Xun qiang

Ma Shan wakes up to find he has lost his police issue gun. This is going to be bad. With 3 bullets in it, it could mean the death of 3 or even 6 people if a professional got ahold of it. Or so his angry captain points out. Shan can't remember what happened last night as he got fall-down drunk at his sister's wedding. He races frantically about town, investigating those who were also at the wedding and accusing several of stealing his gun.

He has been married for 8 years to a fairly grumpy women when his ex-girlfriend moves back to town. The next day, she is killed with Shan's gun. This movie was non-suspenseful thriller. Fairly well done, quirky and interesting character, decent acting and a moderately intriguing story, I found myself watching with more of bemused expression than one of suspense. I was curious to find out who had the gun, not worried, not nervous, not involved. Although the movie was decent, nothing stood out, nothing will stick with me from this film.

I love good Chinese food, and for the most part, I've found that little local places are the best places to find good Chinese. In Provo, UT, there is a restaurant called Shoots that is amazing. Since I love Chinese food, I've been to P.F. Chang's twice. Everyone I know raves about it, but when I went I wasn't impressed. I can hardly remember what I had (orange peel chicken and great wall of Chocolate and spring rolls, I think). Nothing was bad, but nothing stood out as being great. "Oh, you have to try the lettuce wraps!" No, I wasn't impressed when I went, and I wouldn't miss it if I never went again. There is much better Chinese throughout the world. 5/10.

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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.

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.

From the title to the critique snippet, the jacket theme, probably intentionally, masks the film's content.

Surreal but with pauses allowed by today's technology, reflection and discussion can put the pieces together.

Weighty issue of firearms and violence handled most appropriately particularly from law enforcement point of view.

Despite my reality, it was difficult to identify with isolation of lead actor.

Excellent proof that Y2K did not thwart either artistic and worthwhile (fill in the blank.)

STM (J)

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!