Author: Han Guidong
The recently popular crime movie " eliminates three evils in four weeks " is like a blockbuster. As soon as it was released, it ignited people's discussion on the binary opposition between good and evil and the plurality of moral values in the depths of human nature. the trigger. To be precise, the film itself, as a crime genre masterpiece, not only intersperses and appropriates literary allusions with traditional Chinese culture, but also brings a strong sense of audio-visual shock to the audience within the stylistic framework of violent aesthetics. At the same time, the philosophical questioning of the "newly created man" at the end makes it the key to a win-win situation for the annual Chinese-language crime genre film's reputation and market.
The possibility of allusion appropriation and cultural discussion
Perhaps people are no strangers to the historical allusion of "removing three evils every week". "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils" from "Jin Shu Biography of Zhou Chu" and "Shi Shuo Xin Yu" tells how Zhou Chu killed tigers and dragons and then changed his ways. While he eventually became a famous official, he also set a good example for future generations. People are left with the enlightenment of self-encouragement and good deeds. The film starts from this legendary story and corresponds the emotional clues of the protagonist Chen Guilin with the behavioral choices of Jin people Zhou Chu, forming a strong intertextual relationship. However, this does not mean that "Guilin Tsai" is completely equivalent to "Zhou Chu". On the contrary, it is urgent for the audience to clarify the fate of the two "Zhou Chu" and the human nature behind the great era. So, why does the director regard this place as that place? Furthermore, what is the purpose of this displacement? In fact, as a new generation director in Hong Kong, Huang Jingfu became famous in 2004 with the movie "江湖", and even won the Hong Kong Film Awards for Best New Director in 2005. It can be seen that he is already familiar with the core of the story of grievances and human nature. The historical allusion of "Once you enter the world, time will rush you" has also become the soil that breeds his crime-themed creations.
However, what is different from historical stories is that Chen Guilin’s criminal motives in the movie come from both the torture of his soul at the end of his life and the individual’s sigh of having nothing to look forward to in life. Facing the collapse of the world of faith, Chen Guilin worshiped Emperor Guan many times and threw the "Holy Grail". However, faced with the doubts about why to stay on the list, he needs to be on the list. This behavioral choice makes him unable to understand the evil cycle of "greed, anger and ignorance". In short, Chen Guilin's purpose as a contemporary Zhou Chu is to leave a name first and practice it later, while Zhou Chu chooses loyalty, filial piety and self-denial in order to correct his evil ways. The "Diamond Sutra" says, "All conditioned dharmas are like bubbles in a dream; like dew or lightning, they should be viewed as such." In fact, what people cannot avoid is the sin and punishment in their hearts. Just like the English translation of the movie, "the pig, the snake, and the pigeon", the correspondence between "pig, snake, and pigeon" and the three evils of "greed, anger, and ignorance" makes the movie full of profound cultural thoughts of metaphysics and Buddhism. On the other hand, during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, famous scholars not only discussed metaphysics, but also talked about Buddhism and Taoism. It can be seen that the director's absorption of Wei and Jin culture and the grafting skills of historical stories in his creation make the film not only originate from "Zhou Chu", but also promote a dialogue that transcends the era.
An interpretation of violent aesthetics and allegorical writing
What is violent aesthetics? In a sense, the possibility of aesthetics created by violence is contrary to the connotation of aesthetic discussion, that is, the expression of beauty often relies on the plain, natural, and unsophisticated life experience of the subject, but violence changes the sense of beauty, along with the aesthetics derived from beauty. Awareness is eliminated altogether. However, once violence constitutes the paradigm or style of aesthetics, it means that violence itself is obscured by beauty. In other words, the true nature of violence can be explained through aesthetic methods. In the movie, the originally conflicting and antagonistic relationship between violence and aesthetics naturally constructs a distinct but unified whole between the poetic core and violent behavior, which is the emergence of violent aesthetics. "The Three Evils" is filled with intense violence from the beginning to the end. Violence is gradually quantified through the violent behavior of the protagonist Chen Guilin. In the scene of the police and robbers chasing each other, the violence has qualitatively escalated.When Chen Guilin rushed to the "New Soul House" with a gun, shot the culprit "Venerable", and transformed into a "judge of life and death" to kill the disciples who refused to repent... This series of violent elements made the film's internal and external expression trend Ritualized and sublime aesthetic acceptance is just like the violent aesthetics in director John Woo's pairing of double guns, white doves, and statues of Jesus. In short, the movie outlines the emotional blueprint of the aestheticization of violence, and also releases the micro-psychology of individuals and even society before and after the choice of violent behavior. Just as Randall Collins clearly pointed out in the book "Violence", there are deep social roots and solutions behind the occurrence of violence, which also makes the movie not only highlight the violence, but also add the aesthetic reflection behind the violence.
