Among Hong Kong actors, Andy Lau is a very special existence.
It is difficult to define him in a few simple words -
made his debut in the 1980s, and has experienced several major transformations in his career as an actor.
In the golden age of Hong Kong films, Andy Lau was regarded as an idol superstar. In fact, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor at the age of 27 for "Carmen".
However, it was "Dark War" directed by Johnnie To in 1999 that really allowed the audience to see his acting skills blossom.
This is also the first time Andy Lau has won the Best Actor trophy at the Hong Kong Film Awards and reached the pinnacle of his acting skills for the first time.
Next time, it will be "Infernal Affairs".
In 2007, he participated in "The Disciple" and played the role of the villain in the movie. The ruthlessness revealed from his bones and the sadness of his final self-determination made the audience shine.
In addition, he has appeared in several movies such as "Sister Tao" and "The Lost Orphan", both of which have received good reviews. Not only has he won the Best Actor Award one after another, even Johnnie To said, "You moved me."
In recent years, Hong Kong films have become increasingly clichéd and homogeneous, with the proliferation of police and gangster action films making mainland audiences less and less interested.
It's Andy Lau again, who has successively produced blockbusters such as "Anti-Drug 2" and "Bomb Disposer 2" that have exceeded 1 billion in box office in mainland China, stabilizing the Hong Kong film market.
In the Mainland, his popularity has increased to a higher level. Andy Lau's name is a guarantee of box office. "The Wandering Earth 2" made his acting skills highly recognized again.
But Andy Lau did not stop there. At the end of 2023, he surprised everyone again.
During the Lunar New Year in 2023, another real blockbuster was released -
"The Disciple", in which he once again starred as the villain drug lord after 16 years.
's character is so crazy that he is invincible.
live broadcasts of drug trafficking, countdown killings, turning lights to kills...
Hong Kong movies, you still "do it" -
"Stealth".
Andy Lau, Lam Jiadong, Eddie Peng, Liu Yase, Simon Yam, Zheng Zeshi, four emperors and one empress.
is joined by Lam Suet, Jiang Haowen, Tan Shanyan, Zhu Jianran, Liu Junqian, etc., forming a golden lineup of Hong Kong films.
, together with Andy Lau personally supervising the production and participating in the screenwriting, is a completely new and upgraded production. How cool would
be?
The audience has already given the answer - the box office on the first day led the Lunar New Year festival.
netizen commented: Hong Kong movie fans will be satisfied with this book.
watched it for the first time. The good thing about the film is that
not only retains the strong "Hong Kong flavor", but also brings out a new style of Hong Kong movies.
And Andy Lau's performance as the worst and most ruthless villain in history finally cured the audience's fatigue with Hong Kong movies.
1. Hong Kong police and gangster movies have found a way out
Hong Kong police and gangster movies have been seen by the audience a lot.
seems to be nothing more than undercover police and criminals, with strong plot, strong setting and strong confrontation.
But this one just didn’t follow the traditional path.
The story seemed normal at first.
A batch of 4 tons of drugs disappeared after secretly arriving in Hong Kong. Did someone embezzle it?
Up to this point, it’s all the usual police movie routines.
changes started.
In the dark web live broadcast room, there is a special drug trafficking - "Three two one, upload the link."
"Direct delivery from the country of origin, benefits to everyone." Hundreds of millions of drugs, sold out. Is
so trendy?
It turns out that when the traditional battle between police and gangsters meets the new type of live broadcast drug trafficking, the classic crime theme of traditional Hong Kong movies has a new solution. The man behind
- lawyer Lin Zhenan.
The problem is that the drugs he embezzled came from major drug lords with military backgrounds in Southeast Asia.
is it so easy for you to pass?
Sure enough, at a wedding, Lin Zhenan, who was using the law to escape guilt while killing people, was retaliated by his enemies. His pregnant wife blocked the gun for her, killing one and two.
At the end of his rope, he decided to take revenge on everyone - leaving no one behind.
sat in the police station and turned the desk lamp button, directly overturning the drug lord's lair.
