Heroes of the East

Director: Johnnie To; Wai Ka-Fai  Cast: Lau Ching-Wan; Andy On; Gordon Lam; Karen Lee  Territory: Hong Kong  Production Company: Milky Way Image Ltd

Eccentric but brilliant police detective Bun (Lau Ching-Wan) is expelled from the force when, upon his chief’s retirement, he impassively cuts off his own ear as a leaving present.  But when a series of murders and robberies involving a stolen police handgun becomes too difficult to solve, Inspector Ho (Andy On) persuades Bun to return and give his insight into the case.  What Bun finds is that the crimes are related, and that the killer has seven personalities that Bun can see as separate individuals.

The English language title hints at a madcap comedy, especially given the track record of Lau Ching-Wan.  I haven’t really seen any of the Johnnie To/Wai Ka-Fai collaborations (I switched off the awful My Left Eye Sees Ghosts after about twenty minutes of “comic” screaming) but Mad Detective is definitely not a comedy and Lau Ching Wan is definitely not comic in this role.  Indeed, at times, he looks like he’s never done comedy in his life.

Mad Detective is at the outset another detective story, albeit one that feels less noir-ish than has become fashionable.  We see Bun solve a case by being thrown down a series of staircases while locked in a suitcase, then his apparent breakdown at his superior’s retirement party.  Then we see two police officers trying to capture a thief.  After that, it starts to get a little difficult.  Well, to be honest, things simply stop making sense.

I don’t want to give too much away and spoil the “gimmick” of the film too much, but Bun has a couple of really remarkable and original abilities.  The foremost is the ability to see facets of people’s personalities as separate entities, all with their own appearance (and not necessarily the same sex as the host).  This is extremely confusing at first, but when the penny drops, it’s quite an exciting idea.  Bun comes into contact with Chi-Wai, who has no less than seven different “facets” of his personality, and watching some of them interact with the host is interesting – for example his decision making is a bossy, confident woman, while his cowardice is a fat, nervous man (Lam Suet – Hong Kong’s Mr Prolific!).  The avatar Bun sees depends on what the host is feeling.  Bun also seems to be able to gain supernatural insights into the case through near-death experiences, which further clarifies what’s going on. 

I’ve written before about mystery thrillers sometimes being a one-shot deal (see The Detective), but Mad Detective has so much more going for it, as well as a thought-provoking ending, that I’m sure this will stand the test of time.  Indeed, it’s one of those films you want to watch again straight away so you can watch out for things you might have missed first time and with the benefit of knowledge you didn’t have on the first viewing. 

Mad Detective is accessible and unpretentious, exciting and fresh.  The roles are all very well acted, but Lau in particular is outstanding as the titular detective.  I have to say I’ve not seen him in anything other than comedy (and usually pretty broad comedy at that), and so was a little surprised at how well he pulled it off.  The direction is great and Johnny To in particular seems to be on fire at the moment.  If you’re after something unusual and a little challenging, this is a must-see – and a great example, along with To’s last (complete) film, Exiled, of what Hong Kong is capable of.  I’m pretty excited right now…

Lam Suet-o-meter: Low.  “What, you want me to play someone’s cowardice?  Hmm, OK”.  Probably not one for his Hollywood resumé when he can take five minutes away from being in every Hong Kong film to write it.