"When you photograph people in color, you photograph their coats; when you shoot in black and white, you photograph their souls, Ted Grant, the father of Canadian photography."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="44" > the soul of the character and city in the movie</h1>
The Hong Kong film Wisdom Teeth is directed by Cheng Baorui and adapted from Remy's novel of the same name. The film was released in a color version, but the final version was black and white; Zheng Baorui shared after the screening that black and white tones seemed to be more expressive of human chaos. After watching the movie, I deeply felt zheng Baorui's lens, in addition to shooting the soul of the character, but also the soul of the city.
If the character's coat is their occupation and survival mode, then their soul must be completed with the heart and struggle; if the coat of the city is the appearance of prosperity and peace, then her soul must be completely completed with the sound of the back alley and tearing.
"Wisdom Teeth" presents the story of Zheng Baorui's violent aesthetics and small social characters, which is somewhat similar to the style of "Dog Bites Dog", and expresses the strong tension of the script through violent but beautiful pictures:
The old urban areas and garbage, the selfish desires and corruption of the police, and the struggle and survival of the low-level characters in the two films seem to be part of the soul of society, reflecting that from this perspective on society, the society seen is really complete.
The black and white tones in the film blur the outline of blood and flesh, diluting blood, sweat, rain, and tears, but the oppression and imagination of the picture are more intense; the details of the film are also handled very delicately, the ants at the beginning, the ornaments of the brother, the mobile phone of Wang Tao, the photos of Yamada, ren Kai's lecture leaflet, etc., in order to convey the mood of the characters, which is more exquisite than directly explaining the plot with lines.
After reading the original novel, I found that the film version strengthened the story between the characters, and also added some new characters, making the theme more obvious and making the characters more alive and convincing.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > the meaning of wisdom teeth - growth</h1>
The original work is a Chinese novel, and "wisdom teeth" in China is known as "standing teeth", in the novel there is also a paragraph that the section chief knows that Ren Kai is growing wisdom teeth, so he laughs and says "Child, it has not yet been established"; therefore, whether it is a novel or a movie, Ren Kai's wisdom teeth that have fallen out may symbolize his growth, no longer a fledgling righteous boy who is not black and white, but an adult who understands that sometimes wandering in the gray area is the king.
To put it bluntly, Ren Kai did not agree with the practice of beheading brothers at the beginning of the movie, and he just graduated with his insistence on "justice", arguing with the chief, believing that the police had guns and could not abuse lynching, which showed his attachment to the rules; he also had always held compassion for Wang Tao, but since the incident of losing his gun, although he did not punch and kick Wang Tao like a brother, but in the face of the terrified Wang Tao, in order to find the lost gun, Ren Kai still violently shook her thin body.
The original did not have this paragraph, and the new plot of the movie made the characters more distinct and the human nature more three-dimensional.
In addition, in the movie, Ren Kai listened to the advice of brother beheading, and did not report the loss of the gun according to the regulations, nor did he report that Wang Tao was abducted by suspects because of his own side; in the end, although he surrendered himself to the chief and lost the gun, when he found that brother beheading had replaced the crime for himself to tamper with the record, he may have accepted the kindness of brother beheading.
The film does not explicitly explain this, but at the beginning of the film, it can be seen that he revisited the final battle, while the novel relatively implies acceptance, explaining that Ren Kai asked for immediate reinstatement. However, in Ren Kai's heart, is it because of the death of his brother, he can no longer repay the grace of changing the gun and has a new baggage? If it were not for the fear that the loss of the gun was discovered and reported that Wang Tao had been abducted, would Wang Tao not have to go through all this now, and Ren Kai would deny that it was his responsibility to accidentally act as Wang Tao?
The film does not criticize the behavior of the characters, but only presents changes. Growth and evolution, without explaining whether it is good or bad, is just a change in the role.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="46" > the meaning of wisdom teeth - baggage</h1>
In addition to growing up, does wisdom teeth also metaphorically compare the inseparable baggage of the character's heart? The wisdom teeth that fall out may be a metaphor for the baggage that the character has finally unloaded.
The toothache torments the body and mind but is difficult to get rid of easily, until Ren Kai's wisdom teeth are accidentally knocked out by Yamada (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), and Ren Kai finally gets rid of the toothache that has tormented him for a long time. At the same time, with the loss of wisdom teeth, the movie is also nearing the end, Ren Kai not only lost his wisdom teeth, but also recovered the lost gun, unloading two major burdens; beheading the murderer to solve the case, while finding Wang Tao, who was in danger because of himself, finally released and showed the only smile from the heart in the movie.
