text | Aifei
Chinese people have liked to pray to gods and worship Buddha since ancient times. Among them, the most common one to make offerings to is Guanyin Bodhisattva.
People keep it at home and hang it on their bodies. When they encounter something that gives them a headache, they can't help but say to themselves: Bodhisattva bless you.
Therefore, in ordinary people's minds, people should take off their disguise and become pious in front of the Bodhisattva.
But is this the case for the world?
certainly isn't.
In this land, there are too many people who are engaged in transactions involving power and money under the banner of the Great Merciful and Compassionate Guanyin. While they beg the Bodhisattva to bless them, they also point to the Bodhisattva to bless themselves and eradicate dissidents.
In mainland China, it is difficult to see a movie that directly brings the various activities of powerful people to the big screen. In the past two years, Taiwan has produced a very interesting movie called " Blood Guanyin ".
In the 1980s, among Taiwan's upper class society, there was a wealthy family called Tang Mansion.
After the death of General Tang in Tang Mansion, Mrs. Tang ( Hui Yinghong ) became the head of the family. She led the family in the antique business. Mrs. Tang is noble, gorgeous, and can move among the powerful with ease.
Mrs. Tang is a shrewd person. She is well aware of the games that the upper class is addicted to:
Buy it for one dollar today and sell it for a hundred dollars tomorrow.
It was the general election in Taiwan at that time, and the chairman was either Dean Wang or Secretary Feng.
Mrs. Tang found out that Dean Wang’s wife loved painting, so she helped her hold a grand art exhibition, invited celebrities from all walks of life, and sold a fan with the paintings of the Dean’s wife on it for 500,000 yuan. .
Mrs. Tang has a wide network of contacts. She has people in the media, she has people in the police station, and many high-ranking officials in the government are her guests.
For example, Councilor Lin who manages money, the powerful speaker and county magistrate, and Dean Wang who may serve as chairman in the future, etc.
In the eyes of dignitaries, Mrs. Tang is reliable and trustworthy.
Therefore, under the care of Mrs. Tang, these upper-class people gathered together to plan a dream of getting rich: Councilor Lin transferred 3 billion from the bank (all saved by ordinary people) to develop a piece of land, and the Speaker The mayor, the mayor, all kinds of escorts, and the dean’s wife invested in the stock...
After everything is done, everyone can get a large sum of money.
I thought that everything was under control, and the powerful people were happy, wandering around the mountains and forests, drinking and talking, until the family of Congressman Lin, who was in charge of money, was brutally wiped out.
Moreover, the land that was previously planned for development was suddenly temporarily replaced due to environmental reasons. In this way, everyone's investment was locked up.
As the saying goes, you can't lose the rice by stealing the chicken.
In this way, a group of celebrities were caught up in the "Lin Family Murder Case" and the "Land Speculation Corruption Case". Everyone was dumbfounded, but after all, they were ruthless people. They knew that someone was up to something, and they were determined to find out the "ghost" who was causing trouble... ....
"Blood Guanyin" was released in Taiwan at the end of 2017. It was extremely popular on the stage of the 54th Golden Horse Awards and won the best film. Hui Yinghong won the best actress for her role as Mrs. Tang, and Wen Qi won the best supporting actress.
It is said that when director Yang Yazhe heard the result, he called the judges "good".
Yang Yazhe said: This film would never have been made. In this era of positive energy, this is an unpositive film, but darkness is also the driving force for people to make progress, and no one is an outsider.
In my opinion, "Blood Guanyin" is obviously good because of its sense of art and the exquisite performances of the actors. In the film, Hui Yinghong, Wu Kexi, and Wen Qi almost used their performances to achieve the "scary" required by the movie. "Effect.
Underneath the green emeralds and delicate silks is a belly of bad blood and bad heart; underneath the seemingly honest and honest bureaucracy is hidden the sinister corruption of intrigues.
The movie is like a scalpel, bloodily cutting through the overt and covert struggles among Taiwan's upper class.
That year, a judge used the five films nominated for Best Picture to meaningfully praise "Blood Goddess of Mercy" and said: We want the heartwarming " Love and Affair ", but reality tells us that we must face "Blood Goddess of Mercy" The fact is that instead of " Buddha Plus " of " easy + happy ", as for the mainland's "Carnival", it should be paid attention to, but it still has to give way to Taiwan's top priority.
The atmosphere of the entire movie is like the red mandalas on the clothes of the three women in the Tang Mansion. They look very gorgeous, but are actually extremely poisonous.
In "Blood Guanyin", the so-called "ghost" is actually Mrs. Tang who chants sutras all day long, is loved by everyone, and sends Guanyin around everywhere.
She has set up a big game, including art exhibitions, family exterminations, and corruption cases. She has only one purpose: to drag down Dean Wang and support her good friend Secretary Feng to become the chairman.
