Nominations at the Hong Kong Film Awards 2005:
Best Picture
Best Director (Johnnie To)
Best Supporting Actress (Maggie Shaw)
Best Editing (David Richardson)
Award at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards 2005:
Film Of Merit
Awards
at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards 2004:
Best Director (Johnnie To)
Best Editing (David Richardson)
Nominations at the Taiwan Golden Horse Awards 2004:
Best Picture
Best Visual Effects (Stephen Ma)
Best Action Choreography (Yuen Bun)
While
many of Hong Kong cinema's current movies and talent get little
or no widespread attention, it's always pleasing to know that
Johnnie To still can create a buzz with a large crowd of fans
of Asian Cinema. Since 1996, Milkyway Image have been responsible
for some of the more original, creative and engaging pieces
of Hong Kong cinema, mainly in the crime-thriller genre, one
that Johnnie To thankfully returned to in trademark style
with PTU in 2002. Having been stuck way too long in
more commercially driven cinema, in retrospect, PTU
marked a return and turnaround, which seems to have been able
to hold its momentum since then. A special and exciting question
that pops up for To projects such as Breaking News,
is which style are we going to be subjected to? In other words,
is it The Mission or, and this is the film and its
style that evoked most feelings with me, having viewed the
trailer for Breaking News, Expect The Unexpected
(rumor has it that To ghost-directed large parts of the latter)?
Attentive fans will notice the lack of Wai Ka-Fai in the credits,
another sure sign that this, in intent, is a Johnnie To movie,
his..own...way. Earlier this year, the audiences at the Cannes
Film Festival got a chance to take in Breaking News,
now it's the dvd audiences turn.
A
failed police operation to catch a dangerous gang of Mainland
thieves, led by Yuen (Riche Ren - Elixir Of Love, Fly
Me To Polaris) leads to the TV- and newspaper journalists
catching the sight of an Hong Kong police officer surrendering
at gunpoint. A potential image breaker for the Hong Kong police,
that impression has to be reversed and when the wanted Mainlanders
take refuge in a residential building, the police operation
not only becomes about catching but about image, an operation
led by Rebecca Fong (Kelly Chen - Lost And Found, Infernal
Affairs III). The thieves realize that two can play at
that game though...
No
doubt the most successful cinematic style, in my view, that
Johnnie To has brought to Hong Kong cinema has been through
The Mission and PTU, while some of the works
he's produced more resembles Breaking News. Most prominently
so, Expect The Unexpected (yay, I was right!). But
that's talking style, not all out content. With a fairly short
running time, To consciously opts for less quirkiness, less
character depth (or rather serviceable) and more slam-bang
action-thriller filmmaking. Heck, this is even approaching
hugely commercial but thank god it's not in the vein of Needing
You!
Breaking
News starts with a bang, and it's a long one. I read prior
that To wanted to accomplish a 7 minute long, one take action
set piece for this film and roughly 2 minutes in, that is
right in our faces courtesy of the street shootout. I also
read that To had trouble accomplishing exactly how he conceived
this and what's there is admirable considering its length
but also comes with bumpy and shaky camerawork. It's a neat
little concept that comes with flaws that became difficult
to overcome on a schedule one must guess. The good thing is,
Breaking News doesn't go downhill after this big opening
as the well-paced chase scenario, soon confined to select
locations, continues to develop.
Development
that is more about achieving tension in the media game played
out between cops and robbers with shooutouts in between. There
is a topic brought up here by To about the power of the media
but also how easy it is to affect and spin the truth. This
isn't slamming the media because this case really doesn't
come out of sensationalistic journalism but it's a rather
slight examination in the long run, rather than a full-on
satire. At times, To goes into quirky territory as the highly
tension filled stakeout by media and police is interrupted
by lunch and the film actually manages to be humorous here
without the moods disrupting each other. Considering it features
flatulence gags on two occasions, the fact that laughs can
be found is a testament to the thinking of Johnnie in regards
to HOW, oh HOW, to properly have humour enter and exit the
picture.
Outside
of this main theme and portrayals, the cliché of the
different branches within police not working together appears
but it's easy to let go off . It plays out well in the 90
minutes of action-thriller entertainment that nor is Hollywood
or your usual 2004 Hong Kong thrill-ride. The reason? Johnnie
To, Cheng Siu-Keung Yuen Bun and all the rest of our usual
Milkyway suspects that reliably delivers the technical goods!
First
of all, we welcome back the beautiful scope frame that many
Milkyway productions began adapting when starting out back
in the late 90s. Main location that cinematographer Cheng
Siu-Keung shoots is the confined hallways of the residential
building and while not playing with the huge contrast between
light and dark as in PTU, there seems to exist a conscious
choice to light so naturally that you sometimes don't see
the actors. It's a questionable choice but the rest of the
cinematography work a treat as Cheng keeps the camera moving
and shoots some very crowded and exciting Hong Kong street
location footage to great effect.
