Soi Cheang
The story: Brain (Louis Koo) heads a small team of hitmen who engineer their killings to look like random accidents. When an operation goes awry, he thinks that someone is out to get him and his suspicions are focused on insurance agent Fong (Richie Jen).
Perhaps the thought has crossed your mind: Is your insurance agent a diabolical master manipulator or merely someone who is just doing his job?
There is more at stake for Brain than premium payments, though. His latest staged accident is successfully carried out, then something unplanned happens. A bus careens out of control, just misses mowing him down but kills one of his accomplices.
He smells a rat when he finds a link between insurance agent Fong and the client who ordered the hit. At this point, Accident suddenly turns into a film about a one-man stakeout operation and Koo seems to be reprising the role he just played in the surveillance thriller, Overheard.
We are supposed to keep guessing whether Brain is paranoid or whether there really is someone out to get him. Despite being nominated for the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, director Soi Cheang’s thriller is not fully satisfying.
In order to keep the audience wondering, he has to pull off a tricky balancing act. Brain has to walk that fine line between appearing unreasonably delusional and being plausibly suspicious.
Cheang gives tantalising clues that point us in both directions.
Brain is shown as being meticulously cautious when he returns home after a job, which is understandable given what he does.
On the other hand, one of his accomplices later admonishes him for being overly wary, saying that it is all in his head. Meanwhile, Fong’s overheard conversations could be coded to sinister effect. So far so good.
A key problem is the casting of Koo, who is not subtle enough to balance on that tightrope. Yes, ultimately the character is either delusional or reasonable. But while the actor has to maintain a consistent tone, he also has to leave room for doubt.
Given the complexity, Koo chooses to give us a sombre-faced portrayal that simply sidesteps the pesky nuances. Jen has the easier role here though he falters in a major emotional confrontation scene.
As a result, the flashbacks at the end of the film never achieve the weight of revelation. Uncertainty is an elusive quality to capture on film and Accident misses its quarry.
There is more at stake for Brain than premium payments, though. His latest staged accident is successfully carried out, then something unplanned happens. A bus careens out of control, just misses mowing him down but kills one of his accomplices.
He smells a rat when he finds a link between insurance agent Fong and the client who ordered the hit. At this point, Accident suddenly turns into a film about a one-man stakeout operation and Koo seems to be reprising the role he just played in the surveillance thriller, Overheard.
We are supposed to keep guessing whether Brain is paranoid or whether there really is someone out to get him. Despite being nominated for the prestigious Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival, director Soi Cheang’s thriller is not fully satisfying.
In order to keep the audience wondering, he has to pull off a tricky balancing act. Brain has to walk that fine line between appearing unreasonably delusional and being plausibly suspicious.
Cheang gives tantalising clues that point us in both directions.
Brain is shown as being meticulously cautious when he returns home after a job, which is understandable given what he does.
On the other hand, one of his accomplices later admonishes him for being overly wary, saying that it is all in his head. Meanwhile, Fong’s overheard conversations could be coded to sinister effect. So far so good.
A key problem is the casting of Koo, who is not subtle enough to balance on that tightrope. Yes, ultimately the character is either delusional or reasonable. But while the actor has to maintain a consistent tone, he also has to leave room for doubt.
Given the complexity, Koo chooses to give us a sombre-faced portrayal that simply sidesteps the pesky nuances. Jen has the easier role here though he falters in a major emotional confrontation scene.
As a result, the flashbacks at the end of the film never achieve the weight of revelation. Uncertainty is an elusive quality to capture on film and Accident misses its quarry.
(ST)