As much as I fancy myself a cinephile, I have plenty of blind spots, and Hong Kong cinema is one of them. Sure, I’ve seen a few John Woo films and whatnot, but I mainly know these guys more from when they ventured into Hollywood to work with Van Damme (like Tsui Hark’s Knock Off, which I’ll be writing about soon). So more obscure titles like Alfred Cheung’s On the Run (which just got a new Blu-ray release from 88 Films) definitely flew under my radar, but I’m glad I’m getting a chance to check them out now.
I associate Hong Kong action films with constant action and blood squibs. On the Run has plenty of both, but I was surprised by the brutality of the film, and I don’t just mean the constant head shots. The story is a typical police corruption tale. Hsiang Ming is a miserable cop. He’s separated from his wife, a fellow police officer. Just as he’s asking her to take him with her when she emigrates to Canada with their daughter, she is assassinated. Hsiang tries to solve her murder, uncovering massive police corruption and endangering literally everyone in his life.
What sets On the Run apart, aside from the shocking severity of it, is the spectre of the 1997 transition of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule. The film takes place in 1988, but it’s at the forefront of every character’s mind. Hong Kong is viewed in almost apocalyptic terms. The uncertain future of the country has people desperate to leave, and that requires money. This makes the villains of the film, though thoroughly despicable, at least understandable. Greed is fine as a motivation for villains, but when it’s about getting enough money to leave a country before it changes, it makes a little more sense. To be clear, the villains in this movie are absolute inhuman shit sacks, but at least they have a goal.
Aside from that dark undertone, this is an entertaining kinetic experience. The characters are never given time to sit and grieve, and the film is better for it. Instead, it’s almost like a war movie in which it’s sad that your allies are dead, but if you’re alive all you can do is keep moving.
I need to get into SPOILERS for my final thoughts.
The brutality I keep referencing above isn’t about the depiction of violence. Yeah, there’s blood and head shots, and what have you, but this film took things to a darker level when Hsiang’s daughter is killed. I’m so used to action movies sparing children that it really shocked me when she died. I suppose I should have expected it, though, because it seemed like everyone was fair game once the grandma was killed. It just solidified that Hong Kong had become a land of death to these characters. And then at the end when it seems like there might be a bittersweet ending with Hsiang and his wife’s killer (it’s complicated) escaping to Thailand, we’re hit with a chyron stating they were captured and are now in jail with no hope for release. Fuck! I went into this expecting some violent fun, and those last fifteen minutes fucked me up. I’m looking forward to checking out more obscure titles from Hong Kong, but I’m hoping for a little more fun.