Yamada has always missed his mother's touch, and his Oedipus complex even drove him to commit crimes to project his feelings for his mother onto Coke, who also has no left palm like his mother, and then extend to cut off the palms of other victims. For him, the pain of not being able to regain his mother's love is like hell, and after being subdued/killed, maybe it is a relief?
The theme of the novel seems to stop at Ren Kai's growth, but the film has more of a theme of redemption.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" > Limbo's theme of atonement</h1>
The English title of wisdom teeth is "Limbo", the word "Limbo" in addition to the meaning of "uncontrollable and unprovoked glue", but also for the medieval theological concept of "spiritual thin hell", referring to the edge of hell, before its birth, or like a premature baby, before it was born, or like a premature baby, before it was baptized and died and could not enter heaven, so it could only inhabit the place and wait for redemption.
Among the ornaments of the beheading brother, there is a chain of crosses, maybe he or his wife is a believer? However, Brother Cho not only could not forgive Wang Tao, but also used her guilt to achieve his goals, and even wanted to put her to death.
As for Wang Tao, she has been spending her life writing apology letters to Brother Cho, and in her mobile phone, Brother Chop's name is stored as "Sorry Sir", which profoundly reflects her remorse. Different from the original work, Wang Tao in the movie has been imprisoned to atone for his sins, but the law is one thing, the human heart is another, without a word of forgiveness from the brother, Wang Tao lives every day in a hell where life is worse than death.
Brother Beheading and Wang Tao, the identities of the two victims and perpetrators were reversed many times, and finally Brother Beheading said to Wang Tao, skipping "forgive you" and becoming "sorry", Brother Chopper found Wang Tao, apologized, and smiled with relief. For Wang Tao, the nightmare is about to begin; although in the end, Brother Cho finally forgives her, she is severely injured and suffers from PTSD, falling from one layer of hell to another, echoing the film copywriting "Living is more powerless than death".
Under the two meanings of "Wisdom Teeth", it analyzes the meaning of the film's redemption and examines its unique garbage aesthetic.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="49" > junk aesthetics</h1>
Similar to the style of "Dog Bites Dog", "Wisdom Teeth" is still full of Zheng Baorui-style garbage aesthetic.
As Zheng Baorui said, the film makes a Hong Kong that has disappeared and is about to disappear. Even the back alleys and junkyards are actually part of Hong Kong, except for Yu Min Fang, Kwun Tong and To Kwa Wan, which he mentioned in his visit, the author guesses that the place full of gods not long after the opening of the movie may be Waterfall Bay Park.
The idols of Waterfall Bay Park, like the title of "Wisdom Teeth", seem to be the concept of the lord, but there seems to be a concept of Cause and Effect of the Buddha in the play; in addition, the gods of Waterfall Bay Park are actually mainly abandoned when the residents move away, and they are not taken away together.
Garbage is not originally garbage, and it becomes garbage after it is abandoned. I am reminded of a line from the Singaporean movie "Kids Are Not Stupid 2":
"Where resources are misplaced is garbage, and where garbage is placed right, it is a resource."
The Chinese film shows that Wang Tao is an orphan, in fact, she has been living very hard, and she is also a person with a conscience, and her mistake is in the wrong way. Compared with the novel, it feels that the movie version of Wang Tao is more pitiful. After all, Wang Tao in the novel still feels that the suspect is concerned, cherished and loved her. Wang Tao in the novel is divided into two roles in the movie, Wang Tao and Coke, and the screenwriter divides the love of the suspect for the novel Wang Tao to Coke, so Wang Tao in the movie has always been lonely.
The Novel's Wang Tao (Coke in the movie) will project emotions on the suspects like Stockholm syndrome, which is probably just a manifestation of their desire for love; the opening of the film uses a lot of ants to form "LIMBO", will it imply that "ants are still greedy", and people who are regarded as "garbage" by society are actually trying to live? Wang Tao has repeatedly stated that she "does not want to die", although no one loves her, in order to survive, she still lives seriously, and she wants to escape the call of the god of death.
Ren Kai once described the victims as "immodest people", and Brother Cho said that Coke and Yamada were "garbage", which greatly disgusted Coke. No one is born as "garbage", no one wants to be labeled "garbage", some people who think they are superior like to use their own perspective to trample on the efforts of others.
If a policeman who "has a gun and law enforcement powers" loses his gun, will he become "garbage" in the eyes of others? If Brother Cho and Ren Kai report wang tao's disappearance, does Wang Tao not need to experience these sufferings? If Wang Tao could have met people who followed her path when she was young, would her fate be greatly rewritten?
Unfortunately, life doesn't have room to ask ifs.