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It's
no secret that I'm in love with the Hong Kong cinema era 1992-1996
for one for one special reason, Category III. During that
time, Hong Kong cinema produced some of its most outrageously
violent and sleazy films but amongst all that, there was some
serious devotion to subject matters by directors like Billy
Tang (Run And Kill). It's memorable for that but also
a lot of the movies were just shameless, guilty pleasures
in my mind. Since then there hasn't been a movement towards
these kinds of projects on a constant basis and I accept that.
Everything has 15 minutes and time ran out for this kind of
Cat III. Flash forward to 2003 and the debut from Wong Ching
Po & Lee Kung Lok, Fu Bo. No, it's not supposed
to signal the return of Cat III but this independent drama
effort comes with cast familiar to hardcore fans of the era
mentioned and a thoughtful approach to the dark subject of
death.
Category III seemed free of many restrictions and same can
be argued for independent productions. You work in smaller
ways but can achieve much more freedom to create a thorough
movie. Fu Bo is one such indie film, shot on video,
and attempts to convey to us three different plot strands
concerning three different people, all surrounded by death
and loneliness. As it stands, Fu Bo is a film with
good points and bad points in most of the crucial departments.
Being indie, the filmmakers have the freedom also to play
around with structure which probably will frustrate those
viewers wanting to be hooked within the first 5 minutes. Jumping
between the main characters of Fu Bo, the priest and the killer
is done without the thought of needing 10 minutes with each
character before diverting. This is all well and good in terms
of approach but the directors only really achieves one of
its goals; the portrayal of the Fu Bo, played by Liu Kai Chi
of Infernal Affairs II.
The three characters connect through death but only the killer
and his actions connects to Fu Bo. It's the actual theme of
death and what it does to someone surrounded by it that connects
them all and its more clearly conveyed through Fu Bo than
the other two. Fu Bo, or an mortuary assistant, and the other
men working with him are low key, just as the line of work
is portrayed as in the film. There are mostly elder men there
whom all have learned to be numbed by death or rather respectful
of it. In comes a youngster, played by Lee Sze Chit, more
energetic and full of questions. He wants to form a bond with
his mentor Fu Bo but is never really let in beyond anything
but the work. The film actually quickly loses this young character
with no real pay off but it gives us a chance to subsequently
focus more on Liu Kai Chi's character, someone the filmmakers
put their biggest trust in, with good results.
Fu Bo's character arc is familiar to an extent but with Liu
Kai Chi's reserved performance, it actually becomes genuinely
intriguing to follow him. He's one of those people who has
his job, is skilled at doing it but looking at his posture,
his way of talking, he has probably little else and we feel
for him because of it. The movie doesn't go hugely into detail
but we witness his attempted interactions with his son for
instance (the mother is played by Paulyn Sun from Ichi
The Killer). At this point in his life, not much else
is going to happen and he can only observe what he might've
gained or lost. Death may have gotten him to this point in
mood and his existence could be seen as close to death as
a living person can come. It is rather sad to watch but it's
a successful portion of the film even if it doesn't feature
much positivity at all.
If we then look at the remaining characters in focus, namely
the priest/cook (played by Jacob Mense) and the triad assassin,
(Hugo Ng from Brother Of Darkness) there is a feeling
of less faith in the material. While Fu Bo's journey throughout
the movie doesn't really come full circle but remain interesting
to watch, these two register very little with the audience
AND doesn't seem to go anywhere. Truth be told, Hugo Ng's
character Giu, struggling with an inner conflict with killing
has some form of closure at the end. The problem is that it's
never explored to any satisfying degree other than in basic
form. There was opportunity for it in the case of Giu and
Hugo Ng certainly sure has matured enough as an actor to pull
off complex character work. The material isn't there to work
with to the fullest though. The point with Jacob Menses's
character has more to do with the endless circle of his existence
that may be satisfying to him. He cooks for death row prisoners
and offer them a chance to bear their soul during their last
remaining hours. Here also lies the problem that so much focus
is put on Fu Bo that there's barely enough time to care or
dig deeper into these other characters. A longer running time
was perhaps needed (the movie is only 82 minutes) but overall
the plot structure and its themes are presented well thanks
to the attention to Liu Kai Chi's character. The directors
are first timers after all and what's shown here has much
ambition but not all of it put to good use. I welcome more
efforts from Wong Ching Po and Lee Kung Lok. They have a good
sense of narrative in parts but such things as the tacked
on triad subplot towards the end feels devoid of logic in
terms of motivations from the triads themselves. Then again,
triads can go brutal for very little but nevertheless beats
were missing to get the full effect. Actually, it's revolves
around the biggest shock of the film so sloppiness here was
unfortunate.
