People's Hero
Reviewed by YTSL
The Hong Kong entertainment industry is (in)famous
for having many Cantopop - and Mandopop - stars who also work as actors
or actresses (or vice-versa). What may not be realized as much is
the equal - or sometimes greater -- versatility of many of those who largely
work behind the scenes of movies. Then there are those truly multi-talented
personality - among them, singer-actress-producer-director-cum-scriptwriter
Sylvia Chang, director-producer-scriptwriter-cum-actor Tsui Hark, producer-actor-director-cum-game
show and beauty pageant host Eric Tsang, and actor-director-producer-scriptwriter-cum-cinematographer
Derek Yee - who seem equally adept at being members of a film's cast or
crew. With regards to the last mentioned individual: While
he was an okay enough leading man in such as "Magnificent Warriors", "Vengeance
is Mine" and "Victory", I think that he has shown with the likes of "C'est
la Vie, Mon Cheri" and "Viva Erotica!" as well as this 1987 offering --
that was only his second attempt at the helm -- that he really is a special
auteur (who ought to have been awarded control of more than just the seven
directorial efforts to date that he has to his credit).
Clocking in at less than 85 minutes, PEOPLE'S
HERO may superficially appear to be a not particularly substantial production.
In actuality though, this at times suspenseful, at other times absurdist,
yet pretty much always thoroughly believable, crime drama is a detailed
piece of work that's absolutely replete with interesting characters, fascinating
stories and attention absorbing situations along with bravura acting.
That which centers on a disparate group of twelve folks -- who end up spending
some time together as a result of a foiled bank robbery turned hostage
crisis -- stars Ti Lung as a double cop killer who turns out to value the
lives of others more than at least one of those officially on the right
side of the law. The man who, IMHO, deserved a Best Actor award for
his masterful performance in this movie (but didn't even get nominated
for one), is supported by an able rest of the cast that includes:
Tony Leung Chiu Wai (who was named as HKFA Best Supporting Actor for his
portrayal of the skittish young man who got himself and others into a greater
mess than he ever could have wanted to); Tony Leung Kar Fai (in an understated
role as a police captain who's far less willing to play with people's lives
than the blustering rival one essayed by Paul Chun Pui); and Elaine Kam
(who garnered HKFA Best Supporting Actress recognition for her portrayal
of the woman who wound up serving prison time for and/or because of her
man).
Although it features some gun waving, pointing
and exchange of bullets, PEOPLE'S HERO is a film that is shorter on outright
explosive action than it is with the threat of still more violence getting
unleashed when it ought not have been necessary in the first place.
Together with his co-scriptwriters Li Pak Ling and Kwan Yiu Wing, director
Yee has crafted a gripping dramatic piece that is: Full of unexpected
yet convincing twists and turns triggered by inadvertent actions or individuals
- law-breakers, hostages, strangers, friends and loved ones alike - not
conforming to (stereo)type; and liberally laced with the sort of understandable
tension that comes from a set of volatile personalities being stuck for
a time in enclosed space with the kind of people whom they normally would
not be likely to consort. While the first few minutes of this offering
may seem a trifle too busy and disconnected to be ideal, my sense is that
starting from when a very casually attired Little Tony Leung enters into
the picture (and especially after Ronald Wong Pan's character has an epileptic
fit and a pistol drops out of his friend's paper bag when he was in the
process of helping the stricken youth out of the building), this tightly
organized John Sham production doesn't stop being enthralling for even
a single moment.
As the film slowly builds up to its seemingly
inevitable climactic standoff, plenty of time is found to give its viewer(s)
the opportunity to get to know better many of the characters who happened
to be in that Po Lung Bank branch near to its closing time on that one
particular, eventful day. However trivial and petty their individual
tales, concerns and wants can appear to be on one level, the fact remains
that their disclosure uniformly makes those at the center of them
- among whom are a stock market playing mother, her low grades earning
daughter, a soft looking rich man (Yip Wing Cho), his Mandarin speaking
wife, the bank's nervous manager (Tien Ching), the bank's Pakistani guard
(who worries about what will happen to people like him come 1997), and
the lovelorn bank employee played by Bowie Lam -- into more sympathetic
figures than would otherwise have been the case; and none more so than
the wanted man who would get my vote for being the movie's titular PEOPLE'S
HERO. If anyone wanted to see how the Stockholm Syndrome could come
about, this production could provide a case-study of the fascinating phenomenon.
However, this is not to say that PEOPLE'S HERO
deserves to be seen only - or even primarily -- by those with an academic
interest in the sort of situation and conditions whereby hostages grow
to develop some empathy for, and actually like, the person(s) who they
ought to have good reason to also fear (would kill, not just toy with,
them). Instead and indeed, there is a part of me that wants to tell
as much of the world as I can how much I was majorly blown away by this
movie, and urge as many of my fellow film fans as possible to go hunt down
this not particularly heralded work. Conversely, another part of
me worries that too much hype will cause people who are not as appreciative
of that which surely was not a big budget production because my enthusiastic
recommendation caused them to approached it with overly sky high expectations.
With that having been said (or written) though, I can't quite believe or
imagine that those who go in looking for a well made offering with a strong
sense of (dark) humanity - precisely the characteristics possessed by my
favorite Hong Kong crime dramas (which include Ringo Lam's "Full Alert"
and Alfred Cheung's "On the Run") -- can be disappointed by this admirable
Derek Yee effort.
My rating for this film: 8.5