Cantonese Title: Din Liu Jing Chuen
Mandarin Title: Dian1 Lao3 Zheng1 Chuan2
Translation: Lunatics: True Story
Year: 1986
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese
Running Time: 88 mins.
Genre: Drama
Company: D & B Films
Theatrical Run in HK: June 5 - 25, 1986
Box Office: HK$ 9,350,070.00
Director: Derek Yee
Screenplay by: Derek Yee
Cast:
Stanley Fung..................Tsui
Deannie Yip....................Miss Lau
Paul Chun.......................Tsuen
Chow Yun Fat..................Chung
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai.......Doggie
Dennis Chan...................Ming
Review:
The Lunatics is an intriguing
movie that has been criticized for its violent representation of the
plight of the homeless and mentally ill in a modern urban society,
in this case, Hong Kong. The lack of sympathy, respect and priority
accorded the disenfranchised poor and ill of modern society is far
from an isolated problem. This is a film that might have been written
by any Hollywood scribe that dared ignore the bottom line long enough
to tackle a timely and relevant social commentary, box office be damned.
That the film attempts to please the audience with some of the stock
in trade HK cinematic elements can certainly be forgiven in what it
tries to do for its subjects.
The subjects of mental illness and homelessness don't translate to
big box office. The subjects are bound to make viewers uncomfortable,
especially as the social system as depicted here is every bit as ineffectual
as that of the United States when it comes to treating the homeless,
mentally ill with dignity and respect. The social system presented
in this film is plagued by the same problems as its western counterparts,
chronic lack of funding, lack of public support and empathy not only
for the affected, but also for those who labor to improve the lot
of the clients they are charged with caring for.
The Lunatics follows the social worker tasked with taking care of
people marginalized by society as he moves through his day, trying
to help those people in his charge, even when they don't want help
or don't understand that it is being given.
Tony Leung Chiu Wai is almost unrecognizable in a bookended performance
as the homeless, childlike Doggie. Doggie hangs around a fish market,
trying to connect with the people who frequent and work there. He
is inarticulate and his moves to engage the fish market denizens create
fear and panic.
Chow Yun Fat is memorable in small but heartrending role as Chung,
the father of two who lives in the city dump and cares for his two
small children, eking out a marginal existence, but doing his best
to be a good father. When the social worker chances across him on
a street corner, and is informed that he "has trouble", he tries to
help, somewhat hampered by a crusading reporter who has attached herself
to him to do an expose.
The pair follow Chung to the dump and his shack. There they find
one of Chung's children deathly ill, the other missing. The denouement
of this episode is wrenching and tragic.
The third mental patient is not homeless, but lives with his mother
in her flat and seems to be rehabilitated when we first are introduced
to him. But events in his life threaten his stability and he begins
a downward spiral that ends in violent tragedy that affects everyone
involved.
The film winds down to an equally tragic conclusion. Along the way
it has shown the shortfall of the social system to care for the disenfranchised
in a compelling way unusual for HK cinema. The statements it makes
about the care these people receive are certainly not applicable to
just Hong Kong--but the US and the rest of the Western world as well.
It may not succeed at everything it attempts, but the film is certainly
one that would never have been made in Hollywood and is to be commended
for shining an unwavering light on the subject matter it has tackled.
Nominations at the 6th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards:
Best Picture
Best Director: Derek Yee Tung-Sing
Best Screenplay: Derek Yee Tung-Sing
Prizewinners:
Best Supporting Actor: Paul Chun Pui
Best Art Direction: Wong Yan-Kwai
