Confession of Pain

But that doesn't take too much away from the "entertainment". At least not in my eyes. Of course as with the Infernal Affairs movies, this isn't so much about the action, as it is about the drama and the relationships between the characters. And if you have some of the finest (as is the case here), than nothing can go wrong. And although it's apparent from very early on, who did what, that doesn't take anything away from the movie.

Quite the contrary! Even it wasn't revealed in the movie, you would've guessed it. So by showing it, the movie tells you that it won't play any "twist" game with you. And you can enjoy the performances and the nice story as it unfolds.

I LOVE their work on Infernal Affairs. To some extent, I do compare COP with IA but I I've debated with myself not to be unfair with my judgement - because they are quite different.

Confessions of Pain is very real in nature. I am beginning to notice that many avoid stereotyping a person as a good 'cop' and a bad 'cop'. And I echo this. I don't think Tony's character is absolutely 'wrong'. Don't get me wrong as I am not suggesting that his ill-suppressed pain should be taken in the context of crime but we must 'honor his hatred' for his parents' brutal murder.

I must confess that the pain (in this piece of art) can be more e.g. poignant dilemma faced when the truth is revealed about his wife's identity (yes, I am speaking in codes here because my friend spoiled the suspense of 6th Sense by revealing the ending, and I ain't want to be that culprit!).

In essence, I like the movie and the cast is marvellous.

Unresolved pain, harboured grudge and hatred leading to bloody revenge is most destructively tragic. Hei even takes harming/killing his wife as a last resort to fulfil his eye-for-eye, tooth-for-tooth dark plan on his father-in-law who exterminated his family twenty-five years ago.

A "well-taken-care-of" work with who did it is known, how it was did is also known, and viewers chase and chase the line to know why he did that. Every area is fine but something missed... it lacks "power", some more energy and intensity is desired. The film is too "quiet", we need at least one exploding/imploding point to exhibit the tension. In addition, Fiona Sit should take the role of that that Shu-qi occupies here as the girl here is a dotty one. Shu-qi has long passed that playful age. Her talent is not developed her. Wrong choice of actress. And, Kaneshiro is not quite himself, I find no clue why.

When the flame of hatred and pain keeps burning, the fire of vengeance grows stronger and hotter that even the entire furnace falls apart.

All right, it is a so-so movie. I was disappointed the film had no mystery, the main point watching this is the mystery but I did not see it. The story is somehow confusing as they jumped from one scene to another. Hei and Bong were solving a case which Susan's so-called father was murdered. Now the director want to make you feel how the characters is feeling. That's pain. No mystery but is painful. No mystery, if the directors had not chosen to show the bad guy too early, it would had been better. But that's not the main point in this movie, the directors want the pain. The cast and the story is just okay, with the beautiful music as in the background, the film is okay. And the music sent chills up my spine, it is somehow spooky. If you wanna kill some time, watch it on DVD. Not really worth watching this in cinema. Those who want to crack a mystery, this is not for you.

This time of the relationship between Hong Kong and China. Andy Lau's "Internal Affairs" examined the roles with far greater interest. This time, though, Lau has sunk to the level of soap, which is sad to see, especially considering how sophisticated his previous work is. Shu Qi is criminally misused to boot. "Confession of Pain" in no way compares to "The Banquet," "Curse of the Golden Flower," "Mo Gong," "Three Times," all of which function on more than one level without sinking into the error of this film, which is not so much paranoia as mawkish self-absorption.

As for camera work, set design, sound, and editing, this movie feels more like a commercial than a feature film. The effect is to cheapen what otherwise might have been great and deep. The same goes for the acting, which seems to have been texted in.