In the last century, Du Yuesheng, the leader of the Green Gang, covered the sky with his hands in Shanghai.
His life in addition to the word "legendary", there is no other word to describe, from selling pears to the boss of the Green Gang, his protégés in the heyday were all over Shanghai, becoming one of the three major families in Shanghai, moving to Hong Kong during the War of Resistance, scattering thousands of dollars in the twilight years, and dying in other places, but compared with other tyrants, Du Yuesheng at least ended up with a good ending.
Of course, his legendary life naturally cannot escape the favor of Hong Kong directors, and there are many works adapted from his life, but the one that is really closest to its prototype is the two "Shanghai Emperor" adapted by Ma Dangxiong.
Although Ma Dangxiong has made a series of exaggerated treatments in individual deeds, from the perspective of the history of Du Yuesheng's origins described in the film, the Hong Kong screenwriter's study of history is still in place.
"Shanghai Emperor" is also known as the Chinese version of "The Godfather" by the audience, the upper and lower parts have their own main lines, so even if they are taken apart to see it, they can understand it, and today's introduction is the next "Shanghai Emperor's Majesty Dominates the World" to see the second half of Du Yuesheng's life.
The story continues with the end of the previous work, Lu Yunsheng (the film has done an artistic treatment of "Du Yuesheng") after being awarded a military rank, the family business is almost completely washed away.
The whitewashing process is divided into three steps, the first step is to expand his own source of funds, make up for the family's financial deficit, Lu Yunsheng's first thought is to open a bank and absorb the funds of the people of Shanghai.
The second step is to register a society called Hang Seng, which has legitimacy, and the purpose is to legalize the business that the Green Gang has not yet whitewashed.
The third step is to support the "New Life" campaign launched by the National Government, take the lead in drug rehabilitation, and make yourself an example.
After the Qiqi Lugou Bridge Incident, Lu Yunsheng took the lead in actively supporting the War of Resistance Against Japan, raised a large amount of materials, and even purchased military aircraft to transport to the front line of the battle, which lu Yunsheng became a prominent figure in Shanghai.
Sure enough, in this series of practices, even the chairman of the committee personally called to commend him.
However, the anti-Japanese battle did not go well, and the Japanese army soon hit the Songhu Delta, and Shanghai was also within the scope of its battle.
General Gu Yu (Dai Kasa) wanted to go to Lu Yunsheng to organize a 7,000-strong death squad to assist in the death defense of Shanghai, this team was naturally composed of Hengshe's protégés, all of whom were rabble-rousers, and when they saw the guns and cannons, they all came out with urine, and after the fall of Shanghai, all 7,000 people became cannon fodder.
When the corpses were brought back, Lu Yunsheng did not want to die, after all, they were all his brothers.
After the fall of Shanghai, the three major families in Shanghai all had their own plans, Lu Yunsheng was ready to take refuge in Hong Kong with his family, Huang Quanrong (Golden Rong) stayed in Hong Kong, but behind closed doors, Yuan Xiaojun (Zhang Xiaolin) turned to the Japanese as a traitor, and also opposed Lu Yunsheng and Huang Quanrong, and the three major families parted ways.
Yuan Xiaojun was entrusted with a heavy responsibility as the governor of Zhejiang Province after becoming a traitor, and he was also responsible for persuading Huang Quanrong to come out of the mountains, hoping that he would cooperate with the Japanese army and become the mayor of Shanghai.
However, although Huang Quanrong did not resist, he was determined not to be a traitor, preferring to pretend to be crazy and stupid all day rather than defect to the Japanese, although he was born in a gangster, but in the national righteousness is always his bottom line.
This plot did happen in reality, but it was not so exaggerated, at that time, after the fall of Shanghai, Jin Jinrong really resolutely refused to be a lackey of the Japanese, he compared himself to Yue Fei, and he would not waver in the face of the national righteousness.
Lu Yunsheng, who was far away in Hong Kong, was not idle, and while he sent a message to Huang Quanrong, he sent his protégés to assassinate the lackeys who defected to the Japanese.
Yuan Xiaojun was assassinated by Cao Shan, a professional killer sent by Lu Yunsheng, because of his status as a traitor.
But in reality, Zhang Xiaolin was assassinated by his subordinate Lin Huaibu.
In 1940, Lin Huaibu borrowed a change in Zhang Xiaolin's home and shot Zhang Xiaolin with a pistol at the moment when he probed out of the window.
Later, Lin Huaibu was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he was rehabilitated and acquitted.
The Pacific war was gradually defeated, and the Japanese announced their unconditional surrender.
The Japanese soldiers stranded in Shanghai made crazy moves, and some officers even committed suicide by caesarean section.
After the restoration of Shanghai, Lu Yunsheng believed that he had made meritorious contributions to the anti-Japanese resistance, and the mayor of Shanghai was naturally appointed by him.
However, China, as the victorious power, directly drove the French out of Shanghai, the French Concession was gone, and Lu Yunsheng's use value was zero, hindering his status as a gang leader, and he was not qualified to be the mayor of Shanghai.
Lu Yunsheng, who wanted to enter politics, used his influence to participate in the election of the president of the Senate to obtain the power he wanted.
Many years later, although Lu Yunsheng was elected chairman, he was prevented by General Gu Yu, who had previously relied on him to hold up, because of Lu Yunsheng's status as a gang leader, he would damage the image of the government.
Lu Yunsheng was pressured by the government to resign as chairman of the Senate.
Shanghai could no longer accommodate him, and he was disheartened and moved to Hong Kong with his family, ready to enjoy his old age.
When Lu Yunsheng's life was about to end, he finally gave Meng Xiaodong an explanation, and he became related to Meng Xiaodong and fulfilled his last wish in his old age.
On August 16, 1951, Du Yuesheng died in Hong Kong at the age of 63.
Jin Jinrong remained in Shanghai and died in 1953 at the Huang Mansion in Shanghai at the age of 85.
In this movie, Ma Dangxiong did not portray Lu Yunsheng as strong as his previous work, and Lu Yunsheng has always been weak and passive in "Dominating the World", wandering between the government and the gangsters.
Although he covers the sky with his hands in Shanghai, a little trick can make most people unable to eat and walk, but in front of the government, he is as weak as a firework, just like Du Yuesheng said in history, he is like a "night pot", when he wants to use it, he takes it out and uses it, and when he does not use it, it stinks under the bed.
As a professional household of Lu Liangwei, "Lame Hao", "Four Families" and other movies can see his personality charm, he is naturally suitable for the speech of the righteous and ruthless boss, "Shanghai Emperor" in the first two episodes, he will Du Yuesheng's fierce, forbearance, arrogance of the interpretation of the vivid exquisite, his "Du Yuesheng" is the closest to the prototype, this is beyond doubt.
Compared with the first part, the rhythm of "Dominating the World" is more fluid, but the character personality is too single, the story structure is relatively loose, and the time span is also confusing, it can be seen that this is actually a sequel that was filmed urgently, but the audience likes the impetuous and exaggerated taste of the movie, the scenes full of age, and the actor's performance.