The Private Eyes
This is a classic film from the opening shots
of the camera silently panning the skyscrapers of Hong Kong and then gravitating
down to the street level and suddenly picking up the noise and rhythm of
the people – crowds of people going about their lives – and then Sam Hui’s
catchy guitar riff suddenly breaking in with “We the poor working people”
giving recognition to those who just manage their lives from day to day.
It seems to be saying this is where life goes on – far away from the grandeur
of mighty buildings – this is the real Hong Kong – people bumping, pushing,
eating – trying to get ahead a step at a time.
By the mid-70’s Hong Kong itself was going through
the beginning of a transformation that would take it from a somewhat sleepy
colonial city that produced and exported inexpensive consumer goods to
being one of the major financial hubs in the world. This was a city on
the move – finding newfound energy and a sense of identity and purpose
and this change was beginning to be reflected in the Hong Kong cinema outside
of the martial arts films. Michael Hui who got his start in television
(which tended to be more experimental then film at the time) was one of
the first to bring this hip, contemporary and irreverent attitude to film.
His comedies dealt with the common man – but by
no means the virtuous man. His characters were in a tough rat race and
often resorted to whatever means needed to get ahead of the guy next to
him. Gone was much of the communal feeling of earlier Cantonese films as
it was replaced by a sense of individualism and get ahead capitalism that
in fact reflected what Hong Kong itself was migrating to. Michael himself
often portrayed the most cynical character though generally by the end
he has learned some moral lesson about helping out his fellow man.
By this film, Private Eyes, Hui had worked out
some of the rough edges of his earlier films (Games Gamblers Play and The
Last Message) and the brothers produced a nearly seamless film that is
one of Hong Kong’s greatest comedies. In polls both from critics and from
movie fans, this is usually considered one of the most popular films ever
made in Hong Kong. It is also an important film (along with Hui’s others)
for the contribution it made to revitalize the Cantonese film industry.
The Cantonese film industry (films produced in Hong Kong utilizing the
local Cantonese dialect) had fallen on hard times and nearly all the films
at the time were being produced with Mandarin as the spoken language. The
reasons for this were largely economic, as there was a much larger market
outside of Hong Kong for Mandarin films than there was within Hong Kong
for Cantonese films. The Hui brothers though captured the mentality of
Hong Kong in their films and Cantonese was an essential element of that.
The films became so popular (both inside and outside of Hong Kong) that
within a remarkably short time (along of course with the New Wave, Golden
Harvest and Cinema City films) Cantonese films were soon dominant and HK
Mandarin films went the way of the dinosaur (though the films were still
dubbed for Mandarin speakers). Hui incorporated many influences from the
West, but he still maintained (but modernized) many of the Chinese comedy
traditions such as the buddy film.
By today’s post Stephen Chow/Wong Jing standards,
Hui’s comedy may feel a bit tame and perhaps too restrained, but it has
a wonderful dry humor, human warmth, constant sly cleverness and such a
sense of good nature that it is difficult not to enjoy it. Hui never overdoes
it in a scene – there are times you think he could have gone longer with
a routine – milked it for a few more laughs – but he prefers ending it
to overstaying its welcome. This film has a number of images/routines that
have become part of the fabric of Hong Kong film – the image of Michael
battling in buck teeth and armed with sausage nunchakas, his face covered
with spotted flour, falling back into the pool as he tries to check out
a beautiful girl, the chicken/cooking/exercise routine – but the film has
other excellent ones as well – from something as small as getting toothpaste
out of a tube to Sam completely wrecking a car bit by bit in a chase.
The film is basically made up of a series of cases
and misadventures by a private eye (Mannix Detectives) and his two assistants
– Sam Hui and Ricky Hui. All three take on very distinct personalities
that they were to maintain to some extent throughout their film careers
– Michael the fast talking, fast thinking cynical manipulator, Sam the
good hearted open one that the women liked with kung fu skills to boot
and Ricky the woeful not very bright one. The cases are all small
- retrieving a TV set, catching a shop lifter, getting evidence on cheating
husbands/wives and a group of movie theater robbers (headed by Shek Kin),
but within this framework the Hui brothers are able to create some lovely
comical moments. Much of the pleasure of the film is simply in the low-key
chemistry between the three brothers - a stare, a look, a slow burn.
How well this film has weathered the past quarter
of a century is difficult to determine for others. Since it was made in
1976, the style of comedy has become rougher, faster and more obvious in
many ways and often provides more immediate gratification. Hui’s comedy
is subtler and gentler – full of lovely still or quiet moments - and at
least for me this film and the Hui humor has well stood the test of time.
We the poor working people
Getting ulcers running around
Chicken feed is our reward
Rough deal is what we get
The boss is ever ready to explode
His barks are long, his face longer
When we ask for a raise
Brother you’re in for a treat
(chorus)
Working like a dog
Things keep going wrong
Why don’t we grab a gun and hold em up
At least making our efforts worthwhile
We the poor working people
Slaves to money for life
Our misery it’s unspeakable
But we don’t take it for granted
Happiness is not ours to share
Suffering is ours to bear
A little more is a little more
We care at least to make our effort worthwhile
It’s tit for tat
Tit for tat
(chorus)
My rating for this film: 8.5
DVD Information:
Distributed by Universe
The transfer is quite good considering its
age - but there are signs of wear and it is a bit soft - but still overall
quite satisfactory. The reviews on the Asian DVD Guide mention that some
musical bits from other films - Enter the Dragon and Jaws - were removed
- no doubt for copyright infringement reasons.
Letterboxed
8 Chapters
Cantonese and Mandarin language tracks
The subtitles are Chinese or English.
There are trailers for The Last Message, Games
Gamblers Play and Teppanyaki.
There are bios on Sam and Michael