At the same time, a new cat-and-mouse game between cops and robbers unfolds.
offline pursuit and interception, online darknet attack and defense, here is the story, gradually "losing control" and starting to "go crazy".
The police undercover is exposed, the life and death showdown between good and evil... all kinds of reversals, reversals and reversals.
How to counter the extremely arrogant drug lord of the police undercover agent who has been exposed? No more talking, see for yourself.
can only say that for the audience, first of all, it is a film that will never suffer a loss when buying tickets.
The specialties of traditional Hong Kong movies - gangsters and gangsters, confrontations between police and gangsters, fist-fighting, gun battles and car chases. All the traditional Hong Kong movie elements that can be thought of are in "Stealth".
But at the same time, it subverts the criminal settings in traditional Hong Kong movies with more bizarre and mysterious live broadcast drug trafficking crimes, and completely rewrites the rules of the game between police and criminals. The
film not only shows the cooperation between drug dealers and hackers in drug trafficking on the big screen, but also carefully presents the entire cybercrime operation chain to the audience.
Compared with traditional police and gangster stories such as positive and negative conflicts, the director tried to put all dilemmas and personal clues on the "net".
The police not only have to bury needles offline, go deep into their dens to crack down on drug dealers, and engage in gun battles with drug lords with real swords and guns, but they also have to compete on the new battlefield of the Internet. At
, the police are about to break down the door. Over there, the Internet police are busy competing with hackers in a dual online and offline duel.
exploded.
Of course, if you think that darknet transactions, cryptocurrency, hacker attacks and defenses, etc. are just for creating gimmicks and attracting attention, you are looking down on Andy Lau. The strongest visual impact brought by the
film makes the audience's adrenaline surge. It can be regarded as the shallowest highlight of the film at best.
After showing the scale spectacle, the director was not greedy and quickly dug into the characters' hearts.
After tearing open the layers of packages, what is shown in front of you is a story of human nature that takes an eccentric approach and is a reflection of cruel reality.
's method of integrating Hong Kong film style and new crime has also found a new way out for Hong Kong police and gangster films.
2, Andy Lau’s four literary dramas are enough to be written into the textbook
We often say that Hong Kong movies have an energy that makes them unique, but few people can summarize and explain clearly what this energy is.
plot is out of scale? The large scale of the picture? The ultimate dramatic reversal?
But I think that beyond these superficial things, the real essence of Hong Kong films lies in the emotion of good and evil clashing in literary dramas.
"Stealth" is not the kind of enjoyable movie I thought it was, but a "literary and martial" film. It has a solid and delicate character that is rare in Hong Kong genre films in recent years. It has a strong sense of drama and oppression.
The biggest drama comes from Andy Lau, who plays the villain of the film.
In my impression, there are only 4 movies that truly put Andy Lau as the villain.
Johnnie To and Wei Jiahui's "Killer", Ye Dongsheng's "The Disciple", Liu Weiqiang and Mak Siu-fai's "Infernal Affairs", Qiu Litao's "The Bomb Disposer 2".
This time, Andy Lau personally supervised the production, aiming to create a torn, anxious and chaotic villain.
A real "bad guy Andy Lau".
Andy Lau's Lin Zhenan is undoubtedly "the most evil villain in the film."
As an "outlaw maniac" who manipulates drug trafficking on the dark web, to the outside world he is a gentle and elegant lawyer Lin, who is behind the scenes to achieve his goals. play hard.
In the past, villains in Hong Kong movies were either violent and manic, or murderous. However, Andy Lau in "Stealth" wears a suit and a pair of black-rimmed glasses, giving people a mature, stable and harmless feeling.
Is this so elegant? The four literary plays completely shocked the audience.
The first literary scene, anger.
was originally calm and calm, staying out of the situation. While accompanying his wife for a prenatal check-up, he also controlled the secret war on drug trafficking on the Internet. With a simple "call it a day", the police undercover agent buried inside the gang was tortured and killed.
looked at the watch expressionlessly on the side of the road to count down the murder, and the gang leader fell off the tall building.
