Police Confidential (1995)



	Police Confidential		Return to Review Archive - P
	Year:	1995	Carrie Ng and Zhang Feng-Yi
	Director:	Raymond Lee Wai-Man
	Producer:	Kirk Wong Chi-Keung
	Cast:	Simon Yam Tat-Wah, Linda Wong Hing-Ping, Zhang Feng-Yi, Carrie Ng Ka-Lai, Lau Wai-Hing, Lok Gong-Wai
	The Skinny:	Derivative but entertaining and involving cop thriller that possesses superior atmosphere and winning style.
	Review by Kozo:	This surprisingly involving cops vs. themselves thriller stars Simon Yam as a detective who unwittingly finds himself in the middle of an illicit deal between the corrupt ICAC (HK’s own Internal Affairs division) and despicable politicians (including Carrie Ng). The ICAC is led by Zhang Feng-Yi, who played Leslie Cheung’s partner in Farewell My Concubine. When Zhang discovers that Simon is on to his various scams involving kickbacks, prostitution, and the like, he sics the ICAC on Simon, framing him for taking a bribe. With no one he can trust, Simon finds that his only ally turns out to be Zhang’s second-in-command, a woman he knows only through a wrong phone call made one lonely evening months ago. Director Raymond Lee gives us an uncommon genre picture painted with buckets of style. The existential themes and stylish direction recall HK’s celebrated auteur, Wong Kar-Wai. The film relies on subjective voice-over and temporal shifting to get its message(s) across. It's debatable how much actual merit the film's existential voice has, but the engaging style, cool soundtrack, and convincing atmosphere make this a fun cinematic ride. This rich, somewhat over-stuffed cop thriller is a different and exciting genre film. (Kozo 1996)
		image courtesy of Universe Laser & Video Co., Ltd.
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