On the surface, it seems that Mrs. Tang is playing chess, but Chinese people all understand that the real chess player is the patriarchy behind it.
In Mrs. Tang’s heart, she didn’t believe in any bullshit Guanyin, she only had her own endless desires. Therefore, the movie raises a question several times: How should
live to be a human being?
For Mrs. Tang, the so-called human form means holding the country in hand and holding a high position of power. As long as the goal can be achieved, any family, friendship and Bodhisattva heart can go to hell.
And her daughter Tang Ning (played by Wu Kexi) has become the most tortured person in the whole film.
In the film, Tang Ning became Madam Tang’s human weapon. Madam Tang used her daughter to sleep with men one after another. She said to Tang Ning: You are the princess’s destiny, as a maid.
However, for Tang Ning, the so-called human form is freedom. She wants to freely control her own life. Therefore, we see in the movie that in the end, she knew she would not make it ashore alive, but she still got on the boat out to sea.
Tangning has a daughter named Tangzhen (played by Wen Qi). Tangzhen is very envious of her best friend for being able to play with her boyfriend.
Tang Zhen thinks that human beings are love, companionship, and lonely hearts that need comfort. So, when she was raped by the boy who thought she was pure, her innocence and fantasy disappeared.
Mrs. Tang often taught Tang Zhen that when you see something scary, as long as you face it bravely, you will never see it again.
However, over the years, under the influence of Mrs. Tang's words and deeds, Tang Zhen became as terrifying as Mrs. Tang.
30 years later, Tang Zhen became the head of the family.
The old Mrs. Tang was lying on the bed dying. Although she was tortured, Tang Zhen tried his best to save her life. Of course, Tang Zhen did not do it out of love, but wanted her to experience this horrible taste with him, so he wished Mrs. Tang:
a long life and ten thousand years of wealth in the hospital.
Among the Taiwanese movies of that year, my favorite ones were "Buddha Plush" and "Blood Guanyin". These two movies constitute a panoramic view of Taiwanese society. "Buddha Plush" tells people that the most common outcome for people at the bottom is not having a good life; and "Blood Guanyin" reveals to us the fact that the worst outcome for those at the top is not having a good life.
How to live like a human being? The movie does not give the answer. But at the end of the movie, a line of words appeared:
The most terrifying thing in the world is not the punishment in front of you, but the loveless future.
Chen Danqing once said that when he was young, he wanted to buy a big house, drive a good car, and have a charming partner. These are all good ideas, but it’s important to understand that they are desires rather than ideals.
I often think of this passage, so that I can distinguish between people who are completely driven by desire, ambition and vanity, and who are people who have ideals, sincerity and do things...
In the past few years, I feel more and more that those who like to calculate will always say they are doing it for your own good. But what he does in private is how to use you to make him better.
For example, in the film, Mrs. Tang persuaded Councilor Lin to join Secretary Feng, and they all worked together. After Councilor Lin transferred 3 billion, she killed the whole family and destroyed all traces of the body.
For example, Secretary Feng on TV talks about serving the people, but in fact, the 3 billion that ordinary people deposited in the bank have been pocketed by people like them without knowing it.
Another reason why "Blood Guanyin" directed by Yang Yazhe is so highly praised in Taiwan is that the movie is adapted from a real person.
Some netizens said that "Blood Guanyin" hides a lot of the dark history of Taiwanese politics. The murder case in the film mirrors the "Liu Bangyou murder case." In 1996, a murder case occurred in Taoyuan County that shocked the whole Taiwan, including the county magistrate Liu Bangyou. 8 people, including 8 people, were brutally massacred by firing squad...
Mrs. Tang’s real name was Yu Yueying, and she was speculated to be Yu Chen Yueying, the former mayor of Kaohsiung County and counselor to the Presidential Office. She had been involved in "Xinrui" He was sentenced in the "Ten Billion Loan Case".
and the speaker, dean, and secretary-general in the film all pointed out the same. Perhaps this is why the director directly called the judges "kind".
Seeing the women who were pushed to the stage in "Blood Guanyin", I suddenly thought of "Dream of Red Mansions". In the general trend of "Dream of Red Mansions", every woman, no matter high or low, virtuous or foolish, has her name recorded in the "Unfortunate Life" .
No matter how many witty words and tricks Sister Feng has, she can’t escape the general trend in the end. Qingwen Even if she lives a low-key life and behaves tactfully, she still cannot escape the general trend. Miaoyu becomes a monk, jumps out of the three realms, and still falls into Thief's hand.
The current situation and fate play tricks on people, so it is better to live a life of indulgence.
As repeatedly emphasized in "Blood Guanyin": political gangsterism is not the most terrifying thing, the most terrifying thing is the loss of human nature and a loveless life...
