While the Hong Kong film industry might have become weaker in the action department and lower in the number of films released per year, Isabella sticks out as one of the more powerful dramas.

Director: Edmond Pang Ho-cheung
Main Stars: Chapman To, Isabella Leong, Anthony Wong
Production Year: 2006
Studio: Megastar
Packaging: Amaray (in a slipcase)
Extras: Making Of, Press Conference, Photo Gallery, Trailers
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio Tracks: Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1, Cantonese DTS, Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1, 3 commentaries in 2.0
Subtitles: English, simplified and traditional Chinese
Regional Coding: Region 0 NTSC
Running Time: 109 minutes
Rating / Certificate: NR
Release Date: May 29th 2006

The Film

Director and writer Edmond Pang, (he wrote Fulltime Killer and wrote & directed Men Suddenly in Black) has done a good job. If I had to name one reason this man should get an award it would be the fact that he made a good character actor out of Chapman To. From the beginning of his career To was predominantly be known for portraying goofy characters. There are people who claim that his presence in the Infernal Affairs films had ruined them. I wouldn't go that far, but I certainly was not fond of his acting abilities. Little did I know. Either he never chose scripts with complex characters or he was never offered them. However, he and Edmond Pang founded their own production company called Not Brothers and their first film Isabella is a touching drama.



Shing (Chapman To) is a corrupt policeman who as a teenager loved a woman called Isabella. Not kowing that she had become pregnant he left her not saying a word. She gave birth and raised a girl called Yan without Shing's knowledge. Years later Isabella passes away leaving Yan and her dog, also called Isabella, behind. She still goes to school and now has financial problems as she cannot even pay the rent for her flat. She decides to find her father and she is successful looking for him in Macau.



Without giving away too much, let me say that they have an awkward time meeting each other for the first time. However, a touching father-daughter-relationship developes when Shing helps Yan to look for her lost dog, her only memory of her mother. What we see from here is how their relationship developes, how they start accepting each other and start to care for each other. However, there is the turning point which involves triads. Will Shing ignore and evade them in order to live a happy life with his daughter? I won't spoil the film for you.

So how does Pang tell his story? As it takes place in Macau of 1999, shortly before the Portuguese handover to China, he benefits from a great setting which D.O.P. Charlie Lam brings to screen very effectively. A lot is told as well through Peter Kam's (Purple Storm, Lost in Time, Perhaps Love) wonderful soundtrack (received the Silver Bear in 2006 at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival) which with its Latin tune fits very well to the overall look of the film and the locations.



There is also a great guest appearance by Anthony Wong as an arms dealer. And a cameo by one of the screenwriters Derek Tsang, who happens to be Eric Tsang's son. Everything seems perfect now, doesn't it? Well, no it doesn't. Although the make-up artists did a good job in making Chapman To look older than he is, it was a bit hard for me to believe that he was supposed to be Isabella Leong's father. And it isn't even his fault. It is Isabella Leong who is too old to play a teenager. While she gives a very good and dramatic performance she seems a bit mis-cast to me.

Overall, this is a very fine movie and better than most other films we are currently getting from Hong Kong. I hope that Edmond Pang and Chapman To will continue their work and produce more films with their Not Brothers company. They are a good hope for the future of HK cinema.



Action
Suspense
Story
Humor
Romance
Drama Level
Eroticism
Music
Cinematograhy
Total

This film could appeal to you if you liked:

In the Mood for Love or Le Grand Voyage

The DVD

The MegaStar DVD release features very good video and audio quality. There is a Cantonese DTS and 5.1 track as there is a Mandarin 5.1 dub.

Unfortunately we are not given subtitles to any of the three audio commentaries. If you understand Cantonese you will find it interesting to know that these commentaries are with:

- Chapman To and Isabella Leong
- Director Edmond Pang & Composer Peter Kam
- D.O.P. Charlie Lam and screenwriters Derek Tsang (Eric Tsnag's son), Jimmy Wan and Kearen Pang.

Disc 2 has the following extras (mostly without English subtitles):

- Making of (14m 10s): features interviews and behind-the-scenes footage
- Deleted Scenes (total of 4m 47s)
- "Berlin Tour" (4m 19s): some footage of the actors and filmmakers of Isabella attending the Berlin Film Festival.
- Isabella Leong Interview (13m 17s)
- Music Video (4m 13s)
- Trailer (2m 43s): English subtitles, YAY!
- 2 TV spots
- Photo Gallery (20 Production Stills)
- Promotional Material
- Cast and Filmmaker Profiles: These text based features are also available in English. They are quite interesting as there is a statement by Edmond Pang and things alike.



The limited edition comes with the full script of the film completely written in Chinese and 16 production stills.



DVD Menus
Picture
Audio
Subtitles
Special Features (because of the lack of English subs)

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