Appraisal object: "Goldfinger"
Release date: December 30, 2023
I met Tony Leung during the road show. He had soft eyes and a friendly smile on the stage, but his lowered hands unconsciously rubbed his fingers and scratched the seam of his trousers, every time Every pore is explaining what it means to be an "i person who is forced to do business." But then I looked up at the big screen. In the "Goldfinger" poster, he was sitting on the boss's chair, as if he was laughing at everyone, and his eyes were full of provocation.
Tony Leung has rarely played such an arrogant and exposed villain. During the road show, an audience asked about character creation. He blinked his big eyes and said lightly, "I will try not to repeat the roles I have played this time." Indeed, Tony Leung could have turned the role of Cheng Yiyan into the reserved character he has always been good at, but he is a bold artist. While watching it, I couldn't help but sigh: If it weren't for Tony Leung, no one would have dared to act like this.
Cheng Yiyan is based on Chen Songqing, the mastermind of the Jianing fraud case. He is extremely mysterious: he committed huge economic crimes and was responsible for four lives, but he repeatedly escaped legal accountability. In the end, he was only sentenced to three years in prison - and he took the initiative to plead guilty. ; And he has almost never been interviewed by the media. No one can tell what kind of person Chen Songqing is, which actually gives the actor a lot of room for performance. The TVB drama "Golden Guilty" a few years ago also filmed the Jia Ning fraud case. Zhang Zhaohui's version of Rong Mouton (the prototype is Chen Songqing) is mature and steady, full of personal charm, but at the same time ambitious and unreasonable. Tony Leung's version of Cheng Yi's words and deeds are arrogant, which complements the temperament of the entire work of "Goldfinger".
In the film, Cheng Yiyan is an "atomic bomb" that "explodes" the Hong Kong stock market and upper class society. The film continues to exaggerate his high-profile style: spending huge sums of money to buy an entire high-end office building in Central, asking for high-end loans from banking giants that are several times higher than expected, and constantly acquiring new industries around the world... Cheng Yiyan has a bohemian character in the film. Laugh, that’s the face that impressed me the most in recent Hong Kong films. This face seems to be the epitome of Hong Kong's prosperous era. It is so high-spirited, but it always carries a sense of emptiness that "there is wine now and drunk now."
Cheng Yiyan is crazy, but he is not crazy at all. Regarding the subtle differences, Tony Leung's performance is almost impeccable. As an empty-handed speculator, Cheng Yiyan walks a tightrope every step of the way. To maintain this myth of wealth, he must be rational, calculated, and take every step correctly. He turned everyone into his chess piece in the lavish dinners and drinks. In the film, he tries to recruit a group of "old money" into the game, but is insulted by the leader, Mr. He, as a "country boy". Cheng Yiyan suppressed his anger and invited this group of "old money" to the inner room to appreciate the cultural relics. This scene was shot with great meaning: Cheng Yiyan led them through the splendid mirrored corridor with twists and turns. The "old money" was shocked by Cheng Yiyan's wealth. Power was reversed, and Cheng Yiyan became the banker. This group of arrogant "old money" money" for his use.
It is precisely because Tony Leung's performance gives Cheng Yiyan rich layers that the film "Goldfinger" appears complete. Tony Leung, please do more filming!
Text | Reporter Hu Guangxin
