Integrity

廉政风云   烟幕

Hong Kong/China, 2019, colour, 2.35:1, 113 mins.

Director: Mai Zhaohui 麦兆辉 [Alan Mak].

Rating: 5/10.

ICAC procedural builds methodically but betrays the audience’s patience with a pulpy third act.

STORY

Hong Kong, Jun 2018. Just before he’s due to give evidence at a trial brought by the Independent Commission Against Corruption against tobacco trading group Lida head Chen Chaoqun (Lin Wei) and senior customs official Zhong Jialing (Yuan Yongyi) for smuggling and bribery, Lida chief accountant Xu Zhiyao (Zhang Jiahui) appears to have an attack of nerves and slips out of his hotel room, evading his ICAC bodyguards. He does, however, leave senior ICAC investigator Chen Jingci (Liu Qingyun) a memory stick containing material that links investment company Niandai with the bribery. The same morning Chen Chaoqun has also discharged himself from hospital and vanished, leaving only Zhong Jialing in the dock as the trial begins. The judge delays proceedings for seven days, giving ICAC a chance to bring Xu Zhiyao and Chen Chaoqun to court. ICAC discovers Xu Zhiyao has taken a flight to Sydney that was booked four days earlier. Chen Jingci’s boss, Ma Xuwen (Fang Zhongxin), orders him to stay in Hong Kong to co-ordinate the operation and sends unit leader Jiang Xue’er (Lin Jiaxin) – a specialist negotiator and also Chen Jingci’s estranged wife – to Sydney to convince Xu Zhiyao to return. Another ICAC unit leader, Gary (Chen Jiale), discovers Chen Chaoqun’s wife and son have also disappeared. Using the evidence on the memory stick, Chen Jingci forces Zhong Jialing’s defence barrister (Luo Yingjun) to let him question her over who is the mastermind behind the whole operation, but she reveals little. Meanwhile, soon after arriving in Sydney, where he tells a government official he’s not returning, Xu Zhiyao suffers a heart attack in his hotel room and is hospitalised. Jiang Xue’er arrives in Sydney and has a talk with Xu Zhiyao after he’s discharged himself from hospital. He tells her she should be going after Niandai instead of wasting her time trying to convince him to return to Hong Kong, especially as ICAC only has five days left. Chen Jingci orders her to return but she decides to stay on to get to know Xu Zhiyao better, especially when she sees two mysterious men from Hong Kong (Zhang Songzhi, Yuan Fuhua) following him. Meanwhile, Chen Jingci sets about finding Chen Chaoqun and investigating his defence barrister (Wu Dairong).

REVIEW

A bold attempt at a crime procedural that doesn’t rely on action, ICAC thriller Integrity 廉政风云   烟幕 tries its best for an hour or so before falling foul of the old Hong Kong Third Act Problem. The first solo directing gig by Mai Zhaohui 麦兆辉 [Alan Mak] since Final Romance 愿望树 (2001), and his first film in almost two decades without regular writer Zhuang Wenqiang 庄文强 [Felix Chong] (who just takes a co-creative producer 监制 credit here), it’s a technically smooth, competently played anti-corruption drama whose final half-hour throws up its hands with routine action and multiple twists that sink any aspirations the film had to create something a little different from the Hong Kong norm. Mai, 54, has stated that his research uncovered enough stories for a potential trilogy – presumably along the lines of his Infernal Affairs 无间道 (2002-03) and Overheard 窃听风云 (2009-14) ones – though that now seems unlikely given the poor Mainland showing (RMB114 million) for this atypical CNY attraction.

For most of the time, Integrity is far superior to the ICAC alphabet franchise starring Gu Tianle 古天乐 [Louis Koo] – whose latest instalment, P Storm, arrived two months later, grossing an unbelievable RMB794 million – and has a strong, experienced veteran cast, led by Liu Qingyun 刘青云 [Lau Ching-wan] and Zhang Jiahui 张家辉 [Nick Cheung], who all deliver the goods without exactly stretching themselves. Add to that some steely cool photography by East Asia-based US d.p. Jake Pollock 包轩鸣 (Monga 艋舺, 2010; SoulMate 七月与安生, 2016; The Shadow Play 风中有朵雨做的云, 2018), an atmospheric, low-key score by Chu Zhendong 褚镇东 [Anthony Chue] (P Storm), seamless editing by veteran Peng Zhengxi 彭正熙 [Curran Pang] and some impressive CGI showing the two leads in their youth, and you have a movie that is clearly intended as a prestige production. Too bad, then, that Mai – plus his two co-writers Ling Zhimin 凌志民, a regular collaborator with Chen Musheng 陈木胜 [Benny Chan], and first-timer Wei Haochuan 韦浩川 (one of several pen names for Hong Kong author Wei Haoquan 韦灏泉) – loses his nerve in the final furlong. It’s the kind of weakness that producers are meant to fix; but given that Zhuang’s own solo directing stint, Project Gutenberg 无双 (2018), also suffered from multiple twists for their own sake, it’s hardly a surprise that no one told Mai here.

