| Metade Fumaca (1999)
半隻煙
Director: Ip Kam Hung
Starring: Eric
Tsang, Shu Qi, Stephen Fung
A fantastic, light-hearted, artsy film
about an aged gangster returning to Hong Kong for revenge. Terrific
casting and a solid script give all characters immense depth.
A story about an aged gangster
returning to Hong Kong for revenge on an old rival.
After 30 years in Brazil, Mountain
Leopard (Tsang) returns to Hong Kong with some guns and a flight bag
filled with cash. On his way to a hotel, he runs into a gangster named
Smokey (Tse). Smokey proceeds to chop off the hand of some guy who
groped a prostitute. Mountain Leopard's impressed by this, and he offers
the strapping young triad a job as a hitman to help settle an old score.
We learn that way back in the
late-60s, Mountain Leopard had a bitter rival – Nine Dragons. The two
just had it in for each other until breaking point, it seems. "You can't
have two tigers on a mountain," laments Mountain Leopard as he recounts
the relationship. The bitter fight causes Mountain Leopard to be exiled
from Hong Kong. As soon as he was sent away, Nine Dragons stole his
woman and the sheer thought of that has festered ever since. Moved by
the tale, Smokey agrees to help take down Nine Dragons. He sets about
finding the adversary's whereabouts and learns a lot more along the way.
This story is one of Metade Fumaca's
strongest points – it's so simple, easy to follow and involving. The
other big thing is the terrific casting. Everyone from Cheung Tat-ming
to Sam Lee adds some kind of charm or charisma to the screen.
DVD:
List Price: US $19.95
Sale
Price: US$7.95
Language:
Cantonese / Mandarin
Subtitle:
English / Traditional Chinese
/ Simplified Chinese
All Regions
(Can be played on any DVD player in the
world)
Letter Box
Rating:
IIB
- "Adult Material;
Parental Guidance Recommended" (roughly equal to an
MPPA rating of "R") Films rated Category IIB
contain large amounts of violence and/or nudity and
sexual situations in addition to possible explicit
language and adult situations.
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