Until the wedding was attacked, and his wife Vivian took the enemy's bullet for him, the rage and hysteria in Andy Lau's eyes were frightening.
The sentence "Please pray to God and she will be fine" made my whole body goosebumps. I could feel Lin Zhenan's killing intent through the screen.
The second literary drama, crazy.
What impressed me the most was the scene in the police station.
Andy Lau’s famous scene, turning the light to kill someone.
The film uses montage techniques to fully demonstrate Lin Zhenan's cruelty and arrogance in controlling the overall situation.
He did not speak a single line throughout the interrogation room, but he turned the lamp switch with one hand, turning it on and off, as if he controlled the life and death of all the enemies outside the interrogation room.
is different from the fierce fighting scenes in traditional police and gangster films. In this scene, the director completely used audio-visual language such as color, lighting, and soundtrack to create a fierce killing of gangsters.
On the one hand, there is a police station confrontation with undercurrents and undercurrents, and on the other hand, the Southeast Asian drug lords who planned the wedding attack were all eliminated.
"I want everyone dead." No joke.
Is this enough to explode? There is also a third scene, "epilepsy".
It’s still the police station, and Andy Lau’s Lin Zhenan and Eddie Peng’s police officers finally collide head-on.
showed off his appearance with two faces, was impeccable in his work, and always managed to escape completely after committing a crime. Lin Zhen'an, who was able to deal with both black and white with ease, was finally forced out of his true nature for the first time, and smashed a chair with such force that the prop wall was broken. They all created a hole - "Sue me if you have evidence."
From the fierce eyes to the fierce actions, he was filled with murderous intent. Evil enough, evil enough, crazy enough, arrogant enough.
The last fourth scene: crazy.
For such a ruthless character, what should he do if he finds out that the person who has been undercover is his brother who sings with him?
An action of stubbing out a cigarette when visiting his brother foreshadows everything. He is gentle and elegant, but cannot hide his cold-blooded background.
Compared with disappointment, his hatred is more obvious.
Especially the emotional explosion at the viaduct intersection at the end is a rare character arc.
Throughout the play, Andy Lau completely trapped the character in the blur and viscosity between good and evil, revealing a ferocious but charming face.
Whenever the audience thinks that Lin Zhenan has shed tears and softened his heart, the change in his eyes in the next second will catch you off guard.
has read all the crazy literature on the Internet. When Andy Lau plays the role, the charm of the arrogant and arrogant villain is absolutely black. He will do the craziest things in the calmest state and say the most crazy things in a calm tone. Vicious means. It's scary and curious.
Andy Lau's acting skills also have clear levels.
Until the end, the character was unwilling and furious, and when he completely lost hope, his face was completely emotionless.
Andy Lau has a threshold for acting. Any bad guy or villain he plays must die in the end.
The ending is not difficult to guess, but the role is very difficult-
has one character and four identities: lawyer, drug lord, lover, and brother.
One identity and many emotions.
We believe that action scenes are the soul of Hong Kong police and gangster films, but these four acting scenes are also worth the price of admission.
3, the three trump cards, all of them are powerful, and they firmly caught my eye as soon as they appeared.
But Andy Lau is not the only one who is wonderful.
Everyone knows the great conflict between police and robbers, the confrontation between good and evil.
Every ripple caused by the great conflict is like a huge wave to the individuals deep inside.
's group acting skills are very easy to excel.
"Stealth" has contributed to the best literary drama in the Hong Kong film market in recent years.
Some netizens jokingly called this movie a battle between boss Andy Lau and employee undercover Lam Jiadong.
Not to mention, the final elevator fight between Lin Jiadong and Andy Lau in "Infernal Affairs" still remains in the hearts of fans, "I will mess with you from now on."
Over the years, Lin Jiadong has gone from being a transparent actor in Hong Kong movies to being in Hong Kong. The movie king, no one dares to ignore his acting skills anymore.
In this film, Xiu Hao, played by Lin Jiadong, appears to be a close confidant of the boss, but is actually an undercover agent who endures humiliation and heavy burdens.
The rivalry scene between Lin Jiadong and Andy Lau, from testing each other to showing their trump cards, is also the most exciting part of the whole film.
