Nightfall

A fierce introduction awaits viewers in Roy Chow’s thriller Nightfall. In the very first scene, a brutal fight plays out between prison inmate Eugene Wang (Nick Cheung) and his tormentors in a jail’s shower room. Soon the narrative jumps forward a few years and Wang, who’s mute and bears a prominent scar across his neck, is seen being released after serving time for murder. When he takes up work as a piano tuner, Wang crosses paths with student Zoe Tsui (Janice Man) and her father, acclaimed tenor Han Tsui (Michael Wong). Clearly bothered by Han Tsui thanks to a ghastly episode in the past, Wang takes up position to spy on the Tsui family home.
 When Han Tsui’s body is later found disfigured and dumped in the sea, senior cop George Lam (Simon Yam) is called on to bring in the killer. Lam has an obsession with digging deep into closed cases to seek out hidden truth, and he’s also haunted by the unsolved death of his wife years earlier. When the Tsui case comes to light, the opportunity presents itself once more for Lam to burrow through past secrets, this time in search of evidence to incriminate Wang, who right from the start is the prime suspect.
 Nightfall represents Roy Chow’s second stab at thriller filmmaking – the first was his directorial debut Murderer, a high-profile 2009 movie best known for the nuttiness of its twist ending. This time around the scriptwriting, while still heavy with exposition, presents less-outrageous storytelling,  in the previous line allowing audiences to better appreciate the  director’s efforts in pushing top-notch production values and intense performances. Cinematography by Ardy Lam and art direction from Wong Bing-yiu deliver the visuals expected of a high-budget genre spectacle, with several shots simply stunning. Action scenes make use of intriguing location choices, from a college’s eye-catching architecture to a glass-bottomed cable car. And the score by Shigeru Umebayashi (famed for his In the Mood for Love contribution) provides superb musical accompaniment.
 It’s in the acting department, however, that Nightfall is often at its most striking. Nick Cheung, playing a silent brute with a heart, delivers an especially complex showing. Pre-release publicity heavily promoted Cheung’s months of weight training for the film’s muscular opening scene, yet his heavyweight emotional episodes later in the picture are just as expertly delivered and showcase the actor’s dedication to his craft. Simon Yam turns in a steady performance as a police officer coping with personal troubles and facing off with the suspect, with some scenes recalling the ace Yam-Cheung pairing in Pang Ho-cheung’s 2007 film Exodus. Among the key supporting players, Michael Wong clearly exerts himself in a challenging role, and fresh-faced Janice Man, as his onscreen daughter, takes exceptionally rough scenes with him in her stride. Actor-singer Kay Tse’s young cop with a crush meanwhile brings touches of levity to Nightfall. Chow and his collaborators may have aimed to shock with dark themes and twists, but lighter roles like Tse’s offer audiences moments of relief along the way.