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Passion (1995)

November 17, 2003 • Film, Reviews

Country: Hong Kong
Director: Clarence Fok
Producer:
Writer:
Cast: Simon Yam
Running Time: Min

Plot:

Actor Simon Yam is, next to Clarence Fok’s wife Carrie Ng, probably the director’s favorite performer. Yam appears to marvelous effect in most of Fok’s movies, and so when someone got the retarded idea of getting Fok to direct a movie in the style of Wong Kar-Wai’s Chungking Express, Simon Yam was called up to save the day.
Unfortunately, even Yam’s considerable talents couldn’t save this mess. His country bumpkin character is never clearly defined in any sense. All the other performers, including non-actress Christy Chung, are quite terrible.
But something happens when gangsters suddenly send a gun flying through the air and Simon catches it. Out of nowhere, the stumbling, awkward peasant leaps into flight, grabbing the gun and, pulling Christy Chung along behind him and vaults down the stairs, gun blazing in a graceful, assured arc. It’s as if Simon’s true talents were suddenly ripped off the screen and put in our laps. Nothing in the movie could demonstrate it, so Fok moves out of the confines of the cheesy, simplistic script and the amateur performances to show us just what Simon can do.

Simon also gets to dance in the film. But the attempt to ape Wong Kar-Wai is so obvious and so idiotic in its execution, that this film reeks from miles off. It’s the worst of badly-made movies-not just a quick production, but also an amateur one, starring a group of people that can hardly be called actors, and one good one named Simon Yam, who has nothing to do.

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