Yuen
Bun also recalls some of his best action- and stunt work from
the past Milkyway productions, in particular one of his finest
in that regard, Expect The Unexpected. Even the big
opening shootout does suitable retain a level headed nod to
realism with no ballistic outbursts and main gunplay in the
residential building plays out very similar. While not emphasizing
it as much, he and To, really do make unknown figures deaths
hurt a little bit more than it really has to. Human lives,
especially civilians, are still human lives, which produces
a good, lasting effect. That theme, again, is more profound
in the mentioned Expect The Unexpected.
For
the actors, the writing team really only provides 90 minute
arcs, which works absolutely fine based on what the film itself
is. Contrary to what you might think, Nick Cheung really is
the third man here, playing the super-rash and hard boiled
cop who just got to, got to, got to, catch them bastard thieves.
Again, there's no real harm in presenting him like that if
you're not aiming for depth but also, you need someone who
can make those rather simplistic traits work. Cheung actually
adapts himself decently in that regard, not playing to his
otherwise known comedic persona one bit. For his character,
To does inject some sly doses of humour when it comes to his
relentless pursuit of the bad guys, in particular during a
bus chase at the end.
No,
this is more Kelly Chen and Richie Ren's picture. Starting
with Kelly, who has to be considered the weak link here, although
I was expecting worse. Playing the team leader of the operation,
at times she equips herself well and radiates authority and
at others, her delivery comes off as awkward and unnatural.
As written towards the end, her apparent strength as a female
character gives way for some clichéd happenings and
solutions that doesn't really ruin or enhance, it's just too
familiar of an outcome, for women.
Richie
Ren therefore stands out the most. In particular since he
finally breaks through with traits such as coldness, charisma,
slight humanity and is adept as an action participant. It's
definitely a slight performance just because this again isn't
much of a character to work with but Ren brings as much as
one could hope for, quite well so. It's also a sign of versatility
as we've seen him in lighter roles this year and this is a
step forward for the Taiwanese actor. Lam Suet provides reliable
and welcome support as the father of the family whose apartment
is used as refuge for the Mainlanders. Simon Yam and Maggie
Shaw log "special appearances as well, with the former
role feeling rather pointless in the whole.
Johnnie
To's Breaking News delivers fast-paced and tension-filled
action entertainment with little attention to characters and
a media study of smaller proportions. However, it's a choice
that greatly succeeds. Take that and the excellent technical
merits and you can chalk up a Johnnie To effort that plays
out more like the Milkyway efforts he produced during the
late 90s. We've been missing that as well, Johnnie.
The
DVD:
Megastar
presents the film in a 2.24:1 aspect ratio approximately that
has been anamorphically enhanced. Both a muted and more colourful
palette was choosen for the film and it's presented well.
A few nicks and scars are on the print but nothing that will
detract.
The
Cantonese 5.1 Dolby Digital EX track enlivens the front stage
the most with music and effects while dialogue comes across
as clear. A Cantonese DTS 5.1 track and a Mandarin Dolby Digital
5.1 dub is also included.
The
English subtitles on the whole seem excellent with only a
few select spelling errors. Traditional and simplified Chinese
subtitles are also included.
Extras-wise,
Megastar has included The Story. No, it's only the
plot synopsis from the back cover. Useless therefore. There's
a 2 minute, 17 second Deleted Scene included (in Mandarin
only). Only two sets of Chinese subtitles are available and
one can only guess it was there for the Mainland China release,
for whatever reason. It was clearly meant for the opening
minutes of the film though.
EDIT:
Asian DVD Guide's Balzac13 briefly described the deleted
scene as a basic set-up of the Mainland Gangsters and that
the Hong Kong cops are on their tail. If this is a way to
soften the blow against Mainlanders, then job well done but
not very exciting extra footage. The film certainly benefits
from opening the way it does currently.
Behind
The Scene (3 minutes) has small interview bites with the
actors but mostly features quickly edited shots from the set,
focusing more on the gunfights. The theatrical trailer follows
next, along with previews for The Eye 2 and Xanda.
Cast & Credits contain the usual subsections Cast
& Staff listing, which is exactly what it sounds like,
and then Bio & Filmo. Starting with Johnnie To's file,
it opens with a statement from the man himself about his thoughts
going into shooting Breaking News. What follows is
a bland and basic outline of To's career in text. The actors
Richie Ren, Kelly Chen and Nick Cheung get short character
and actor biographies as well.
reviewed
by Kenneth
Brorsson
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