First-time directors Longman Leung and Sunny Luk made a splash late last year when their ambitious crime film Cold War hit Hong Kong’s cinemas. While other local filmmakers have been more inclined to shoot their thrillers abroad or use period settings, the co-helmers chose to go big with a contemporary tale of scandalous goings-on high up in the Hong Kong police force. Classy production standards, timely themes and top-level players helped woo the crowds, and audiences in turn propelled Cold War to number one among local films in the 2012 Hong Kong box office.
Playing out in a brief period in which the soon-to-retire Police Commissioner is away on an overseas trip, Cold War starts with a bang. First a bomb goes off at cinema, then a drunk driver smashes his car and berates police officers at the scene. That’s just a prelude: not long afterwards, an Emergency Unit van with five cops inside disappears and the heads of the force gather to address the situation. The Deputy Commissioner from the operations side, M.B. Lee (Tony Leung Ka-fai) raises a Tier One Response involving two-thirds of the force and names the operation “Cold War” – decisions that annoy the Deputy Commissioner from the management side, Sean Lau (Aaron Kwok).
Lau suspects Lee is going overboard for emotional reasons – Lee’s son (Eddie Peng) is among the five cops who vanished – and, as the operation gets under way, Lau and his management colleagues move to seize power, drop the Tier One Response, cut manpower devoted the case and keep the initial scale of deployment secret. The disappearance of the police van meanwhile develops into a hostage crisis with a massive ransom, and the Independent Commission Against Corruption starts investigating after a tip-off to the operations vs. management power play and amid suspicions that the hostage-taking could be an inside job.
Shooting to thrill, Leung and Luk squeezed Cold War’s twists and turns into a fast-moving and super-sleek package. Dialogue is pumped up to the level of shouting matches, the film score is suitably bombastic, hi-tech wizardry gets a decent run, and action hits at regular intervals. That initial bomb blast is followed up with a Special Duties Unit night-time raid, a highway shootout and even more pyrotechnics, all overseen by in-demand action directors Chin Kar-lok and Wong Wai-fai. The film’s top-dollar look is reinforced with slick camerawork, including heaps of helicopter shots, and the art direction kits out the film with flashy interiors and an arsenal of sharp suits.
Among the cast, lead actors Tony Leung and Aaron Kwok turn in intense performances whenever the story demands them – which is often – and Leung in particular brings gravitas to proceedings. Megastar Andy Lau pops up as the Secretary for Security, and side players Gordon Lam, Chin Kar-lok and Tony Ho put in other distinctive supporting performances.
When it comes to eyeing screen talent in Cold War, considerable attention must also go to the co-directors. Leung and Luk came to the project not only as first-time directors but as the film’s scriptwriters too. Their screenplay has a grand overall concept, touching on pursuit of power at the expense of many, as well as hot topics like high-level ICAC investigation and safeguarding the city’s rule of law, and it’s clear that effort went into bringing police detail to the screen. But the action sometimes whizzes by too fast, and viewers may wish for more clarity on certain roles and events. If the co-directors pair their filmmaking talents with stronger material when they set about making a sequel – something Cold War leaves the door wide open for – moviegoers could be in for an even greater screen sensation.
Tim Youngs