TOTAL VIOLENT AMBIANCE - 古惑仔

One of the typical Cantonese terms that you may have heard is gu wak chai (古惑仔) - "anciently confused youngster".
What it means is hooligan or thug, a teenage ruffian, who will likely come to a bad end.

Probably a juvenile delinquent, and a poor student in school. But one with connections to a gang.
Some are dead by sixteen, others become serious criminals.
Yet others go into marketing, religion, or blogging.


香港電影 HEUNG KONG DIEN YING

Except for those last three careers, the subculture is well represented in Hong Kong gangster movies. Many of which are either a complete rock'em sock'em blast of operatic gore and ultra-violence - the oeuvre of Hong Kong director John Woo (吳宇森 Ng Yu-sam) - OR explore deeper themes of honour, trust, friendship, ethical behaviour, gallantry, etcetera (also frequently seen in the oeuvre of mr. Woo).
A key element underlying the genre is 'yi-hei' (義氣): loyalty to and self-sacrifice for one's friends and sworn brothers.
One can often tell who the bad guy is by their lack of that characteristic on-screen. They are flawed, they lack nobility, and worst of all their actions betray a vileness of spirit.


It shows some epic misbehavior, but this clip is relatively safe.

流氓學校
This is why you're all little monsters! Improper rubbish!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=S5kjisq3NYg


The following clip should only be watched by anthropologists, linguists, and mature audiences.
It might prove a wee bit traumatic for sensitive people.


學校風雲
Ten minutes of rumbling in a nightclub, chase scenes, cleavers, and violent death.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_loqsYtHKw&feature=related

That last scene was the ending of the movie 'Hok Hau Fung Wan (學校風雲) - School on Fire (produced in 1988).

[Director: 林嶺東 Ringo Lam (Lam Ling-tung). Bad-ass: 張耀揚 Roy Cheung (Cheung Yiu-yeung). Good girl: 袁潔瑩 Fennie Yuen (Yuen Git-ying).]


The movie narratively details the changing personalities of a bunch of high-school punks as some get further involved in organized crime, others for various reasons have second thoughts. Along the way, some people die, some girls are brutalized.
Roy Cheung is the 'older brother' heading the youth-branch of a larger gang, and runs roughshod over their tender spirits. He epitomizes the flawed character who lacks 義氣 and consequently it is most welcome when in the last minute of the movie he gets what's coming.
You will cheer when his already dying body goes over the edge and plunges to the sharp iron fence spikes below.

Saw the movie at the Pagoda Palace Theatre on Columbus Street several years ago. Even the young hoodlums who customarily hung out there seemed chastened after the movie was over.

It was probably his lack of gallantry, more than the horrific scenes, that quieted them. Older Brother Smart was a right bastard, cruel, vicious, vindictive, and entirely devoid of any 義氣 whatsoever.
Having grown up on both sword-hero (劍俠 kiem hap) and triad (黑社會 hak sei wui) movies, the social environments of which are collectively known as Gong Wu (江湖 rivers and lakes), the various local 古惑仔 aspired to at least a modicum of gallantry.
Right behaviour, even if one is on the wrong side of the law, is an important element in the Cantonese weltanschauung.


做好漢子 TSO HOU-HON JI

What might seem a didactic imposition in a Hollywood flick, and would be crudely overdone besides in the hands of English-speakers, was often a necessary element of the Hong Kong movie - audiences felt cheated if the heroes and heroines did not demonstrate how a person should act.
No matter the situation, some values are universal.
Adhering to a code of conduct proves that one is part of the human family.
And only those who truly grasp what loyalty, gallantry, and decency mean can epitomize right behaviour.

All men are brothers. Those who do not act accordingly put themselves beyond consideration.


後記 AFTERWORD

For a truly classic rendition of the right bastard without a shred of 義氣, you really should watch the movie Gaam Yuk Fung Wan (監獄風雲) - Prison on Fire (1987), also directed by Ringo Lam, with Roy Cheung as the vicious prison officer. This is the movie that established Roy Cheung's reputation as an able enactor of the evil psychopath role. When one of the prisoners, played by Chou Yun-fat (周潤發) bit off his ear, the audience roared their appreciation. The sob deserved it!


我叫你做食屎狗!
Ngoh kieu nei tso sik si gau ('I'm calling you a shit-eating dog').

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BiYrcOv98Co

Prison on fire is worth watching also because the actions of Ah-Ching (Chow Yun-fat) perfectly epitomize the instinctive gallantry so admired by the Cantonese.
He may be a lower-class shlub, but he's got the right stuff - a sense of decency.
義氣



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