The Victim (1999)



	The Victim		Return to Review Archive - V
	\| review \| awards \| availability \|		Lau Ching-Wan and Hui Siu-Hung (in background)
	Year:	1999
	Director:	Ringo Lam Ling-Tung
	Producer:	Joe Ma Wai-Ho
	Cast:	Lau Ching-Wan, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Amy Kwok Oi-Ming, Lai Yiu-Cheung, Chow Siu-Lung (Ngai Sing), Emily Kwan Bo-Wai, Hui Siu-Hung, David Lee Seung-Man, Lam Siu-Jam, Suki Kwan Sau-Mei, Joe Lee Yiu-Ming, Chung King-Fai, Joe Ma Tak-Chung
	The Skinny:	Ringo Lam's mystery/supernatural thriller delivers on all counts, delivering a suspenseful, well-acted melodrama that involves and entertains.
	Review by Kozo:	Ma Man-Sun (Lau Ching-Wan) is mysteriously kidnapped and Detective Pit (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) is on the case. After staking out Ma’s girlfriend Amy (Amy Kwok), they receive a call that places Ma in a haunted mansion with a notorious history. It seems that the owner of said house discovered his wife was unfaithful and decapitated her before poisoning himself and his son. If that weren’t spooky enough, Ma exits the experience a changed man. He drinks heavily, is incredibly jealous, and seems to be obsessed with holding onto his overpriced home. Could he be possessed by the murderous husband? Ringo Lam touches upon numerous supernatural themes in this otherwise routine suspense thriller. We’re meant to think that something spooky is happening to Ma, but it could perhaps be otherwise. Ma is a victim (as the title suggests), but is he the only one? Lam proves that he hasn’t lost it as he returns to his specialty: character-driven crime melodrama. His characters aren’t terribly likable; Ma is more than a victim and Pit is as insanely jealous as the subject of his investigation. However, both characters are recognizable in their own repugnant ways. This is typical Lam, as he uses the opacity of his characters to his advantage. We aren’t exactly sure what his characters are capable of, which makes them even more compelling. (Kozo 1999)
	Awards:	19th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards • Nomination - Best Director (Ringo Lam Ling-Tung) • Nomination - Best Actor (Lau Ching-Wan) • Nomination - Best Cinematography (Ross Clarkson) • Nomination - Best Sound Effects 6th Annual Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards • Recommended Film
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Mei Ah Entertainment 16x9 Anamorphic Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1 Removable English and Chinese subtitles

		image courtesy of Mei Ah Laser Disc Co., Ltd.
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