Kidnapper
绑匪
Singapore/Malaysia, 2010, colour, 16:9, 98 mins.
Director: Tang Yongjian 唐永健 [Kelvin Tong].
Rating: 6/10.
Hard-driven crime drama is totally un-Singaporean in mood and tempo.
STORY
Singapore, the present day. Divorced taxi driver Lim Seng Huat (Li Mingshun), though penniless, refuses to give up custody of his 10-year-old son Lim Wei Siang (Chen Jiele) to his ex-wife (Lin Liting). When Lim Wei Siang is kidnapped by ex-con Hu (Lin Derong) in mistake for Sng Yao Leng (Lin Junhao), the young son of wealthy Mr. Sng (Ng Tek Choon), Lim struggles to raise the S$1 million ransom by selling first his flat and then a kidney. In fact, the kidnapping of Sng’s young son was planned by Sng’s young wife (Guo Feili) and, as the days pass, a complex relationship forms between her and Lim Seng Huat as the latter takes desperate steps to rescue Lim Wei Siang.
REVIEW
Kidnapper 绑匪 is that rare thing in Singaporean cinema – a crime thriller that actually works as a genre movie. Former critic-turned-filmmaker Tang Yongjian 唐永健 [Kelvin Tong] went to Hong Kong and hired local names to shoot his previous crime drama, Rule #1 第一诫 (2008), but here he attempts to bring off a very un-Singaporean genre with names from the region (all three leads are Malaysia-born Chinese) and shooting entirely in Mandarin. Though all-Mandarin Singaporean films often have a phony feel – as the island is actually a multilingual culture, freely mixing English with Chinese and other dialects – here it reinforces the unreal feel that’s necessary to make Tang’s gamble work. Also, by shooting in a tightly-framed visual style, with few backgrounds to remind the viewer the story is set in the orderly republic, and by adopting a single-act structure with no downtime once the plot kicks in and with plenty of hard-driven music by Huang Fushan 黄福山 [Joe Ng], he pretty much brings off the necessary suspension of belief.
The kidnapping of the taxi-driver’s young son is only the start of a story that progresses in twists and turns as strange alliances are formed. Set across 24 hours – with the unnecessary device of a countdown clock occasionally appearing on screen – the movie has a forward momentum that partly comes from its rapid HD shoot (unbelievably, only 14 days) but also from its budgetary restraints (no shootouts or big setpieces) and the elimination of transitions between scenes. Considered in the cool light of day, the plot of Kidnapper is both impossible and highly unlikely, given its setting; but while unwinding on screen it makes progressively absorbing entertainment. It’s not on the level of Rule #1 but is more of a piece.
As the taxi driver, actor-singer Li Mingshun 李铭顺 [Christopher Lee] not only makes a believable working-class type but also manages the emotional shifts between physical drama and lighter stuff with engaging ease. Actor-singer-DJ Lin Derong 林德荣 [Jack Lim] gets little time to develop a character of any sort as the kidnapper but makes a convincing, plug-ugly ex-con who just can’t be stopped. Guo Feili 郭妃丽 [Phyllis Quek], who mostly works in Singapore TV, is the weakest of the three leads, better at playing a cold gold-digger than a sympathetic mother. As the taxi driver’s kid, young Chen Jiele 陈杰乐 has considerable chemistry with Li without being brattishly annoying.
CREDITS
Presented by Scorpio East Pictures (SG), RAM Entertainment (MY), PMP Entertainment (MY). Produced by Boku Films (SG).
Script: Tang Yongjian [Kelvin Tong], Guo Zhixuan [Ken Kwek]. Mandarin dialogue: Yang Junwei [Danny Yeo]. Photography: Zhao Weixian. Editing: Zhong Weizhao [Azrael Chung]. Music: Huang Fushan [Joe Ng]. Art direction: Tommy Chan. Costume design: Li Wei’en. Sound: Yu Wah Hoi. Action: Guo Yaxiang.
Cast: Li Mingshun [Christopher Lee] (Lim Seng Huat), Lin Derong [Jack Lim] (Hu), Guo Feili [Phyllis Quek] (Mrs. Sng), Chen Jiele (Lim Wei Siang), Lin Yongyi (Sng Kia Wee), Ng Tek Choon (Mr. Sng), Lin Junhao (Sng Yao Leng, his son), Lin Liting (Huang Yazhen), Ethan Chia (Pey Ki), Shayne Ng (wife in traffic jam), Daniel Phoon (man on phone in traffic jam), Xing Ang (Tze, lawyer), Jasmani Bin Basri (Zak), Ong Wei Suan (army boy in taxi), Teng Weng Kong (traffic policeman), Colin Hoh (policeman in Neighbourhood Police Post), Xie Zhengang (property agent), Michael Kwan (bank manager), Vincent Lee (loan shark), Liang Fuchao (backstreet surgeon), Johnson Teng (drunk in taxi), Xu Zhiqiang, Clement Lau, Woo Kim Kong, A Fu, Simon Leung, Zyron Schoniwitz, Thomas Strasser, Paulo Politti, Martin Chee, Chris Goh, Shaine Neo, Sng Ye Xiang, Sharon Lim, Eric Seeton, Snowden Chua, Darien Tan, Tan Wee Liang, Calvin Bok, Vecce Chin, Chen Yiyuan, Kenneth Tan.
Release: Singapore, 18 Mar 2010; Malaysia, 13 May 2010.
(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 28 Jul 2010.)