Prison on Fire

Oddly enough I haven't seen "Prison On Fire" (aka "Gam yuk fung wan") from 1987 before now in 2020. I happened to get the chance to sit down and watch parts I and II, and being a big fan of the Hong Kong cinema, of course I did so.

And the fact that it had Chow Yun Fat and Tony Ka Fai Leung on the cast list, of course helped sweeten the deal.

While writer Yin Nam and director Ringo Lam definitely were on to something unique with "Prison On Fire", it just felt that the movie was lacking that particular something to make it truly outstanding. Perhaps it was the fact that the storyline felt a bit too scripted and predictable, or because oddly enough not a single police officer in the prison facility had a firearm.

"Prison On Fire" is a good prison movie, but it just feels like director Ringo Lam was cushioning the movie a bit, not making it fully as rough and gritty as it deserved to be.

Aside from Chow Yun Fat and Tony Ka Fai Leung, the movie does have a good cast ensemble of actors to help bring the movie to life on the screen.

This is definitely an enjoyable movie and one that is well-worth the time to sit down and watch. My rating of "Prison On Fire" is a six out of ten stars. I was genuinely entertained by what transpired on the screen.

Gaam Yuk Fung Wan/Prison on Fire(1987) is the second film in the On Fire Trilogy(excluding Prison on Fire 2). The first film, City on Fire(1987) dealt with a man who's trapped between duty with the police and loyality with the triad gang he's working undercover with. Prison on Fire(1987) is about a man sent to prison for manslaughter who slowly learns how to survive in prison with the help of a fellow inmate. A harrowing look into the prison system of Hong Kong. Makes Midnight Express(1977) look like a pleasent experience. Like City on Fire, this film shows a world of brutality where only the strongest and toughest survive. Chow Yun Fat is brilliant as the prisoner, Ching who takes the new guy under his wing.

The role of the new guy was originally offered to Danny Lee who turned the role down. Tony Leung Ka Fai was given the role of Lo Ka Yiu and did a wonderful job. The actor gives a sense of naive honesty in his performance. Lo Ka Yiu gets in trouble when he accuses one of the prisoners of stealing sissors. This put him under the wrath of the prisoner in glasses who sets him up as a rat. Roy Cheung is sadistic and dislikable as Officer "Scarface" Hung. His best roles are when he plays dislikable and dispictable characters like the arrogant Police officer in City on Fire(1987) or the Triad punk in School on Fire(1988).

Ringo Lam deals with many issues involving the prison system in Hong Kong. excellently scripted from the writer of Xia Dao Gao Fei/Full Contact(1987). Emotional involving film with an realistic fight scene during the climax. One thing I would like to know is the name of the song that's playing on the radio during the New Year Celebration. Officer "Scarface" Hung gets what was coming to him when Ching becomes deranged. One of the best acting by Chow Yun Fat comes in the climax when he goes insane. He plays this scene with an emotional wildness that hasn't been seen from him since.

The plot is concise, the rhythm is clear, tell the story well. It's much better than many movies nowadays.

Tony Leung stars as Yiu, who has been jailed for manslaughter. Chow Yun Fat stars as Ching, another prisoner also jailed for manslaughter. Ching is a good-natured prisoner who tries to make the best of his situation, and helps naive Yiu out.

It's a familiar story of the savagery of prison life, as Yiu & Ching must deal with intra-prison triads and a sadistic warden.

The pressure of these elements pushes them to the edge, and by the end of the movie, Ching & Yiu completely lose it. This is a very violent and uncomfortable movie to watch. The storyline doesn't make any profound social observations. But Chow Yun Fat's acting is very intense: he really turns into a bug-eyed wild animal. And Tony Leung is good as a man who would easily fall apart in such an environment if not for Ching's support.

The movie also has other Ringo Lam regulars like Tommy Wong & Roy Cheung (playing Billy & Officer Hung, respectively.)

Hong Kong film maker Ringo Lam has done many extraordinary films during his career. They include the extremely bleak and violent "School on Fire" (1988), "City on Fire" (1987), the incredible "Full Contact" (1992) and "Prison on Fire 1 and 2" from 1987 and 1991. "Prison on Fire" stars the then raising star Chow Yun-Fat as Ching, a positive and friendly inmate in a prison in which Lo Ka Yiu, played by Tony Leung Ka Fai is sentenced. They are both judged for a manslaughter and now they'll have to survive the violence and triad corruption inside the stone. What follows is a very intense 100 minutes and a film that won't be remembered among the least effective works of the great Lam.

The film is pretty close to "School on Fire" even though it is not as fierce and pessimistic as that film which was made one year later. "Prison" is pretty powerful and believable depiction of the state of prisons in Hong Kong and how much power the triad members have there. Where "School" depicts the horrible violence among school children and triads, "Prison" depicts violence and terror among convicts and triads, and how it all may end as horribly as in "School". But this time Ringo leaves a hope for a better tomorrow (as Chow's character even mentions at one point) and so the film is much more optimistic than the harrowing "School". Still the finale in the prison is very violent and shocking so the ride through the prison won't be an easy or pleasant one at all, and why would Ringo do such a pointless and light film that wouldn't have its message and anything to say in the first place? That is exactly why his films are much more than just action and gun battles.

The cast is very good in "Prison" and it includes Roy Cheung as the violent warden "Scarface" and Roy can also be found as a triad leader in "School" and a cop in "City on Fire." The characters, especially Chow's and Tony's, seem to develop little too fast as their dramatic decisions and actions are not as carefully explained and introduced as possible. I mean the scenes like "the suicide attempt" and the angry and almost comical face expression Chow gives to "Scarface" at one point; they show that these men really can act (and they can) but these kind of actions should be little more restrained and explained, but still Chow's character is here much better than in "City on Fire" which suffers a lot from the weak character of Chow's.

The ending in "Prison" is near the rage and mayhem of "School" and I felt really bad during the finale, so once again Ringo has shown his unique talent and power of his cinema. Chow turns into the kind of wild animal that is hiding inside every one of us, and that just should be kept there forever no matter what the situation is. That kind of finale is very powerful and leaves the audience pretty stunned and often in pure disgust, as in the case of "School". Overall the violence in "Prison" is very strong and hurts almost as much the viewer as it does the characters and that is the only way to depict this horrible thing honestly and in a way that something important can be achieved and told by the film. I'm afraid the present day Hollywood wouldn't dare to do films like this, but fortunately there are alternatives and people who want to make films not just because of money.

"Prison" is composed by Lowell Lo, who has also made the soundtrack for films like "Naked Killer" (Clarence Fok, 1992), "The Killer" (John Woo, 1989) and Ringo's "School on Fire" but the usage of music is never as near as strong in "Prison" as it is in "School" and that is also among the elements that make "School" such a strong experience. "Prison" has also some very atmospheric photography inside the prison and there are some nice neon lights and almost mysterious lights coming through the windows at some points. There's also some very bright photography in the interiors and that creates almost a dream like feel to the film, and also depicts the state of mind of the inmates and how things vary from pure danger and alarm to peace and quiet inside the prison.

"Prison" is among the reasons why Hong Kong cinema is so powerful and unique and it is also among the reasons that make Ringo among the most talented directors in the field. His real masterpiece was still to come (Full Contact) but still "Prison" is among the most noteworthy achievements of his. 8/10