However, some successful Hong Kong directors will make some movies they like. For example, a crime movie "Dead Money" was made to imitate Jia (now).
The film was released on 20 1 1. In my opinion, this is probably the most impressive Hong Kong film in the past decade, although its score seems to be not high, only seven points.
The reason why I was impressed was mainly because the film was too unconventional and meant to go against the current. At the same time, the reversal of its ending is unforgettable.
First, the beginning of realism.
"Dead money" is divided into three lines, namely, senior inspector Zhang, underworld boss Ding Bao and bank employee Teresa. The three lines and the three stories seem to be parallel but at arm's length, so that the three protagonists don't know each other even if they pass by. This structure seems to represent three types of people in Hong Kong society: blacks, whites and migrant workers.
Zhang's annual income is not low, but he is also under great pressure to buy a house. There is also an illegitimate daughter whose father is in the mainland and needs to be taken care of. His girlfriend faces high liquidated damages for buying a house with a loan. Economic pressure and emotional pressure, coupled with work pressure, make Zhang, a senior inspector, haggard.
The three-legged leopard looks quite open in the underworld, but the underworld is also facing a business depression, and even the birthday party can only be eaten quickly. His boss was arrested, he couldn't even pay bail, and he had to borrow money from his brother who had retired for many years and collected waste products for a living. Embarrassed, even my younger brother felt that being a gangster had no future and left.
Teresa is a seemingly glamorous bank employee, but she is facing unemployment because of the countdown to performance appraisal, and there is no progress in telemarketing. It is very difficult to develop a small customer.
Each of the three protagonists has a depressing scene to represent their anxiety and predicament.
When Zhang and his girlfriend were looking at the building, they received a phone call from the police station, and the triangle of feelings, work and economy was nervously intertwined. This scene makes people have an impulse to take a cold shower to calm down.
The three-legged leopard borrowed money from his brother Shengji, who collected waste products, to pay bail. Shengji, a down-to-earth breadwinner, taught him a lesson. The underworld is so mixed up that it won't even talk about collecting waste, and it has to give others a smiling face. He felt sad when he looked at it.
Teresa is instructing small clients to open investment accounts, repeating the explanations of relevant terms over and over again. Guo Jing's mother was a little worried and answered "Yes" with a smile. The boring scenes and lines make people feel depressed and horribly real.
It can be said that the opening of Death Money is a realistic movie. When you watch the movie, you feel that the CD is misplaced, but its plot is very depressing and boring, because for most people, it seems that you can find a fragment of your life in the movie.
Second, the middle part of the crime theme.
Halfway through the film, it finally went to the "right path" of crime theme, a bit like a Hong Kong film.
Zhang Zheng is facing a man who despairs of life and is ready to die with his neighbor.
The three-legged leopard found its original brother, Buoyancy Dragon, and learned that the other party made a lot of money by engaging in underground futures trading. He gladly joined, but he didn't know that in the stock market crash, Buoyancy Dragon was obsessed with the big boss's account and was severely punished by the big boss. For Longteng, it is very important to buy futures to make money.
Zhong Yuan, Teresa's big customer and usurer, was robbed of his life, and the unrecorded 5 million cash left on Teresa suddenly became the temptation of "ownerless".
Zhang Zheng's crimes are relatively straightforward, while the crimes faced by the three-legged cat leopard and the floating dragon are more tortuous. The audience who don't know futures may not even know themselves, but the sharp weapon inserted in the chest of the floating dragon is real and frightening.
Teresa's temptation is even more tangled. Is this pie falling from the sky a lighthouse or a trap?
It can be said that this plot is very neat and tortuous, suspenseful and dangerous, which makes people want to stop and look good.
Third, the ending of black humor.
Zhang crossed the boundary between life and death, and his quarrelling girlfriend came to hug him, and they got back together.
More importantly, the housing contract problem that once plagued them was solved. The mainland real estate speculators bought the house in a big way, which made Zhang earn 500 thousand yuan. He made meritorious service, made money and got back together. Zhang's career, economy and feelings were suddenly enlightened.
The dragon with convex eyes died of despair on the stock market, while the leopard with three feet who took the initiative was lucky to earn twice as much. And because of the death of the convex-eyed dragon, it seems that it has also received a big pie falling from the sky.
Teresa made up her mind to keep Zhong Yuan's huge sum of money for herself, and then resigned smartly.
In the street at night, three people who were tortured by life in the morning passed by with great joy. No one knows how thrilling their mental journey was on this day.
However, the money actually stayed, and the three-legged leopard finally had a sense of pride in smoking the most expensive cigar.
Zhang's predicament came from his house and his father's illegitimate daughter, and finally it was the bold real estate speculators who solved his predicament.
Teresa's predicament is a stressful and hopeless job. Her client's sudden death solved her predicament, although she lost her morality and committed a crime.
The same is true of Dingbao. His predicament suddenly disappeared with his brother's death, but he undoubtedly violated relevant laws, including killing the boss behind Yanlong.
This ending is black enough, humorous enough and surprising enough. After all, according to the style of crime movies, it seems that this ending is not the ending. This sudden stop makes people realize that this TM is not a crime movie at all. This is a funny ukiyo-e painting!
Fourth, the nonsense is over.
Of course, the ending of "death money" is not normal anyway. Although black enough and humorous enough, it also left a deep impression and made people feel very satisfied. Although not rigorous, it is very artistic.
Therefore, in the version released by Chinese mainland, we saw a somewhat meaningless subtitle ending. Teresa and the three-legged leopard were still brought to justice. Although they were sentenced to a light sentence, this ending also tells us that even if the pie falls from the sky, if it is ill-gotten wealth, we must control our inner greed.
A gentleman seeks money and takes it wisely. This ending is of course correct and commendable, but it is somewhat meaningless in this film, especially after an original black ending.
However, this seems to be realism. Ill-gotten gains that are too easy to get will eventually be returned. It is unrealistic to drop a pie in the sky, the original black humor ending will be punctured, and Death Money will return to the beginning of the film, realism.
In turn, it seems to be a circle.