The Taiwanese gangster film, "The Pig, The Snake and The Pigeon," has hit the bull in the eye with mainland Chinese moviegoers who saw the cult featured in the movie as an allusion to the Chinese Communist Party.
In less than a week of its release in China, it has chalked up close to 370 million yuan (US$51.55 million) in box office, received more than 580,000 reviews and earned an 8.1 high score on Douban, a social media site with streaming service. The film, currently streaming on Netflix, only sold NT$50 million (US$1.59 million) in Taiwan when it was released in October 2023.
Some scholars have attributed the popularity of this violent film in China to reflect the public’s distrust of the Chinese judiciary. The plot of the movie also exposes lawlessness in the society through labor exploitation and fraud that resonated with the economic hardships that Chinese citizens currently face.
The film’s Chinese title, “Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils,” pays homage to Zhou Chu, a Jin-era Chinese general reputed for his uprightness and integrity. Zhou sought to kill a tiger and a dragon that terrorized his hometown. The third evil referred to himself when he was a cruel and violent ruffian in his youth.
The movie’s protagonist is a notorious hitman and gangster Chen Kui-lin, who after learning that he has terminal lung cancer, wanted to leave his mark by taking out the two most wanted criminals ahead of him.
“Have you heard the story of ‘Zhou Chu Eliminates Three Evils’? Everyone only remembers Zhou Chu, and no one will remember the two people he killed. So Zhou Chu is the person of value, and everyone remembers him,” said Chen, who is played by Taiwanese actor Ethan Juan, in the movie.
Cult Party?
One of Chen’s two targets was a cult leader who was swindling money from cult followers.
Lai Rongwei, Taiwan Inspiration Association’s chief executive officer, said the movie made it pass Chinese censors despite the violence and gore because the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, wanted to warn citizens to be careful of religious gatherings.
Lai said the CCP itself is a religion alienating the Chinese people, and the film’s allusion of the cult, which constantly seeks donations from followers, to the Party coincided with what Chinese President Xi Jinping is doing.
“Xi Jinping constantly talks about ‘common prosperity,’ about how the private sector should contribute to society,” said Lai.
Akio Yaita, Taipei bureau chief of the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun, believes that the movie passed Chinese censors because the film’s underworld backdrop depicting the underbelly of Taiwanese society would illustrate Taiwan as a place where “the weak eat the strong and the people live in dire straits.”
Taiwan is a self-governed democracy that China claims its own and has vowed to reclaim, even by force if needed.
A hit among Chinese influencers
The protagonist Chen’s other confrontation with the other wanted man “Hongkie” represented the issue of labor exploitation, which resonated with Chinese workers exploited and owed wages as the economy sputters, according to Taiwan Inspiration Association’s Lai.
“This movie resonated with many because it shows how hard many Chinese people’s lives are, a typical M-shaped society; the rich are very rich and corruption is rampant. The Party, the government and the judiciary collude.”
The M-shaped society describes demographic distribution of wealth where there is a shrinking and greater disparity between the rich and the poor. The statistical curve appears in the form of the letter “M."
The "Pig, The Snake and The Pigeon" has also sparked heated discussions online, with Chinese internet celebrities criticizing Chinese gangster films as not realistic enough. One of them, Dadonggua, pointed out that the characterization of Chen truly met the expectations of the Chinese people.
“Chen Kui-lin hunted down Hongkie and destroyed the cult organization all by himself. These are things neither ordinary people dare think or do, nor can the police handle,” said Dadonggua. “With the brutality of the evil forces and the incompetence of the government, people will naturally regard those who use violence to fight violence as heroes.”
In a Facebook post, Nick Wang, a well-known Taiwanese writer, wrote that if Xi had accidentally watched the film, he would certainly realize the cult satirized him and the CCP, as well as predicted their perish.
Still, Lai raised a concern that if public opinion continues to link cults with the Communist Party, the film may be axed as history has shown.
Translated and additional reporting by RFA Staff. Edited by Taejun Kang.