“THE Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon,” a Chinese crime film released Friday, has taken audience members by surprise with its black humor and dark thrills.

Xinhua reported that the film has pocketed a total of more than 100 million yuan (US$13.89 million) as of Sunday.

Starring Ethan Juan and directed by Wong Ching-po, “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon” focuses on a fugitive who is diagnosed with cancer and given six months to live. The third most-wanted criminal in Taiwan, he decides to eliminate the top two criminals to make a name for himself.

The story draws inspiration from the fifth-century folk tale of Zhou Chu, who transforms from a ruffian to a general by fighting three scourges — a tiger, a dragon and himself, as hinted at in the Chinese title of the film.

The influence of Buddhism can be traced in the story as well as the film’s English title. The three poisons, or the three unwholesome roots in Buddhism, refer to delusion, greed and hatred. The three poisons are symbolically drawn at the center of many Buddhist artworks, with the pigeon, snake, and pig representing the three poisons, respectively. In the film, while the protagonist is determined to redeem himself by doing the right thing, he underestimates the lure of the three poisons, which turns out to be the real sins and punishments he must confront at the end of his life.

The film also incorporates elements from true crime and the figure of Liu Huan-jong, a gangster in Taiwan who was executed in 1993, further expanding the film’s dimensions.

Wong, who directed the action-packed classic “Once Upon a Time in Shanghai,” is a master of crime and gangster films. “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon” represents his latest attempt to innovate within this genre. Juan delivers a captivating performance as a cold-blooded, swaggering murderer, reminiscent of characters in Quentin Tarantino movies.

With positive reviews flooding in after its official release, many believe the film will become a dark horse for the box office after the 2024 Spring Festival film season. Suo Yabin, a professor at the Communication University of China, said that compared to other crime thrillers, “The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon” holds its distinctive features in many aspects such as storytelling and character creation. (Global Times)