"Dark War" - the foundational work for the renaissance of Hong Kong films! 》
This is the title of Liu Bo's review of this movie, and it is indeed what he had in mind.
“I don’t know since when, we all thought that the era of Hong Kong films has passed and Hong Kong films are dead. This is what I once shouted!
Once upon a time, when talking about the golden age of Hong Kong movies, we couldn’t miss those police and gangster movies!
When the Mainland film market is rising rapidly, and when the first film exceeds 1 billion, 2 billion, and 3 billion, what is left of the once prosperous Hong Kong movies?
"Happy Events 2010", "Happy Events 2012"... these kind of sequels, all kinds of shoddy productions without any sincerity!
As an old Hong Kong film critic, I am angry, angry and sad about the misfortune! I once thought that Hong Kong films might not be able to adapt to the development of the times? Do audiences really no longer like watching stories that take place on Hong Kong Island?
When "Infernal Affairs" came out, I cried with excitement. It turns out that it's not that audiences no longer like Hong Kong films, but that we lack serious filmmakers.
The cruelest thing in the world is not despair, but giving you hope when you are in despair, and then falling to dust again and despairing again.
"Infernal Affairs" was launched with the banner of reviving Hong Kong films, and various films began to be launched under the banner of reviving Hong Kong films. However, they did not understand that the revival of Hong Kong films was not a gimmick, but a hope, and a need for them to go. Hopes that are seriously realized.
However, those people were eager for quick success, putting the cart before the horse, and repeatedly tried to sell the sheep before the dogs. They smashed the Hong Kong movie brand again and again!
It has once again extinguished the hopes for the revival of Hong Kong films that "Infernal Affairs" had finally gathered.
Hong Kong movies, what’s left? Feelings? No, even that bit of sentiment was ruined by those shoddy and insincere creations!
This is the most despairing thing.
Simply speaking, there is Li Yi, this Hong Kong director who was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Hong Kong, studied in the Mainland, and is successful in the world. He has never given up. He always believes that there is still hope for Hong Kong films, so he made "Infernal Affairs". So there was "Dark War"!
Returning to "Dark War", Ho Shang-sheng, a Hong Kong police officer, is a civilian from the Flying Tigers. His desire to return to the Flying Tigers proves that he is unwilling to be ordinary! It's a pity that he has excellent professional ability but lacks emotional intelligence. Therefore, he is the supervisor while Huang Qifa is the chief inspector.
Does it feel familiar?
Yes, I believe everyone can see and smell a strong smell of Hong Kong police in him.
He is the same as the male protagonists in many Hong Kong police and gangster films that everyone is familiar with. He must be a detective, and he must have superior professional abilities. He can force the criminal police to commit suicide in just a few words, but similarly, he also has shortcomings.
He doesn't know how to respect the leader, he will make fun of the leader in person, he doesn't seem to know how to get along with others, and even his life is work. Apart from work, he doesn't seem to be very successful in anything he does. He wants to take care of everything!
He embodies the characteristics of many detectives in old Hong Kong films, and is full of Hong Kong flavor.
What I have to mention is that Huang Qifa is the boss of the protagonist of an old Hong Kong movie in the traditional sense!
His appearance is a sentence that makes everyone smile: I am Chief Inspector Huang Qifa. I will surrender within three minutes!
This sentence can be said to have become a symbol of many Hong Kong police and gangster films to some extent.
I think many people may say that having only one Gan Tan is enough, and Huang Sir only needs to be responsible for the comedy.
But is this really the case?
Not in my opinion, that's what's interesting about "Dark War".
In my opinion, Huang Qifa is definitely not only responsible for making fun of people.
Many of his words actually give people a sense of laughter at first glance, but if you think about it carefully, you will find that many of his words are full of profound meaning.
When it comes to determining whether the bomb is real.
He Shangsheng wanted to bet. He felt that he knew Hua Tsai and felt that the bomb could not be real.
But Huang Qifa said: "If it explodes, I will be responsible. If it doesn't explode, it's none of my business!"
Some people may think that this is just Huang Qifa's fear of taking responsibility, but what is the reality?
If we think about it carefully, what he did was actually the right approach.
No one can afford the damage caused by a bomb explosion.
He Shangsheng asked him: "As a policeman, can you be braver?"
But is this a question of bravery? I believe everyone has the answer in mind.
Huang Qifa is definitely more than just a dispensable character responsible for comedy. On the contrary, this kind of boss is what many police officers want.
He is not without merit, on the contrary, his leadership skills are actually very strong. He does not know how to negotiate with gangsters, but he does know how to find professional people to negotiate with gangsters.
He will care about his subordinates, even if they are misunderstood as glass.
He will protect the guys even if the bomb is fake.
In terms of the plot of the movie. Films that focus on crime, wits, police and robbers usually put forward extremely high requirements for the weaving of the plot.
The scene where Andy throws away the red-stained toilet paper and then blows it away in the wind, how can it not be moving? Another example is the dialogue between the doctor and Andy: "I don't think we will meet again" and "It's just in this life."
Doesn’t that kind of free and easy feel familiar?
In many Hong Kong Island police movies, you will find that many characters are so free and easy about death. Perhaps this is also a unique feature of Hong Kong Island movies?
Yes, it is a feeling of freedom and ease, not the kind of heroism without fear of death.
In addition to the chic and open-mindedness shown by the characters when facing death, the strong spirit of the world and the sympathy between friends and foes in the confrontation between the good and the bad allow people to temporarily put aside the conflict between good and evil. , and devote ourselves to appreciating the purity and beauty of human nature. Only when we abandon our own positions and imagine communication without social identity can we feel the spark of the de-identified chivalrous spirit in the real world.
In fact, we can regard "Dark War" as a martial arts film with a modern skin. If you put Ho Shang-sheng and Hua Tsai into the environment of ancient costume martial arts, you will find that there will not be any sense of dissonance.
Of course, there is love. This is really a big surprise.
As we all know, in Hong Kong police and gangster films, it is actually difficult for us to see large-scale love scenes.
Because guns are a man’s romance. The plot involving love in "Dark War" is also not very long, but it definitely plays a finishing touch.
It adds a sense of warmth to the entire movie.
Some people say that the best thing about love in the film is that it lasts until the end. But I think it's quite the opposite.
Because this weightless love focuses on depicting the most beautiful part of love: encounter and heartbeat. As for ambiguity, holding hands, and passionate love, they all do not exist. In the hearts of men and women, each other is still mysterious and beautiful, and the tragic beauty of ending without a disease further defines this relationship as a lyric poem. Such an encounter can be called an accident among accidents, so we believe that such a heartbeat is the pure among the pure.
It can be said that this encounter explains the sentence: If life is only like the first meeting!
It brings out the best in everything, isn't that enough?
Finally, is the main plot of the film, the battle of wits with the opponent!
In police movies, I usually expect plot reversals and unexpected truths. If there is reasonable logic, it would be better.
But "Dark War" not only satisfied all these, but also gave me a divine revelation, like a light tragedy, paying tribute to all the things in life that will eventually pass away. This lightness of escaping from the gravity of reality runs throughout the film and is particularly fascinating. Worry for the loved one, respect for the opponent, these emotions that should be full of ritual are all contained in a common conversation on an ordinary bus on that ordinary day at the end of the film.
If "Infernal Affairs" shows us hope for the revival of Hong Kong films, then I think "Dark War" is the foundation of Hong Kong films in the new era! "
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