In two days, it will be Johnny To's 70th birthday.

Some time ago, he was interviewed by the media and talked about the filming plan.

The "Hope" that hasn't been filmed for three years.

Collaborated with Tony Leung to shoot a gangster film that takes place in Japan, and the progress of "Underworld 3", etc.

We know that these are beautiful "visions" that will take a long, long time to see.

But right now, there is a real work coming out.

After 26 years, Johnny To returns to the drama industry.

Douban score 1.0.

The culmination of the concept of galaxy imagery——

Three lives

Kite runners

What is Three Lives?

To put it bluntly, it's the English name of the film, what if ——

If.

As I get older, many people must have thought that if I had made another choice at some point, would my life have taken a different path?

is like the story that Johnny To often says-

He made several offers when he was young, and the first one to interview him was TVB, but the next day, TVB offered him a job, and he didn't attend other interviews.

Let's just that TVB didn't give him that phone at the time.

Or he went to another company for an interview.

So, will he not enter the film and television industry, and Hong Kong movies will not have To Qifeng or even Galaxy Images?

There is no "what if" in life, but film and television dramas can.

So in "Three Lives", our male protagonist Luo Zexin walked into a fork in his life because of a mistake or a thought.

A key imagery –

Kite.

This is the definition of life by the creators at the beginning of the series.

It drifts with the wind, without the slightest regularity.

said that when Luo Zexin was in middle school, he liked to draw comics and like to chase kites, and once, because of comics, he met a girl, he tricked her, and planned to apologize to her.

At this time, there was a kite with a broken string, floating in the sky.

If he followed the kite, he chased all the way to the girl's downstairs, and thus met her when he was a teenager.

Then, he will be determined to draw manga.

Embark on the path of a cartoonist.

If he didn't catch up with the girl, he accidentally saw his father's cheating and his mother's silence.

Then, he will choose a more realistic and popular path.

Smoothly marry, have children, and maintain a family.

Become a civil servant.

If he fails to catch up with the kite, he will do it to protect his little gangster friends all the time.

Then, he will gradually slide into the rivers and lakes and become a member of the gang.

Three forks in the road, three lives.

As said in the trailer, either all the way, or chasing dreams all the way, or, all the way to the rivers and lakes.

So, this is a simple combination of the stories of three lives into one play?

Of course not.

Galaxy Images has been around for 29 years, and they've been talking about the same topic all along-

Destiny.

Regardless of human initiative, there are forces that human beings have never been able to resist.

So in "Three Lives", no matter how hard Luo Ze Xinran tries, how he accepts his current situation, and then moves towards the goal with a different identity.

Still, there are some things that can't be changed.

For example, Ah Long, the little gangster who has covered him since he was a child, will die in a gangster brawl on the street in 1981 years in any world line.

For another example, in all timelines, his white moonlight girl can't escape the car accident in 2003.

And his character, which was prophesied by his father from birth - arrogant.

This made him suffer a lot no matter what future timeline he had.

and, the love of comics shared by the three world lines.

At the end of the story, Ashin of the three fates died on the same day, and the last thing he held before his death was his own comics.

Different means to the same end.

Attachment to turn back

What comes to mind?

That's right, Galaxy Image's entrepreneurial work, "The Birth of a Word".

The biggest highlight of this 1997-year-old movie is that it is also a gangster who is faced with a life choice, and two life assumptions after making different choices.

But to be precise, "Three Lives" should be a fusion version of "The Birth of a Word" and "Tree Moves".

Three different lives are its high concept.

And how the three lives intersect with each other is its narrative method.

As the first series of Galactic Impressions, it is clearly a collection of ideas from previous works.

As a result, there are a lot of milky way easter eggs buried here.

For example-

Or—

Tea restaurants, hurdles, street knife fights, sudden assassinations in cars......

Those famous scenes in the former Galaxy Imaging works, "Three Lives" is a decline, and they have all been reproduced over and over again.

But clearly, it's more than just recreating the scene.

It's still talking about "people" –

is Johnny To's favorite, the kind of protagonist in the gray area.

What do you mean?

In fact, if you watch too many works of Galaxy Imaging, you will find that under the lens of To Qifeng, there is no absolute decency, and there is no standard villain.

Whether it is the police or the underworld, they are difficult to describe as good or bad.

Good people have evil thoughts in their hearts, and bad people also have warmth in their hearts, and only this kind of complex person can arouse Du Qifeng's interest.

is like Ren Dahua, the protagonist of "PTU".

As a police officer, he would rather break through the bottom line than find the lost gun for his brother, which seems to be a matter of righteousness.

But judging by his attitude towards other people who are not police officers, it is difficult to agree with his approach.

And what about "Three Lives"?

Its goodness is precisely in creating a sentient and righteous bad guy (underworld line), a good guy with dark hearts (cartoonist line), and a normal person (civil servant line) where hypocrisy and justice coexist.

Take, for example, a scene in the manga line.

Ashin accepted an offer from a comic book publisher and officially began to draw as a career.

