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Ivan
Lai brought to the screen Daughter Of Darkness and
its non-related sequel. Those movies were basically the same
but did suitably retain the notion that you can't hold back
when it comes to the kind of Category III cinema we're
talking about here. However during this era a filmmaker by
the name of Billy Tang (for some reason nicknamed Bloody)
emerged on the scene and created two very memorable, the latter
being a genre classic, entries called Dr. Lamb (co-directed
with Danny Lee) and Run And Kill. So when veteran Cat
III producer Kimmy Shuen wanted to bring back the cast of
the original Daughter Of Darkness for a final showdown,
they turned to director Tang. Knowing what Ivan Lai did with
the franchise, a question arises; can or will Billy Tang take
the darkness up a few notches? Bring on Brother Of Darkness!
Wong Kuen To (Hugo Ng) lives with his adopted grand parents
but it's far from a happy or safe family existence. His brother
Wah (William Ho) constantly threats the family and wants nothing
to do with his adopted brother, gravely abusing him because
of it. With Wah in prison the family tries to live happily
and To's girlfriend Jenny (Lily Chung) seems like a great
step towards that. But once again, Wah is let out and continues
his domination over the family...
Just so you don't have to wait for the answer to my question
above. No, Billy Tang hasn't taken the darkness or graphic
violence up a few notches from Daughter Of Darkness
but done something even better, made an actual good Cat III
film! Tang scored high points for setting aside the conventional
flashback plot structure and comedy in Run And Kill
but keeps the former in Brother Of Darkness. From the
opening frames though, it's clear that we're looking at a
director with a far better vision and dedication to the genre however.
The opening is a beautiful slow motion shot of the aftermath
of the main crime, shot in low angle and telling of a grim
event that has occurred. I commended Ivan Lai for a similar,
in meaning, shot from both Daughter Of Darkness movies
but if you had to compare, Ivan's way is more forced, Billy
is more concentrated. For the flashback structure in Brother
Of Darkness, we're instead lead straight into the courtroom
for a change (via some excellent Tony Mau camerawork). Usually
these movies lets the back story play out in the interrogations.
Now, working from a well structured script by Kong Heung
Sang, Billy begins his not too unrealistic tale of domestic
abuse. Those of you expecting a gore fest can leave now, this
is an erotic drama with physical and physiological violence
being an important part. The director doesn't make the mistake
of starting with darkness and then letting us wait a long
time for it while the cast is clowning around. One, there
is not barely any silly humour in this and two, we're thrown
right into the plot that is then going to show us the violence
and erotica that in the end takes us to the courtroom. Basically
divided into two acts, first one shows the abusive situation
further back and currently To's life, with his brother already
in control of the family. As we watch him grow up, he has
to become the protector of them because Wah isn't about to
change. When we move on to act two, we see the tragic romantic
part of the film via To's and Jenny's struggling relationship.
This is where I was completely surprised by, not so much that
the writing was exceptional, but how sad and touching this
section is. As the couple, you couldn't ask for a more likable
duo than Hugo Ng and Lily Chung (now in reversed situations
compared to Daughter Of Darkness). Childhood friends
and sweethearts, they are so right for each other but the
abuse towards To has left him emotionally scarred and impotent.
This latter aspect could've easily not worked for one second
but the sincere writing and Tang's handling of it, mixed with
fairly good erotic scenes, makes for involving viewing not
only due to nudity on display but because there is a serious
intent with it. There's so little exploitation here compared
to previous Cat III films in the same vein and a feeling of
genuine love instead.
The sex scenes are of the softcore kind and well-shot but
Tang injects some human touches when it comes to the shyness
between the young couple. In other words, Tang is pleasing
the audience on a commercial level while still having these
scenes be an actual part of the narrative. If there's criticisms
to be uttered regarding the erotica, it is that Lily Chung's
masturbation scene, while very important believe it or not,
does cater too much to the male audience and not enough to
the film's favour. William Ho's over the top sexual behaviour
in some scenes also renders some sliiiiight unnecessary comedy but get
this, there is no actual scene of rape in the entire film,
only an attempted one. It all logically culminates in the
finale, after To's years of abuse and there's some unexpected
character turns for this genre worthy of praise. Billy Tang's
handling of the narrative and its subject matter probably
remains the most mature I've seen. This may even be more acceptable
for those who have voiced their opinion against the genre before
Jonathan Wong hasn't fully lived up the fine music work he
did for Dr. Lamb but his contribution to Cat III scores
is always memorable, even if the one for Brother Of Darkness
works only as a basic mood setter. Tony Mau, DP on several
of these films, uses his blue filters to a better degree than
most while also showing accomplished camerawork throughout,
in particular during the mentioned beginning.
Hugo Ng is a perfectly acceptable leading man, displaying
fine presence in most scenes and fairly convincingly going
through the emotions needed. Even gets to do a small bit of
action which fits in the movies structure since it's really
about short brawls. It's more the stunt work that shines,
mainly William Ho's stunt double but was there really need
for 3 action directors on this? Either way, William Ho is
his usual loud mouthed, horny psycho but there's a bit more
menacing depth to him than previously seen. Still the same
performance basically as we saw in the Daughter Of Darkness
films but he's such a staple of these movies so it doesn't
really hurt the movie obviously. However Lily Chung once again
emotes so much sympathy with her performance. Playing Jenny,
clearly in love with To and desperate to make the love fully
work but having to face huge obstacles few women would dare
to try and conquer. Not only is she stunning but have displayed
fine acting chops for the genre before and does so again in
Brother Of Darkness. Anthony Wong puts in solid support
as the Prosecutor.
What a surprise! After watching Billy Tang's Brother Of
Darkness, it's time to quote it as one of the best and
mature pieces of Category III cinema. It may look and feel
like any other genre effort but those serious and those curious
I hope will see a good load of artistic merit from the
top director of the genre.
The DVD:
As with Daughter Of Darkness, the film
at hand was previously only available on an average Ocean
Shores dvd . Currently I can't document whether that had censor
edits like Daughter Of Darkness but obviously Universe's
1.74:1 framed reissue is preferable (Ocean Shores was cropped
to full frame). They apparently worked from a better looking
censored print and tried to assemble an ALMOST uncut print
(jumps in sound and scenes are noticeable) from alternative
sources. Therefore print quality drops at times where the
additional footage is, only lasts for a few seconds though.
The reinstated footage is mainly for
the sex scenes since there is not much gore in the film. Most
of the film looks sharp and fairly colourful otherwise but
feels a tad too bright. Still, another kudos to Universe for
pleasing the Cat III fans by going the extra distance.
The Cantonese 2.0 mono track sounds clear
in terms of dialogue and score, no need whatsoever for a remix.
A Mandarin 2.0 track is also available.
The English subtitles present few spelling
errors and are optional as opposed to the Ocean Shores disc
that had the original imbedded Chinese/English subtitles.
Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also included.
No extras are on the disc.
reviewed by Kenneth
Brorsson
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