Organized Crime & Triad
Bureau
Reviewed by YTSL
Watching this 1994 crime/police drama, one gets
the sense that its director (Kirk Wong, who also helmed "Crime Story", "Rock
and Roll Cop" and "Police Confidential") and producer cum star (Danny Lee,
who is infamous in HK movie circles for wishing he really were a cop) meant
for viewers of their film to sympathize with those of its characters who
are officially on the right side of the law but do not hesitate to employ
strong arm tactics to corner their criminal prey and make them pay for what
wrong acts they have committed. However, I couldn't help but root for
the most part for the nominal villains of the piece. This not least
on account of the desperate -- for much of the movie -- duo portrayed by
Anthony Wong and Cecilia Yip strongly coming across as nicer, more loyal
and more caring folk than Inspector Lee (portrayed by guess who?) and his
squad of bullies as well as just plain over-enthusiastic exponents of thoroughly
rough justice.
It (also) does not help the fictionalized ORGANIZED CRIME & TRIAD BUREAU's
case that the reason why Tung (Anthony Wong's character), Cindy (Cecilia
Yip's) and the other members of their gang are so wanted by the police is
not made explicit until fairly late into the film. By then, one has
been made witness to the torture -- using such seemingly mundane items as
perfume and wet towels along with various sections of the human body -- of
some of the apprehended individuals by Inspector Lee's men (and one woman).
This after the kind of massive and thorough manhunt that would seem to guarantee
the dehumanization of the hunted individuals.
Despite having such troubled feelings and reactions, I have to confess to
not being able to stop viewing ORGANIZED CRIME & TRIAD BUREAU all the
way through to its very end (despite my originally planning to watch it over
a couple of evenings). Although this seriously humorless -- and morally
dubious -- offering has a simple storyline (which only really gets complicated
by way of a couple of secondary characters turning out to have certain allegiances
and debts that one wouldn't have thought that they would have), it manages
to retain an air of suspense that really made me hanker to know what would
happen next in the film and what would be the fates of each of the main characters.
ORGANIZED CRIME & TRIAD BUREAU ends with an extended action sequence
which has people blasting away with shotguns and pistols that may not be
greatly spectacular yet is still pretty exciting. Other notable segments
of the movie include that which have Cindy softly crooning -- almost whispering
-- a haunting song whose lyrics contain such lines as "Our love is as pure
as snow...Trust each other, that's what love means..."; sometimes in precisely
the kind of circumstances that one would think could really call into question
the concept of love. In fact, those scenes actually touchingly reveal
the strength of her and her -- married, but not to her... -- man's commitment
to each other (as much as certain more loudly dramatic actions). A
very nice -- and quiet, relative to the rest of the film -- moment that one
would not expect to find in films of this nature involves the pleasure that
water can give to two thirsty and dirty individuals.
This production is also distinguished by its possessing a number of cast
members who may not be the biggest name stars of HK cinema but certainly
can give performances which enhance a film's quality. All in all, I
can't understand why Roy Cheung, Fan Siu Wong and the now retired Elizabeth
Lee -- not just Cecilia Yip and Anthony Wong -- have not been accorded more
recognition and adulation than they have. And re Parkman Wong (who
played Inspector Lee's right hand man) and Li Fai (who played the hardly
token female member of "Lee Sir"'s ORGANIZED CRIME & TRIAD BUREAU):
Let me just say here that they are so convincing as dogged pursuers and rabid
interrogators that they have succeeded in making me fear them in a way that
thespians don't usually do.
My rating for the film: 7.5