, in "Chasing the Tiger and Catching the Dragon" played the drug lord "Lame Hao", Leung Ka Fai transformed into a deputy chief of police operations Li Wenbin in this series, coinciding with a visit by a brother of the police force, Li Wenbin commanded the "Cold War" operation, and became the highest decision-maker of Hong Kong's public security for a while.
"Everywhere" Lin Jiadong also appeared in the "Cold War" series, playing the loyal and difficult to identify senior police superintendent Kwong Chi-li.
Repeatedly interpreted as "corrupt gangster"
Except for the IcAC this body. There are several names in Hong Kong's "anti-corruption history" that cannot be bypassed, and their stories have been repeatedly interpreted by movies.
Audiences familiar with Hong Kong movies must be familiar with the name "Lame Hao". The prototype of "Lame Hao" is Wu Xihao, the head of a drug cartel in Hong Kong in the 1960s and 1970s.
Born in Chaoyang District, Shantou City, Guangdong Province, Wu Xihao moved to Hong Kong in the early 1960s, starting his career in Shijiaowei and later switching to drug trafficking. He sold more than 30 tons of drugs worth more than 300 million yuan from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, and was known as one of the "Four Families" of drug dealers in Hong Kong. The group has also colluded with high-level corrupt police officers in the Hong Kong Police Force, and has also been involved in serious cases such as homicides.
In 1973, the Hong Kong Independent Commission Against Corruption was established and began to crack down on crime, and at the end of 1974, Wu Xihao was arrested after returning to Hong Kong from Taiwan, and the entire group was sentenced to 124 years in prison, of which Wu himself was sentenced to 30 years in prison. In 1991, he was pardoned and released from prison by the Governor of Hong Kong for advanced liver cancer. After 25 days out of prison, he died of deteriorating condition.
Movies about "lame hao" are endless, the most deeply rooted of which is the film of the same name starring Lu Liangwei, "Lame Hao". The film was released in Hong Kong in 1991 and won Best Film at the 11th Hong Kong Film Awards.
Lame
Time rating 7.9
Drama / Crime / Biography Released in Hong Kong, China on April 5, 1991
"Chasing the Tiger and Catching the Dragon" has "Lame Hao", played by Leung Ka Fai, and also "Crippled Hao" in the movie "Chasing the Dragon" directed by Wang Jing, played by Zhen Zidan.
Chasing dragons
Time rating 7.2
128 minutes - Action / Biography / Crime released in China on September 30, 2017
When we talk about "lame hao", we cannot fail to mention the chief inspector Lu Le, who served as an umbrella for him in the police force.
Lü Le was born on May 16, 1920 in Xinnan Village, Lujing Township, Haifeng County, Chaoxun Road, Guangdong Province, and his family later smuggled himself to Hong Kong. The former Chief Inspector General of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Hong Kong Police Force established a corruption mechanism related to the mafia system during his tenure.
Former Governor MacLehose set up the Independent Commission Against Corruption in 1974 to curb rampant corruption in the Force. This famous "tiger fighting" campaign has caused panic in the Force and led to clashes between the police and the police. MacLehose then issued an amnesty decree to stop pursuing most of the corruption cases before 1977 before the force riots were quelled. However, the ICAC has not given up on pursuing Lu Le and the other four people.
However, in 1973, Before the establishment of the ICAC, Lu Lechai moved to Canada with eight children and his wife to escape arrest. On May 13, 2010, Lu Le died of illness in Canada.
In Hong Kong films after the 1990s, the four most wanted criminals, Lu Le, Lan Gang, Han Sen and Yan Xiong, were called the "Four Detective Chiefs". In the film "When the Wind Rises Again", directed by Weng Ziguang and not yet released, Aaron Kwok plays Lu Le, Liang Chaowei plays Lan Gang, Tan Yaowen plays Han Sen, and Zhou Wenjian plays Yan Xiong. Hui Guanwen starred as a commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, confronting several detectives.
The legendary life of Lu Le has been adapted into the movie "The Biography of Inspector Leiluo of 500 Million", with Andy Lau as the male protagonist Leiluo. Later, Andy Lau played Leiluo in "Chasing the Dragon".
Inspector Leiluo of 500 million is passed on to I Thunder Tiger
Time rating 7.4
Love / Action / Drama Released in Hong Kong, China on September 19, 1991
In "The Legend of Leiluo", Lü Le became Leiluo; in "Chasing the Tiger and Catching the Dragon", Lü Le assumed the pseudonym Xu Le; in "Chasing the Dragon" and "Money Empire" directed by Wang Jing, there was also Lü Le, whose names were changed to Leiluo and Xu Legong respectively.
Money Empire
112 min - Drama / Crime released in China on April 30, 2009
Interestingly, in "Money Empire", Liang Jiahui played Xu Legong based on Lü Le, and in the second part of the "Money Empire" series, "Chasing the Tiger and Catching the Dragon", Liang Jiahui's role became a "lame Hao" based on Wu Xihao, and it was really necessary to play the big guy of that era over and over again!
It is foreseeable that in the future, movies about the Icacchari, about "Lame Hao" and Lu Le will be remade in a row. For Hong Kong film audiences, Wang Jing, Gu Tianle, Leung Ka Fai, these old familiar faces will only become more and more familiar. The so-called "old bottle of new wine", perhaps the same story will have different backgrounds in different eras.