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"the whisperer" is a spy film, and the suspense is not very strong.

this movie, co-produced by the mainland and hong kong twelve years ago, tells the story of a "person with superpowers" who serves the country after being discovered.

at that time, the mainland tv series and movies were not conservative in this regard, but i remember that "the listener" was the leading one. although as early as 2012, authors on tianya society and many literary platforms had written about this kind of setting:

someone is gifted and is recruited by a mysterious government agency to fight against a powerful enemy...

this movie will also be released during the summer vacation (august 7, mainland china).

what impressed me most was the role played by singer fan xiaoxuan as shen jing, the wife of the male protagonist he bing (played by tony leung). this is also one of the few film and television dramas that fan xiaoxuan has starred in.

but the emotional drama mainly revolves around he bing and zhang xue ning (played by zhou xun), an agent of unit 701, who is the heroine of "the whisperer".

therefore, the story of "the whisperer" is different from the previous spy-themed film and television dramas, which used to tell stories of "lone heroes" going deep into the tiger's den and working undercover behind enemy lines. in my impression, this movie is the first time that the organizational structure and work deployment of the "unit 701" are relatively complete. it is more like the british mi5 and the soviet kgb, mainly fighting against hidden spies in the country. the agents are efficient and decisive in carrying out the arrest operations, especially zhang xue ning's rigorous professionalism.

therefore, he bing's appearance is different:

he is a gangster and a blind man, but he has extraordinary hearing. he was discovered by zhang xue ning in an accident and was forced to join the 701st unit as an eavesdropper by using both soft and hard tactics.

then, in his ignorant and uneasy state, he gradually developed a friendship with zhang xue ning. this kind of relationship was very complicated, more than friends but less than lovers, but he eventually married shen jing. at this time, zhang xue ning was on a mission outside, and when he came back, he blessed him.

guo xingzhong (played by wang xuebing), director of the operations bureau of unit 701, also has complicated feelings towards zhang xuening. his life experience is even more interesting—he is the son of the "shipping king", but became the head of the national intelligence agency. this identity will be mentioned below.

however, the whisperer did not use a vulgar love triangle to trap the characters, and the emotional states between the characters were very reasonable. for example, he bing changed from a piano tuner to an eavesdropper. the main motivation for this transformation was zhang xue ning. although he could not see, he knew that every operation to capture a spy was risky. he could hear gunshots and screams, as well as the discussions of people around him.

at first, he was coerced and bribed by zhang xuening, and a big man was called to stand next to him, which meant that if he didn't agree, he would beat him up first. then he had no choice but to agree, and then he felt zhang xuening's courage in the anti-espionage war front, so he was being changed. this blind man in old shanghai, whose first goal was survival, gradually became serious and solemn.

the movie uses a lot of shots to show he bing's combat status when capturing radio waves——

here he is sitting in a secret room listening, and over there is a close-up of the enemy's knocking.

he could hear sounds that ordinary people could not hear. after intercepting the radio station, the only thing left was for zhang xue ning to lead people to "raid the house."

he is her ears, she is his hands and feet, and shen jing is his eyes. this is very important:

because shen jing is not a spy, she is an ordinary person, and her relationship with he bing is not mixed with work, so she can relax he bing and make him not always talk about work when he is with zhang xue ning. zhang xue ning is grateful to he bing for his help, and whether he was willing at the beginning or not, he bing found his own value in the 701st unit.

he is serving the country, not running around for two meals and a place to stay.

he lives in the base of unit 701, which also has a family area. the entire base is quite large. outside the base is a newly established country. he knows his own value, why he can stay here, and what makes him stay here.

but soon after he got married, he was overwhelmed by the news:

zhang xue ning died.

this scene is very sad -

for a long time, zhang xue ning and he bing have been tracking down "chongqing". this "chongqing" has a complete spy network, but "chongqing" is not one person, but four people (played by lin wei, wu jiali, fang ping, and zhang haiyan). these people have been dealing with zhang xue ning, but zhang xue ning does not know their identities. the four people surrounded her and stabbed her to death each with a knife.

later, some people remembered zhang xue ning’s death like i did, and thought it was a desperate death.

he bing was in pain, and guo xingzhong was also in pain.

both men had deep feelings for zhang xue ning, and what was important was that they both lost a trustworthy friend.

revenge began, and the entire 701st unit operations bureau set up a network to hunt him down. he bing used his sense of hearing to find "chongqing" and also used his expertise to help zhang xue ning get revenge.

time does not stand still, he is still "listening to the wind".

the director of "the listener" is mai zhaohui, who has directed the "infernal affairs" series and the "overheard" series. his partner zhuang wenqiang also wrote and directed "wushuang" in 2018. in addition to the director and screenwriter of this movie, there is another person:

mai jia

so when “unit 701” appeared again this year, i thought of “the whisperer” in 2012.

the two different characters played by tony leung and liu haoran are intertwined with the story background. one has excellent hearing and the other is good at interpreting dreams. both of them show the formation of will in a special era.

the creator made a person lose one ability, and at the same time gave him another more superior ability, so that he could do something more meaningful with this ability.

this setting is great.

but what touched me most in the listener was the conversation between guo xingzhong and zhang xuening:

the two have always been in a superior-subordinate relationship, and the only time they faced each other's inner thoughts they were still evasive.

guo xingzhong said, "i'm going to carry out my mission."

zhang xue ning said, "do i need to know your mission?"

guo xingzhong lit a cigarette and said, "i'm going to approach the daughter of the yihe boss."

zhang xue ning's eyes flashed, and after a while he said "oh" softly.

the two shook hands, and zhang xue ning walked to the door and suddenly said:

"if i asked you to abort the mission would you?"

guo xingzhong laughed, "you won't."

zhang xue ning also smiled and said "goodbye".

when saying "goodbye", guo xingzhong burned zhang xue ning's belongings. he had a blank expression on his face, and just murmured "how could it be..." and then finally burst into tears.

this is the scene that moved me the most in the whole film. it is more cruel than the flash of swords and swords, and it can better reflect the helplessness of individuals on the hidden front.