Sentence Me Guilty

判我有罪

China, 2015, colour, 1.85:1, 105 mins.

Director: Sun Liang 孙亮.

Rating: 6/10.

Medical drama-cum-thriller only fitfully delivers the goods despite some good performances.

STORY

A city in northern China, 2010. Feng Xuehui (Li Xinyun), a surgeon in the Neurological Department of Hospital No. 3, reports on the death of Fang Tiantian (Li Zimeng), 4, who had congenital brain tumours and finally died after two failed operations. Fang Tiantian was Feng Xuehui’s own daughter, and her death has put a strain on her marriage to Fang Wennan (Wu Zhenyu), a university lecturer. With the connivance of Hong Wei Pharmaceuticals Group, hospital vice-director Kang Furong (Dai Liren) is paying doctors a commission to use a drug, Ye’ergao (ERGLE), as much as possible, despite the fact it can cause death through over-use, and locals have already stormed Feng Xuehui’s department accusing her of killing a patient. One doctor, Liu (Guo Zhongyou), begs Kang Furong to call a halt and, when he refuses, apparently commits suicide. Zhang Yue (Tian Xiaojie), from the police’s Economic Investigation Department, tells Feng Xuehui he cannot rule out homicide, as deaths at the hospital have increased by 155% during Jan-Jun 2010. He asks the help of Jiang Lihang (Li Zhizheng), who also protested against the drug and is being transferred, but is turned down. When Feng Xuehui complains to Kang Furong, he points out that she signed off on every use of the drug. Feng Xuehui starts her own investigation and finds that Jiang Lihang and another doctor, Su Xinxin (Wang Di), have been building a secret dossier on the drug’s use. But then Su Xinxin loses her notebook, which leaves Jiang Lihang’s notes the only evidence. When Jiang Lihang’s office is mysteriously raided, Zhang Yue launches a full investigation into the hospital’s records.

REVIEW

A hospital drama-cum-thriller centred on the misuse of a dangerous drug, Sentence Me Guilty 判我有罪 only fitfully delivers the goods despite some good performances and a potentially interesting premise. After an uncertain first half that doesn’t clearly signal the film’s focus or tone, the plot starts to grip around the 50-minute mark as the authorities move in and the bad guys start to panic, but the psychology of the central role – a neuro-surgeon whose young daughter has died at the same hospital – remains difficult for the viewer to get inside, until a coda that belatedly explains everything.

First-time feature director Sun Liang 孙亮, a journalist/editor who wrote the screenplay in 2010, originally intended the movie to be a film noir, but her finished result veers back and forth between that and a more realistic drama. As the conflicted neuro-surgeon, 32-year-old actress Li Xinyun 李昕芸 (previously known as Li Xiaofeng 李晓枫) – who made an impressively sultry mark in Dada’s Dance 达达 (2008) and Beijing Flickers 有种 (2012), both directed by Zhang Yuan 张元 – is well cast in a noir-ish role but is let down by Sun’s script and direction, which doesn’t establish the character clearly enough. (A late-on seduction scene would have made much more sense if she had been drawn as a more manipulative vamp from the start.)

More consistently written is the scruffy detective who’s smarter than everyone thinks he is, nicely played by character actor Tian Xiaojie 田小洁 with a wry knowingness. Also resonant, though in a less subtle role as the villainous hospital vice-head, is Taiwan’s Dai Liren 戴立忍 [Leon Dai], who can play villains with one hand tied behind his back (Reign of Assassins 剑雨, 2010; The Deadly Strands 咒•丝, 2013; (Sex) Appeal 寒蝉效应, 2014) but who largely reins back his playing here. As two doctors who are doing their own investigation, Li Zhizheng 李志正 and Wang Di 王迪 make only passing impressions, with the latter (the gullible plastic-surgery client in Double Xposure 二次曝光, 2012) getting more of a chance. Despite being second-billed, Hong Kong veteran Wu Zhenyu 吴镇宇 [Francis Ng] has a nothing role as the lead’s husband.

Technical contributions are generally good, led by Vienna-born, Beijing-based d.p. Stephanie Leitl who contributes some atmospheric light-play when given the chance by Sun (though just as many scenes are without any special look). However, scoring by Australian duo Christopher O’Young and Flynn Wheeler is short on sustained mood.

The Chinese title on the print is 白色嫌疑人, meaning “Suspect(s) in White”. The replacement title means the same as the English one; it is also identical to the Mainland title for the US courtroom drama Find Me Guilty (2006), directed by the late Sidney Lumet. The city in which the story is based is not identified, though locations were in Tianjin and Beijing.

CREDITS

Presented by Guangzhou Zhixing Film & TV Culture (CN), Star Run Film & TV Culture Media (Beijing) (CN).

Script: Sun Liang. Photography: Stephanie Leitl. Editing: Wu Yixiang, Jiang Yong. Music: Christopher O’Young, Flynn Wheeler. Art direction: Ji Jiang, Xie Shoujie. Costumes: Zhou Yunzhuo. Sound: Tao Junjie, Jiang Haitao. Visual effects: Li Li, Wei Junhe (Sunrays Fly Film & TV Culture).

Cast: Li Xinyun (Feng Xuehui), Wu Zhenyu [Francis Ng] (Fang Wennan, her husband), Tian Xiaojie (Zhang Yue), Dai Liren [Leon Dai] (Kang Furong, hospital vice-head), Li Zhizheng (Jiang Lihang), Wang Di (Su Xinxin, doctor), Li Zimeng (Fang Tiantian, Feng Xuehui’s daughter), Yao Zengqiang (Guo Baokui, suicidal parent), Guo Zhongyou (Liu Hongbin, doctor), Fang Zhou (Zhang Yanzi), Guo Dongjiang (coroner), Wu Zhensu (Zhou Jiping, hospital head), Feng Bo (Ding, policewoman), Zhang Yixin (Jiang Shufen), Zhang Jie (Jia, doctor), Chen Yifang (Chen Jing, doctor), Tang Ping (Xu Ruiju).

Premiere: Busan Film Festival (A Window on Asian Cinema), 2 Oct 2015.

Release: China, 6 May 2016.