Once a Gangster
飞砂风中转
Hong Kong, 2010, colour, 1.85:1, 95 mins.
Director: Zhuang Wenqiang 庄文强 [Felix Chong].
Rating: 5/10.
A light satire on gangster dramas, including the film-maker’s own Infernal Affairs, that’s hit-and-miss.
STORY
Hong Kong, 20-odd years ago. Young Xiao Jinnan (Zeng Guoxiang), who dreams of owning a restaurant, joins the Heyisheng triad after its boss Yan, aka Kerosene (Fang Zhongxin), agrees to fund one for him in Shanghuan [Sheung Wan] district. Kerosene nicknames him Roast Pork, who becomes a fearless fighter and rises through the ranks as Kerosene’s right-hand man while also establishing his restaurant as a celebrity watering hole. Twenty years later, with the triad deep in debt, Kerosene feels like retiring and nominates Roast Pork (Chen Xiaochun) as his successor. However, one senior triad member, Pearl (Yu An’an), wants her son Yan Ziwen, aka Swallow (Zheng Yijian), to take over. This is fine by Roast Pork, as he doesn’t want the job. But Swallow, who has become a fan of Milton Friedman during his 20 years in prison and wants to study economics at Hong Kong University, doesn’t want the job either. Meanwhile, amidst all the electoral chaos, the Hong Kong police activate their deep undercover mole, Chen Yongren (Liu Haolong).
REVIEW
Scriptwriter Zhuang Wenqiang 庄文强 [Felix Chong], best known for co-writing Infernal Affairs 无间道 (2002), has had a spotty career so far as a director, largely hitting his stride only in police surveillance drama Overheard 窃听风云 (2009). Once a Gangster 飞砂风中转 is more successful than his 2008 Lady Cop & Papa Crook 大搜查之女, where the mixture of drama and mild comedy never seemed to jell, but still suffers from a problem of overall tone. For Cantonese-speakers, the dialogue is witty enough but is hard to fully appreciate in the English subtitles, especially as it’s rarely out-and-out comic.
The movie’s sustaining performance comes from 50-year-old Shaw Brothers veteran Yu An’an 余安安 [Candice Yu] – who was also in the more explicitly comic send-up Infernal Unfairs 精装追女仔 (2004) by Wang Jing 王晶 [Wong Jing] – as the pill-popping, loudmouthed mother of the studious ex-con played by Zheng Yijian 郑伊健 [Ekin Cheng]. Appearing halfway through, Yu puts some real oomph into the film. Until then, apart from a treasurable scene of a triad boss, played by Fang Zhongxin 方中信 [Alex Fong Chung-sun], visiting his bank manager about his overdraft, it largely dawdles along as a low-key riff on everything from Election 黑社会 (2005) by Du Qifeng 杜琪峰 [Johnnie To] to the current spate of movies looking back at simpler times (evoked by faded colour footage) when gangsters had a clear space of their own in society.
That point is key to the movie, which unfortunately is grounded in a modern-day Hong Kong political correctness – hardly any of the gangsters even smoke, and an anti-drugs message is even stitched in at the end – that directly works against the humour it’s trying to evoke. And Zhuang’s signature as a director is not strong enough to carry the movie when the dialogue or performances aren’t sparking on their own. Zheng also animates the second half as Yu’s son, and Liu Haolong 刘浩龙 is occasionally funny as an incompetent version of the mole played by Liang Chaowei 梁朝伟 [Tony Leung Chiu-wai] in Infernal Affairs; but the whole film could have been much sharper under a more experienced director. Production values are modest.
CREDITS
Presented by Media Asia (HK). Produced by Pop Movies (HK).
Script: Zhuang Wenqiang [Felix Chong]. Original story: Du Wenze [Chapman To], Zhuang Wenqiang [Felix Chong], Liu Haoliang. Photography: Zou Lianyou. Editing: Chen Zhiwei [Andy Chan]. Music: Chen Jiaye. Art direction: Wen Nianzhong [Man Lim-chung]. Costumes: Zhong Chuting. Sound: Qian Yongli, Zheng Yingyuan [Phyllis Cheng]. Action: Huang Weiliang [Jack Wong].
Cast: Fang Zhongxin [Alex Fong Chung-sun] (Huoshui/Kerosene/ Yan), Chen Xiaochun [Jordan Chan] (Huonan/Roast Pork/Xiao Jinnan/RuPaul), Zheng Yijian [Ekin Cheng] (Yan Ziwen/Swallow), Yu An’an [Candice Yu] (Pearl, Yan Ziwen’s mother), Chen Zicong (Wei/Scissors), Liu Haolong (Chen Yongren, undercover policeman), Ye Xuan [Michelle Ye] (Lanzhi/Nancy, Xiao Jiannan’s wife), Guo Feng (Uncle Cha), Yuan Fuhua (Uncle Jianliao), Zheng Shijun (Lanrong), Lan Yibang (Youyu/Oily Fish), Zeng Guoxiang [Derek Tsang] (young Xiao Jinnan).
Release: Hong Kong, 20 May 2010.
(Review originally published on Film Business Asia, 19 Aug 2010.)