Editor's note: If you "don't want to sleep" or " can't sleep with ", please continue reading.
There may be a literary film here, and there may be a horror film here. I don’t know if you will be so bored that you fall asleep, or if you will be too scared to sleep.
Let’s talk about a story tonight like “ shoots a crime and surprises ”. Note that this article contains spoilers.
" Blood Guanyin " is a film with almost as many flaws as advantages. Last year, the Golden Horse Awards gave it the best film instead of the much better "Buddha Plus ". Probably the jury was impressed by director Yang Yazhe's ambition and hard work.
The difference between the two films is like folk romance novels and master literature. "Blood Avalokitesvara" has a complicated plot, with foreshadowing everywhere, and only when the overall situation is clarified can you consider watching this film; "Buddha Plus" is simple and natural, with no trace of chaotic joys and sorrows, and its vitality comes from the deep heart of the audience. resonance.
Many articles have been written on the advantages and plot analysis of "Blood Guanyin". First of all, it has all the elements of a "surprise crime film" - the plot is intricate and alludes to reality (Liu Bangyou's murder case, land speculation, collusion between officials and businessmen, etc.), the three women of the Tang Mansion are each distinct, and the changes in the relationship between the characters are consistent with the plot. It advances, and the ending has climaxes one after another, exploding the doubts one by one. From the perspective of a suspense film, except for a few loopholes and unreasonable treatment, the overall layout of "Blood Goddess of Mercy" is considered to be strict.
Hui Yinghong , Wu Kexi and Wen Qi three leading actors won the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. The kindness and motherly love in Hui Yinghong's bones alternate with the character's ruthlessness like multiple personalities. The slightly unnatural connection can be seen as the inner complexity of the character.
The role of Tang Ning played by Wu Kexi is the most outstanding, but unfortunately the director paid the least attention. Tang Ning's purity, kindness and debauchery and shrewdness are like a bowl of water, but the director is too careful in handling it and sends her to perform a cliché performance when the ending comes, turning the only real tragedy in the film into a cheap and sad drama.
Actress Wen Qi, who played the role of Tang Zhen, the daughter of Tang Mansion, won the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actress. Although her acting skills are excellent, compared to the other two, Wen Qi's idol drama flavor has not faded, and the traces of her performance are too heavy. She often appears beautiful, facially paralyzed, and doesn't know where to use her strength.
Despite its darkness, "Blood Guanyin" conforms to the tenet of traditional Chinese scripts, that is, reincarnation is the way of heaven, and good and evil are rewarded. The world is as black as crows, and the good guys are eliminated and the bad guys have the last laugh. Although the ending is cruel, it does not forget to comfort the audience in a very Chinese way: Don't worry, although the bad guys have achieved worldly success, the loveless ending is the eternal punishment. This method of spiritual victory is still the ultimate understanding and comfort for many Chinese people towards "the unfairness of heaven".
This theory of cause and effect has existed in China for thousands of years and is still very vital today. It allows the Chinese people to learn to obey the will of "God" and surrender to the strong. The subtitles played at the end of "Blood Guanyin" are particularly like an angry scholar complaining, and the intention is immediately reduced, and it is also long-winded.
This strange love story written by Yang Yazhe can be scored 90 points in itself, 10 points will be deducted for the weak idea, and another 10 points will be deducted for excessive flowery, improper complexity, inaccurate plot, and misuse of symbols and symbols.
The method of connecting the videos from a third-person perspective using Taiwan's local storytelling form "reciting songs" is very interesting. The scene of Yang Xiuqing in the Yama Temple is very beautiful. She steadily sings and recites the story to create a distance in time and space. There is nothing new in the years. With such determination, the ugliness and impermanence of the world are all before his eyes. But it is awkward to use in "Blood Goddess of Mercy" because the main body of the film is immersive, but the director often asks the audience to jump out to listen to spoilers, which is not only repetitive but also seems to be showing off.
