Film critics say two superstars starring against each other is
better than one, but two big names in the directorial seat is too
many.
Confession of Pain (Shang Cheng) is an
exception. Hong Kong veteran directors Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai
Mak's latest co-operation starring Tony Leung (In the Mood for
Love, 2046) and Takeshi Kaneshiro (House of
Flying Daggers, Perhaps Love) comes off a treat.
Since the Infernal Affairs (Wujiandao) series,
Lau and Mak have established their reputation as excellent
storytellers. The trilogy once created a box office miracle in Hong
Kong in 2002 and 2003, and its Hollywood remake by Martin Scorsese
topped the 2006 US box office for weeks.
In Confession, the story can be best described as how
two men deal with their painful past. Cop Qiu Jianbang (Kaneshiro)
one day returns home only to find his girlfriend has committed
suicide, with a baby in her. He quits his job, becomes a drunkard
and a private detective. His late boss and buddy Liu Zhengxi
(Leung) also has to find a way out of his miserable memory. His
solution is to destroy all those involved, including his beloved
and himself.
For those expecting a pleasant experience watching Leung's
acting, this movie comes as a surprise. The character wears glasses
because he is hiding a big secret and never wants others to really
understand him. And Leung, famous for his killer eye contact,
proves that even behind two light brown pieces of glass, his eyes
can act thrillingly.
Quite different from Leung's signature roles as Mr Sentimental
in the 1930s' Shanghai, this time he tries to make a breakthrough
with a negative role. His performance convinces people that he will
handle the bigger challenge in Ang Lee's in-shooting Se
Jie, in which he plays a traitor.
And Kaneshiro, one of the most beautiful faces among Asian
actors, is very qualified to star opposite the Cannes best actor.
It's by no means an easy job to really drink to play a drunkard,
let alone at the same time, he has to keep sane to act against Tony
Leung. But he makes it.
The plot, like the two directors' previous works, goes smoothly
if you don't consider those suspense and sudden twists, as well as
the bloody and violent scenes, as obstacles in understanding.
But the confusion and visual thrillers are not the key points.
Even someone with no clue about the storyline can figure out the
answers about half way through. The directors have given enough
clues, and even scenes, to explain who is holding the secret, and
the violent scenes, if compared to many other Hong Kong gangster
movies and the Hollywood counterparts, is not that unbearable and
unforgettable.
Obviously the two experienced in directing are not playing quiz
games with the audience.
The film has a Chinese name that literally means "a painful
city," which refers obviously to Hong Kong, where the story takes
place. The story starts with a dazzling night scene on Hong Kong's
Victoria Harbour on Christmas Eve. The neon lights decorate the
city a heaven, where people laugh, hug, and share their joy, while
no one seems to feel the atmosphere of any "pain," as if the word
is just an illusion.
But it does exist, not only in the two protagonists, but also in
all of us. If there is a Brokeback Mountain in everyone's
heart, like the popular saying went last year, there should also be
a painful city in everyone's heart.
Facing the painful city inside, some choose to leave it behind,
some tries to revenge, and some just forget it, as if it never
happens.
As for the two in the movie, one used to try to figure out the
reasons of the pain and indulged himself in the research, but at
last drags himself out of the torture by tolerance and a decision
to move on; while the other plans a conspiracy for 20 years, gets
his revenge finally, but only to find the pain still there and
hurts more fiercely.
(China Daily December 26, 2006)
