Korean police and criminal films have been "stealing teachers" from Hong Kong films. But the current situation is that after the wave is about to shoot the former wave, the South Korean police and gangster film has a tendency to outperform the blue. After "Infernal Affairs" in Hong Kong films, the only ones that can be found recently are "Wu Shuang" and "Anti-Drug 2" which participated in the Oscar this year. The
police film on the surface presents a contest between good and evil, darkness and light, but the core needs to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, showing the characters' struggles and transitions in self-identity. For example, the most beloved undercover element in Hong Kong movies is the best entry point for tearing the characters' hearts and shaking their identity.
In 2013, the toddler South Korean movie suddenly came out with a stunning cops and robbers "New World". The film not only caused a sensation in South Korea, but also left an unshakable position in the hearts of audiences in the mainland. Its place on the Internet has remained above the ultra-high score of 8.7.
After years of development, South Korean police films have not only inherited the Hong Kong film’s “everything is overwhelmed” tradition, and completed the localization transformation, but also tried the integration of various genre elements, combining Hollywood noir films with Hong Kong-style gangster movies. Effective grafting.
From "To the End", "Veteran", "Criminal City" all the way, to the popular "Extreme Profession" at the beginning of this year, Korean police movies no longer emphasize the absolute opposition between justice and evil, and begin to show a certain " With the Korean characteristics of "control evil with evil", I also hope to add humorous elements to serious themes to increase the entertainment of the film while maintaining a certain degree of interpretation.
, the character actor Ma Dongxi, who has become popular because of "Travel to Busan", has appeared in many times in recent years as a police or gang leader who is difficult to distinguish between good and evil. His appearance is very distinctive, tough guy and warm man, both violence and tenderness, he often shows people in the image of a suit thug, which is very in line with the neutral role in the current Korean police film to eliminate "good and evil". In
's previous "Criminal City", he starred as a sturdy policeman who broke the regulations of the police system, and a police detective who interacted with gangsters, filling him with a rich character level. In the two recent movies he starred in, "The Legend of the Villain" and the latest "Bad Guys", the audience can clearly feel South Korea's temptation and efforts to transform local police films.
In "The Evil Man's Biography", the police cooperated with the gang to fight against the underworld for an unprecedented time. The gang boss and the police detective captain played by Ma Dongxi restrained each other and supported each other, which caused a lot of jokes and advanced the plot, forming a turning point in Miao Man's characters. The design of
transforms positive and evil from absolute opposition to a harmonious unity, adding some wasteful "utopia" color to the film.
"Police", "gangsters", and "demons" are the titles of the film, but from this, we can see that the film focuses not on the topic of whether police and robbers are good or bad, but expresses the self-salvation of human nature. Discussion of the ultimate proposition. Through the confrontation of the three camps, the film completes the internal torture of the key characters' self-identity.
and the recent new film "Bad Guys" even more "use evil to suppress evil" and comedy elements to an unprecedented height. "Bad Guys" is a big movie of the same name in an 11-episode series broadcast on Korean cable TV in 2014. The film continues the basic trend of the TV series:
, the leader of the serious crime team, Wu Jiuzhuo (played by Kim Sang Jung) lives in seclusion at home due to cancer. Park Xiongzhe (Ma Dongseok) applied for a special leave because his friend was killed, but was recalled to help solve the case because of a special case in which a prison car was hijacked by a "killer" and several serious criminals escaped.
In order to improve their strength, the two teamed up with the former detective Gao Youcheng, who was imprisoned for manslaughter, played by Zhang Jilong, and the coquettish female fraudster Jessica (Jin Yazhong). The four formed a temporary "bad guy" group to combat Criminals, in order to offset their sentence. The rarest thing about the
film is that in the battle between good and evil between the gangster and the police, the police almost completely "lost their voice" or become criminals assimilated by evil. The
bad guys group are almost all criminals except for the seriously ill captain, and even the captain himself is a cruel role that is difficult to distinguish between good and evil. Here, Korean police films have already undergone a core transformation. Imagine that a gangster movie with almost no police involvement is inherently ridiculous. In addition to the nonsensical comedy passages inserted in the movie, it brings a comedic turn to the movie.
"Bad Guys" has completely got rid of the serious themes of "New World", the undercover identity is torn, and it has been proved in a simple and crude way that only the devil can destroy the devil. But because of the existence of the moral premise of the story, in terms of character design, whether it is the gang boss played by Ma Dongxi or the scammer who played in Jin Ya, they will suffer conscience to the victims, either their former brothers or the violent ones. Women develop sympathy, which completes their inner turning point and provides justice support for their violent behavior.
Currently, "Bad Guys" only has a score of 6.5 on the Internet, which is a decline compared to previous Korean police films. But it is understandable that "Bad Guys" is an entertaining commercial blockbuster, even with a little comic style.
However, the over-commercial assembly line production also affected its exploration of the depth of the subject. In fact, the film has a dark line, which is a bit similar to "Crime City" starring Ma Dongxi before. In the
film, the South Korean gang was unified by an organization in a short period of time, but the big guy behind it was the Japanese gang. They used their superior resources to win over some South Korean politicians and cultivate the South Korean gang leaders as puppets to monopolize the sale of drugs. Smuggle privately and earn huge profits.
But their goal is not only the whole of Korea, but also the mainland which is separated from Korea by the sea. This design is quite metaphorical of "World War II". And in the end, the fight between Ma Dongxi and the Japanese leader is even more meaningful. I believe many Chinese audiences can understand it at a glance.
It is a piece of cake for Korea to want to create a big cool movie like "Bad Guys". Invite suitable celebrities to play roles, fill in the genre elements that already have templates, supplement them with Korean-style actions, and add a little comedy element, you can almost get a good box office and get a certain amount of attention.
Korean police and criminal films have finally formed their own Korean routines after years of polishing on the basis of continuous learning. The "Extreme Profession" at the beginning of the year was the peak of the genre, and the new film "Bad Guys" was a successful commercial harvest. The Korean police film has become a new growth point for its box office, which is really enviable for mainland movie fans.
