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Format: Theatrical Release
Jul 2008
Not Rated
Recording Mode: (unknown)
89 min.
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Details
Movie Description
Fans of Hong Kong cinema have long known that directors Johnny To and Ka-Fai Wai, whose collaborations include HELP! (2000), LOVE ON A DIET (2001), and MY LEFT EYE SEES GHOSTS (2002), can be counted on to deliver unadulterated thrills and unusual kicks. MAD DETECTIVE sees them teaming up once again to create an unhinged police procedural with an endearingly offbeat performance at its center from Lau Wing Chan. Inspector Bun is renowned on the force for his crime-solving skills, catching killers with a combination of near-psychic ability and clever re-enactment. As the film opens we see him repeatedly stabbing a pig carcass and begging rookie Ho (Andy On) to zip him in a suitcase and push him down the stairs--then he solves the case in a "Eureka!" moment. Too intense for his own well-being, though, he soon cracks and is released from the force when he cuts off his own ear and presents it to his captain as a retirement gift. Years later, Ho tracks Bun down to ask for his help in solving a case in which a cop's gun has been stolen for use in a series of crimes. Though his methods still prove strangely effective, Bun's mental condition has deteriorated, and it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate between reality and his visions, which enable him to see a person's multiple personalities.
A cop film for viewers who feel like they've seen all that the genre can offer, MAD DETECTIVE is a series of curveballs punctuated by dark humor, violence, and a great turn from Chan. Simultaneously funny, heartbreaking, and slightly creepy, he's a memorable and affecting protagonist. The appealingly slick sheen of Cheng Siu Keung's cinematography and Xavier Jamaux's top-notch score add to the film's dark charms.
Industry Reviews
"MAD DETECTIVE is carried not by tight action sequences but by Lau's sympathetic control and a sustained experiment in shifting perspectives."
Film Comment - Film Comment Staff (07/01/2008)
"[T]he scenes involving Bun's hallucinations are certainly the funniest and most exhilarating in the film, not least because of Tina Baz's split-second editing."
Sight and Sound - Tony Rayns (08/01/2008)
"[I]nsanely inventive and entertaining....[The filmmakers] go as gloriously overboard as their detective at his best and sometimes worst, specifically by unleashing a dazzling riff on the funhouse climax of Orson Welle's LADY FROM SHANGHAI."
New York Times - Manohla Dargis (07/18/2008)
3 stars out of 5 -- "Lau shines as the eccentric Inspector Bun....There's plenty here to please the fans."
Empire - Anna Hart (08/01/2008)
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