Directed by:
Soi Cheang Pou-soiCinematography:
Siu-keung JengComposer:
Kenji KawaiCast:
Gordon Lam, Cya Liu, Mason Lee, Hiroyuki Ikeuchi, Fish Liew, Hugo Ng, Sammy Sum, Hanna Chan, Kumer So, Iris Lam, Jerry Leung, Zodiac Ka-Chun Law (more)Plots(1)
Rookie policeman Will Ren and his partner, the veteran cop Cham Lau, are pursuing an obsessive and especially brutal murderer of women. To lure this “hand-fetish” ripper, they use the criminal Wong To, who needs to atone for causing an accident involving Cham’s family, as bait. But this young woman is both unpredictable and insubordinate. Surrounded by ever more insane bouts of violence and increasingly in danger of falling victim to the bestial serial killer herself, she fights the traumas of the slums by her own means. The ultra-long showdown really packs a punch: if you don’t shudder, you’ll scream. Alongside the great cast, the trademarks of Hong Kong genre filmmaker Soi Cheang (Dog Bite Dog) include his brilliantly cool observation of well-honed cop rituals – at times condensed into a one-shot-per-second montage, at others edited at a more leisurely pace – as well as close-ups of those struggling to survive amid the city’s trash heaps. Making use of monochrome, “hidden object” aesthetics, the film probes the boundaries of the bearable, traversing them experimentally with excesses of violence, subtle gender-bending and tender gestures in a world that has lost its humanity. (Berlinale)
(more)Reviews (1)
A black and white depressing nightmare from Hong Kong! Director Cheang Pou-soi already has quite a rich career and after the excellent actioner Kill Zone 2 with Tony Jaa, he tries a dark crime drama with the essence of Fincher's Se7en that over into exploitation, and it's a depressing film for the strong-minded. For me, anyway! A veteran and a newcomer join forces to catch a maniacal serial killer who is brutally murdering young women on the streets of Hong Kong with a hand-cutting fetish. A woman who caused the death of the veteran's wife shows up and offers to help, but not everything goes as planned. The black and white format surprisingly is not a problem at all, it has a bit of an artsy feel, but the tone is darker and definitely more shocking. It's a two hour show of violence, humiliation against women, dead bodies and filth that makes Hong Kong a downright Sin City. There is one downright brutal knife action sequence that gave me a boner, and the film doesn't let the viewer breathe, throwing one raw scene after another. The killer himself is disgustingly sleazy and his lair is a downright disgusting place that reeked of death all the way to my living room. The atmosphere is awesome and the denouement is also interesting. This is what I call proper, gritty, raw, bleak and cold crime drama that wipes its ass with everything I've had the pleasure of seeing in the genre in recent years. Story 4/5, Action 3/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 4/5, Actors 4/5. 8/10.
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