Cantonese Title: Sing Si Jin Jaang
Mandarin Title: Cheng Shi Zhan Zheng
Translation: Loyalty Courage Red Lips
Year: 1988
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese
Running Time: 96 mins.
Genre: Action / Drama
Company: Cinema City Co.
Theatrical Run in HK: December 23, 1988 - January 27, 1989
Box Office: HK$ 13,230,754.00
Director: Suen Chung
Screenplay by: Leung Wai Ting & Rico Chung Kai Cheong
Cast:
Chow Yun-Fat.............Dick Lee
Ti Lung.......................Ken Chow
Norman Chu...............Ted Yiu
Tien Niu......................Penny
Lee Ka Ting................Sgt. Ting
Lo Lieh.......................Triad Boss, Kuen
Teresa Caprio.............Teresa
Michael Chow..............Bobby
Ricky Yi......................Wu
Mary Hon....................Ken Chow's wife
Review:
Chow
Yun-Fat in a white suit....with a rose between his teeth....
Chow Yun-Fat dancing in one of the most explicitly sexually charged
scenes in cinematic history (giving real meaning to the old saw that
claims dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal intent....),
his not inconsiderable sex appeal exploding off the screen....(oh
yeah and his dance partner ain't bad either....)
Chow Yun Fat and Ti Lung together again...their special chemistry
sparking and sparkling, like never before...
Now really, what more could any red blooded Hong Kong film fan want
from a movie??
There are some reviewers who will tell you that this film, for all
the above mentioned pluses, is a disappointment, a standard cops and
triads tale that sinks into preachiness and sentimentality. I'm not
sure they saw the same film I did. In watching City War, I discovered
a compelling police drama that explores unflinchingly our modern times
when sometimes it seems that the criminals have more rights than either
victims or police.
Dick Lee (Chow Yun Fat) and Ken Chow (Ti Lung) are fellow police
detectives and firm friends. Dick is single, fancy free and an inveterate
club hopper, while Ken is a happily married man with two children
and a nice home which he enjoys remodeling. Dick is level headed,
responsible in his work. Ken is an impulsive firebrand of a policeman,
with a strong sense of justice.
Ken and Dick apparently were of equal rank at one point, but Ken's
quick temper has caused him some trouble that has kept him from promotions,
while Dick, the younger, has advanced beyond his friend and is currently
a police negotiator. Ken's hair trigger temper is much in evidence
throughout the film, as Dick uses his skills, charm and calm demeanor
as a negotiator to attempt to ameliorate some of the situations Ken
temper gets him into.
The film opens on an assassin squad discussing their hit. Unbeknownst
to the viewer at first, they already have their mark and are soon
revealed to be dispatching him. He is a police officer, Inspector
Ho, with whom their "patron" has a score to settle.
As counterpoint we are introduced to Ken as he and his family wait
in line at a store, disapprovingly watching the antics of a group
of youngsters who brazenly shoplift while others of their number create
a distraction with the store clerk. His police instincts stirred and
temper sparked, Ken is soon in pursuit of two of the miscreants, cornering
one in a noodle shop some distance away, after an exciting foot chase
through the streets and traffic of Hong Kong.
Seeing no escape, the young offender takes a pregnant woman hostage
in the fast food restaurant, leading to a stand off. Other police
converge as Ken confronts the nervous young man and his frightened
hostage. The police negotiator is called. Dick Lee arrives, sees that
his friend Ken is involved, and attempts to bring the tense situation
to a peaceful resolution. The action that follows is part nail biting
drama and part light hearted comedy as the friendship between the
two men is explored and revealed. Ti Lung and Chow sparkle in this
scene, the chemistry so evident between them in the "Better Tomorrow"
movies blazing full force here. A happy resolution occurs, but not
before Dick Lee has a few bad minutes thanks to some sleight of hand
by his friend, Ken Chow.
Dick is next seen club hopping after work. Freqenting one of his
usual haunts, he is taken with a young woman singing and dancing a
Chinese version of the "Habenero". Not recognizing her, he quizzes
the bartender about her, finding only that not much is known about
her and that she has been around for a few weeks. Picking up two toothpick
holders, dumping their contents and clinking them together as impromptu
castanets, Dick is soon joining her number, dancing a playfully senuous
tango.
In this scene and others, City War does something Hollywood has repeatedly
failed to do--capitalize on Chow Yun-Fat's considerable sexual charisma.
His scenes with the young woman known only at first as "Black Widow"
crackle with sexual tension and fireworks. This first dance is only
a warm-up for another meeting between the "Black Widow" and Dick on
the dance floor. The second scene sizzles with overt sexuality that
has to be seen to be fully appreciated.
The cop killed in the opening scenes of the film is soon revealed
to be Ken Chow's former partner, the man with whom he caught and sent
to prison the notorious triad boss Ted Wu some ten years earlier.
Ken senses a connection between his death and their past history,
but Wu is still in prison. Ken vows to avenge his old partner, to
bring his killer to justice.
Ted Wu, meanwhile is being released from prison. He id greeted by
his crime boss grandfather and a young women already introduced to
viewers, Dick Lee's mysterious "Black Widow". She is Penny, Ted's
girlfriend who promised ten years ago to wait for him.
The players now in place, the plot surges forward.
Soon, Ted is threatening Ken and his family with revenge for Ken's
part in putting him in prison, and for the wounds he received during
his arrest which have rendered him half a man. Ken cannot get his
superiors to believe in the connection between his partner's death
and Wu's reentry to society. Dick Lee doubts the assertion as well,
even as he vows to support and help Ken in any way he can. The system
seems to work for Ted Wu and against the hapless Ken Chow, who seeks
to protect his family and see justice done for his old partner.
Slowly, the plot Wu has been planning for ten years is revealed.
Ken is threatened, his temper baited into unwise action which results
in suspension from the police force. Even as Dick tries to negotiate
a peaceful outcome, Wu continues his plan of revenge. Wu brings more
assassins into the picture, even while he appears to agree to a peaceful
settlement of the situation between he and Ken Chow.
Inevitably, tragedy simultaneously drives Ken and Dick apart and
brings them back together in a nail biting, high octane series of
events that lead to a final showdown with Ted Wu in a bus garage.
City War is a satisfying police drama in the Hong Kong bullet ballet
tradition, that is further elevated by the performances and chemistry
of its leads.
Translation of the Chinese text at the end of the film:
"Ken Chow, Dick Lee were arrested after the accident. They were
charged for murder of a Chinese male, Ted Yiu, assault of people,
officer and possession of arms. They were sentenced to jail for 10
and 7 years respectively."
All images from th film ©1988 Cinema City Co. All rights reserved.
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