Cold War poster (Yahoo! Movies, 2012)
Cold War is
a Hong Kong crime and police film which was the highest grossing Hong Kong
movie of 2012; in addition it also won best film, and other eight awards, at
the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards. It is directed by Sunny Luk and Longman Leung and stars Tony Leung Ka Fai (梁家輝) and Aaron Kwok (郭富城). Before the release of Cold War, the high-grossing Hong Kong films of the year so far were
comedy films, such as Vulgaria (低俗喜劇) and Love in
the Buff (春嬌與志明). Part of its success lies in the fact that Cold War is different from traditional
Hong Kong crime and police films. This review will discuss why the Cold War became a success from the
perspective of genre studies.
The first element is that of character. In a typical Hong Kong crime and police film, the policemen depicted
are generally the junior constables and inspectors. In Cold War,
all the characters are the senior officers of different disciplinary forces. For
example, Aarif Rahman Lee (李治廷) plays a
Chief Investigator in Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Tony
Leung and Aaron Kwok play Deputy Commissioners of Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF). These characters and their professional milieu are
quite fresh to the local audience.
Nevertheless, as with other crime and police films,
the males typically occupy the leading and critical characters. There are eight
main characters, but only the character played by Charlie Yeung (楊采妮) is female.
Explosion in Mong Kok (Yahoo! Movies, 2012)
Moreover, there are many
different themes/subjects covered in Hong Kong crime and police films; for example, murder, robbery,
drugs, undercover work, etc. However, these topics are no big surprise. In Cold War, the story is driven by
multiple incidents and risks at the same time; such as the Mong Kok explosion, or
a fully loaded police vehicle and five constables kidnapped by criminals.
Therefore, the police force announces a tier one response (a three tier emergency
response system) for Hong Kong. Compared to
past Hong Kong crime and police films, the themes involved in Cold War are relatively unique.
Tony Leung Ka Fai and Aaron
Kwok arguing fiercely (Yahoo! Movies, 2012)
The narrative/plot is another successful component. No matter what the themes
are, the Hong Kong crime and police film commonly focus on the
process of how the police prevent or detect crime. The procedural aspect is
brought to the fore in Cold War. Also, in usual Hong Kong crime and police films, mostly tend to
consider the grey areas, e.g Infernal
Affairs (無間道) or The Stool
Pugeon(線人). However, Cold
War adds some unusual elements during the narrative process; for instance,
the procedure of the HKPF, the power struggle between two Police’s Deputy
Commissioners, and internal issues within the Hong Kong government. These novel
narrative concerns can attract the audiences easily since they have rarely experienced
such elements in local films before.
A Special Duties Unit is ready to attack (Yahoo! Movies, 2012)
When discussing genre,
iconography and setting are also important elements. The weapons – especially guns
and police vehicles – and police offices or the lair of the bad guys are usually signature visual
aspects in the crime and police film. These symbolic icons can also be noticed in Cold War. Since the story describes
risks to Hong Kong, so the setting of this film is around different areas in the city, such as Sai
Yeung Choi Street South in Mong Kok, the city hall in Central, and so on. These familiar place settings can also increase the involvement of local audiences.
Yahoo! Movies. 2012. [A Special Duties Unit is
ready to attack]. Retrieved from http://hk.movies.yahoo.net/assets/movie/photo/201209/ColdWar_9734_1347602213.jpg
Yahoo! Movies. 2012. [Explosion in Mong Kok].
Retrieved from http://hk.movies.yahoo.net/assets/movie/photo/201209/thumbnail/ColdWar_10495_1347602227.jpg
Yahoo! Movies. 2012. [Poster of Cold War].
Retrieved from http://hk.movies.yahoo.net/assets/poster/5e7a72821fab4696e1c8b25aeffa2303.jpg
Yahoo! Movies. 2012. [Tony Leung Ka Fai and
Aaron Kwok are arguing fiercely]. Retrieved from http://hk.movies.yahoo.net/assets/movie/photo/201209/thumbnail/ColdWar_2883JPG_1347602147.jpg
You have identified some distinctive features of the crime and gangster genre and illustrated them with some concrete examples. According to your arguments, the film reflects both typicality and uniqueness of the particular genre, which makes it appealing to general audience.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you could identify the target audience of such kind of film. What are the sources of identification experience by these people? Does it relate to the present social and political context (e.g., negative image of police force)? What are the implied cultural meanings and social significance behind these “fresh” and “unusal” elements?