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Jiang Hu (2004)

Hong Kong cinema is dead, long live Hong Kong cinema! Prior to the release of Media Asia's Infernal Affairs trilogy, a lot of people seemed to have written off Hong Kong cinema, when the truth of the matter was that the rumours of its death had been greatly exaggerated. One of this year's most highly anticipated films features a lot of the same talent from Infernal Affairs, as well as welcoming back a few faces that have been absent from the jade screen for some time. Should we believe the hype behind Jiang Hu.

Triad leader Hung (Andy Lau) has everything, a beautiful wife Emily (Wu Hsien-lien), money, power and a fiercly loyal No 2, Lefty (Jackie Cheung) but on the night his wife gives birth to his first child, he learns that he also has a price on his head. The three rival Triad bosses Tall Guy (Eric Tsang), Big lungs (Tsui Siu-keung), Figo (Miu Kiu-wai) and even Lefty seem to have their own plans for him.

Two young Triad wannabes Wong (Shawn Yue)and Turbo (Edison Chen) have ambitions to make their names in the Triad world. Wong's mother has already lost one son due to his underworld connections but even she is unable to dissuade Wong from the path he has chosen. Wong and Turbo cross paths with a mysterious girl named Yoyo (Lin Yuan), as they are given the opportunity to make a name for themselves or die in the attempt, by wiping out a certain Triad leader. Friendships and loyalty will be tested to breaking point as the Triad world of Jiang Hu has no mercy on those who cross the line...

I'd just like to state, this Jiang Hu is not a remake nor does it bear any similarity to Dante Lam's 2000 comedy Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone, despite what you may have read on the internet. Jiang Hu in Chinese has many meanings; it can be used to refer to 'martial chivalry' ala The Swordsman movies or in this case the loyalty between friends or 'Blood Brothers'. It's a return to the glory days of the late '80s, early '90s Hong Kong cinema, when sharp dressed gangsters settled their differences in the same blood that friendships were forged in. Early word on the film was very strong with people claiming that this was going to be the new Infernal Affairs and yet, when the film opened, there seemed to be an immediate backlash against it as people claimed it failed to live up to the expectations. It's with great relief that I'm able to say I was very pleasantly surprised by what I saw.

There was something in this film which kept me on the edge of my seat for its entire running time. The film features a number of plot threads running at the same time which may confuse some viewers, characters have phone calls that are intercut with others, so you're never quite sure just who is talking to who and, as with the real world, it's sometimes hard to see where certain loyalties lie, which is great.

Fresh from winning his second Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor, for Running on Karma, Andy Lau delivers another very strong performance. I do have to say that I feel his award for Running on Karma almost seemed like an attempt to make amends for the fact that his contribution to the Infernal Affairs films had been overlooked (ala Denzel Washington when he received an Oscar for his performance in Training Day instead of his performance in previous year's Hurricane which was clearly better). Co-star Tony Leung Chiu-wai got the majority of the press and all the awards but his role wouldn't have worked without the support of Lau's performance. It's funny that Lau has had such a lengthy career, with more than 100 films to his name and it's only recently that people seemed to view him as a real actor. Yes, Lau has done a lot of movies that were great entertainment but didn't often stretch his dramatic muscles. If you look at his performance in Ann Hui's The Boat People, you see there has always been a solid actor trying to get out from under the screen persona he was too often saddled with. In Jiang Hu, Lau plays the man who literally has it all, a beautiful wife and a newborn child, a fiercly loyal friend, money and, oh yeah, a price on his head. Lau gives a great understated performance as he tries to deal with the number of changes in his life; his wife and child, his Triad duties, the death threats and the machinations of those around him. I feel there will be another HK Film Nomination next year for his role in this film.

However, he may be pipped at the post by his co-star, the great Jackie Cheung Hok-yau. After taking a few years away from the big screen to concentrate on his music and his family. Cheung made a return to the screen in July Rhapsody but really delivers on the promise he's shown with his role. His role as Lefty, Hung's No 2, is a great one, with cheung managing to deliver just enough of an undercurrent of psychotic behaviour under his charm, such as when it's discussed that he not only kills his enemies but their entire families and he just responds with a bashful smile. The friendship between Lau's and Cheung's characters has been a long and hard one and there is a certain amount of unspoken rivalry between the the two, leading to a great Heat inspired dining scene reminiscent of Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino's scene in Michael Mann's classic when the two face each other and discuss life., the universe and everything like gentlemen but you know at any minute they could be pulling guns and knives and generally trying to do each other harm. The backstory to their relationship is also very well handled and I hope that Cheung's work is rewarded with a Best Actor Nomination at the very least. Cheung has sometimes overstepped the boundaries and been the bug eyed pscho but this time he carries it off well and keeps the menace just burning under the surface.

Shawn Yue gives his strongest performance to date in this film as Wong, the young and misguided Triad. He wants to make name for himself and prove that he can be somebody, can one day be a boss. Yue's standout moments include his awkward relationship with Yoyo, the girl he meets the night he accepts his assignment to kill a boss. The relationship between him and Turbo, the scenes with his mother and a great flashback to the night his brother died. This film definitely hints at Yue being somebody who is going to develop as an actor to watch out for.

