R E V I E W

A Taste of Killing and Romance

Universe | 1994 | 92 minutes
Directed by Veronica Chan Jing Yee
Written by Cheuk Bing

With Andy Lau, Anita Yuen, Christine Ng, Waise Lee

B A C K G R O U N D
director, in cinemas, recent and related films

Veronica Chan Jing Yee has just a few credits in the Hong Kong Movie Database: she was production manager for two films (Happy Ghost V, in which she also appeared as an actor, and Girls Without Tomorrow), and she was involved in planning The Incorruptible.

The film played in Hong Kong cinemas for two weeks in August 1994, grossing HK $5.5 million.

Writer Cheuk Bring recently scripted Gold Fingers.

M O V I E

plot
I came to the story without an idea of who played who and how the story would progress, and that added to my enjoyment, so I will refrain from providing any descriptions of the plot. Let's just say that things happen which would never occur in a Hollywood film - the title lets you know the basic subjects.

performances
Good performances are turned in by Andy Lau (displaying a sleepy charm), Anita Yuen (not so sweet here, and all the better for it), Christine Ng Wing Mei (as an extremely calculating manager for highly-paid assassins), Mark Cheng Ho Nam (as her outrageously deadly professional partner), and Waise Lee Chi-Hung (as a cop who grudgingly grows to admire two of the assassins).

production
As a reviewer, the downside of watching so many new and recent films is the limited time remaining for me to catch up on the thousands of Hong Kong titles that I've never seen. And then I watch the little-heralded A Taste of Killing and Romance, and I consider giving up my day job so I can watch movies all day long.

Reviews I have read have been less than enthusiastic, so I suppose I am just out of step with the majority of HK film fans, because it grabbed me by the throat and never let go. The story is full of wildly implausible twists, but more than once I found myself laughing at the sheer audacity of the filmmakers. So much rude energy is on display that 24 frames per second are not enough to contain it. Instead, it squirts out of the screen and leaves a trail of bloody pulp on your carpet.

Sadly, director Veronica Chan Jing Yee never made another film, but here she rips up the frame - not to be disrespectful, but the camera has attention deficit disorder - and moves things along at a frenetic pace, like the proverbial roller coaster, only unencumbered by gravity.

rating
Category II for multiple scenes of bloody and explicit violence, and two or three sexually-oriented scenes.

D V D

look
The letterboxed (approximately 1.85:1) presentation does not sparkle. The picture looks a bit soft, colors are a bit faded, etc. The source print has some scratches and similar imperfections.

sound
The remastered soundtrack is available in Cantonese DD 5.1 or DTS flavors, or you can listen to the Mandarin DD 5.1. Most of the sound emanates from the center channel. The dialogue was apparently all dubbed and synched in post-production. While the audio tracks are not overly impressive, they get the job done and are not actively annoying.

subtitles
The white removable English subtitles don't have too many errors and are easy to read. Also included are traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles.

features
Eight chapters can be selected from a video-clip menu. Stars' files are provided for Anita Yuen and Andy Lau. A trailer for the film is not included, which is a disappointment. Trailers are included for recent releases The Replacement Suspect, The Final Winner, and Crime of a Beast.

R E C O M M E N D A T I O N
buy, rent, or pass?

Rent or low-cost purchase. Terrific energy and a fast-moving story make it easy to watch more than once. Highly recommended.

(Reviewed 02/13/02)

THIS DVD IS AVAILABLE AT HKFLIX.COM