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Nomination
at the Hong Kong Film Awards 2002:
Best Supporting Actor (David Lee)
Award at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards 2002:
Film Of Merit
There
are a lot of things wrong with this world, too many for one
to care about every thing. What Herman Yau's From The Queen
To The Chief Executive does is enlighten us on on of those
many injustices in our world and knowing about is still very
important.
In 1985 Cheung Yau Ming (David Lee) was involved in a brutal
rape/murder of two British youths. Because of his young age
he was sentenced to 'Detention under Her Majesty's Pleasure'
while waiting for a definite judgment. Cut to 1997, 6 months
before Great Britain's handover of Hong Kong to China, and
Ming is still under the same detention, together with 22 other
prisoners, waiting for his sentence. The fear of what's going
to happen to them after the handover grows and they desperately
write letters to people who may help them but no one bothers.
That is until Cheung Yue Ling (Ai Jing) visits Ming in the
prison after mail corresponding with him. She wants to help
him and she enlist human rights activist Leung Cheung Kan
(Stephen Tang) to organize it all. Together with the prisoners
families the struggle begins to get the definite sentences
carried out...
Director Herman Yau's behind some of the more talked about
Category III movies out of Hong Kong (The Untold Story
for example) and after seeing those, who would've thought
he was capable of bringing to the screen, a poignant drama
like this. It shines through in the direction that he himself
was very interested in the topic and that he really put his
heart and soul into this film. He also acts as cinematographer
on films but that trait rarely carries over to his directed
movies. What I mean by that is that he rightly seems focused
on story when directing and the look of a film when shooting
one. This story is told very straightforward and Herman really
makes sure that the plot is completely understandable for
the audience. Almost every scene is infused with a great attention
to detail from everything in the surroundings to the dialogue
and acting. Nothing is hard to follow despite the, at times,
political dialogue and that's so important to achieve. If
you want the audience to pay attention and feel this kind
of story in their hearts, you can't rush things. That doesn't
mean the movie is boring though. It's paced just right and
we've understood all plus created an opinion on the subject
after the movie is over.
There's only small glimpses of a very stylized camera language
but it's well applied in moments like the highly disturbing
rape/murder scene that's seen in flashback from time to time.
Here Herman combines frenetic camera work with hard hitting
sounds that just creates the mood of disgust at the meaningless
act committed. Also scattered throughout is a few character
moments where Herman pushes in the camera really close and
it's something that, remarkably enough, doesn't take you out
of the movie. That's signs of a competent director that's
also blessed with a well defined Elsa Chan script. The three
main characters all have their similarities in some ways and
they all get their moments outside of the struggle, which
just makes them alive and much more human. This is hardly
a Hong Kong film were everything was made up as the shooting
progressed.
Activist Leung Cheung Kan is so dedicated to whatever cause
he fights that his relationship with his wife and son are
falling apart. Cheung Yue Ling left her mother as a teenager
(after an act which I will not disclose here) and prisoner
Ming is an orphan. So they all share problems in their family
situations in a way. That may, here in writing, sound cliché
but it comes full circle in the hands of these actors. Much
of that has to do with the fact that they're all newcomers
to films (David Lee have appeared in smaller parts in such
films as Bullets Over Summer). Not having the familiarity
factor there makes this true story as real as you can get
on film. They're all in tune with their character and aside
from some slight overacting in sentimental scenes, they're
all memorable in their roles.
As mentioned, From
The Queen To The Chief Executive is based on a
true story and it's themes must be conveyed without having
to speak to the audience all the time. Herman knows this and
gets us interested right from the start. The movies does take
side but not against the British rule who initiated the use
of the 'Detention under Her Majesty's Pleasure'. It's against
the violation of human rights and it's the meaning of the
law that the movie criticizes. At the same time, there lies
an aura of opposition against the activists from the people
in Hong Kong. The movie shows that and the audience may also
disagree without the film being ruined. After all, it's youths
who have committed serious crimes and they should be punished.
They should not be kept waiting for that though. If they know
what they were facing they could either better their lives
inside for the preparation when they go outside again. To
sit and wait without knowing like that must be torture and
one prisoner even says he would prefer to be shot by a Chinese
execution squad than endure any more of what he's in. Herman
does this way create sympathy in the prisoners but importantly
not in the crimes they committed.
From
The Queen To The Chief Executive is a real eye
opener of a grave injustice. Even if you feel like you can't
do anything about it, do yourself a favour and learn of it.
For Hong Kong movie fans this is a real powerful movie that
needs to be watched, just to see if it's really true that
Herman Yau is capable of this. It's definitely one of stronger
movies of 2001.
The DVD:
To the best of my knowledge, Chinastar has
pulled out of the dvd market at the time of writing. That's
such a shame since they've produced some truly great discs
compared to the junk Mei Ah and Widesight puts out for example
. The box doesn't mention it but this is a 1.78:1 anamorphically
enhanced transfer. It's very clean but sharpness could've
been better. A slight darkness lies over the transfer that
is still very much watchable. Always a treat to see Hong Kong
movies in 16:9.
The Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 track is held
back most of the time since it's a dialogue driven movie.
When music and effects kick in, it envelops you really nicely.
A well produced and mixed soundtrack. A Mandarin 5.1 dub is
also included.
The English subtitles are excellent and does
a very good job describing all the events. Chinastar have
excelled in this area before and doesn't disappoint this time
either. One set of Chinese subtitles are also selectable.
A short making of (3 minutes
and 17 seconds) appear as well as the trailer for the movie.
reviewed by Kenneth
Brorsson
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