Dealing with demons

Back together at the helm of Mad Detective, Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai have set incendiary cinematic material ablaze to create a fiery action drama. This film is both a thrilling adventure exposing the dark side of Hong Kong's police force and a fascinating journey into the meanderings of a contorted mind. In one of his best performances to date, Lau Ching-wan (pictured) plays the multi-dimensional role of Bun, an outcast detective whose psychotic personality and unorthodox investigative methods cost him his job, despite him solving all his cases.

After cutting off his own ear and offering it as a gift at a party in honor of one of his superiors, Bun is forced into retirement. He lives in seclusion, haunted by the ghosts of his vocation. But he has a special gift: he can see the personalities and inner demons of the people he meets. The visions appear in front of him, materializations of greed or gluttony, of violence and fears - fat, sweaty guys and sexy ladies alike. The images make him act strangely, but they also help him solve mysteries, exposing criminals' real intentions, often in loud and explicit ways.

The only person who still believes in Bun is power-hungry inspector Ho (Andy On). Ho is determined to solve the complex case of a missing police gun and its vanished owner, Wong (Lee Kwok Lun), who disappeared while pursuing suspects in the mountains. Wong's partner, Chi-wai (Lam Ka Tung), is also behaving oddly, appearing to have seven conflicting personalities.

Beginning with a quest for answers, Mad Detective becomes a breathtaking roller coaster of off-kilter events. It was screened at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and the 2007 Venice Film Festival.

Joe Wright, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award-winning director of Pride & Prejudice, has reunited with his filmmaking team and Academy Award-nominated actress, Keira Knightley, for another classic British romance, Atonement, co-starring James McAvoy. Shot on location in the UK, the film's story spans several decades. Another British romantic in the cinemas is Becoming Jane, the story of the great, untold romance that inspired a young Jane Austen, played by Anne Hathaway.

Innocent Steps, South Korean romantic comedy by director Park Young-Hun, is a charming cinematic experience for people with a soft spot for romances. Moon Geun-Young, star of the hit romantic comedy My Little Bride, takes the lead role playing Jang Chae-Rin, an ethnic Korean living in China, who finds herself to be a complete fish out of water after being transplanted abroad to South Korea. When her sister bows out of a dummy marriage to a champion dance instructor, Chae-Rin decides to travel to Seoul herself and impersonate her sister. Once in South Korea, she meets Na Young-Sae (Park Geon-Hyeong), who has agreed to the sham marriage for the sole purpose of locating a new dance partner. It seems he's looking to replace the one he lost to his rival, the dastardly Jeong Hyeon-Su (Yoon Chan). But when Chae-Rin's secret and her lack of dancing experience is revealed, Young-Sae wants to send his new bride back, but instead decides to train this wide-eyed novice himself.

Also showing: Hong Kong thriller Playboy Cops starring Chen Kun and Shawn Yue, romantic comedy Marriage Trap, magical motion picture The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep.

(China Daily 03/01/2008 page6)