Background
Alan Mak's previous credits as a
director (Nude Fear and Rave Fever) would not seem to create
much anticipation for his latest effort. The presence of writer (Big
Bullet, Black Mask), producer (Bullets Over Summer) and
director (Feel 100%) Joe Ma might spark a little more
interest. Francis Ng as a gangster might seem routine, but Gigi
Leung as a gun-toting associate?
The film was released theatrically in
Hong Kong in August 2000. As producer, Joe Ma was made the
well-received Juliet in Love, the weak Love Paradox, and the
surprising Clean My Name, Mr. Coroner!. His next effort as
producer/director will be Feel 200%.
Foreground
Films that are structured as extended
flashbacks, as is A War Named Desire (and American Beauty and
too many others to name), seem like cheats to me. Instead of
allowing the viewer to decide how to respond to events as they develop,
the ending is telegraphed and the audience is expected to follow meekly
along the clearly-marked path pre-ordained by the writer(s) and
director.
The opening scene tells us that Francis
Ng and Daniel Chan will end up driving away bloody and battered, perhaps
near death, in a pickup truck with a smashed windshield. As the
flashback begins, we learn that Chan has traveled to Thailand in search of
his long-lost and dishonored brother. His uninvited companion is his
girlfriend (Pace Wu). Soon enough, Chan knows that his brother is
running a casino and does not seek to reunite with him for love and
brotherhood: he wants money and nothing more. Quickly,
however, Chan is snared in a local gang power struggle and is in over his
head. Will his brother come to his rescue? And what is Gigi
Leung doing, playing a gun-toting criminal associate of Ng?
Much of the film moves along rudimentary
plot lines. It's the visual inventiveness of director Mak, the
precise but not overly busy editing by Cheung Ka-Fai (Police Story III:
Supercop, Big Bullet, Task Force, and a total of eight
(!) films in 2000), and the excellent musical score by veteran composer
Mark Lui Chung Tak (Fong Sai Yuk, Green Snake, Crime
Story) that are magnetic and pull the viewer along until the final
third. This last section of the film improbably becomes quite moving
due largely to the performances of Ng and Leung (not their reading of the
pedestrian dialogue, but the emotions conveyed in their faces and body
language), as well as the excellent staging of an extended showdown
between the two gang factions.
The film is rated Category IIB with
quite a lot of explicit gunshot violence and blood spattering
depicted.
DVD: look, sound, and features
Good transfer with natural fleshtones.
The colors are not particularly bright, however, nor are the blacks deep
or rich. The
source print reveals just a few imperfections.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is good,
with clearly defined stereo separation and good use of the surround
channels. Audio tracks are provided in DD 5.1 and 2.0 in both Cantonese and Mandarin.
The removable white subtitles are large with few mistakes, but the lack of
any kind of backing, together with the aspect ratio (1.85 to 1) make them
sometimes difficult to read. Subtitles are provided in
traditional and simplified Chinese and English.
The disk is divided into 9 chapters.
Additional features are limited: just the trailers for Love
Paradox and Help!!!, and a "data bank" for a brief
synopsis and cast and crew listing.
Buy, rent, or pass?
Buy. Ultimately an absorbing and
moving drama, featuring fine performances by Francis Ng and Gigi Leung,
along with striking visuals, editing, and musical score in the final third
of the film that make up for a slow, rather routine start.
(Reviewed 01/03/01)
