 |
|
PTU: INTO THE PERILOUS NIGHT
Screened at the Hong Kong International Film
Festival 2003
|
 |
Johnnie To Kei Fung has been working on PTU for around two
years, in between other projects, and so the film has gained a degree
of notoriety purely for that reason. As a result, To was a trifle
anxious as to how this pet project would be received: speaking briefly
before the opening night screening, he expressed a hope that the
audience would forget The Mission, and give PTU its own
chance. |
|
|
Well, it's not The Mission. It doesn't pretend to be. It doesn't need
to be. What it is, is Johnnie To doing what Johnnie To does best: gritty
urban drama with minimal dialogue and maximum style. It is, in some ways,
strongly reminiscent of The Mission, just as it is reminiscent of
other To works, and just as a Takeshi Kitano film, or a Peter Greenaway
film, are recognisably Kitano or Greenaway. To is primarily a visual artist,
and so the mood is conveyed using visual means.
|
|
For starters, his cast is strong and unified. I've never found the nerve to
ask what his actors think of working with him, but it's clear he makes them
work for their money. Here we see a well-matched cast, including Simon Yam,
Ruby Wong, Maggie Shiu, and the ever-popular Lam Suet, acting their socks
off under the To whip. You'll never find characters using the dialogue to
narrate the plot in a To movie: expressions hint at inner conflicts, while
glances communicate unspoken thoughts. Where and how the characters
stand shows their affiliations and degree of certainty, making the whole
screen a canvas rich in meaning.
|
|
|
Another aspect of To's mastery of the visual is his use of lighting,
which in this film is stark and dramatic. Each scene looked suitable for a
poster, so carefully was it composed and lit. And the sets and costumes,
utterly ordinary police uniforms and Hong Kong streets, are transformed in
To's hands into a shadowy streetscape awash with tension.
I can't let this rest without mentioning the plot, wherein To once again
uses a simple story composed of diverse threads that ultimately combine in a
conclusion that affects all characters. I should mention that the
"missing gun" plot, while used heavily in publicity materials and
descriptions of the film, is actually immaterial, according to To: he merely
used that as a device around which to wrap the characters, giving a
stiuation to respond to and actions to take which would define each
character.And it works admirably well: the characters become sufficiently
real that we sit breathless, waiting to see what they'll do in each
situation, instead of waiting for crucial plot points to be revealed like
clues in a treasure hunt.
|
|
In summary, then, PTU is another excellent film from an excellent
director. I suspect that, like many To films, it may lose something in
transition to the small screen because of the rich visual composition, but
it still a damn fine piece of cinema.
Rating: 9½ wayward guns out of 10
Reviewed by Alison Jobling
|
|
|
|
H E R O I C * C I N E M A
http://www.heroic-cinema.com
|