In order to compete for the lead writer of the new journal, he needed to create a short story that was attractive enough in three days.

For three days, he painted his works without sleep, but all of them were destroyed by a heavy rain.

He was angry and angry.

When the inspiration came, he spread out the drawing paper directly on the street and painted it with the light of the motorcycle.

When the final draft was finished, the painting was full of anger.

Naturally, he didn't get the job of the main writer in the end.

Paranoid, proud, and obsessed.

With a BGM with a strong martial arts flavor.

This is not just drawing comics, this is a martial idiot practicing magic skills.

Yes, most of the time in the manga line, everyone admits that he draws well.

The creativity is unique, the characters are plump, the details are substantial, and the pen is precise.

But.

There is also darkness and paranoia in the heart.

So you see, although "Three Lives" is a TV series, it is still full of galaxy-like cinematic texture.

As a Galactic fan.

Today, when the production of Du Sir's new films is getting less and less, and the old films are being slurred, I am also satisfied to see such a "meal replacement" with full style.

era

Of course, Johnny To is not making such a drama to repeat his past.

What he wanted to say was actually Hong Kong.

According to the setting in the play, Ashin was born in 1976 years, and the time node when he chased the kite to the fork in his life was 0 years.

After that, other milestones:

The stock market crash of '87, the return of '97, and the collapse of Lehman Brothers' stock price are all truthfully presented in the work.

Regardless of the world line, Ashin has personally experienced these nodes, and has had a fierce life shock with these nodes.

So much so that some people directly define that this is a love letter dedicated to the city of Hong Kong.

Looking old-fashioned?

Not really.

Because although the drama is about Ashin's three lives, in fact, it cleverly compares these three different lives to the three different identities of Hong Kong, and looks at Hong Kong's past decades from different perspectives.

Ashin himself is a metaphor for Hong Kong's development over the years.

For example, the cartoonist line -

Comics are Ashin's interest and ideals, but at the same time, they are also a cultural element that entertains the public.

It's actually about the entertainment side of Hong Kong.

They have been brilliant.

In those prosperous days, almost all Hong Kong people were waiting for the cartoons of these cartoonists to come out on the street.

But the result?

Whether you're talented or not, you'll end up being unwanted.

They still ushered in the day of low tide.

Or, the civil service line –

Perhaps many people will think that the civil service line is the most ordinary line in the play, but please note that it is also this line that is limited to the officialdom struggle in the end.

It is the political side of Hong Kong.

In those years, the property market soared and stocks soared.

But what about behind the scenes?

In fact, there is also an unknown collusion, and there are secrets that cannot be made public.

Even, the underworld line-

This is the morality, gray area, and drunken gold addiction that Du Sir has always loved.

But in the second half, it feels like "Underworld 3", and Crazy Boy is in business.

It's really about the business world.

In the eyes of businessmen, Hong Kong is a city of opportunities, and a simple decision can make a fortune.

It can also make people fall to the bottom.

Their future is so uncertain that people can't change it.

So that's right.

"Three Lives" is not like most period dramas, which simply let the characters go through the times to create a nostalgic atmosphere.

It is the three sides that make the protagonist Hong Kong.

By telling the stories of three different lives, it outlines a Hong Kong that has passed away.

This is Johnny To's original intention.

And even further.

He also regained the attitude in "Woo Gu Gu New Year's Wealth" and "Judo Dragon and Tiger List", telling us that even if fate is predestined, you can still choose how to live.

Free will is far more important than destiny.

Remembered something?

That's right, Galaxy Imaging's last work, Zheng Baorui's "Murder".

"Three Lives" was born from this.

At the beginning of "Murder", there is this line:

Everything counts

It's not up to anyone

This is the common perception of the term "Mandate of Heaven".

After all, everyone is like an ant, and God often pulls everyone's fate in a devastating attitude.

But as ants, should we accept our fate?

Of course not.

There are several times in the film that an ant has fallen into the water.

Looks like it's going to drown.

But if you look closely, it's actually been struggling to climb up, looking for a way out.

The ants are still able to struggle.

How much more about people?

And this is Du Qifeng's real outlook on life.

He believes in Destiny.

But more believe in the free will of man.

So in "Woo Goo New Year's Wealth", he spent a movie saying:

Bad cards should also be played well

So in "Judo Dragon and Tiger List", he asked three frustrated people to save a red balloon.

Even when talking about Hong Kong movies, he hates the saying that "Hong Kong movies are dead".

Only if you quit doing it yourself can you really surrender

The outcome of "Struggling" doesn't matter, just like the show's theme song, Blowing in the Wind.

It's the process that matters.

You may be disappointed and frustrated in the process, but after you are depressed, you still have to continue to move towards the goal that you think is right.

And such a belief.

Maybe it is the meaning of a person's existence in the eyes of Du Qifeng.

Everything is in chaos, everything is colliding with each other

Only then did he come out in the end

You work hard and have faith

In the end, even if the goal is not achieved

At least you have an account for yourself