In Infernal Affairs 1, Liu Jianming (played by Andy Lau) was originally sent to the police by Chen Han (played by Ceng Zhiwei) to be undercover. Why did you finally kill Han?

Liu Jianming, originally a gangster, was sent to the police academy by the leader Chen Han and became a policeman's undercover. Thanks to his cleverness and Chen Han's secret help, he made many meritorious deeds in the police station. After designing and killing Chen Han, he wanted to abandon evil and do good, but his identity has always been the sword of Damocles hanging over his head. He tried to hide his identity, and finally shot himself (attempted) because his identity was exposed.

In fact, he may not have committed suicide entirely because he exposed his identity, because Liu Jianming's spirit had collapsed at that time, and he probably committed suicide because he couldn't bear great mental pressure. The author thinks that there are two aspects worth discussing about Liu Jianming: 1 and his real motive for killing Chen Han. 2. What is Liu Jianming's mental state under the constant great mental pressure?

As for Liu Jianming's motive for killing Chen Han, the underworld boss, I believe everyone who has seen the film will come to the conclusion that in order to get rid of Chen Han's control over him. But are there other reasons?

In the second part of Infernal Affairs, Liu Jianming, as a young man, showed his skill, maturity and steadiness at an early age. But he made a mistake that didn't match his maturity: he worked under Chen Han, but fell in love with Mary, a woman in Chen Han, a mature and elegant woman in her thirties. When he heard that Chen Han was assassinated in Thailand, he couldn't wait to possess Mary. After being rejected, he was afraid that Chen Han would know about it, so he betrayed Mary cruelly and killed her.

In the first episode of Infernal Affairs, there is a scene in which a fake son, who has established himself in the police station, calls the police officer Huang on the phone and calls him "Dad" on the phone. Judging from the whole movie, this plot is dispensable, but I think it is very interesting: the shrewd Liu Jianming must have thought about what to call Chen Han if he receives a call from the police. No matter whether this "dad" is his thoughtful name or a sudden brainwave, we can all get a glimpse of something in Liu Jianming's subconscious-Chen Han has replaced or just the image of his father in his subconscious.

"My family, they immigrated a long time ago," Liu Jianming told Mary when she was only seventeen or eighteen. What happens if a person lacks family care in childhood or adolescence? According to the viewpoint of psychodynamics, this will directly affect the development of "superego" in his personality. Because the "superego" comes directly from the influence of the child's parents or guardians or the role models around them.

Obviously, Liu Jianming's superego has not developed normally. In his adolescence when his superego was formed, Chen Han should be the person who had the greatest influence on him. It can also be clearly seen in the film that the few direct exchanges between Chen Han and Liu Jianming are obviously more relaxed and casual than other ordinary men, and are also closer to the way of communication between family members. This is not entirely because Liu Jianming is an important pawn of Chen Han, but also reflects the psychological state of two people in each other's hearts.

Perhaps Chen Han didn't realize this, and he became a substitute for Liu Jianming's father image. Mary, a woman written by Chen Han, naturally became a substitute for the image of Liu Jianming's mother. Mature and elegant Mary aroused his "Oedipus Complex". But Mary is not his real mother after all, and Liu Jianming's superego is not strong. After he heard of Chen Han's death, his "castration anxiety" disappeared. That's why he can freely express his feelings for Mary.

Judging from what he had done to Mary after hearing about Chen Han's death, he must have hoped that Chen Han had already died. He planned to kill Chen Han in the future, not only to get rid of Chen Han's control over him, but also to fulfill a wish he had when he was young-"to kill his father and marry his mother". Although it is impossible to marry his mother, he married a woman whose English name is Mary. Oedipus complex is a "fixed point" of his psychological development and a problem that he must solve. Only by solving this problem can his personality be complete and his life move forward smoothly. So killing Chen Han was the most logical move he made under the influence of Oedipus complex.

On the second question, what kind of mental state is Liu Jianming under constant and great mental pressure? Let's take a look at what Andy Lau, the actor of Liu Jianming, said in an interview with Southern Metropolis Daily: "Liu Jianming's pain can't be described, and he can only feel it personally ... I believe that if Liu Jianming really exists in the world, his pain will be greater than I have inferred."

Liu Jianming's pressure and pain are most obvious in the third part of Infernal Affairs. His pressure comes from the fact that he must always be wary of others discovering his undercover identity. There are two main external reasons for his pain. First of all, he can say that he killed Huang Jing and Chen Yongren, and he feels deeply guilty about it. There is such a plot in the film: I saw the dead superintendent Huang He in my hallucination and tried to kill him, but he was confessing to Chen and Huang and begging their forgiveness. Director Huang defended him: "Forget it, it's not all his fault. Give him another chance. " It can be said that the death of Chen and Huang is a boulder on the road to rehabilitation.