Since making his debut in Gen-Y Cops, Edison Chen has often been unfairly criticized and a majority of Western fans of HK cinema seemed to take an instant dislike to him and unfortunately a number of the roles he's been given haven't exactly been the most demanding. Princess D and Infernal Affairs 2 hinted at much more and, in Jiang Hu, Chen delivers on the promise he's shown. His character of Turbo has the look and the swagger, he tells everybody he meets that he is the man of action, he's the new kid on the block ready to fight, when he's actually a frightened kid struggling to deal with the cards he's been dealt. He may not be the best fighter or the bravest but when a friend is in trouble he'll try to help them... if only he could help himself. One scene involving Chen's character created a lot of controversy, as he is brutally beaten by a rival group of thugs who then try to force him to, shall we say get friendly with man's best friend, woof! Of course Chen's character eventually gets to make a stand and crosses a line that marks his transition from boy to man.

As the three rival bosses, the diminutive Eric Tsang plays 'Tall Guy' and delivers a more comical performance than was required in Infernal Affairs, while Norman Tsui Siu-keung gets to display an air of grace and menace as 'Big Lungs', a once formidable boss. Former TVB heart-throb Miu Kiu-wai plays the ill fated 'Figo'. The three of them get a great introduction as they arrive at a meeting, all talking on phones, discussing nefarious plans but we're never sure just who they're talking to, they seem to have something on their minds, but is it the same thing?

Chapman To, whose career got a major boost from the Infernal Affairs trilogy, turns up in a bad wig to play the jarring Brother To, who gives the two young wannabe's their shot at either the big time or a nasty death. Sadly he seems to be the one out of place element in the film. He's supposed to be an eccentric drugged out taskmaster but instead comes across as the one wrong move in the film. The ever former prolific props man turned actor Lam Suet, who seems to have been in every other Hong Kong movie made in the last two years, turns up briefly as a slap happy Cop who makes the mistake of underestimating the two youngsters he crosses paths with, while former '80s mainstay of HK cinema Wong Ching gets a nice little role as an ill fated gang leader.

The women in this film are actually given a lot more to do then the female leads in the Infernal Affairs films and their motivations actually work. The lovely Wu Hsien-lein, who made her movie debut opposite Andy Lau in Benny Chan's classic A Moment of Romance, makes a welcome return to the big screen as Hung's wife Emily. Wu has spent the last few years working on both Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese TV dramas and it's great to see her back, looking as beautiful as ever and delivering such a good performance. As the scenes between her and Andy Lau play, you can see the two characters are more than husband and wife, they are very much a match for each other with Wu showing a darker side with some of her responses to the way things are happening. Newcomer Lin Yaun plays Yoyo, a girl who makes the acquaintance of Wong and Turbo on the fateful night they accept their mission of murder, and she begins to work as a prostitute to pay off some major debts. Ling makes a strong debut, she's got an interesting look and the interplay between her and Shawn Yue works very well, as both of them find themselves falling for the other when they both know that this night is going to change their lives, most probably in a very bad way. Former Shaw Brothers' Kung Fu Queen Way Yin-hong also gets a great role as Wong's jaded and embittered mother. Her character has already lost one son to the underworld but knows she has to let her son make his own destiny and after begrudgingly accepting his choice, offers her help to make things easier for him. Wai won the first Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actress award for her role in in My Young Auntie and this role proves she's still capable of delivering the goods as an actress.

The film features superb moody cinematography courtesy of Lam Chi-kin and Lam Ben-hua who slowly develop the look into a more dark and dreamlike world as the plot progresses, while Pang Cheng-his does a great job with the editing. The music is by singer/composer and occasional actor Mark Lui and also fits the film very well, hopefully the soundtrack will soon be making its way onto the shelves.

The action scenes were choreographed by veteran action director Stephen Tung Wai (Hitman, Pom Pom & Hot Hot) and work very well. The action is stylish but without feeling too contrived and still manages to look realistic without being unexciting. The final battles in the rain are superbly shot and choreographed, although very reminiscent of the first murder scene in Korean thriller Nowhere to Hide.

Director Wong Ching-po, who had previously only helmed music videos and the small feature film Fu Bo, is also very much a talent to watch out for. He manages to get some of the strongest performances in their careers from the cast and handles the intricate plot twists and multiple story arcs very well. The one thing that is very obvious is how much he's been influenced by both Western films and Korean Cinema with severa scenes being very reminiscent of moments in Nowhere to Hide and a couple of shot for shot recreations of moments from Friend/Chingu. Major respect to Master Wong for not only delivering the best film of 2004 so far but also one of thebest Hong Kong films of the last few years.

Jiang Hu delivers, in my opinion, on every level. The story, the characters, the drama, the tension, the music, the action... it all comes together so well, with enough plot twists and turns to keep you hooked until the last frame. Hopefully, Jiang hu will be picked by an international distributor who can do the film justoce in terms of limited cinema release and a prestige DVD release at the very least. The HK Limited Edition is however worth its price and for those who do not intend to pay so much for this film, it is also available as a plain edition.

Clever shot from below in which Shawn Yue is beaten by some rival thugs.

Added on July 4th 2004

Written by Mike Leeder

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