21 April 2005

"Extreme Moment"

The quotes around the title indicate that this is a literal translation of the Chinese characters presented at the start of the film. I cannot see that there is an IMDB listing, and there is no English title anywhere on the film.

The film appears to be made in the mainland. The dialog is Mandarin, and the setting is both Hong Kong and the mainland, during the first SARS episode. SARS is peripheral, however, to the films plot of two underemployed "brothers," one of whom happens into some money and both of whom are (mostly) unluckly in love.

We've got all the Hong Kong film attributes of action, luck, love, snetimentality, and music which occisaltes between spot-on and send-up. But the film is not work of an assured industry, such as Hong Kong's. Many sequences are gestures toward a particular effect (eg, an exciting gun battle) rather than the application of an effective practice.

Overall, a curiosity rather than a recommendation.

(In Mandarin with English and one style of Chinese [not sure which] burned-in subtitles, letterboxed 1.78:1.)

The title in the film: