Greed Of Man [TVB]

Written by Funn Lim

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Which Is NOT
ATV's version of the same name.This is the OLD one,produced by TVB.

It Is About...
Greed, with the capital G.Which may not be monetary greed but also a strong desire for something,in this series,a strong desire,a greed for Revenge,with a capital R,E,V,E,N,G,and E.Why??????You may ask why???????I'll tell you why.....this is a series about revenge my friend,and nothing more and certainly nothing less.So read on if you really wanna know why?????????Can you even say that out in loud?

How Long
I can't remember,should be more than 20 tapes.

Who
Adam Cheng ~ Ding Haai (Big Crab)
Lau Ching Wan ~ Fong Jin Bok
Yammie Lam ~ Lo Wai Ling
Lau Chung Yan ~ Fong Jeun San
Vivian Chow ~ Yuen Mui
Amy Kwok ~ Lung Gei Man
Siu Jung Hang ~ Ding Hau Haai (Eldest Crab)
Michael Tao ~ Ding Yik Haai (Middle Crab)
Ng Kai Ming ~ Ding Wong Haai (Small Crab)
Kwok Jing Hung ~ Ding Lei Haai (Some Crab)
Ng Wing Hung ~ Fong Fong
Lee Lai Jan ~ Fong Ting
Yeung Ling ~ Fong Man
Lo Lok Lam ~ Yip Tin
Tsang Gong ~ Lung Sing Bong
Bowie Lam ~ Chan To To
Lau Gong ~ Chau Jai Sang
Wong Hoi Yan ~ Ng Bo Wah
Lai Suen ~ Hoh Jin
Ngai Wai ~ Lee Lap Kwong
Kwong Ngai ~ Chan Maan Yin

This almost complete list of cast courtesy of SCTVB.

The Plot
Plenty of plots,and events,and circumstances and terribly and overly too dramatic for some.

Should I put the verdict first?Nahhhhhh!Plot first ok?So here is the plot.No drum rolls?

Ok,where should I begin.The past or the present?Past first lar har.

Ding Haai(Adam Cheng),whom I shall call the Big Crab is really full of crap.He thinks he is the most righteous man on earth,that everything he does is good,is gerat and should be applauded.Which makes him to be a really undesirably selfish and ultimately,"Man But Kong Lei",in English that would be,if my translation is any good,a man you can't talk reasons with.Not because he won't lsiten,but he will listen and dismiss it as wrong.Get the picture?Because this is importnat for you to understand this really ugly character.Anyway,he falls for this young student(Yammie),and though the girl repeatedly said " I do not love you?",he translated that as "I could not love you because I am not allowed to love you" which is of a BIG difference.I can't remember her role,was she the parent of Lau Ching Wan?Was she the reason that caused a rift between the two best friends,Lau Chung Yan and also he himself?Because I remembered them being on good terms but later somehow things turned ugly.

Anyway,just know that there was rift.I couldn't remember what led to the ultimate classic scene but something did,and that made Lau the only living relative of the FOng family,and he lived all his life,using his talent at predicting the rise and fall of the shares in the HK share market to win a lot of money,and ultimately force Big Crab to commit the act that he made his sons do to Lau's sisters.I really can't remember what triggered it.


So Why???
Don't know lar,but I can remember events,which I shall adequately explain it to you below.

The Ultimate Classic Scenes
Two, so one by one.

First Classic Scene
They weren't rich,but they were happy.Lau had three sisters,Ng,Lee and Yeung,the baby and the smartest of the family.All pretty girls.Lau hated Big Crab,forgot why but I do think it ha ssomething to do with their parents' death.Anyway,somehow,as with all great tragedied waiting to happen,Lee fell for Big Crab's eldest and supposedly the most decent son,Siu.They both were in love,against family wishes.But they broke off later,when Lee realised he was actually a first class jerk.If you can classify them by classes,Big Crab's sons would be first class jerk,the worst being Michael,the Middle Crab.This Middle Crab was so annoying,and so irritaing you really hate his trademark hyena laughter.Anyway,he raped poor Yeung,who subsequetly killed herself by jumping off the building.And later something worst happen.I think to cover their own crimes,all the crabs,Big Crab,Eldest Crab,Middle Crab and Small Crab went to Lau's house,and proceeded to carry them onto the roof,2 girls and a guy and threw them off the building,2 girls fell to their death and Lau survived simply because he got caught in some coat hanger or balcony or something.This would be the first ultimate classic scene.

If you ask me,a very unbelievably exceggerated scene.Yeah right,throw somebody off teh roof amidst all the screams?Wouldn't anybody heard anything?Apparently not.But it was dramatic,for Lau's character to see his own family fall to their deaths,and that was then he plotted his revenge.But Big Crab being so rich later on,so how?Well then,be richer than him of course.You see,Lau has this unique talent,he could spot a winning or losing counter so effciciently,he soon becomes really rich,enough to fight Big Crab.And thus,we shall now arrive to teh Second Ultimate Classic Scene:

Second Classic Scene
Big Crab suffered heavy losses from his last battle of the stocks and shares with Lau,and he is now officially bankrupt.All the carbs is at the rooftop of the office building to jump off the building.That was Lau's plan,to force them to jump off the buolding,almost the same way that they threw he and his sisters off the roof.Eldest,Middle and Small Crab refused,and so Big Crab threw them off,and one by one died.Finally,Big Crab jumped ,but his legs got caught on a wore or fomething,he didn't reach the ground,but his whole body smashed into the office window where Lau was sitting and watching as they all jumped to their deaths.In the end,Big Crab survived,and had to be institutionalised,and he kept saying,he was right,and everybody was wrong.Some people naver change.

A very satisfying ending if you ask me,though deservedly dramatic.Yous ee,Lau was sitting there right,facing the glass window and as all the younger crabs jumped,they saw him sitting there watching them jump,with certain satisfaction in his eyes.Almost scary and yet so surreal if you ask me.

What About The Women???...
Oh yeah,Vivian and Amy right?Yes,yes they have something to do in here.Vivian is your poor pretty girl who spent her life saving every penny and waiting to die from her congenital heart disease.Lau liked her,and they fell in love.But hey,he's a hero right?So must complicate things by introducing a sophisticated and rich young woman in the form of Amy Kwok,a rather hysterical woman if you ask me.She fell for him,as expected,you see the only nice guy in this series,and she helped him tremendously with his revenge effort and we are not sure who he loves,until he was in a plane,and in one of the most touching moments in this seris,he took out his wallet,and took out,behind his family portrait,the photo of Vivian and he smiled a little.So now we all know who he loves.Later,Amy knew too and she left I think,and I really can't remember this.So if I got this wrong E-Mail me.because I kept remembering this one scene of someone proposing to a woman,using many many rings that he has bought over the eyars,one more expensive than the other,afraid to ask her to marry him because he was poor and he had something else more important in his mind and now he is like so rich,and he so gently put each ring into the woman's fingers,whilst the woman was crying hysterically,probably from happiness.I too will be like so if a guy proposes to me like that.Was it this series?I can't remember.If this was the one,then good and it would be the Most Romantic Scene,but if not,forget about this ramblings of mine and let us move on.

Anyway,he went back to Vivian at the end,and at the very end,he has money,he avenged for the deaths of his family and he has the woman he loves in his arms.Again,in one of the most disputed scene in recent TV history,for Seagull's generation perhaps,the last scene was Vivian clsing her eyes whilst she was leaning onto Lau who was looking at the big blue sky,and the handkerchief she was holding was carried away by the srong but gentle wind and Lau just smiled at her,and hugged her even more closely to him,thinking that she fell asleep.

Now the question was,"Did she die?"

Many said no,she just fell alseep.But my answer would be that she died.She had congenital heart disease,remember?And that handkerchief flying away symbolised a life gone.I really do think she died.So this would be a sad ending.

The Most Sickening Aspect
Everytime those crabs walk into a scene,like there is no justice.That a man has to find his own way to his own brand of justice.What?HK police force like died ah?

Most Compatible Couple(s) as in the serial
Vivian and Lau made a fictional handsome couple.Lau and Amy made a real handsome couple.

Best Performances
Amy,in one of her first roles in TVB,however much her acting was like overboard especially one scene where she was screaming so loud,that her voice became so high picthed,my eardrums hurt.She was so hysterical in that scene,but why not?I think her father died or something,I can't remember.I meants the character's father died or something.Anyway,she showed tremendous talent and depth in her acting,but it was unfortunate that she lost so much weight that it became quite a tiring affair to watch her act.But she is good,but she can never play comedy,she looks too serious.But then so was Stephen Chow!

Vivian was sweet in here,and she was ok,wasn't great.

Lau Ching Wan was excellent,his tears,his anger,his pain,truly a charismatic leading actor.What more can I say?

All the Crabs were ok,and so was all the sisters of Lau,but with one notable exception as to one of the Crabs whic I shall categorise it below:

Most Flawless Performance
If there is one,he will be it.I know,I may be exaggerating this but he is just too good.I hated his Big Crab,really hated him,but that was because Adam Cheng gave so much thought and deep understanding to this character,that you'll instantly know what kind of a Crab he is.His performance was flawless,his every expressions,his every movement.One of the best actors of our generation,and Adam Cheng got style.Anyway,his Big Crab was really unreasonable,and Adam Cheng used that and made this character into a really classic villian that you feel like strangling.His performance is so consistent,his Big Crab never really thought his actions was wrong,and even until the end,though we all know that Big Crab became crazy,Adam Cheng made sure that that Big Crab still live in his dream world that he is right,he was a wronged man and everybody was wrong about his past actions.Classic performance.Give this man an Oscar please!

Is it worth Renting
If you're a fan of Adam Cheng,worth buying.But if not,worth renting,definately worth renting,just to watch Lau and Adam in one of their best performances.I truly enjoyed this series but let me warn you,hold your disbelief and logic will not make you understand this series because how they buy/sell/trade shares is truly illogical and if I am not mistaken,there is so much insider trading,it is even illegal.

Interesting Comparisons
This series is a class of its own.Though the title is about Greed Of Men,do not let that title fool you.It is a series on its own when it comes to storyline and it is all about revenge.And that's that.