Secondly, his underworld background is a bad luck that he can't get rid of. He knew that someone in the police station was still looking for him. The recording of the conversation between him and Chen Han is like a bomb, which will blow him to pieces at any moment. He also knows that once found, there is only one dead end, which is also the most puzzling thing for him: I used to be a bad person, but I want to be a good person. I did something wrong, but I want to turn over a new leaf. I did a lot of good things at the police station. Why can't I be forgiven? I have decided to abandon evil and do good. Why don't you give me this chance to be executed?

But his biggest problem is that his repentance and good deeds only exist in his heart. He never dared or thought to confess his sins to his family, priests, psychologists and even the police. His atonement only exists in his future good police life, which is not allowed by law and society, and it is also doomed that his ending is a tragedy for him personally and a fair and just result for society.

Next, let's analyze the internal causes of Liu Jianming's pain and mental breakdown, that is, psychological reasons. As the saying goes, "Character is fate" has some truth. A person's personality determines his way of dealing with people. Judging from the film performance, Liu Jianming should tend to be introverted. Temperament is a mixture of mucus and blood. This type of person is quiet and steady, with a dull expression, and it is difficult to show his emotions. However, he has a profound inner emotional experience, strong self-control, is not afraid of difficulties, has high endurance, considers problems meticulously, thinks flexibly, moves quickly, and adapts to various environments.

As we all know, temperament is not good or bad, but how to grasp and use it. The author thinks that Liu Jianming's ultimate fate is inseparable from his temperament type. At the end of the first film, after Liu Jianming was caught by Chen Yongren, he was ready to accept the fate judgment. But then things got worse. In the elevator, Chen was killed by another undercover who was planted in the police station by the underworld and escaped by luck. This is the turning point of Liu Jianming's fate. If he turns himself in at this time, he won't die, and he can really get peace of life. But his personality determines his choice direction. He felt that he should not be punished because he had made up his mind to be a good man. He has done a lot of "good things", and staying at the police station will do more "good things". He has the desire and the ability. But no one gave him the chance. He tried to kill two birds with one stone by killing all the undercover gangsters planted in the police station. One is to prove that he is a good man, and the other is to save himself. But there is a paradox that the undercover he should kill most is himself! Obviously, he had a serious anxiety. In order to alleviate his anxiety, he began to "activate" the psychological defense mechanism.

Psychological defense mechanism is a self-defense function. Many times, there are contradictions and conflicts between superego and ego, ego and reality, which make people feel pain and anxiety. At this time, the ego can unconsciously adjust the relationship between the two sides of the conflict in some way, making the protective behavior of the superego acceptable, and at the same time, the desire of the id can be satisfied in some form, thus alleviating anxiety and eliminating pain. Psychological defense mechanism includes repression, denial, projection, degradation, isolation, offset transformation, rationalization, compensation, sublimation, humor, reverse formation and other forms.

At first, Liu Jianming used "rationalization" to relieve anxiety. "Rationalization" refers to a psychological defense mechanism in which an individual defends himself with favorable reasons when he suffers setbacks, and conceals and beautifies the difficulties he faces, thus concealing his true motives and extricating himself from them. As mentioned earlier, he heard superintendent Huang defend him in hallucination, which is an example. He always said to himself: I am a good person, even if I wasn't before, at least I want to be a good person now. I killed Chen Han, and I got rid of all his undercover agents in the police, so I am a good policeman. The deaths of Huang Jing and Chen Yongren were an accident. Give me a chance, and I will be a good policeman.

Then he adopted the psychological defense mechanism of "negation", which refers to the psychological defense mechanism of consciously or unconsciously refusing to admit those unpleasant realities to protect himself. Liu Jianming initially refused to admit that he was undercover, but at the same time, his reason told him that there was another undercover named Liu Jianming in the police station. Since the undercover is not himself, it must be someone named Liu Jianming. He turned his attention to the Yang Jinrong police officer who was secretly investigating him. He began to secretly investigate Yang Jinrong and collect evidence. After he thought he had seized Yang Jinrong's evidence, he said to himself, "Everything is fine. Everything will be fine after today. I found this guy named Liu Jianming. " At this point, he has had an obvious illusion, and he has hidden his underworld background into the subconscious through "suppression".

Finally, he confidently took the videotape stolen from Yang Jinrong to catch him. Therefore, what he heard from the tape recorder was his own conversation with Chen Han. In the face of this ironclad fact, all his defense mechanisms failed, and he completely collapsed and had to commit suicide to escape. Liu Jianming's tragedy lies not only in his desire to be a good man, but also in his psychology of thinking that he is already a good man. Liu Jianming's enlightenment is not just the traditional "good is rewarded with good, evil with evil". I think there is also a feeling that a healthy and perfect personality has a decisive influence on people's destiny. Liu Jianming should be said to be a smart and capable person, but his personality defects make him a tragic figure.