49 Days
Film review by Lee Alon
Years post the HK film biz's first batch of pseudo-scary,
rather lame attempts at wooing people with wishy-washy ghost tales, the same
insipid shortcomings still often dominate. 49 Days places itself firmly in
the company of such mediocrity, demonstrating the case for how better technology
often fails in alleviating symptoms pertaining to simple story and common
sense.
In a vein similar to that of classics “Ghost” and “The 6th Sense”, 49 Days
relies chiefly on an interesting but obvious twist to bring it together halfway
through, in addition to deploying the requisite quota of redundant, convoluted
mysticism. It revolves around the theme of the dead having the opportunity
to sort things out within a given timeframe (49 Days) before they have to
depart the living world, but the only such temporal restraint you'll be eager
to figure out is when the awful thing'll end at long last.
Eclipsing everyone else in the production is handsome Raymond Wong (Love
Undercover, The Lion Roars, PTU) who delivers a wicked performance as the
backstabbing friend Pang Shi and who gets to exit the stage in a modest blaze
of acting glory. Pang Shi works with 1920's entrepreneur Lam Shing (Stephen
Fung), a successful millionaire in an undisclosed city making his very honest
fortune selling traditional medicine a la Wong Fei Hung. Everything goes
well until one fine day Lam Shing is accused and convicted of a crime he
of course didn't commit. Languishing in the local crook depository, only
cadet attorney Siu Chin accepts the ignominious fate of standing up for Lam
Shing. She's played by Twin, Gillian Chung, definitely one of the prettiest
faces in the world of entertainment today, but sadly not much more judging
by this sad release. Chung's character suffers from an oversized portion
of comic relief, plus dabbles in lifting themes from My Cousin Vinnie.
Eventually she seemingly arranges for Lam Shing's escape from incarceration,
and they manage to make it back to his old homestead where he had left his
wife and child four years previously to make a success of himself. Now it
is eerily deserted like a disused Shaw Brothers lot. Here is where the so-called
horror element kicks in, but if this scares you please seek professional
help, you're in no shape to handle modern society. Amid horrible voice-overs
the fatigued story trudges on, with at least some highlights shining through.
Despite a conspicuously short legal-process bit, the prison itself has some
excellent imagery, and the movie overall benefits from a technically polished
veneer. And even though the mood picks up somewhat after the prison break,
its all for naught as sentimental opportunities, including clearly useful
ones like the family reunion, are poorly done.
The latter part of the film mainly concerns Lam Shing meeting his young daughter
Ling Qi (newcomer Qiu Li Er), another addition to the parade of annoying,
noisome little girls following in the shaky footsteps of the over-hyped “The
Ring”. There is then a lot of mumbo-jumbo about fate and victims destined
to act on their yuan fen, or pre-scripted karma. Not the most revealing
nor intriguing of prospects, let us tell you, even though one of the instruments
of this mechanism is the impressive veteran director Lawrence Mon, here both
executioner and protector, plus the guy taking it upon himself to clue the
cast (and us) in to what's going down in 49 Days.
Above other considerations, 49 Days takes its own sorry self too seriously.
Sure, certain moments exhibit good graphic effects (particularly when we
see magical candles exposing the whereabouts of ghosts), and to their credit
continuity throughout retains a solidly consistent state. Probably the biggest
boon for most comes in the gorgeous form known as Gillian. Classy beauty
like this doesn't come along too often, and every chance to behold its magnificence
has to be OK at the very least, even if it’s a vapid flick like this one.
49 Days misses hardly any fortuitous moment to strip itself of remaining
credibility, belonging in no tradition one could point to. Pathetic action,
laughable scares, all consolidate into a package even Ace Ventura's take
on UPS couldn't dent further. It would be so easy to take the cynical route
and come up with 49 flaws here, but let's avoid that. Instead, here’s hoping
Gillian graces another project as soon as possible, and this time perhaps
one requiring more than just her cosmetic presence. As for 49 Days, pretend
you didn't see it. Boo.
Rating: 4/10
Directed by Lam Kin Lung
Starring Stephen Fung, Gillian Chung, Raymond Wong,
Lawrence Mon, Qiu Li Er
2006, Cantonese, 95 minutes
Contact Lee Alon here
Other "View from the Brooklyn Bridge" Film Raters:
YTSL: 7.0
Michael: 8.0
Brian: 5.5
Sarah: 6.5