It is worth pondering that the historical story "Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils" seems to have become an introduction for the audience to understand the movie, but the movie has constructed a new contemporary image of Zhou Chu for the audience. This has to be mentioned in the film’s symbolic and allegorical writing. As mentioned before, the "three evils" in the film may be the "Niu Tou", "Aberdeen" and Chen Guilin himself on the wanted list at the level of signifiers, but in fact, the "three evils" at the level of reference are the fate of ordinary people. It is difficult to understand the "greed, anger, and ignorance" throughout his life. The "pig, snake, and dove" in the English title of the film not only echo the tattoos on the characters, but also become a metaphor for the three original sins of "greed, anger, and ignorance" in Buddhist thought. Specifically, the three original sins of pigeon's greed, snake's anger, and pig's ignorance do not exactly correspond to the three people, but the audience can get a glimpse of their connotations through the corresponding symbol interpretation. First of all, pigeons are a symbol of greed in Buddhism, and their physiological characteristics enable them to eat continuously. On the surface, Venerable Lin Luhe is a "saint" who saves others and saves himself, but behind the scenes he is extremely extravagant and greedy. demon. Secondly, Aberdeen is full of strong possessiveness towards Xiao Mei, which leads to hatred and anger, which is exactly the same as the snake's violent and wanton attacks. Once again, due to the pressure of life, Chen Guilin shot and killed the gangster, showing no respect for his life, but after escaping the pursuit, he laughed to the sky, and even finally wanted to leave his name after death, which contrasted with the stupidity and misery of the pig. In addition, the police officer "Chen Hui" in the movie is the embodiment of justice, but his name points to the image of "everything is empty". Generally speaking, whether it is Lin Luhe, Hong Kong Aberdeen or Chen Guilin, they all have overlapping thoughts of greed, anger, and delusion. These three Buddhist karma obstacles are not unique to one person, and because of this, "Zhou Chu's Elimination of Three Pests" was endowed with a more profound and far-reaching meaning of humanistic concern.
Human Purpose and the Attitude of Philosophical Inquiry
Kant believed: "Man can never be used by anyone, not even by God, only as a tool, but not as an end in itself." That is to say, man is an end, not a means. The film leaves a huge open answer to the philosophical question of "what it means to be human". "After Zhou Chu, we are all newly created people" even made it to the hot search list on Weibo. Then we can't help but reflect on why movies provide discussions about human purpose. I personally believe that the reason why people are human is the possibility of independent thinking. As Chen Yinke said, "Only this independent spirit and free thought have endured for thousands of years, and are as long as the sky and the earth, sharing three lights and eternal light." However, in the movie, the souls who were brainwashed, poisoned, and mind-controlled by the Venerable Lin Luhe Those who cultivate have long been left with nothing more than a thoughtless body, like a walking corpse, and the ability to think deeply in their souls has disappeared. Therefore, they will do everything possible to believe in ritual self-atonement. In the scene of Chen Guilin's baptism in the movie, while his body was being whipped, he also had to wear white clothes and sing: "I thank heaven and earth, I thank my parents, I am a sinner, I endanger the world, I let down the people, I am willing to leave everything behind, Eliminate fame, wealth and power, give up money and material things, and return to your true self." These eulogies pierced Chen Guilin's heart like a nightmare, making him believe that he could be reborn and start a new life as if through baptism. But in fact, it is a way for His Holiness to brainwash others and trap their souls.
There is no doubt that this critical attitude of indifference in the movie not only points to real life, but also reveals the fig leaf of hypocritical spirituality. Chen Guilin's whipping was similar to the "threshing floor" method of the Korean cult organization "Enhui Road Hall". The greater the degree of beating and slapping among believers, the more thorough the cleansing of sins. Facing individual evil, if we do not think about it or have no hope of life, we will stray into the dangerous zone controlled by thoughts, thereby losing the meaning of human beings. Therefore, whether we are in the present where the boundaries between real and virtual are increasingly disappearing, or in the daily life zone where joy and sorrow are mixed, we should stick to the infinite possibilities of using ourselves as methods instead of falling into the collective "unconscious" mentioned by Le Pen. , reduced to a mob of blind followers. However, the sad thing is that in the movie, Chen Guilin can only respond to the truth of reality through a violent trial of shooting, and his own ending also completes his own recognition of his intrinsic value through self-denial revision. Therefore, becoming a "new creation" may not rely on technological expansion in the thinking of "transhumanity or posthumanity", but should truly start from the evil and good in the heart and move towards the peace and acceptance of self-examination. In this sense, the movie can be said to stir up a thousand waves with one stone, making the audience once again ask what the meaning of human beings is.
"Evil comes from the lack of thinking. When thinking falls into the abyss of evil and tries to test the premises and principles of its origin, nothing will be found. Evil annihilates thinking. This is the banality of evil." Arendt affirmed the banality of evil. Evil, but it also shines a glimmer of goodness in a timely manner. For Chinese-language crime genre films, the important thing may not be to blindly pursue violent audio-visual shock and emotional rendering, but to look for the uncertain light of good and evil in the soil rooted in traditional culture, even if it is a weak light. , it is also worth looking forward to more possibilities. (Han Guidong)
Source: Guangming.com-Literary Review Channel
