49 Days
Film review by Lee Alon
Years post the HK film biz's first batch of
pseudo-scary, rather lame attempts at wooing people with wishy-washy ghost
tales, the same insipid shortcomings still often dominate. 49 Days places
itself firmly in the company of such mediocrity, demonstrating the case
for how better technology often fails in alleviating symptoms pertaining
to simple story and common sense.
In a vein similar to that of classics “Ghost”
and “The 6th Sense”, 49 Days relies chiefly on an interesting but obvious
twist to bring it together halfway through, in addition to deploying the
requisite quota of redundant, convoluted mysticism. It revolves around
the theme of the dead having the opportunity to sort things out within
a given timeframe (49 Days) before they have to depart the living world,
but the only such temporal restraint you'll be eager to figure out is when
the awful thing'll end at long last.
Eclipsing everyone else in the production is handsome
Raymond Wong (Love Undercover, The Lion Roars, PTU) who delivers a wicked
performance as the backstabbing friend Pang Shi and who gets to exit the
stage in a modest blaze of acting glory. Pang Shi works with 1920's entrepreneur
Lam Shing (Stephen Fung), a successful millionaire in an undisclosed city
making his very honest fortune selling traditional medicine a la Wong Fei
Hung. Everything goes well until one fine day Lam Shing is accused and
convicted of a crime he of course didn't commit. Languishing in the local
crook depository, only cadet attorney Siu Chin accepts the ignominious
fate of standing up for Lam Shing. She's played by Twin, Gillian Chung,
definitely one of the prettiest faces in the world of entertainment today,
but sadly not much more judging by this sad release. Chung's character
suffers from an oversized portion of comic relief, plus dabbles in lifting
themes from My Cousin Vinnie.
Eventually she seemingly arranges for Lam Shing's
escape from incarceration, and they manage to make it back to his old homestead
where he had left his wife and child four years previously to make a success
of himself. Now it is eerily deserted like a disused Shaw Brothers lot.
Here is where the so-called horror element kicks in, but if this scares
you please seek professional help, you're in no shape to handle modern
society. Amid horrible voice-overs the fatigued story trudges on, with
at least some highlights shining through. Despite a conspicuously short
legal-process bit, the prison itself has some excellent imagery, and the
movie overall benefits from a technically polished veneer. And even though
the mood picks up somewhat after the prison break, its all for naught as
sentimental opportunities, including clearly useful ones like the family
reunion, are poorly done.
The latter part of the film mainly concerns Lam
Shing meeting his young daughter Ling Qi (newcomer Qiu Li Er), another
addition to the parade of annoying, noisome little girls following
in the shaky footsteps of the over-hyped “The Ring”. There is then a lot
of mumbo-jumbo about fate and victims destined to act on their yuan
fen, or pre-scripted karma. Not the most revealing nor intriguing of
prospects, let us tell you, even though one of the instruments of this
mechanism is the impressive veteran director Lawrence Mon, here both executioner
and protector, plus the guy taking it upon himself to clue the cast (and
us) in to what's going down in 49 Days.
Above other considerations, 49 Days takes its
own sorry self too seriously. Sure, certain moments exhibit good graphic
effects (particularly when we see magical candles exposing the whereabouts
of ghosts), and to their credit continuity throughout retains a solidly
consistent state. Probably the biggest boon for most comes in the gorgeous
form known as Gillian. Classy beauty like this doesn't come along too often,
and every chance to behold its magnificence has to be OK at the very least,
even if it’s a vapid flick like this one.
49 Days misses hardly any fortuitous moment to
strip itself of remaining credibility, belonging in no tradition one could
point to. Pathetic action, laughable scares, all consolidate into a package
even Ace Ventura's take on UPS couldn't dent further. It would be so easy
to take the cynical route and come up with 49 flaws here, but let's avoid
that. Instead, here’s hoping Gillian graces another project as soon as
possible, and this time perhaps one requiring more than just her cosmetic
presence. As for 49 Days, pretend you didn't see it. Boo.
Rating: 4/10
Directed by Lam Kin Lung
Starring Stephen Fung, Gillian Chung, Raymond
Wong, Lawrence Mon, Qiu Li Er
2006, Cantonese, 95 minutes
Contact Lee Alon here
Other "View from the Brooklyn Bridge" Film Raters:
YTSL: 7.0
Michael: 8.0
Brian: 5.5
Sarah: 6.5