|
 ight Corridor" is a film which takes itself
very seriously, striving for significance and desperately trying its best
to convince the viewer of its intelligence and cunning. Unfortunately,
although writer/director Julian Lee has created a moderately effective
"Angel Heart"-style detective story, the film is far too
pretentious and self-important to truly engage the viewer. Still, despite
these failings, and a pace which tends to drag, "Night Corridor"
is an atmospheric, above average film with admirable emotional and
psychological depth, and which, coming in at just 78 minutes, has the good
sense not to outstay its welcome.
The film begins in familiar
fashion, as London based artist Sam (Daniel Wu, "Beyond
our Ken") is awoken by a phone call from his mother, telling him
that his twin brother has had an accident and that he should return to his
native Hong Kong as soon as possible. On arriving home, Sam discovers that
his brother is actually dead, having suffered the odd fate of being mauled
to death by monkeys. Deciding to investigate further, Sam soon finds
himself trapped in a maze of dark secrets and sinister plots, not least of
which is the fact that his twin had in fact assumed his identity and had
been living under his name. At the heart of the web seems to be his
brother's apparent girlfriend (Coco Chiang, "New
Police Story") and a mysterious old librarian (played by veteran
actor and martial arts star Eddy Ko, recently in "Explosive
City") who may be more than he seems.
Lee is obviously aiming for a Kafka-inspired sense of
paranoia, giving every single character in the film a number of hidden
motivations and skeletons in the closet. However, despite his best
efforts, the plot is still rather predictable, and the film's would-be
metaphysical conclusion is clearly signposted from early on. This does
tend to make the film feel slow in places, especially since Sam's
investigation is largely inspired by flashbacks and cryptic conversations,
which serve only to needlessly obscure details which are already fairly
obvious. Matters are not helped by Lee's determination to throw in
artistic and literary references, primarily Fuseli's painting, 'The
Nightmare', which the viewer is repeatedly shown. This could have been
done in a far more subtle manner. As a result, the film comes across as
somewhat self-important and pretentious.
"Night Corridor" deals with a number of
disturbing themes, such as child abuse and repressed homosexuality, though
thankfully these themes are approached in a fairly intelligent, realistic
manner. The film does have a category III rating, probably due to the
inclusion of these themes in the plot, though they are never shown
graphically. Unfortunately, Lee does have a tendency to overdo the use of
symbolism, and again relies too heavily on showing glimpses of paintings
and blurred photographs. Although this admittedly gives the proceedings
the feel of reflecting the mind of its confused protagonist, their overuse
rapidly becomes a little tiresome and overly ponderous.
Fortunately, Lee turns out to be a better director
than writer, and the film is very atmospheric, with the locations given a
gothic look generally unseen in Hong Kong cinema. The film is mercifully
devoid of the usual neon saturation, relying more upon shadows and odd
camera angles to give a sense of menace and of impending doom. The
production values are fairly good, which gives the film a polished feel
reminiscent of expressionist European cinema rather than any of
"Night Corridor's" Eastern genre peers.
Despite the category III rating, there is very little
in the way of action or visceral content, and when such scenes do occur,
Lee seems determined to downplay the physical impact in favour of the
psychological, an approach which sits well with the rest of the film, as
well as being pleasingly subtle. However, this may prove a disappointment
to those expecting shocks, and the inclusion of a few jolts would probably
have helped with the film's dull pacing.
The cast are all excellent, especially Daniel Wu, who
lends his character a believable combination of confusion and simmering
psychosis. It's also nice to see an old genre star like Ko still capable
of turning in a credible performance. And lastly, Coco Chiang is
effectively sinister in her ambiguous role. The acting helps add further
depth to the film, making it more effective as a low-key psychological
thriller rather than the horror film the DVD box art seems to suggest.
Although too murky and far less intelligent than
director Lee seems to think it is, "Night Corridor" is a
worthwhile, if decidedly minor mystery. And the film's brevity at least
means that the viewer doesn't feel too cheated even if the ponderous
labyrinth becomes too wearisome to navigate.
|