The film starts in a leisurely but ominous way, as an accountant (Zhang) gets ready to blow the whistle on his corrupt boss but sneaks off to Australia minutes before the trial. Even worse, one of the accused has also gone AWOL, leaving just a corrupt customs official in the dock. With no trial possible, the judge gives ICAC sleuth Chen Jingci (Liu) an extension of seven days to re-assemble the protagonists in his case. Though the days are counted down on-screen, there’s no great sense of tension, of time running out, as the film boldly takes its time following procedures like checking CCTV, examining dashcams, wading through financial statements and the like. However, as the plot fans out (including stock-market and Bitcoin transactions) there’s a growing sense of building towards a climax, as well as a genuinely throat-tightening moment when Chen Jingci learns there may be a mole in ICAC’s own ranks. Mai’s failure to resolve the complex plot in a worthy finale – to repay the audience’s patience and loyalty to that point – is therefore doubly disappointing.

Splitting the film into two geographical locations – Hong Kong and Sydney, each with a very different feel – hardly helps to build tension. And the fact that the ICAC investigator sent to bring the accountant back from Australia is also Chen Jingci’s estranged wife introduces a whole seam that’s both over-cute and distracting. As played by Taiwan Canadian actress Lin Jiaxin 林嘉欣 [Karena Lam] in studious spectacles, she’s hardly convincing as “a negotiation specialist” (mostly just repeating “we can keep you safe”) and the long-distance banter between her and her estranged is meant to bring some lightness to the story but ends up diminishing it. Anchoring the whole film is another solid, dependable but undemanding performance by Liu as the ICAC sleuth, who unfortunately gets hardly any scenes opposite the equally reliable Zhang. Together, they could have given the film the dramatic punch it needs, as well as the necessary sense of bonding that the later twists rely on; apart, they’re just acting away in different movies.

The large number of supporting performances are all strong, led by too-rarely-seen Yuan Yongyi 袁咏仪 [Anita Yuen], in a brief but resonant guest role as a corrupt customs head, and veteran Luo Yingjun 骆应钧 [Felix Lok] as her defence barrister. Fang Zhongxin 方中信 [Alex Fong Chung-sun] pitches in solidly as Chen Jingci’s maybe shifty superior, and the various ICAC staff are succinctly but well characterised. Though Mai & Co. play on some of the actors’ screen images to mislead the audience, the main revelation of Who is fairly guessable early on; in contrast, the borderline risible Why and all the personal backstory come out of nowhere.

The Chinese title means “Anti-Corruption Storms: Smoke Screen”. In the Mainland the handle was dropped.

CREDITS

Presented by Emperor Film Production (HK), Hero Film (CN), Sil-Metropole Organisation (HK). Produced by Pop Movies (HK).

Script: Mai Zhaohui [Alan Mak], Ling Zhimin, Wei Haochuan. Photography: Jake Pollock. Editing: Peng Zhengxi [Curran Pang]. Music: Chu Zhendong [Anthony Chue]. Production design: Lin Ziqiao. Costume design: Guo Yanhui. Styling: Wen Nianzhong [Man Lim-chung] (general); Xi Zhongwen [Yee Chung-man] (for Zhang Jiahui). Sound: He Zhitang, Bobbie Wong, Nopawat Likitwong. Action: Huang Weiliang [Jack Wong]. Visual effects: Yi Nuo, Zhou Jianhong, Li Zifei, Yu Ridong (Applegarden).

Cast: Liu Qingyun [Lau Ching-wan] (Chen Jingci/King), Zhang Jiahui [Nick Cheung] (Xu Zhiyao/Jack), Lin Jiaxin [Karena Lam] (Jiang Xue’er/Shirley), Chen Jiale (Gary), Tang Yi (Zhiqing), Wu Dairong (Gao Zhengwen, Chen Chaoqun’s defence barrister), Chang Qian (Jenny), Yuan Yongyi [Anita Yuen] (Zhong Jialing), Fang Zhongxin [Alex Fong Chung-sun] (Ma Xuwen), Wu Haokang (Big Boss), Zhou Zhijun (Lu Zhihua), He Yuandong (Luo Wenfa), Pang Yunung (Dazhizai), Zhang Songzhi (Du Zhiming), Yuan Fuhua (Ye Yongqiang), Lin Wei (Chen Chaoqun, Lida Trading Group CEO), Luo Yingjun [Felix Lok] (Lv Weilong, Zhong Jialing’s defence barrister), Huang Wenhui (hospital nurse), Huang Zixiong (Jonathan), Chen Guifen (judge), Chen Bingquan (David Chan, driver), Yuan Qiwen (Erica, Hong Kong government official in Sydney), He Junhao (Sheng, ICAC operative), Qin Nan (Chen Chaoqun’s wife), Huang Yexin (Chen Chaoqun’s son), Huang Zhiqi (Xu Zhiyao’s wife), Jemma Hung (Baobao, Xu Ziyao’s daughter).

Release: Hong Kong, 5 Feb 2019; China, 5 Feb 2019.