European Festival Premiere | In Competition
Tense, confident and provocative,
Cesium Fallout helped bring 2024 Hong Kong cinema to a close with an explosive rush of disaster filmmaking and breathtaking heroism. The action unfolds in 2007 when fire breaks out at a recycling yard in the New Territories, across a mountain range from Hong Kong’s downtown districts. An illicit underground petrol tank appears to be fuelling the flames, but what makes the inferno even worse is radioactive waste. Firefighters spot the danger and retreat once their Geiger counter shows high readings, and the top echelons of government are alerted to a possible calamity.
While the public are kept in the dark about the radiation risk, top officials assemble to hash out a crisis response. Outside help is invited in the form of ex-bureaucrat turned environmental pollution expert Dr Simon Fan (Andy Lau), who’s quick off the mark with a site inspection and dire warnings. But the city’s acting Chief Executive, Cecilia Fong (Karen Mok), weighs up the political ramifications of any disaster and evacuation – “Who will take the fall for the spread?” she asks – and dithers dangerously. Further complications are government-developer collusion and corruption, plus the impending arrival of a typhoon that would send cesium-137 far and wide.
Audiences could be forgiven for just expecting megastar actor-producer Andy Lau and valiant warriors of the Fire Services Department to push hard and save the day. That they certainly do. But
Cesium Fallout takes locally crowd-pleasing detours to bring in political wrangling and self-interest, a villainous tycoon and ugly compromise between officialdom and big business. With Pun’s disaster set less than two decades in the past, viewers may wonder if the current administrative service, hung up on protocol, precedents and deflecting blame, would be much different. (The mainland-Hong Kong co-production does note, however, that the legal change that helped make the calamity occurred in the colonial era.) Just one government official is notably heroic as the crisis builds: the Financial Secretary’s assistant Kelly Wong (Ivana Wong) arrives as an expert parrot of legislation and civil service rules, but transforms into a free-thinking sidekick to Dr Fan.
Beyond the machinations in government offices,
Cesium Fallout sees Hong Kong filmmakers let loose a full-fledged disaster picture. Director, producer and cinematographer Anthony Pun and his team deploy impressive effects not just for the huge fire but also in imagery of tumbling buildings and a radioactive wasteland. Top hero Dr Fan is a flawed man battling his own demons but inserts himself into the front line, and the never-say-die firefighters aren’t just trying to control a blaze but rescue lost mates from its inner reaches. A mix of established character actors and fresh talents, among them rising stars Louise Wong, Fish Liew and Dee Ho, make up the emergency crews – their grit, determination and physicality offered in stark contrast to those back in the boardroom.
Cesium Fallout opened in Hong Kong cinemas at the start of last November and made waves among moviegoers over a long theatrical run. Amid difficult times for Hong Kong cinema and for the city itself, Anthony Pun’s blockbuster made sure the hometown audience could see not just filmmakers pulling out all stops but local heroes holding pride of place.
GUEST:
Anthony PUN, director
Natalie HSU, actress
Anthony Pun
Anthony Pun apprenticed under director of photography Joe Chan. He rose to become one of his city’s leading cameramen, working on diverse pictures including major films by Benny Chan, Alan Mak and Felix Chong. Pun received his first Hong Kong Film Awards Best Cinematography nomination for his work on Chan’s Heroic Duo (2003) and then won for Mak and Chong’s The Silent War (2013) and Chong’s The Goldfinger (2024). Extraordinary Mission (2017) was his directing debut. His recent cinematography has also included the hit films A Guilty Conscience (Jack Ng, 2023) and The Last Dance (Anselm Chan, 2024).
FILMOGRAPHY
2017 – Extraordinary Mission (co-director)
2023 – One More Chance
2024 – Cesium Fallout