|
description
Detective Cheung (Nick Cheung) and his team of undercover cops quietly track Yuan (Richie Ren) and his criminal gang through the streets of Hong Kong. When a routine traffic stop blows the cops' cover, an all-out war erupts and the police are badly defeated. If that's not bad enough, the whole debacle is captured on camera by a local TV news crew. Embarrassed beyond belief, the police need a strategy to get their credibility back and they need one fast. Newly convinced of the power and influence of television, they co-opt the medium in order to convey their well-intentioned but totally fallacious message. Waging a simultaneous war on crime and credible news reporting, the police propaganda machine goes into overdrive. They even hire a movie director to emphasize their heroism and downplay their mistakes in the editing room, feeding delusional "reports" to the TV press. It's a bold strategy and, as you might expect, it doesn't work. With 30,000 police troops mobilized to shut down Yuan and his men, another gang arrives on the scene and the police plan quickly unravels. With all this confusion and a bad case of mistaken identity, complete chaos erupts and Hong Kong watches it all unfold on TV.
After several years of collaboration with Ka-Fai Wai (including last year's Fantasia success, Running on Karma), Johnnie To is again working alone, and it suits him just fine. This lively and energetic film has everything you could want from a Johnnie To film, including satirical social commentary and even a small dose of scatological humour. But the real star of the show is the relentless camerawork and virtuoso staging of To’s amazing action set pieces. You don't have to wait long for this as the movie opens with an astonishing, 12-minute heist sequence that is worth the price of admission alone. Right off the bat, we get a beautifully choreographed, seven-minute steadicam shot that is almost intimidatingly elaborate. In this sequence and others like it, the film recalls Brian De Palma at his most joyously show-offy. We get bizarre point-of-view shots, split-screen shenanigans, and playful camera movements of every kind, all in glorious widescreen. This is a no-nonsense action movie that understands that genre's essential bottom line: visceral entertainment. Even at the age of 50, Johnnie To offers excitement and hope for the future of Hong Kong action cinema.
—Jonathan Doyle
|
|
"An ode to the manipulation of truth and to the dirty work done by silent men of action, Breaking News is yet another example of To’s impeccable mise-en-scène and incisive narrative at its best." - Giovanna Fulvi, TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL "A jaw-dropping combination of social-cultural critique and rocket-fueled action." - AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE notesWinner, Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award 2005 websitehttp://www.breakingnewsthemovie.com creditsDirector: Johnnie To
Screenplay: Chan Hing-Kai, Tin-Shing Yip
Cast: Nick Cheung, Richie Ren, Kelly Chen, Siu-Fai Cheung, Shiu Hung Hui
Producers: Cao Biao, Johnnie To, John Chong, Buting Yang
Distributor: Palm Pictures
|
director
Johnnie To
Yesterday Once More (2004), Throw Down (2004), Running on Karma (2003), PTU (2003), Fulltime Killer (2001), Wu Yen (2001), The Mission (1999), Running Out of Time (1999), A Hero Never Dies (1998), The Heroic Trio (1993)
|
|
|
|
Hong Kong director Johnnie To has co-written and co-directed ten films with Ka-Fai Wai, in addition to over 20 other films, covering diverse genres—science fiction, romance, comedy, fantasy, and crime. His 1999 film Running Out of Time won Best Asian Film at the 2000 Fantasia and his most recent film, Election, played in the official competition at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.
|
|
|
