People's Hero
Reviewed by YTSL
The Hong Kong entertainment industry is (in)famous
for having many Cantopop - and Mandopop - stars who also work as actors or
actresses (or vice-versa). What may not be realized as much is the
equal - or sometimes greater -- versatility of many of those who largely work
behind the scenes of movies. Then there are those truly multi-talented
personality - among them, singer-actress-producer-director-cum-scriptwriter
Sylvia Chang, director-producer-scriptwriter-cum-actor Tsui Hark, producer-actor-director-cum-game
show and beauty pageant host Eric Tsang, and actor-director-producer-scriptwriter-cum-cinematographer
Derek Yee - who seem equally adept at being members of a film's cast or crew.
With regards to the last mentioned individual: While he was an okay
enough leading man in such as "Magnificent Warriors", "Vengeance is Mine"
and "Victory", I think that he has shown with the likes of "C'est la Vie,
Mon Cheri" and "Viva Erotica!" as well as this 1987 offering -- that was
only his second attempt at the helm -- that he really is a special auteur
(who ought to have been awarded control of more than just the seven directorial
efforts to date that he has to his credit).
Clocking in at less than 85 minutes, PEOPLE'S HERO may superficially appear
to be a not particularly substantial production. In actuality though,
this at times suspenseful, at other times absurdist, yet pretty much always
thoroughly believable, crime drama is a detailed piece of work that's absolutely
replete with interesting characters, fascinating stories and attention absorbing
situations along with bravura acting. That which centers on a disparate
group of twelve folks -- who end up spending some time together as a result
of a foiled bank robbery turned hostage crisis -- stars Ti Lung as a double
cop killer who turns out to value the lives of others more than at least
one of those officially on the right side of the law. The man who,
IMHO, deserved a Best Actor award for his masterful performance in this movie
(but didn't even get nominated for one), is supported by an able rest of
the cast that includes: Tony Leung Chiu Wai (who was named as HKFA
Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the skittish young man who got
himself and others into a greater mess than he ever could have wanted to);
Tony Leung Kar Fai (in an understated role as a police captain who's far
less willing to play with people's lives than the blustering rival one essayed
by Paul Chun Pui); and Elaine Kam (who garnered HKFA Best Supporting Actress
recognition for her portrayal of the woman who wound up serving prison time
for and/or because of her man).
Although it features some gun waving, pointing and exchange of bullets, PEOPLE'S
HERO is a film that is shorter on outright explosive action than it is with
the threat of still more violence getting unleashed when it ought not have
been necessary in the first place. Together with his co-scriptwriters
Li Pak Ling and Kwan Yiu Wing, director Yee has crafted a gripping dramatic
piece that is: Full of unexpected yet convincing twists and turns triggered
by inadvertent actions or individuals - law-breakers, hostages, strangers,
friends and loved ones alike - not conforming to (stereo)type; and liberally
laced with the sort of understandable tension that comes from a set of volatile
personalities being stuck for a time in enclosed space with the kind of people
whom they normally would not be likely to consort. While the first
few minutes of this offering may seem a trifle too busy and disconnected
to be ideal, my sense is that starting from when a very casually attired
Little Tony Leung enters into the picture (and especially after Ronald Wong
Pan's character has an epileptic fit and a pistol drops out of his friend's
paper bag when he was in the process of helping the stricken youth out of
the building), this tightly organized John Sham production doesn't stop being
enthralling for even a single moment.
As the film slowly builds up to its seemingly inevitable climactic standoff,
plenty of time is found to give its viewer(s) the opportunity to get to know
better many of the characters who happened to be in that Po Lung Bank branch
near to its closing time on that one particular, eventful day. However
trivial and petty their individual tales, concerns and wants can appear to
be on one level, the fact remains that their disclosure uniformly makes those
at the center of them - among whom are a stock market playing mother,
her low grades earning daughter, a soft looking rich man (Yip Wing Cho),
his Mandarin speaking wife, the bank's nervous manager (Tien Ching), the
bank's Pakistani guard (who worries about what will happen to people like
him come 1997), and the lovelorn bank employee played by Bowie Lam -- into
more sympathetic figures than would otherwise have been the case; and none
more so than the wanted man who would get my vote for being the movie's titular
PEOPLE'S HERO. If anyone wanted to see how the Stockholm Syndrome could
come about, this production could provide a case-study of the fascinating
phenomenon.
However, this is not to say that PEOPLE'S HERO deserves to be seen only -
or even primarily -- by those with an academic interest in the sort of situation
and conditions whereby hostages grow to develop some empathy for, and actually
like, the person(s) who they ought to have good reason to also fear (would
kill, not just toy with, them). Instead and indeed, there is a part
of me that wants to tell as much of the world as I can how much I was majorly
blown away by this movie, and urge as many of my fellow film fans as possible
to go hunt down this not particularly heralded work. Conversely, another
part of me worries that too much hype will cause people who are not as appreciative
of that which surely was not a big budget production because my enthusiastic
recommendation caused them to approached it with overly sky high expectations.
With that having been said (or written) though, I can't quite believe or imagine
that those who go in looking for a well made offering with a strong sense
of (dark) humanity - precisely the characteristics possessed by my favorite
Hong Kong crime dramas (which include Ringo Lam's "Full Alert" and Alfred
Cheung's "On the Run") -- can be disappointed by this admirable Derek Yee
effort.
My rating for this film: 8.5
