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 unning at a breezy 80 minutes (that is, if you
don't count the extensive John Woo-ish slow motion that makes up about
half the film), Ching-po Wong's "Jiang Hu" is nothing you
haven't seen before. In fact, if you're even a little bit familiar with
Hong Kong triad films, you can pretty much predict the outcome of
"Jiang Hu" when you first see Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung's
characters say hello in the first few minutes. Does this mean "Jiang
Hu" is not good? Not at all; but it does mean the movie holds few
surprises.
Star and producer Andy Lau ("Running
on Karma") is Hung, a mob chieftain who, as the film opens, has
just become a father. Hung's criminal organization is made up of long-time
best friend Lefty (Jacky Cheung), named such because he lost the use of
his right hand during their rise up the underworld ranks, and three
untrustworthy capos. It is quickly revealed that one of Hung's underbosses
has put a contract out of him, and Hung's men are urgently trying to dig
up the would-be killer. Meanwhile, young punks Yik (Shawn Yue) and his
best friend Turbo (Edison Chen) are getting ready to make their first kill
on their way to becoming gangsters. That is, if they don't screw the pooch
and get found out before the night is over.
As mentioned, if you were to take away all the slow
motion in "Jiang Hu", you'd be hard pressed to make the running
time go over an hour. Even by Hong Kong standards, "Jiang Hu" is
a short film, with half of the story spent in a single location -- a
restaurant where Hung and Lefty converse in private as a year's worth of
plots and counter plots take place around them within the underworld. It
quickly becomes clear that not all is what it seems, and Hung's
underbosses might not be the only people Hung needs to worry about. Making
the situation even more tenuous is that Lefty has just suggested to Hung
that he move his family to New Zealand and leave the empire to him.
Even if it doesn't break any new ground, there's
still a lot to like about Ching-po Wong's sophomore effort ("Fu
Bo" being his first). The first thing is the style, which infuses
"Jiang Hu" with a slick look from the opening frame to the final
shot. Although the short running time does seem to cut down on
characterization, the progression of Shawn Yue's Yik as he goes from
wannabe to full-fledged killer is intriguing. While Yik's desires to be a
killer isn't readily obvious, his dark personality gives the film the
substance that the Andy Lau and Jacky Cheung confrontation lacks. Later,
when a young prostitute name Yoyo enters Yik's life, things get even more
complicated.
If it seems as if I might be calling "Jiang
Hu" old hat, you're not far off. Every genre has its clichés and
conventions, and "Jiang Hu" doesn't -- and really seems not to
care to -- buck the system. As with the recent "Infernal
Affairs 2", the script by Chi-long To is heavily influenced by
the narrative structure of the "Godfather", in particular the
long sequences where gunmen goes about town "cleaning house" as
per their boss' orders. Which leads to this: for a Triad film, "Jiang
Hu" is strangely very sterile when it comes to the violence. Even a
knife battle in the rain, at the end, is almost entirely devoid of blood.
Although the big name here is Andy Lau, it's young
Mister Shawn Yue who really shines. Yue has already shown in the
"Infernal Affairs" films that he's got the intensity for movie
roles like this, and his brooding Yik is what makes "Jiang Hu"
works. Of note is the scene where Yik visits his mother to give her the
money he's been paid ahead of time for the night's assassination. We learn
that Yik's brother and father were also would-be killers who fell during
their first night, and that they, too, had come to Yik's mother with the
same bundle of money. It's a powerful scene, played with great affect by
all involved.
Toward the end of "Jiang Hu" there's a Big Reveal, but it's
nothing to get overly excited about, especially since I guessed the film's
big plot twist about 30 minutes in. Am I the most brilliant online movie
reviewer ever? Probably. Or maybe it's just that I've seen too many films;
and besides, it's not as if "Jiang Hu" tried very hard to hide
it. Pay attention and you'll figure it out, too.
"Jiang Hu" will probably be a bit of a
letdown to those already familiar with the genre. For everyone else,
"Jiang Hu" is an effective entry that warrants a look see. It's
certainly visually attractive, and the dead-on performance of Shawn Yue as
the doomed killer steals the show.
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