Nightfall
Roy Chow
The story: After serving a 20-year prison sentence, Eugene (Nick Cheung) is released and chances upon Zoe (Janice Man), who looks like the woman he was convicted of raping and murdering. When Zoe’s creep of a father is found murdered, all clues point towards Eugene as the culprit. But police inspector Lam (Simon Yam) discovers that the two crimes are related.

One can hardly believe that the writer-director behind the assured Nightfall, Roy Chow, is the same man responsible for the preposterous Murderer.
That 2009 thriller starring Aaron Kwok was filled with twist after twist, leading up to a jaw-dropping stunner which made you want to laugh and swear at the same time.
In Nightfall, Chow never loses the plot.
It certainly helps that he has the compelling Nick Cheung here, one of the most consistently watchable actors in Hong Kong cinema at the moment.
As the mute Eugene, he keeps you guessing what his true intentions are regarding Zoe. He can only make strangled noises – the result of stabbing his own throat with a pencil in a suicide attempt all those years ago – and everything is communicated through his eyes and body language.
Even a simple scene of him eating an ice cream after his release is shot through with ambiguity and a vague sense of unease.
Is he a psychopathic creep whose brain has been fried after the long years of incarceration? Or is there genuine tenderness in his feelings for her? And why is he drawing attention to himself over the murder of Zoe’s father?
Cheung also demonstrates his commitment to the role by buffing up considerably. The results can be prominently seen on the poster and publicity stills for the film. His breakthrough turn as a desperate kidnapper in Beast Stalker (2008) had won him multiple Best Actor accolades and he could well be in the running again with this role, come awards season.
Meanwhile, Simon Yam is reliably good as the dogged cop with excellent instincts. He carries with him the baggage of a wife who committed suicide and a tenuous relationship with an unhappy daughter.
As Nightfall gets closer to unmasking the truth, Chow doles out details skilfully enough to keep one riveted as flashbacks with a younger and innocent Eugene (Shawn Dou) flesh out the tale.
With its themes of vengeance, justice and familial bonds, one can see shades of Korean auteur Park Chan Wook’s Old Boy (2003) here. Chow, though, takes Nightfall in a less intense direction.
Eventually, you realise that the film is a tragic melodrama in the guise of a murder thriller. The final revelations cast previous scenes in a different light, including the enigmatic portrait of Eugene watching Zoe play the piano.
To Chow’s credit, the thriller is satisfying and the melodrama devastating.
(ST)