Background
James Yuen Sai-Sang received credit for
writing or co-writing 27 movies in the period between 1989 and 1997.
Beginning in 1992, many of these scripts were written for UFO, a
production company that targeted younger people and their relationships in
modern-day Hong Kong. His debut as a director was 1997's The
Wedding Days, a romantic comedy. His follow-ups in 1998 were Rumble
Ages, a drama, and Your Place or Mine, another romantic comedy,
this time produced by Wong Jing but said to be very "UFO" in
style. In 1999 he directed My Loving Trouble 7, a comedy, and
Red Rain, an action/drama.
With an English-language title that is a
strong contender for my favorite of all time, Clean My Name, Mr.
Coroner! opened theatrically in Hong Kong in November 2000.
Foreground
Francis Ng Chun-Yu plays a
buttoned-down, strait-laced coroner who is forcibly enlisted to help Nick
Cheung Ka Fai 'clean his name,' since Cheung (an undercover policeman) has
been framed for murdering his partner. Stephanie Che Yuen-Yuen is a
bartender with more than a passing interest in regular customer Cheung; Ti
Lung is Cheung's weary supervisor. The characters are mostly
believable and come together at regular intervals with interesting
results. Occasional one-liners pop up as comic relief, and several
lighter scenes are interspersed, but mostly the drama is played
straight.
The action scenes are effective and
photographed (by Fung Yuen Man) in a fresh way, but overall the pacing
does not build as it should for a straightforward action film. The
acting is good, though, and the combination of action and drama works more
than it doesn't. In other words, this is not a pulse-pounding
high-octane thriller. The film succeeds as a character-driven police
drama.
The film is rated Category IIB. A
couple of scenes depict bloodshed and gunshot violence.
DVD: look, sound, and features
The DVD features a good letterboxed
(1.85 to 1 ratio) presentation. The fleshtones are natural, the
black levels are sufficiently deep, and the colors look accurate.
Considering the brief time between theatrical release date and the
appearance of the DVD, this is a good job.
Both Dolby 2.0 and 5.1 Cantonese and Mandarin audio tracks are provided.
I listened to the Cantonese 5.1 track and it sounded fine, with adequate
channel separation and use of surround channels.
Traditional and simplified
Chinese removable subtitles are provided in addition to English; the English titles
are large and white, but with no black backing they sometimes disappear
into the background. Also, the English translation is very rough and
often flies by too quickly to read -- at several points it was difficult
to figure out the subject of the conversation.
The disk is divided into 9 chapters with
no time coding. The
"data bank" contains a cast and crew listing and the synopsis
from the back of the disk. The film's theatrical trailer is
included, and the "best buy" is the excellent trailer for In
the Mood for Love.
Buy, rent, or pass?
Rent. Good acting and good writing
make for an enjoyable ride in this character-driven police drama with
action and a few lighter moments. Not a classic, but worth 101
minutes and the price of a rental.
(Reviewed 1/7/01)
