Running on Karma

Johnnie To supernatural film with some Buddhist elements. Two-part movie: first part they are catching Indian murderer, second-part reveals Big past and the secret behind Sun-Ko

First part 9/10 Second part 5/10

I will list three major reasons why this film should rock your world: 1. (The action.) It is a mixture of Chinese-martial and superhero choreography. The protagonist and the various "villains" he encounters are over-the-top, their abilities are by all means supernatural, there's nothing believable about them. All this exists in a contemporary Hong Kong setting. The film isn't even about kung-fu or wild action sequences. This is brilliant.

2. (Andy Lau showing off his skills with a piece of tissue.) The most original way of demonstrating martial art skills of all time.

3. (Unconventional genre mixing.) It has action, it has comedy, and it has philosophical depth. It features Andy Lau in a goddamn body-suit. There's a love story. It's a tragic love story. There's a tragic love story involving Andy-freaking-Lau in a goddamn body-suit. He does kung fu. There are cops. There's mystery. There's a detective story. This is very brilliant.

I find this film brilliant. There's no other adjective I find more fitting. Every word of that screenplay and every movement captured by the director (Johnnie To), is goddamn brilliant.

Along with One Nite In Mongkok, this was my favourite HK film of 2004.

What do you want from your movies? A shaolin monk turned stripper/bodybuilder with psychic abilities? A young female Hong Kong cop cursed by her former life as a murderous WW2 Japanese soldier? A mysterious mountain-dwelling, serial-killing hermit who's evaded the authorities for five years? A karmic feud between two men dating back generations? A rage-filled police chief who thinks nothing of beating and/or killing suspects to get results? Well, look no further than Running on Karma! Co-Directors Johnny To and Wai Ka Fai throw all these ingredients into the mixer and come up with one original cinematic cocktail. By turns funny, tragic, romantic, horrific and action packed, Running on Karma is a film that could only have been made in Hong Kong. Great performances from Cecilia Cheung and Andy Lau make you care about the characters and their fates, despite the loopy/deep(?) storyline that will have your brain spinning. No description of this film is a match for actually seeing it, so what are you waiting for?

A lot of comments have been made about the gimmick of Andy Lau's body suit but I think the director intentionally used it. Much of the film is metaphorical and symbolic. The movie artfully provides a story that is richer for its indirectness. Just as Daai Chek Liu fights the form of his would be self, and prevents the triggering of a new karmic thread through a potential revenge/ justifiable killing of Sun Ko, the body suit may in fact symbolize the effort that many people put into developing the unimportant/ ineffectual aspects of their lives. In the first part of the movie, none of his highly developed skills or extrasensory perception can avert the eventual course of karma; and only in the second part, when he forgives Sun Ko, is he successful in making any difference.

His shedding of his over-developed physique during this journey is perhaps symbolic of his return to simply pursuing "the only thing that Buddha taught" (per his soliloquy after he resolves the conflict with his alter ego). If you watch carefully, everything you need to understand the story is right there; but it's not obvious. There are many places where the director has only sown the seed for further inquiry. I could go on; but suffice to say it's not a movie that can be fully appreciated without at least some analysis on the part of the audience :) In the end, if your interpretation even makes you think about the laws of nature, the meaning and purpose of your life, that's what matters, and is perhaps what the director/ scriptwriter intended.

it has been a long time watching film doesn't leave any strong feelings to me... I left feeling conflicted, yet enlightened.. Perhaps one of the best Andy Lau's best performance in his acting career. Cecilia Cheung did a good job as well. There were some good action and a bit romantic scenes, there were some "strong' scenes that makes me freaked out as well,but I think it i necessary. The script and plot is great. Please make sure you watch the HK version not the Chinese cut. Go and watch for the experiences.