The crime/gangster genre is highly popular in Asian Cinema, especially Japanese and Chinese, with their organized crime groups, the Yakuza, and the Triads respectively. Known for the way that these films tend to blur the lines between good and evil, they have caused some controversy in the past. Two examples of this are Hong Kong film, Infernal Affairs, and Japanese film, Hana-Bi. Both films portray a morally confused character, but each from opposite sides of a coin. Hana-Bi tells the story of a tormented ex-cop, Nishi, who turns to the Yakuza for financial help to support his wife’s Leukemia treatment, whereas Infernal Affairs’ central character, Lau Kin Ming, is a mole planted into the Hong Kong police force by Triad boss, Hon Sam. Both films deal with the topic of being too deep in a charade that the charade becomes you.
Since 1911, when the Shanghai Autonomous Bureau issued the first regulation, film content has been disallowing content that was deemed too profane. “Theaters in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hunan, among other areas, already were subject to a degree of regulation… Theaters were prohibited from exhibiting ‘plates’ – films – portraying ‘Brutality and cruelty, adultery and robbery, witches and phantoms’ and all ‘other kinds of plates which are detrimental to the society.’” (Wall, Michael. 2011 p.5-6)
Infernal Affairs was caused a minor controversy in the mainland of China, in that it had to present an alternative ending, due to certain implications that the original was believed to have made. In the alternative ending, Lau is somehow discovered by the Hong Kong police department as the mole, and arrested for his crimes, unlike in the original ending, where he instead, remains undiscovered, but chooses to turn his life in a different direction. The reason that the ending had to be changed for mainland China was that the original ending was, due to the morally blurred message, seen to heroize the Triad member, in the eyes of the governments of both the Republic of China, and the People’s Republic of China. According to filmmaker, Jevons Au, “in a mainland China movie, you cannot have a bad guy who gets away with his crimes” (Maria Sala, Ilaria. 22nd September 2016). Similar to the rules of the Hays Code (a set of guidelines that films had to follow from 1930 to 1968), the governments of both republics censor films deemed unsuitable for release. Interestingly enough, in the American remake, The Departed by Martin Scorsese, Lau’s character equivalent, Colin Sullivan, receives similar (but slightly more graphic) justice to the mainland China ending. This shows how, even though the Hays Code has been generally ruled out of Hollywood, there are still some similar guidelines to the Chinese censorship laws that they also follow.
Looking at a morally confused central character from a different perspective, Hana-Bi’s Nishi was portrayed as a protagonist who becomes mentally scarred after an event that left injured two of his partners, and killed another. He soon becomes affiliated with the Yakuza when his wife is diagnosed with cancer, and he needs financial help with the treatment. Although not financially successful, the film received generally positive reviews. However, unlike Infernal Affairs, the film didn’t receive as much controversial attention. From a Hollywood perspective, the difference between the portrayals of gang affiliation in the two movies altered the overall messages.
Some would say that Infernal Affairs portrays the Triads as a badass group of rebels, and are shown in a much more positive light, whereas, Hana-Bi shows the Yakuza members as dense, senseless, and overall clumsier. And so, when it comes to censorship, negative portrayal of illegal activity is much more well received.
The main reason that there was a huge difference in controversial attention between the two films was due to the justice that the two characters receive in the ends of their respective movies, and the overall portrayal of gang activity. The fact that Lau remained undiscovered and didn’t receive the justice that he supposedly deserved did not sit well with censorship rules in mainland China. Hana-Bi, on the other hand, follows the more traditional crime film structure, in which Nishi is ultimately captured, and supposedly kills himself before submitting to arrest.
In conclusion, as a general summation, the two films, Hana-Bi, and Infernal Affairs portray criminal lifestyles from different perspectives. Hana-Bi follows the structure of crime films in a traditional sense, in the way that it shows a dark, gritty world, and follows the downfall of the main character, whereas, Infernal Affairs presents the Triads in a protagonistic way, and the central character ultimately gets away with his crimes. Both films were positively received, but Infernal Affairs also received some minor controversy, due to its overall message, and portrayal of the criminal lifestyle, and had to alter the ending to be screened in mainland China.
REFERENCES
Xiao, Zhiwei; Zhang, Yingjin. Encyclopedia of Chinese Film. 2002
C. Wall, Michael. Censorship and Sovereignty: Shanghai and the Struggle to Regulate Film Content in the International Settlement in Journal of American-East Asian Relations. 2011 p.5-6
Maria Sala, Ilaria. ‘No ghosts. No gay love stories. No nudity’: Tales of Film-Making in China in The Guardian. 22nd September 2016
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