Award
at the Hong Kong Film Awards 2000:
Best Actress (Helena Law Lan)
Nominations at the Hong Kong Film Awards 2000:
Best Actor (Francis Ng)
Best Sound Design
Awards at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards 2000:
Best Actor (Francis Ng)
Best Actress (Helena Law Lan)
Best Screenplay (Wilson Yip, Matt Chow, Cheung Man)
Film of Merit
Wilson Yip's breakthrough as a director came with the horror
comedy Bio Zombie, made in 1998. After that he choose
to make movies in a wide variety of genres such as action (Skyline
Cruisers), romantic drama (Juliet In Love) and sci-fi
(2002). It was with Skyline Cruisers that he was
given a chance to direct a big budget movie with established
stars. After seeing the movie, the critics were all in agreement
that this was not the best Wilson Yip had to offer as a director.
Gone was the great characterization as well as the solid drama
aspects of some of his previous works. I truly despised Skyline
Cruisers but decided to step backwards in the Wilson Yip
filmography and there I found Bullets Over Summer, made
in 1999.
Mike
(Francis Ng from Juliet In Love) and Brian (Louis Koo
from La Brassiere) are partners at the Hong Kong Police
Force. Brian is the childish one of the two, while Mike is
the more serious and hot-tempered one. They both get assigned
to a stakeout which could give some good leads in the hunt
of a cold blooded robber known only as Dragon (Wilson Yip
regular Joe Lee). That stakeout takes place in an apartment
occupied by an senile old granny (Helena Law Lan) who resists
the idea at first but soon thinks that the two police are
actually her long lost grandchildren. They play along and
Mike especially bonds with the old woman...
If you
had to put this movie into a genre, I guess you could call
it a cop-comedy but director Yip puts a nice spin to that
genre. After quite a brutal and bloody opening, the movie
slows down and becomes a warm and low-key characterdrama.
We're also treated to several very funny moments courtesy
of Helena Law Lan's character.
It's
this part of the movie that Wilson Yip really shows us viewers
a spellbinding study of characters who find each other through
similar emotional scars. Yip and director of photography Lam
Wah-Chuen almost makes us forget about the camera and instead
we're in awe of the excellent performances on display here.
Francis Ng impressed me the most with his character
that has a tough exterior but a warm and gentle person comes
out in his bonding with "Granny".The
rest of the cast does really well but it's quite obvious that
Yip and his co-writer Matt Chow wanted the majority of the
focus on Francis Ng and Helena Law Lan's characters.
The last act of the movie has some weaknesses though. After
a warm and tender middle part, the movie goes a bit too far
in terms of the violence presented but also the final act
of the movie doesn't feel entirely satisfying. I can understand
what Yip was aiming at but it just didn't click all the way.
It's not bad on a technical level but there were still some
misjudgment on the filmmakers part, sadly. Wilson Yip is a
young and very interesting director and I think he will go
to even greater things in the future. He seems to be willing
to try out different approaches and learn from whatever mistakes
he does.
Bullets
Over Summers mixture of action and drama doesn't work
all the way and the above mentioned ending does hurt the movie
a bit, but it's still a very enjoyable little movie that deserves
to be seen. If you're curious about Wilson Yip's earlier work,
then this is the movie to start with.
The DVD:
Another
remaster from Mei Ah, framed at 1.78:1 with anamorphic enhancement.
Previous transfer always felt a bit on the bright side but
that is toned down to an even level with this new dvd (a few
scenes registers a bit on the dark side though). Sharpness
and details are good for this low budget production that isn't
exactly on the glossy side for starters. It may be part of
the design but hues seemed overly red at times, also an issue
with the old disc. Mei Ah didn't go back to remove the dirt
on the print either which isn't a distracting flaw but worth
noting. Some comparison shots between the versions:
(Old
Mei Ah, top, 16:9 remaster, bottom)
(Old
Mei Ah, top, 16:9 remaster, bottom)
Sound
options for the Cantonese track are Dolby Digital 5.1 and
DTS 5.1. Dialogue isn't always smoothly recorded on set and
while the front stage is pleasantly active, the mix is uneven
because of the clarity differences in sound elements. Same
sound options are selectable in Mandarin.
The
optional English subtitles are exactly the same as the previous
dvd. Problems like bad spelling and grammar structure appear
a few times but the translation does very well overall.
First extra is the trailer that has small snippets of deleted
footage (see below). Even lobby cards made at the time
showed stills not in the film. The Data Bank has text screens
with the synopsis and a cast & crew listing.
(Deleted footage from the trailer)
The Making Of, previously only available
on the vcd edition makes it's dvd debut, lasting 10 minutes
and 22 seconds. No subtitles are provided except for the movie
clips and Michelle Mok does her interview in English. Co-writer
Matt Chow basically is the host of the program that obviously
is low on information for non-Cantonese speakers but a montage
of behind the scenes footage nicely rounds off the segment.
Among other things we get to see director Wilson Yip working
on set and imitating Bruce Lee plus the shooting of one of
the deleted scenes. Worth the upgrade from the previous Mei
Ah dvd? Absolutely, despite the slightly higher price tag.
reviewed by Kenneth
Brorsson
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