A War Named Desire
Director: Alan Mak
Year: 2000
Rating: 7.5
Director Alan Mak
has produced a film that at times may feel slightly derivative and at other
times may seem to be almost trying too hard to be cool, but it is overall
a terrifically stylish entry into what could be termed the “Milkyway genre”
of the past few years. In only his third film – the other two being the underrated
Nude Fear and the very clever X-Mas Rave Fever – Mak displays both a painterly
eye mixed with seamless and modernistic film technique. His lush color schemes
and use of dramatic close ups create a number of vivid and unforgettable
images. From his films so far, Mak is clearly a director to look out for.
What the film is lacking though is the grit that is needed to make it more
involving. It is almost too smooth and colorful – a touch of noire
realism was needed to make me care more about the outcome. The character
development and the relationships feel undernourished as they are derived
almost entirely through minimalist shorthand – a gesture, a look. The film
though is constantly on the move and only covers a few days in the lives
of the characters so perhaps this was necessary.
Daniel Chan (one of HK’s current pop singing idols) comes to Thailand looking
for his long missing brother Francis Ng. Tagging along with him is his girlfriend,
Pace Wu, who clearly needs to be burped in the worst way. Ng left HK 16 years
ago with $50,000 of the family’s money after committing murder. Chan is demanding
repayment - with interest of $1.95mm – but in reality it is his resentment
over his brother leaving and a need to face him that brings Chan to this
place.
Chan finds his brother with the help of a sleepy
eyed Sam Lee in a small town in Thailand that seems to be a haven for Chinese
fugitives on the run, but he couldn’t have picked a worse time to show up.
Koreans have moved into Ng's gambling business thus forcing some of Ng’s
men to break the rules by selling drugs to make money. Behind it is Henry,
who makes a play for the leadership as he first tries to set up Chan on a
murder charge and then later kidnaps Pace. When Ng turns to the big boss
– King – to settle matters, King instead tells Ng that he has two days to
show his loyalty by killing his own brother.
Ng only seems to have his right hand man Dave Wang and Wang’s sister, Gigi
Leung, on his side while Henry seems to have an inexhaustible supply of men
to throw at Ng. Fortunately though, both Wang and Gigi are extremely proficient
professional killers and Ng isn’t much of a slouch in the killing department
either. There are a number of well-filmed and stylish gunplay scenes that
take place and there is an assassination attempt amid a lavishly colored
water festival that is stunning.
Gigi is a real standout here. She doesn’t show up until well into the film,
but it immediately picks up a shot of energy and a burst of star power when
she does. Playing against type, her quiet and composed killer strikes a real
resonance – and her feelings for Ng are transmitted in only the smallest
and subtlest of ways.
Francis Ng is as always excellent as well – forceful but fair in his dealings
– and he creates an intriguing if slightly mysterious character. I can’t
say I found the performances of the other actors all that compelling though.
Wang is solid but not spectacular while both Chan and Pace barely registered.
This hurts the film in the beginning because at first the focus of the film
is on them – but as the story shifts to Ng and Gigi it picks up strongly
and the last 30 minutes of the film is a knockout.