Galaxy image is a signboard of Hong Kong movies, full of strong "fatalism". The best embodiment of this is "Dark Flower" released in 1998. Douban scored 8.4 points. The
film is directed by You Dazhi, produced by To Qifeng and Wei Jiahui, written by You Naihai and Situ Jinyuan, starring Tony Leung and Liu Qingyun, and sold for 9.56 million Hong Kong dollars that year.
Although the director is You Dazhi, the majority of the film is actually written by Tony To himself. Wei Jiahui is the actual screenwriter. This is the first duo film the two have collaborated.
You Dazhi was taken over by Johnnie To after 10 days as a director. Because Galaxy Image has just been established, Du Qifeng's move is also to train the company's talents.
You Dazhi later left Galaxy Image and returned to tvb. In recent years, he mainly filmed mainland TV series, so we generally still classify "Fantastic Flower" as Johnnie To's work. Before the
movie was released, it was a big topic for the two male actors to shave their heads. At the premiere, Johnnie To did not sell off. In the TV commercial of
"Fantastic Flower", the audience discovered that both of them were shaved by Du Qifeng himself. The reason why
shaved his head was naturally related to the plot. Liu Qingyun played the assassin Yaodong, and shaved his head to reveal the weird brain tattoo. In the film, Tony Leung would replace Liu Qingyun's position in order to escape, and had to shave his head. The filming of
had already started that year, and there was no script at all. Liu Qingyun and Tony Leung filmed most of them, and they couldn't figure out who he was acting.
When Wei Jiahui entered the group, Tony To had taken some fragmentary shots in Macau, such as Tony Leung's hand holding a glass bottle assassin. Funding is limited, and the scenes that I have filmed must be used, and the classics have been made unintentionally. There is no "good guy" in
. Everyone is a "villain". This setting is common in the movies produced by Galaxy Image.
dark flower, that is, the dark plate bonus, in Cantonese refers to the bounty of the underworld to buy murder. The introduction of the story is the 5 million hidden flowers. The story of
takes place in Macau. Ge and George are fighting for the casino business. Behind the scenes, Mr. Hong is going to clear the scene. Ge and Ge are very afraid of Mr. Hong. They want to join hands in secret negotiations and will not give him a chance.
But on the eve of the negotiation, it suddenly came out that Ge Ge was going to spend 5 million hidden flowers to kill George. Killers from all walks of life greet the bounty pouring into Macau.
Policeman Achen (played by Tony Leung) is Ge's subordinate. Jige panicked and told Achen that the behind-the-scenes boss of the hidden flower incident might be Mr. Hong, and that he must ensure safety before negotiating with George tomorrow night and be optimistic about his son Arong.
Achen didn't care, "An old guy who hasn't been back to Macau for more than ten years, where can he go?" In the first 40 minutes of the
film, Achen was in an active position, confident and fierce, hunting down by any means. The killers who flooded into Macau even used their hands directly.
The extremely confident Achen stepped into Mr. Hong's trap without knowing it. Achen is a long-term anxious person, and Tony Leung, who constantly wipes sweat with a towel, is the famous scene in this film.
Ge’s son, Rong Shao, is the fuse of the clearing. The reckless character is the easiest to use. One of the killers, Yaodong, caused a conflict between George’s staff and Rong Shao. Put the blame on Young Shao, and then provoke Ge Ge and George.
Then Uncle Xiang told Achen that he had caught a "anti-bone boy" distributing 5 million hidden flowers, but he didn't say who was behind the scenes. After
, a headless corpse appeared in Achen's house, which was moved from elsewhere. Achen began to feel bad.
In order to keep Rong Shao, Achen decided to coerce Afeng into framing Yaodong for killing Duke Lou.
From 40 minutes onwards, Uncle Xiang told Achen that the "anti-bone boy" confessed that the latter was him. From this moment on, the wolf hunted by Achen became a hunted rabbit.
Achen returned to the police station and found that he had 5 million cash under his desk. At this time, Uncle Xiang led someone to search Achen's office. Fortunately, he fooled him over.
Achenfa gradually calmed downNow the whole thing is related to the bald guy Yaodong, so he rushed into the cell to beat Yaodong and asked him why he framed himself.
Achen was dissatisfied with Yaodong’s answer and wanted to get rid of him, but when he pointed the gun at Yaodong, his subordinates turned and pointed the gun at himself. It turns out that this person is also one of the chess pieces of "Mr. Hong". One.
At night, George took a boat back to Macau, and everyone went to the dock to protect him. Achen knew that he could not protect himself, and was ready to run away. But Ah Rong's body was found by the police in the trunk of his car, and he was also pursued by the police.
In order to store the 5 million bag he was carrying in the locker, he found Ge's head in it. Achen was so frightened that the cash and human head rolled out of the bag. This scene of
happened to be seen by the police who caused Ah Feng to scream. Achen desperately fled to the pier, just hitting George and his party. Achen had to kill George and the others and watched the boat drive away in despair.
Achen decided to retaliate. He found Ah Feng and asked Mr. Hong how to arrange for them to leave Macau. After getting the answer, he drove Ah Feng to death. He threw his handkerchief out the window, of course the desperadoes were no longer anxious.
Aachen shaved his head and dressed up as Yaodong to face off against Yaodong in an abandoned building. The reflections of two people in the abandoned building in the mirror cover the entire screen, presenting a weird atmosphere. This scene is also one of the famous scenes of the film.
Yaodong's head was also cut off by the mirror. This is Yaodong's fate. Achen is going to leave Macau by boat in his capacity. However, Mr. Hong, who was in the process of killing a dog, planned to kill Yaodong, and Uncle Xiang was also Mr. Hong’s. He was in the hands of Mr. Hong until his death.
The most classic segment of the film, which also summarizes the theme of the film, is the segment where Achen confronts Yaodong in the dark and dusty cell.
Yaodong has been playing with his pinball, and said to Achen, "I and you are like bouncing waves. I bounce off the side and stop when I stop. I don’t want to talk to myself." (I'm like a pinball with you. You can’t help yourself wherever you play and when you stop.)
The acting skills of Liu Qingyun and Tony Leung are a highlight. In this case, Liang Chaowei's drooping eyes gradually saw the truth in confrontation with Liu Qingyun, gradually revealing confusion, panic, and desire to survive. Liu Qingyun's strong facial features looked at each other sarcastically, blending with the shadow and strong light environment.
Another outstanding feature of this film is photography and lighting. The strong light hits directly, and a lot of strong light directly shines on the character's face, but the environment is very dark and the frontal close-up, the picture style is strong. The main characters who were hit by the bright light eventually died, which is also a strong fate.
"Dark Flower" is "one black to the end", which is chilling like never before. Achen, Yaodong, and Afeng are all fighting in a dead end, all of them are puppets.
Yaodong, Achen and Afeng were full of confidence at first, but they didn't know that they were arranged clearly by Mr. Hong from the beginning to the end. The big man behind the whole incident showed only a side face, and he was actually a decent looking old gentleman, which made people even more terrified. Personally, it’s actually more terrifying not to show up. What do you think? (Author: Mankei Wu)
