A Witness out of the Blue

犯罪现场

Hong Kong/China, 2019, colour, 2.35:1, 103 mins.

Director: Feng Zhiqiang 冯志强.

Rating: 5/10.

Ambitious mixture of crime drama and quirky comedy is let down by an overloaded script and lack of tone.

STORY

Hong Kong, the present day. Junkie Xu Kang (Wu Haokang), a suspect from an armed robbery of a jeweller’s in Kowloon three months earlier that left four dead and 12 injured, is found with his throat slit in a dingy flat. The police, led by senior inspector Ye Shouzheng (Jiang Haowen), suspect he argued with gang leader Wang Xinyuan (Gu Tianle), who then killed him and made off with the jewels. Wang and the rest of the gang – Ouyang Kejian (Li Canchen) and Hong Xiaowu (Ling Wenlong) – are still at large. However, the police cannot understand why the gang was still using the flat as a hideout so long after the robbery. Ye Shouzheng, whose undercover detective Zeng Youbiao was killed in the robbery, is convinced Wang Xinyuan murdered Xu Kang; but one of his team, maverick Lin Faliang (Zhang Jicong), whom he can’t stand, is not so sure. The only live witness to the murder is a parrot found in the flat, and Lin Faliang, to Ye Shouzheng’s annoyance, has an idea the bird can help identify the killer. Under the name Li, Wang is hiding out in a flat shared by three old people and run by Ding Xiyue (Xuan Xuan), whose eyesight is poor as she waits for cornea transplants. She takes a liking to Wang Xinyuan, though he doesn’t encourage her. By chance, Lin Faliang comes face to face with Wang Xinyuan in an alley, where Wang Xinyuan tells him he didn’t murder Xu Kang. Ye Shouzheng doesn’t believe the news, and has an underworld informant, Daxiong, helping him on the case. Wang Xinyuan tells Hong Xiaowu the same story, and also that he doesn’t have the jewels. He claims Xu Kang was murdered, and the jewels stolen, when he was out of the flat. Lin Faliang and his assistant Xu Shaomei (Yan Zhuoling), who originally joined the police out of her admiration for him, question the surviving witnesses to the robbery – gangster-turned-butcher Yao Sheng (Tan Yaowen), shop attendant Yang Jianshen (Xue Kaiqi), who was partly paralysed during the robbery, and security officer He Zhaodong (An Zhijie), her boyfriend – to see if any of them could be involved in Xu Kang’s murder. Meanwhile, Lin Faliang sees Wang Xinyaun again when Ouyang Kejian’s pregnant girlfriend (Cai Jie) is killed by a bomb in her laundry shop. Determined to solve the mystery himself, Wang Xinyuan breaks into Ye Shouzheng’s home, where he meets a young petty burglar (Wu Zhaoxuan) who helps him hack into Ye Shouzheng’s computer, on which he finds some interesting photos. Separately, Lin Faliang starts to believe Ye Shouzheng may be connected with the killings, through what the parrot is trying to tell him.

REVIEW

In his sixth release of the year, Hong Kong’s super-busy Gu Tianle 古天乐 [Louis Koo], as in this spring’s prison drama P Storm P风暴 (2019), is largely on autopilot in A Witness out of the Blue 犯罪现场, a murder mystery centred on an armed robber, an oddball police detective and a talkative parrot that tries to be a quirky mixture of black comedy and crime drama but never manages to establish the right tone. The film reunites Gu with character actor Zhang Jicong 张继聪, 39 – who played the repeat offender in P Storm – but where in that film Zhang was likeable as light relief to the wooden Gu, here he’s simply not up to a co-lead role. Mainland box office was a polite RMB253 million, the weakest performer of Gu’s five crime dramas this year.

Witness is the fourth feature by Hong Kong writer-director Feng Zhiqiang 冯志强, who’s contributed to several Zhou Xingchi 周星驰 [Stephen Chow] fantasies over the years as well as directing comedies The Bounty 悬红 (2012) and The Midas Touch 超级经理人 (2013), both starring Du Wenze 杜汶泽 [Chapman To], and Concerto of the Bully 大乐师  为爱配乐 (2018), with Zheng Zhongji 郑中基 [Ronald Cheng] as a manic kidnapper. It’s Feng’s most ambitious movie yet but is hampered by his top-heavy screenplay, which is overloaded with characters and plotlines.