There are many other unnecessary fancy tricks. The apple that appears twice in key plot points can be understood as the director's desire to add God's Hand , but it turns out to be superstitious and vulgar. There are also candies in the mouth of the dead, which have a terrifying effect but no continuity. There are many similar squibs. The texture of
videos is inconsistent and often makes people skip the scene. The "now" part at the beginning and end is as exaggerated as an eight o'clock TV series, and the main part has elements of horror, romance, freshness, and pornography from time to time under a realistic tone.Due to the lack of a unified "tone" that can accommodate different elements, the colorful elements like changing channels often make people feel like they have entered the wrong door.
It is precisely because of the director's "ambition" to use various elements and techniques arbitrarily, and his habit of letting the storyteller and characters speak out truths and sentences, that he sacrifices the space for the plot to stretch and flow.
The method of not finishing the pot instead of lifting the lid is an advanced stage of literature and art. "Blood Guanyin" is only half successful. If you watch the movie carefully enough and have a basic understanding of Taiwan's political and business ecology thirty years ago (in fact, it is very similar to mainland China), it is not difficult to figure out 90% of the plot after watching it once. Why is it said that there is continuous guessing and confusion, because director Yang Yazhe fulfilled his motives and released dark desires, but sometimes forgot to explain the background, repeatedly went off-line on key plots, and sacrificed common sense for the plot several times.
For example, what is the purpose of the ghost marriage in the second half, and who created it? The director understands that the background is that the Taiwanese police often use strange customs to distract the public's attention when they cannot solve the case, but there is no explanation in the film.
There are no problems with the political and business shady scenes and human greed lines in "Blood Guanyin", but the murder line that constitutes the main plot is very suspicious. Although Mrs. Tang's deep friendship with the top brass of the police department has long been explained, the risk of killing Councilor Lin and his family and causing a major sensation is greater than the necessity. If she had to kill someone for a huge sum of 3 billion, there was no need for Mrs. Tang to leave Lin Pianpian, an orphan girl from the Lin family, to frame her groom boyfriend Marco. She should have known about Marco's status as a sex slave and her hatred for rich ladies, so she knew that Marco was a dangerous chess piece and difficult to control. Since we decided to kill the killer brother afterwards, we can kill Lin Pianpian together without any flaws. Why bother to complicate the matter and bring the uncertain factor Marco into the situation without carrying out the framing of the blame to the end?
Mrs. Tang’s final act of exterminating her relatives was also very abrupt. . The film carefully creates a mother-daughter relationship between Mrs. Tang and Tang Ning, which is three parts true love and seven parts exploitation/confrontation. It's not that they don't have a mother-daughter love, but Mrs. Tang wants to kill Tang Ning when she has already decided to flee. Isn't she worried about police investigation? You must know that the hot-blooded newcomer Captain Liao and Tang Ning have a connection. If Tang Ning dies, Captain Liao will not ignore it.
's design to kill Tang Ning destroyed the original real and reasonable mother-daughter relationship, as if Tang Ning's tragedy existed for the sake of "tragedy". This is another place where common sense is sacrificed in order to fabricate fantasy.
What is as eye-catching as the flaws in the plot, the misuse of symbols and techniques are the scenes of romantic drama. Is it really necessary to repeatedly close up Wen Qi's eyes and pretend to be cruel or her beautiful face paralyzed? Is it necessary to repeatedly return to the scene of Lin Pianpian and Marco's erotic tryst in the forest (although it is very beautiful)? The effect of these shots is like a magnifying glass, reminding the audience that "Blood Goddess of Mercy" works hard enough, but often uses the wrong strength.
But in short, its flaws are not hidden. It has the courage to tell "big" stories, can show the whole picture more realistically without being afraid of ugliness, and is willing to diversify its shooting techniques without being afraid of trial and error. The positive significance of "Blood Guanyin" outweighs its artistic value. I hope it can inspire others and bring more success. Many Chinese-language "big" films.
