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November 26 The DepartedThe Departed Infernal Affairs, my favourite movie from HongKong, too classic to be copied: the story, the details, the characters of the people, background music, cultural reflection, everything… so touching and unforgettable that I could not help watching it again and again. It is a movie you have to pay attention to every detail, every dialogue of the people in order to really understand the consequence, the result and the meaning of the movie. Some people did not understand this movie at the beginning and they kept watching it till they got the significance. I personally watched it more than 20 times, and I still enjoyed so much though I thoroughly understand it. 4 years ago I heard that Hollywood was going to make the same movie. Like other Internal Affairs fans, I was curious to see how the American version would be. They said it was a successful movie. But after watching it, on Thanksgiving, I would really like to say: Thank you Hollywood, for the shit that you gave to all Infernal Affairs fans. 2 years ago I brought my Italian friends to watch Internal Affairs in Brussels. In their eyes, this movie is really unlike Hollywood movie. And I am sure for those who have ever watched Infernal Affairs, will agree with me. The Departed is simply a copy paste value movie from Internal Affairs. Why do I say copy paste value? They copy the story, they copy the dialogues, they copy the people… But the formula and format are something they are unable to copy.
The Departed Infernal Affairs by Martin Scorsese Andrew Lau/Mak Siu Fai with Leonardo DiCaprio Tony Leung Matt Damon Andy Lau Jack Nicholson Eric Tsang Martin Sheen Anthony Wong
The original story: the value Infernal Affairs is about a cop named Yan (played by Tony Leung) who goes deep undercover into the Triads, and Triad member Ming (Andy Lau), who infiltrates the police department. Each mole was planted by the rival organization to gain an advantage in intelligence over the other side. The more the moles become involved in their undercover lives, the more issues they have to cope with. The film begins with a deal between Sam (Eric Tsang) and a Thai cocaine dealer that is interrupted by Police Superintendent Wong (Anthony Wong) and his team because Yan passed on important information to Wong. Ming alerted Sam of the bust with enough time for Sam to order his minions to dispose of the cocaine so the police would not have any real evidence on their hands. Now Wong and Sam realize that they each have moles within their respective organizations, putting them in a race against time to root out the other mole. The screenwriters use the word Infernal Affairs to describe not only the dangerous and miserable daily lives of the undercover agents who have to live in lies and suspicions all day, but also the internal struggle between their consciences and the dark sides of their hearts. Both moles have multiple faces, leading them to doubt their true identities. The cop is bewildered at his tendency for violence and the gangster would prefer to wash clean his past and become a respectable cop. They need to make choices whether to be virtuous or villainous, but in this cat-and-mouse game, there are too many factors beyond their control. No need to describe the one in The Departed, ‘cause all the plots happened the same one after another, even the dead body of the cop was nipped in between the lift door. I sighed… Infernal Affairs is an unsurpassable classic. The scenario is so excellent, the story is so impressed, and the directors are so creative. There are lots of unforgettable plots. One of them is Anthony Wong dropped from the building, all in a sudden, in front of Tony Leung – unable to breathe, both for Tony himself and for the viewers themselves. While in the American version, Queenan dropped and his blood spattered on Costigan – bloody hell sometimes doesn’t have to be expressed by blood – not as shocked and convulsing as the original. As to the death of Tony, the lift door kept open and close, which romanced the tragedy. While in the American one, Costigan also was shot in the lift, but that’s all, no added value for any breakthrough and sublimation.
Formula: Something that creates the value -- Culture, Society and Significance
無間道, the Chinese title refers to Avici. The Avici (sometimes Avichi) Hell is considered to be among the lowest realms of Hell within Buddhism. People reborn into this Hell have generally committed one or more of the Five Grave Offenses:
l Intentionally murdering one's father l Intentionally murdering one's mother l Killing an arhant, or Enlightened being l Shedding the blood of a Buddha l Creating discord within the Sangha, or Buddhist community.