There’s Gu’s gang leader, who’s still on the run after masterminding a jewellery store robbery that ended with several killed and wounded, and who wants to prove he didn’t kill one of his own gang and make off with the stash; there’s Zhang’s maverick cop, who thinks a parrot found at the scene of the murder could help him identify the killer; there’s the gang leader’s landlady (Xuan Xuan 宣萱, good) who’s waiting for a cornea operation to retore her sight and takes a liking to him without knowing who he is; there are her ageing other tenants, all loveable oldies; there’s the cop’s young female assistant (Yan Zhuoling 颜卓灵, the kidnap victim in Concerto), who admires him for all his eccentricities; there’s the cop’s vengeful boss (veteran Jiang Haowen 姜皓文 [Philip Keung]) who may be involved with the murder; and there’s the other gang members and witnesses to the robbery who pepper the story (including Xue Kaiqi 薛凯琪 [Fiona Sit], from The Bounty, as a wheelchair victim). All of these characters bring their own different tones to the film, which perpetually yo-yos between a straight crime drama, a black comedy and homely feel-good.

Zhang’s detective character isn’t well enough drawn on paper, and the actor lacks sufficient charisma to stand up to such star presences as Gu (even when he’s in wooden mode) and Jiang. Yan battles uphill to make he character of the detective’s sidekick very noticeable, while stalwarts like Cai Jie 蔡洁 (as a laundrywoman), Li Canchen 李璨琛 [Sam Lee] (as a gang member) and An Zhijie 安志杰 [Andy On] (as a security officer) hardly get enough screen time to register.

Technical mounting is fine, with Hong Kong pros like d.p. Xie Zhongdao 谢忠道 [Kenny Tse], composer Jin Peida 金培达 [Peter Kam] and editor Luo Yongchang 罗永昌 [Law Wing-cheong]. But despite the presence of Er Dongsheng 尔冬升 [Derek Yee] as creative producer 监制, Witness still ends up as a movie of individual moments rather than a cohesive work. The film’s Chinese title means “Crime Scene”.

CREDITS

Presented by One Cool Film Production (HK), Guangdong Century Coast Pictures (CN), Media Asia Film Production (HK), Sun Entertainment Culture (HK), Lian Ray (Shanghai) Pictures (CN), Zhejiang Hengdian Film (CN). Produced by One Cool Film Production (HK).

Script: Feng Zhiqiang. Photography: Xie Zhongdao [Kenny Tse]. Editing: Luo Yongchang [Law Wing-cheong], Zou Yaoheng. Music: Jin Peida [Peter Kam]. Art direction: Chen Qi. Costume design: Huang Jiabao [Stephanie Wong]. Action: Huang Weiliang [Jack Wong]. Visual effects: Lin Hongfeng (Free-D Workshop).

Cast: Gu Tianle [Louis Koo] (Wang Xinyuan/Sean), Zhang Jicong (Lin Faliang/Larry), Xuan Xuan (Ding Xiyue/Joy, landlady), Yan Zhuoling (Xu Shaomei/Charmaine), Jiang Haowen [Philip Keung] (Ye Shouzheng), Xue Kaiqi [Fiona Sit] (Yang Jianshan/Sandy), Tan Yaowen (Yao Sheng/Bull, butcher), An Zhijie [Andy On] (He Zhaodong/Tony), Ling Wenlong (Hong Xiaowu/Hong Mao/Redhead), Li Canchen [Sam Lee] (Ouyang Kejian/Clark), Wu Haokang (Xu Kang/Homer), Liu Xinyou [Annie Liu] (bird specialist), Cai Jie (Ouyang Kejian’s girlfriend), Wu Zhaoxuan (young burglar), Mai Changqing (Chang/Crab, moneylender).

Release: Hong Kong, 24 Oct 2019; China, 12 Oct 2019.