Xun qiang - The Missing Gun

It is not another Hong Kong excellent-made movie, but this is coming from the rural China with no martial arts or frenetic chase but the one with two old bicycles. The story is by itself strong and humanly ethical. A great man makes a mistake and he has to fix it up, above all the dilemmas or even his integrity moral o physical. The village where it was shot is a fascinating one, the photography is mesmerizing and some camera tricks give the magical touch to the visual without recurring to effects that surely they (the movie producers from China) can't afford. Somehow it reminds me the Brazilian City of God but with a more paced rhythm and a life philosophy that can only come from the rising East. Definitely a movie without the boring tastes of hollywoodean clichés, with this, who cares about reading the subtitles?

In "The Missing Gun", a small town cop in China loses track of his sidearm when he gets drunk at a party. The first hour this film is dedicated to the cop running around town asking everyone if they have seen his gun to which all reply...."Nope!". It's not until later in the film we begin to see a plot develop and realize what has appeared to be a comedy is really a drama when our hero/protag/cop finds out his ex-girl friend has been murdered...apparently with his missing gun. The balance of the flick is about finding the gun and the killer. Pretty ordinary stuff by Western film standards, this flick is uneven and less than engaging with marginal English language subtitle translations. Story aside, however, it is a moderately enjoyable blend of contemporary Western filmmaking with the traditional Chinese feel and a small step forward in Chinese action/drama filmmaking from behind the bamboo curtain. A subtitled watch recommended only for those with a taste for traditional Chinese cinema. (C)

Anyone expecting a John Woo/Ringo Lam-type actioner will be sorely disappointed by this Chinese film, "The Missing Gun." Director Lu Chuan adopts western film-making techniques, but paces his film deliberately, not hurrying through the motions or adopting slam-bang action to tell his story.

You could draw parallels to Walter Hill's "48 HRS." (1982) and Akira Kurosawa's "Stray Dog" (1949), both of which dealt with similar stories of a police officer losing his handgun, which falls into the hands of a criminal.

"The Missing Gun" isn't as action-packed as Hill's film or as perceptive and intriguing as Kurosawa's. Then again, emulating Kurosawa is no easy task.

But the film provides an interesting lesson about gun culture. In this country, we have a nation obsessed with owning firearms. In "The Missing Gun," the protagonist is a police officer Ma Shan (Jiang Wen) facing embarrassment, ridicule and shame for having lost his service pistol. Private ownership of guns is banned so the police know exactly how many bullets are left in the weapon.

I am not advocating banning gun-ownership in this country, but "The Missing Gun" provides an intriguing cultural lesson, especially when we have an American president and congressional leaders who kowtowed to the gun lobby and recently let lapse the assault weapons ban, apparently not seeing the harm in letting the public purchase Uzis and AK-47s. Someone has still to explain to me why these weapons are needed to hunt.

"The Missing Gun" does not adopt film-making styles seen in the works of Zhang Yimou or Chen Kaige. This film definitely has a western influence. The camera moves quickly, there are quick cuts and for a low-budget film - it was apparently shot for about $250,000 - the cinematography is spectacularly good. But instead of clichéd storytelling techniques, Lu Chuan gives us some novelty. There's a delightful chase scene and his characters certainly aren't conventional. Ma Shan spends much of the first act asking various people whether they've stolen his gun. But there's a sense of mystery to all this, because we're never sure if they're being truthful. And the director opts for a denouement that's unexpected, especially if you've grown up with American films.

"The Missing Gun" is by no means a masterpiece. But it offers more insight into human nature than much of what Hollywood churns out these days. And if you're in the mood for something different, a film that takes its time unraveling the mystery, this film has much to offer the discriminating moviegoer.

Don't look for HK type action, this is a close look at a different culture through one man's eyes.

The man in question is a Chinese police officer who has, through drunken carelessness, lost his gun, an unpardonable offense.

A carefully structured and paced film, not without some amusing moments, but for the most part a whodunnit more than anything else.

The camera work is brilliant, some of the sequences are fantastic, in fact I wonder if anyone can tell me if they have ever seen the opening technique use anywhere else, (I think what was done was, to mount the camera and drive forward while the camera films from the POV looking out the back and then the film was played backwards, GREAT effect!), it is similar to effects seen before, I.E. the opening sequence in Killing Zoe, but more dizzying.

Really nice movie and with a terrific ending, someone should remake this film. I watched it alone one night and rented again a week later to watch again with my wife.

Now you go watch it!

The Missing Gun is the first of Lu Chuan's amazing films...Mountain Patrol is the second... There is almost no way to describe this film except to say it is amazing... Lu Chuan has a way of befriending the viewing with his characters...making them into actual friends in your life much in the way Dickens did so in another place and time... Only there is nothing out of time or old-fashioned about these films...any more than there is anything particularly Chinese...these are transparent jaunts through real life with the exception that they vault over principals of honesty, honor, and loyalty... As I have told my own friends, these may be some of the best Westerns ever made, but they are, of course, not Westerns! See this film. It will become one of your regular faves as it has become mine.