PTU (2003) May 18, 2008
Posted by Cal in : Thriller, 2000s films , trackbackDirector: Johnnie To Cast: Simon Yam; Lam Suet; Ruby Wong Territory: Hong Kong Production Company: Milkyway Image Ltd
When Sergeant Lo (Lam Suet) loses his police pistol after a scuffle with a bunch of TsimShaTsui hoodlums one night, Sergeant Ho (Simon Yam) puts a self-imposed deadline on finding the weapon. Fearing its use in gang warfare, Ho’s team scramble to recover the weapon before dawn, or they will be forced to report the loss to their superiors. When the main suspect turns up murdered, escalating violence between rival gangs becomes inevitable.
Set over one night in TsimShaTsui, PTU (it stands for Police Tactical Unit, by the way) is one of those films that is irresistible to fans of ticking-clock thrillers that feel they’re moving in real time (even though they’re not).
The film is imbued with some very black comedy, sometimes making it feel like a Hong Kong version of After Hours, what with the urban night-time setting, bizarre events and all. One scene at the start perfectly sets up the tone and establishes the pecking order in the film’s society: lead thug Ponytail (Frank Liu) and his gang enter a cafe and sit at their preferred table, displacing a lone eater who was already there. In comes the hated sergeant Lo and chooses the same table, displacing Ponytail and his gang and making them sit elsewhere.
However, at heart PTU is a cop procedure thriller more in line with other Milky Way films such as Eye in the Sky and To’s own Breaking News. Where this film differs, though, is in the intricate plotting – sometimes making the film extremely hard to follow. There are several threads to the story, and if you’re not paying attention, you’re going to get lost – and that’s guaranteed. Several times, something happens or is discussed and seems inconsequential – only to end up being crucial to the film’s outcome.
Even though this film runs below 90 minutes, there does seem some flabbiness in the middle section, and one scene, where Ho’s unit progress stealthily up a staircase, is excruciatingly slow. PTU’s film score consists entirely of what sounds like 80’s guitar power-rock solos – and not very good ones at that. Given To’s previous works, where the music is entirely fitting and tasteful, this seems an entirely bizarre choice. Nevertheless, the urban locations are atmospheric and TsimShaTsui becomes a character in itself, with its strangely deserted streets and shuttered businesses. I’ve no idea what the district is like these days, but it was always said that it was not the kind of area tourists were recommended to be in after darkness, and this comes across very well in the film, and looks akin to the seedier, grittier areas of New York as shown in US productions.
PTU is clever, but I feel it’s perhaps too clever for its own good. There are some characters that seem superfluous, such as Maggie Shaw’s Sergeant Kat, and the pace is at times too slow. But if you’re prepared to concentrate hard there’s certainly a very intelligent film in here.
Lam Suet-o-meter: High. He’s second lead, slightly behind Simon Yam. In fact, he probably grabs more screen time in this than anything else I’ve seen him in. And that’s a lot of films…
Comments»
Enjoyed your review (it is bizarre that I watched this Saturday
).
Here are some comments I wrote earlier today on this movie (I have not done a full review; but I took notes for the one day that I do
):
To my surprise it was a commentary on the “Blue Curtain” with an excellent subtle performance by Simon Yam (Full Contact, Fulltime Killer) whose performance style reminds me of Francis Ng’s laconic attitude. The plot, with a reference to Stray Dog (even if To says it is not), is a night in which a cop Sgt. Lo Sa (Lam Suet) loses his gun and needs to get it back before morning with the help of Yam’s character and the rest of the PTU’s team. In the meantime a thug who is the son of a prominent Triad leader has been killed.
I’m not so sure about the soundtrack though
.
Took some notes on the Dragon Dynasty extras:
Simon Yam Interview:
3 Years to film; film at night; To does not give scripts
Movie about Team Spirit
Maggie Siu came in over weight and was forced to lose weight to look more like she did earlier.
Compared Lam Suet to Eric Tsang [I was thinking this during the movie]
PTU reflects unity and spirit of Hong Kong
States his subtle style of acting is different than the style of years past in Hong Kong [so far I believe him on this, most of the style of acting has been theatre influenced ala Japanese style of acting]
Johnnie To Interview:
Discusses small history of PTU (the police tactical unit).
States that this film was made for showing Team Spirit and the Blue Curtain not because of Kurosawa’s Stray Dog.
Made seven films during production of this film. Had a quota to meet with China Star, he had a small budget, but complete freedom.
Shot at night because crowds were less and because it was part of the story.
Shot in a similar style to Chinese painting; likes actors he has already worked with.
Actor who was slapped about 200 times by Simon Yam got 300 HK dollars [not a lot] and had to go to the doctor because of hearing damage. To had trouble hiring him again months later because of this (he did talk him into it though).
Movie was not about secrets, about “Blue Curtain”.
Maggie Siu Interview:
]
She seems to contradict Yam’s comments on the use of script [if anyone can clarify this who has read much on To, it would greatly be appreciated].
This interview is mostly laudatory comments on everyone.
States Lam is funnier than Sam [not much news here
Her character had a backstory [not sure if she made it or To did]
Thanks Shawn, that’s extremely insightful. I’m surprised about Maggie Siu being forced to slim for the role - it’s a shame HK is into the whole body-fascism thing as much as the west. Or do you mean because it was filmed over a long period of time, the body shots didn’t match up?
I haven’t seen Straw Dog so I purposely didn’t mention it (I have heard about the similarities, though). I’m just going to buy all the Kurosawa films one day and have done with it - I’ve loved the two I’ve seen but for some reason haven’t got any more since.
I’m disturbed about that guy getting slapped in the face. You can tell that several slaps hit with quite some force - you just can’t fake that, even today. Obviously, he’s not directly in shot a lot, but I did genuinely feel concern for the actor in that scene. $300HK is a pittance for basically stuntwork!
My HK DVD only came with one documentary and it was in Cantonese without subs, so I couldn’t really get the benefit from it. One day, HK are going to get around to doing proper DVDs like we have over here - probably when Blu-Ray takes off there :p .
Or do you mean because it was filmed over a long period of time, the body shots didn’t match up?
Yes, that is what I meant. Her face did not match up. This is another contradition with what Yam states (he stated that all HK actors stayed in shape all the time
) in that interview. I did not write that in my notes because I didn’t feel I would put it in a review or find it that useful
When I take notes of Bey Logan’s commentary (on the DD issue) I’ll post them here (though I’m not sure when I’ll get to that).
Stray Dog is quite good though. So many films I need to see including Mad Detective (I felt I needed to watch PTU before I go after Election next). I’m a huge Kurosawa fan though.
FYI: I also saw Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan (1972) Hong Kong over the weekend (rare for me to watch two HK films so close) and found it more of historical interest (Shaw Brother’s wise and the fact it influenced Naked Killer) than of great aesthetic value.