Buddhism teaches that rebirth into Hell is temporary, while the offending being works off the karma they performed. Similarly, rebirth into Avici hell is not eternal. However, suffering in Avici is far longer then all other levels of hell. The sutras stated that rebirth in Avici will be for innumerable kalpas (time unit). When the offending being passes away after 1 kalpa (time unit), he again gets reborn in the same place, undergoing suffering for another kalpa, and on and on until he has exhausted his bad karma. For this reason, Avici hell is also known as the "non-stop way". The English title, while similarly having connotations of Dante's Inferno, is a play on words on infernal affairs. The original story is a tragedy, while I can’t find any tragic atmosphere in the copied one. No interior monologue, no deep character description, only cops full of fucking bad words and bloody scenes. We don’t have to hear bad words in order to understand the anger of the people, just like we don’t have to see the violence and blood to understand who is the Mafia. Indeed, the original is a more ‘polite’ movie; its indirectness and connotation pass through your bones and touch your heart. At the end, what the story is becomes less important, what remains in our minds is how those people are. They believe destiny, they are in the dark side of the society, and all are beyond their control. The Americans are attracted by the complicated and ingenious plots however they can not understand the cultural concept behind the story. End of the story: Mark Wahlberg dressed like a madman, Matt Damon bloodily died, and the sun rise with the rat running out of the window, no space for further imagination at all. They are just making a story about the rat; they have to kill the bad guys because they can’t let the good guys die for nothing in order to achieve the so-called justice and to reflect their significance of the story: When I was your age, they used to say you could become cops or criminals, what I am saying is this: When you are facing a loaded gun, what's the difference? Yes, they just copy our story to reflect their culture and history of Boston, which we do not have a deep understanding to comment so much, just like they do not understand what the original scenario wants to express: it is a grey zone where you can’t just tell what is black and what is white. It lets the cop die and the Triad alive with pain in all his life, which differs from our common view of value and grants more heart quake and space for reflection. Without these elements, I am not moved by the American one but only sighing and annoying end of the movie.
The Format: Something that vivifies the value -- Background music, Figural characters and Psychological analysis
The song from Cai Qing playing to tell the days that have been forgotten: Anthony Wong dropping from the building… Andy Lau struggling behind his face… Tony Leung smiling to the psy and telling her ‘I am a cop’… Eric Tsang trading in danger… We just can not forget all those figural characters and psychological changes. They have excellent actors in the American version, but they just miss the mopish and intricate expression in Tony’s eyes, miss the contrast behind Andy’s justicial face, and miss the tit for tat between Anthony and Eric. Might it be the cultural difference, I can’t tell if the Americans will have the resonance like us. We were touched deeply by the despairing eyes of Tony. He sat in Kelly’s office (the psy), trying to say something but just hesitating to tell. He told her: I tell you a secret: I am a cop. Kelly smiled and said: Me too. Well, he laughed, just laughed, without saying anything more, but his laughter just made you want to cry. His eyes are full of contents. Leonardo apparently has less tragic elements. He did make good performance to this role however lack of individual charm. To tell the story by the eyes, it is something typically essential from Tony’s style, no one else (at least Leonardo) can ever copy. As to Anthony, the American one has nothing to compare with. Queenan’s role is too weak. We don’t feel pitiful at all when he died. Matt Damon, just plays a role who believes that there is no difference when facing the loaded gun. Compared to Andy, who is eager to become a good cop by struggling in between black and white, Matt’s role doesn’t have much necessity for psychological analysis. Nothing comes out from behind the face.
Well, at the end, for some other details I have to mention, the music. In Infernal Affairs, we were brought into the plots by the music and our hearts beat when they were in danger. But the American always likes to use violence + opera. And I don’t really hear any background music. And the details of the American version are too coarse, they even use mobile messages to exchange information. I faint! Anyway, it is a kind of good movie, but only to those who haven’t watched Infernal Affairs. Btw, we all thought Brad Pitt would played in the movie, fortunately he didn’t.
Appendix:
Awards Infernal Affairs did very well at the 2002 Hong Kong Film Awards, beating the blockbuster Hero for the Best Film award, and also winning the following:
Best Director - Andrew Lau and Alan Mak Best Screenplay - Alan Mak and Felix Chong Best Actor - Tony Leung Best Supporting Actor - Anthony Wong Best Editing - Danny Pang and Pang Ching Hei Best Original Film Song - "Infernal Affairs," sung by Tony Leung and Andy Lau
Official website: November 23 生日快乐
11月27日，我的生日。
我只记得我吃的最后一个生日蛋糕是在我18岁的时候。当时妈妈告诉我：这是你最后一个生日蛋糕了，你已经长大了。
是的，每年生日我都是和爸爸妈妈一起过的。他们会请亲戚到我们家来为我过生日，所以我的生日总是热热闹闹，从不孤单。他们为我点蜡烛，唱生日歌，送我生日礼物。我最后一次这样过生日只和几个表弟，因为其他人都去了别的地方工作读书来。接着，我也离开家乡，离开爸爸妈妈，去过成年人的生活。
多亏了妈妈的话，我再也没有想过要在生日那天吃生日蛋糕， 我也一直过着独立的生活，没有依赖他们。
我忘了大学四年的生日是怎么过的，好像和同学朋友一起出去玩。欧洲四年的生活也不过如此，顶多和几个要好的朋友一起玩，没怎么真正的庆祝过。 对于我来说，这只是另外一天，普通的一天，找借口买东西的一天。但即使这样，我还是不觉得孤独。
今年，我打算回布鲁塞尔，去看看朋友，上喜欢的饭馆，没有什么特别的节目。朋友问我想要什么生日礼物，我却想不出来。我并不特别缺什么暂时而言。生活上少什么我会存钱自己去买，用钱买不了的友情我也有，也不在乎他们送不送礼了。
但今天早上，我突然想到我要什么样的生日礼物，一个不可能完成的任务：一个失去了的童年纪念品－I Q 博士的连环画。
但我忘了什么时候我把那些连环画扔掉了。我只知道家里时不时会丢掉一些旧的东西。我妈妈喜欢清理东西，我想我也养成了丢东西的习惯，而且更甚，有时想都不想。不像我爷爷，喜欢留着所有破玩意。
所以，书是没有了，不知道我妈妈有没有偷偷帮我藏起来，因为每次当我冲动犯错的时候，爸爸妈妈总是帮我补救，而且都是在我不知情的情况下。不过有些错，我想我只能自己弥补了，特别是当我吃完最后一个生日蛋糕的时候。
我现在只是奢望我的连环画还在。在我生日快到的时候，我想这也许是我到目前为止唯一的遗憾。希望以后的人生我不会再让自己遗憾。爸爸经常告诫：三思而后行。他太了解他女儿了，有时就是太冲动。不过老爸，我进步了，起码现在出门去玩不会再像以前一样兜里揣着50欧背个包就走。我知道人们对我的期待，我也知道我自己对自己的期待，所以会善待自己的。
谢谢鹅妈妈！
谢谢鹅爸爸！
谢谢一直照顾我帮助我的人！
感谢主让我拥有这一切！
我不会辜负大家！
小熊生日快乐！  Happy BirthdayHappy Birthday, Qisi
I just remember my last birthday cake was at my age of 18 and my mother told me: it is your last birthday cake since you already grow up.
Indeed, I had my birthday with my parents every year with a big birthday cake inviting all my relatives. It was always a warm party with them lighting birthday candles for me, singing birthday songs for me and giving me birthday gifts. Therefore my childhood was never lonely. My last one was only with few cousins who are younger than me, since the older already went to other cities for work and study. And then, it was my turn to leave my hometown and leave my parents for a life as an adult. Thanks to my mother for her words, I never think of the cake anymore on my birthday after my last one and I live an independent life without thinking of counting on them anymore.
I forget how my birthdays were during my 4 years in the university, maybe with my classmates and friends going out for fun. And my 4 years’ lives in Europe, I guess I was alone or just with few good friends on my birthdays, when I was not really trying to celebrate them. It is just a day, another normal day in life. I might just use it as an excuse to go shopping. But still, I never feel lonely.
This year, I just plan to go to Brussels to visit some friends and go to the restaurants that I like, nothing special still. However, I was asked what kind of birthday gift I would like to receive from my friends. I could not think of anything ‘cause I don’t think I miss anything that I need from my friends for my life. If I want something for my life, I will save money and go buying it myself. For their friendship that I can not use money to buy, I also have. Gift or not is just a way how they express their bless to me.
But this morning, I suddenly come up with something that I think I really want as a gift, which is an impossible mission: A LOST SOUVENIR FROM MY CHILDHOOD – the manga (Japanese comic books) ‘Dr. Slump’ (by Akira Toriyama).
November 01 感情生活 - 王菲感情生活 你很爱我 |
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