Limbo

Limbo is probably of one of the boldest attempt to put HK well-known crime drama along with the film noir genre. There were in the past many fine example of local production of gruesome and gritty crime stories and yet, Limbo pushes the envelope even further. The movie seems to actively asking audience not only looking at the stunning yet very harsh black and white visuals, but to sense the desperation of the characters, the smell of non-stop rain from trashy industrial buildings, as well as the out casts of our society but also the very places that they had to put up with. It is as if the movie theatre can release a fragrant of the movie, it would be, as what the main protagonist described, the smell of rubbish. Then perhaps, it could have also been the smell of real Hong Kong. Gone are the glorious and glamour of high rises and luxury apartments, replaced the harsh realty of daily grinning in an industrial, often chaotic mix of poor areas with out casts who had long been neglected.

The set design of film alone would have worth the trip to the theatre but oddly enough it was the characters' development which feel a bit of a let down. The English title does it justice to prescribe the state of mind of characters, whether it is Liu who mentally broke down because of his injured wife or Wang Tao, the young poor girl who is literally crying for her redemption, or the new smart looking Ren Kai who suffer from physical pain from his wisdom teeth (hence the Chinese title). We would want to know a bit more of their past to gain even more sympathy on their pain. The build up of the antagonist is probably one of the weaker point since all the suspense and industrial garbage land setting, leading up to the finale, could have been more meaningful if only the audience can know more about his origin and back story. Indeed, the "hand" motif could have been further explored and drill for deeper sub text through out the film. This is also why the antagonist felt a bit underdeveloped, especially through earlier scenes that he would have been a very suspenseful character. Then again, the slow developments of characters can be almost forgiven by one of the most gritty fight scenes in HK cinema in the finale and the sadness and suffering from each of the main casts can be finally released and cleansed through the heavy rain and blood.

Excellent crime thriller drama. Yes, the characters could have been a bit more fleshed out, but overall the tone, directing, cinematography and acting were outstanding. Gordon Lam is seriously one of the most under-rated HK actors. After an alphabet soup of "Storm" movies starring the same-old same-old familiar actors in the lead, I had almost given up on HK cinema, but this gives me new hope.

From the locations, to the camera work this film is a joy to look at. In Fact i say a big draw to this film is how it presents itself with the choice to make it black & white (even though it was filmed in color). A choice that really makes the location feel more filthy/chaotic and hard to find the finer details. The actors did a good job at playing their specific archetypes, with the woman serving the better performance.

The weaker parts are in the action and time. Some of the action feels goofy, especially when a gun is involved and not used or certain actions should be taken by the cops but they leave it unattended. Other scenes feel unneeded and could have been cut short and arrive at the same point at a concise time. Lucky the bad action bits are at the end and don't hurt it too much.

Hackneyed narrative that is mercifully saved by some visually inspired production design. The richly constructed look and feel of this film cannot be overstated. From the opening frame, One's senses are immediately assaulted, if not drowned, by the reek and penetrating decay of some saturated underbelly where these token, yet serviceable, characters aptly inhabit. The performances are as effective as the thin and woefully predictable writing will allow, but with as many highly-successful film-making paragons(Wilson Yip, Kin-ye Au, etc.) attached, one might expect a bit more. Nevertheless, the technical team and its bravura display of visual mastery more than successfully manage to compensate for the film's more than obvious weaknesses.

Black and white picture completely increases the beauty and darkness of hong kong environment. Although action scene feel a bit messy, awesome acting.