R E V I E W

Bullets of Love

Deltamac | 2001 | 103 minutes
Directed by Andrew Lau Wai-Keung
Written by Thirteen Chan

With Leon Lai, Asako Seto, Terence Yin

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

Andrew Lau Wai-Keung began as a cinematographer on films such as Where's Officer Tuba and City on Fire. He graduated to directing with Again All in 1990, but really came to prominence with the Young and Dangerous films in 1996. He is also responsible for films such as The Storm Riders, The Legend of Speed, A Man Called Hero, and The Duel. His most recent film is The Avenging Fist.

This film opened in Hong Kong cinemas in September 2001.

M O V I E

plot
Sam is a police officer. Ann is a prosecuting attorney. They love each other and enjoy a comfortable relationship. Sam arrests Night, a nasty triad gangster. Ann prosecutes him. Night is sentenced to five years in prison. Sam and Ann head off to Paris on vacation. Remember that nothing good ever results from Hong Kong residents taking holidays in France . . .

performances
Leon Lai Ming as Sam is really not up to the task of conveying the full range of emotions experienced by his character. Asako Seto looks good and sweet as Ann. Her earlier scenes, in which she speaks Cantonese, were dubbed by Ann Lamb. Her latter scenes, in which she speaks her native Japanese, were much more effective. Terence Yin Chi-Wai as Night makes a good villain.

production
The first third of the film has a pleasant push-and-pull dynamic. Then we veer off into uncharted territory. The pace of the film is deliberate. While there's no tension building during the bulk of the story, you can feel a whisker of "what's going to happen now?' from time to time. So it's a cruise ship lumbering along through deep water. As the tale concludes, you're left with a feeling of "Ah…OK. That was…nice." There's nothing here to get riled up about, or much of anything to complain about. A couple of good action sequences and a number of good performances in the supporting cast make this a marginally worthwhile endeavor.

Lee Tat Chiu directed the stunts. The duties of diretor of photography were split between director Lau and Lui Yiu Fui. The film was edited by Danny Pang. Chan Kwong Wing composed the moody musical score. Eddy Wong provided the art direction, Lee Pik Kwan designed the costumes.

rating
Category IIB for multiple depictions of gunshot and other types of extremely bloody violence and one brief, shadowy sexual situation.

D V D

look
The letterboxed (approximately 1.85:1) presentation looked fairly average. The colors appeared a bit washed out, and black levels were not very deep. The source print displayed some wear and tear.

sound
The DD 2.0 (stereo) Cantonese audio track sounded fine. During the action scenes the absence of a DD 5.1 audio option was noticeable, but much of the running time is taken up with dramatic scenes. Also included is a DD 2.0 Mandarin dub.

subtitles
The white removable English subtitles were very good -- easy to read, well timed, with few mistakes evident. Also included are simplified and traditional Chinese subtitles.

features
Twelve chapters can be selected from a three-page video capture menu that, strangely enough, is presented in reverse order (chapters 10-12 appear first). A "music video" features a song set to scenes from the movie, but only lasts about a minute.

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

Rent. Interesting dramatic look at memories and murder.

(Reviewed 12/18/01)

THIS DVD IS AVAILABLE AT HKFLIX.COM