Lin Jiadong also really played the justice and emotional conflict of the anti-narcotics police very well. He wants to return to his family life, but he can't go back.
wants to arrest his good brother, but he doesn’t want him to die.
After living a double life for so many years, can he still distinguish between right and wrong?
Until the resignation scene with Peng Yuyan in the elevator - "I want to resign." "Reason?" "Why do you need a reason to resign?"
In the end, Lin Jiadong said "I killed him with my own hands." All the forbearance and helplessness, emotions exploded to the extreme. I only saw a trapped beast with anxiety in his heart, struggling and colliding between love, humanity and legal principles.
In the end, the director used a "brotherly brawl" on the highway to entangle all human natures, melt them into one pot, and burst into flames. In this scene, the rivalry between Andy Lau and Lam Jiadong can be ranked in my favorite Hong Kong film rivalry scenes of the year. one.
But the most handsome character in the film is Peng Yuyan, whose scenes are relatively focused on catching thieves, but he still amazes the audience every time he appears.
A hot-blooded police superintendent, "uniform temptation", every action scene is exciting.
In several action scenes where he goes deep into the enemy's lair, he is domineering, powerful without anger, handsome to the point of scum, and yet confident, fully displaying his image as a passionate policeman.
and Liu Yase’s black and white cutting.
General commercial police and gangster films will avoid the profoundness of human nature and please the audience with easy-to-read versions such as "Justice will defeat evil".
But "Stealth" can break through the dimension and raise another dimension. In Hong Kong police and gangster movies, the element of "home" often appears as an accessory, used to show the hero's tenderness of the protagonist, subverting the genre. In the
movie, Vivian, played by Liu Yase, is Lin Zhenan's "home".
She is beautiful and gentle, but what was she thinking during the ten seconds when she looked back at the photos at the wedding?
Is she really unaware of the various crimes behind Lin Zhenan? Or pretend not to see it?
I can only say that this golden actress’s eye scene without a single line made my nose sore.
This home can still be very warm.
But when this family suffered an "ethical collapse", the evil character of Lin Zhenan was completely revealed.
So the villain of "Stealth" is not so much a drug lord.
It is better to say that it is the evil thoughts in the heart.
There are metaphors in many details of the drama, and each character seems to have difficulty escaping from his or her own destiny.
"Stealth" is cathartic, unrestrained, and full of emotions throughout, and at the end it makes people feel a biting sadness.
The energy of Hong Kong movies comes out.
4, Hong Kong police and gangster films finally broke through
If you look at it from a higher dimension, "Stealth" is not just a commercial film.
It is one of the most groundbreaking Hong Kong films we have seen in recent years.
Its breakthrough lies in using innovative themes and character perspectives to re-cook the old soup of Hong Kong movies.
For me, a long-time fan of Hong Kong movies.
This is an old Hong Kong wine with a fresh taste. It is vigorous, strong, yet delicate and intriguing.
In fact, the entire Hong Kong movie is waiting for a breakthrough. Whether it is individual audiences, Hong Kong films, or even the film market, they all need this kind of "new ideas". After reading
, I kept thinking, where is the "sneak"?
Potential new crime? Dark web? In his hidden identity?
Or is it the police number that the potential undercover agent has never forgotten?
What about "OK"?
My final answer is: Hong Kong movies.
Crazy and excessive, those anti-drug and undercover agents are disappearing in the long river of time. The aesthetic fatigue of Hong Kong movies is inevitable.
But it is always said that Hong Kong films are dead, but Hong Kong films are still exploring and finding new vitality.
No matter how old it is, no matter how old it is.
blows away the dust - still shining brightly.
If you don't believe it, watch "Stealth", a movie that is full of presence and stamina.
Andy Lau is 62 years old, Lam Ka Tung is 56 years old, and Simon Yam is 68 years old. However, "Stealth" produced by these veterans of Hong Kong films may blaze a new trail for Hong Kong-style police and gangster films.
Andy Lau, a model worker in Hong Kong films, has finally broken through the villain ceiling for Hong Kong films.
