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Review
by Kozo: |
What the hell? Colour of the Truth is a serious
cop thriller with semi-Infernal Affairs overtones,
and it's written, produced and co-directed by Wong
Jing! And it's actually pretty good! Could this be
the end of the world? Or simply an aberration in the
career of an otherwise annoyingly prolific and unrepentantly
cheesy filmmaker? At least one thing is certain: Colour
of the Truth is better than Wong Jing's last five
films combined, and possibly even his last twelve.
Do the math.
Anthony Wong is Officer
Huang, who once was present when two high-profile
individuals cashed it in. The men were Blind Chiu
(Francis Ng in a cameo) and cop Seven-Up (Lau Ching-Wan,
also in a cameo), and Huang most definitely plugged
Blind Chiu. The official story on Seven-Up is that
he died in the line of duty, but the scuttlebutt is
that Huang killed Seven-Up too. That story is the
one Seven-Up's son, Cola (Raymond Wong Ho-Yin), swears
upon. Only a child when his father died, Cola has
now grown into a top policeman, but still bears an
enormous grudge against Huang. Luckily his mom (Pinky
Cheung) remarried twice so his name no longer resembles
his father. Nobody in the force seems to know his
true identity, which allows him to hate Huang anonymously.
However, there's another
Huang-hater out there. Ray (Jordan Chan) is Blind
Chiu's son, and also holds a massive grudge against
Huang. Now a businessman (he turned his dad's evil
assets into legitimate holdings), he has helped Cola
silently for years, and now shows up to proffer this
devil's bargain: join forces to destroy Huang. Since
Huang was the one who killed both their dads, revenge
should be in order, but Cola isn't so sure. Having
recently been assigned to Huang's unit, he's discovered
that Huang is a stoic but tough cop with hidden nice
qualitites. Cola has become even closer to Huang thanks
to their current assignment—the terrorizing of
a retired gang boss (Patrick Tse AKA: father of trouble)
by evil Vietnamese bad guy Terence Yin—and seemingly
stays loyal. However, Ray continues to pressure Cola
into coming over to the dark side, and if Huang really
did kill his dad, Cola just might give in.
What makes Colour
of the Truth immediately stand out is its story.
Wong Jing, who was given sole credit on the script,
managed to come up with an excellent crime premise,
and he keeps his eye on the ball for the majority
of the film. The details of Cola's youth and torn
loyalties are well-developed and believable. Huang
is a compelling character who's murky at first, but
as the film progresses, he becomes more known to both
Cola and the audience. Narratively, Wong Jing keeps
the focus tight. In revealing Huang's humanity as
Cola learns of it, he seems to follow that fabled
storytelling advice: show not tell. Also, the double-crosses
and new developments are suitably handled. There are
some missteps, like the occasional voiceover and Chapman
To's character, who seems to be in the film mostly
to give Chapman To more work. Aren't there other semi-goofy
comic-relief guys in Hong Kong besides Chapman To?
Still, To turns in a
decent performance, which can't necessarily be said
for the rest of the cast. Raymond Wong has decent
screen presence, but in a lead role he's out of his
depth. He glowers and acts tough for the majority
of the film, but he never seems to be far from the
nice kid he played in all those Johnnie To movies.
Likewise Gillian Chung (as Patrick Tse's daughter
Katie) is cute and expressive, but her delivery is
without much weight. Wong Jing has never been known
for his ability to direct actors. Typically, he operates
off strengths that may or may not already exist. If
someone isn't such a hot actor (i.e., Raymond Wong),
Wong Jing isn't going to make him into one. As such,
not all Cola's decisions seem earned. Raymond Wong
may act according to the script, but he doesn't really
add much to what's written.
Thankfully, the film
also stars people like Anthony Wong and Jordan Chan.
Chan is effectively charismatic as Ray, and adds some
minor subtlety to his role. Likewise, Anthony Wong
is exceptional as Huang. His performance is suitably
opaque, bringing both humanity and even a layer of
darkness to his character. The performance is not
really up to Wong's sublime work in Beast Cops
or Infernal Affairs, but it's a fine star turn
and fittingly iconic. Want somebody to play a believably
human police officer? Anthony Wong is your man. He's
also your man if evil psychos and benevolent father
figures are being cast. Given the range of his work,
it seems like Wong can do almost anything.
Wong Jing co-directed with
Marco Mak, so it would be easy to assume that any
facility in the direction was not Wong's responsiblity.
However, since we don't know that for sure, we'll
go the magnanimous route: Wong Jing's direction is
solid and appropriately stylish. None of the style
really means anything, and ultimately Colour of
the Truth doesn't qualify as anything more than
a solid crime film. Still, the rare attention to story
and the effective flashes of action (something missing
from Infernal Affairs) makes Colour of the
Truth worth recommending. Wow, Wong Jing made
a good movie. This could be the end of the world.
(Kozo 2003)
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