The technical aspect of the film does come off well though.
The video look, especially for the morgue scenes, enhances
that setting and Wong Ping Hung manage to churn out some good
to decent cinematography as well. Parts of it is set to little
practical lighting which works in certain long establishing
shots, emphasizing the loneliness and dark shadows of the
existence of Fu Bo in particular. At other times, in the same
scenes even, there has been an option to shoot as natural
as possible, resulting in some overly dark photography sadly.
Wong Ping Hung otherwise makes the movie look rather competent
with basic but atmospheric camera work. Some red colour filtering
isn't exactly subtle in terms of what it symbolizes though
and does detract. The directors also edited the picture and
creates some more intense film language, in particular for
Giu's story. It can be a bit pretentious but overall add some
atmosphere and good mood to this character. Otherwise they
are very generous to actors by letting certain scenes play
out in longer takes.
Now remember, this is a Category III rated motion picture
and with Fu Bo comes graphic scenes. With a majority
of the film taking place in a morgue and seeing people at
work there, you are going to get graphic images. It will be
a queasy ride for some but I saw no problems with it as it
isn't there to titillate. The effect work is above par also,
one of the better conceived aspects of the film. The music
by Tommy Wai has its better points in the first half of the
film. Here his best score work comes in the morgue scenes
where there's an distant electronic piano in the background.
It becomes as desolate and dead as the setting and works wonders
for the atmosphere there. He amps the electronic parts of
his score in the second half which actually sounds good but
does not fit with the scenes played out for the most part.
It's just too much for the stillness of it all in my mind.
Since the movie is slow paced and low key, we get performances
matching that. Again have to mention Liu Kai Chi who fares
the best with an excellent, understated performance where
his downtrodden look and reserved dialogue speaks volumes
about his character. Jacob Mense, speaking Portuguese mainly
since the film is set in Macau, seems like a bland actor but
with the low key nature of the film, he becomes bearable.
Veterans Anthony Wong and Eric Tsang also logs not so important
but solid cameos as death row inmates.
Fu Bo is a solid debut from Wong Ching Po & Lee Kung
Lok. Skill in directing and conveying more complex characters
is there as well as a visual thinking but ultimately you have
a bit more flaws than positive remarks. Thanks to the central
performance from Liu Kai Chi, Fu Bo becomes a worthwhile
characterstudy, in one of the three cases.
The DVD:
Panorama claims full frame on the back cover
but the movie is presented in 1.85:1. As mentioned, this is
shot on video and I'm not sure whether or not the lack of
sharpness is an intentional choice. It does make the transfer
seem lacking but overall remain watchable.
The Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 track has
some good surround ambiance but mainly is centered, even for
music, Dialogue is presented well but a little uneven mixing
between the elements towards the end make it less audible
than I would've liked. A 2.0 Cantonese option is also included.
The English subtitles seem a little sloppy
in places but are perfectly comprehensible. A set of Chinese
subtitles are also selectable. Panorama
disappoints in terms of extras because there aren't any. I
would've at least liked to see a trailer and maybe get some
biographical background on the directors.
reviewed by Kenneth
Brorsson
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