Dante Lam showed promise as an action director on "Option Zero" and as a director of more calm romantic fare with "When I Look Upon the Stars." His best work, though, was on the wild, high-impact finale of "Beast Cops", which "Jiang Hu" most closely resembles.
"Jiang Hu", literally "rivers and lakes", connotes the wandering swordsmen of ancient days and in modern parlance refers to the triad underworld. It is a world that has virtually taken over Cantonese celluloid in the decade-and-a-half since the box office success of A Better Tomorrow. And while triad movies no longer command the public adulation they once enjoyed, they still manage to hang on and, in the case of The Triad Zone, attempt to redefine themselves.
As many of the latest Hong Kong films have focused on action over plot, it's refreshing to see a reversal where the emphasis is on structure and character development. In "Jiang Hu-The Triad Zone," the gangster's moral code and the conflict between old and new schools of thought clash.
Tony Leung represents the old school running up against contemporary pressures of heading up a triad mob. Using all of the known conventions of the triad genre, Dante Lam has come full circle. The main plot point in the film is that Tony's character, Jim Yam, is targeted for assassination. He tries to find out who is out to kill him. Since he is on top of the heap, anyone around him could be out to dethrone him. The old adage: "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
Filled with vivid primary characters and plenty of terrific secondary rolls, and an amazing set of cameos distinguish "Jiang Hu" from other triad films.
Tony Leung Kar-fai and Sandra Ng are the stars: two rich, meaty, substantial roles for two terrific actors. Leung gives the performance of his career: his presence dominates the film. Sandra Ng is equally good as Leung's wife, and associate. She adds a bucketful of erotic power to her dramatic and comic strengths. |
