Nearing the end of ICM's Hong Kong viewing challenge,I checked Netflix's HK listings, and stumbled on an intriguingly odd-sounding adaptation. Delaying the viewing after getting a nasty flu,I today decided to call the inspector.
View on the film:
Calling on J. B. Priestley's (who unlike the wrong IMDb listings, is given prominent listing in the credits-twice) original play, Edmond Wong's adaptation smoothly transfers Priestley's criticism of the British bourgeois lifestyle to that of the mega-rich in Hong Kong. Retaining Priestley's episodic flashback structure, Wong wonderfully delves into each Kau's family member link to the suspected victim in witty, updated takes on Priestley which includes Cindy Cheung being sacked for starting strikes at a toy factory, and becoming a secret masseur lover. Standing at odds from the serious origins of Priestley, directors Herman Yau & Raymond Wong are joined by cinematographer Kwong-Hung Chan in taking this mystery to a dazzlingly stylised flight of fantasy,as each encounter between Cheung and a Kau opens an increasingly peculiar snapping at a small Cheung having to outmanoeuvre a lobster and a luxury fashion house splashed with burning bright colours matching the glittering gold covering the Kau household, which starts to melt as the inspector puts down the phone.
View on the film:
Calling on J. B. Priestley's (who unlike the wrong IMDb listings, is given prominent listing in the credits-twice) original play, Edmond Wong's adaptation smoothly transfers Priestley's criticism of the British bourgeois lifestyle to that of the mega-rich in Hong Kong. Retaining Priestley's episodic flashback structure, Wong wonderfully delves into each Kau's family member link to the suspected victim in witty, updated takes on Priestley which includes Cindy Cheung being sacked for starting strikes at a toy factory, and becoming a secret masseur lover. Standing at odds from the serious origins of Priestley, directors Herman Yau & Raymond Wong are joined by cinematographer Kwong-Hung Chan in taking this mystery to a dazzlingly stylised flight of fantasy,as each encounter between Cheung and a Kau opens an increasingly peculiar snapping at a small Cheung having to outmanoeuvre a lobster and a luxury fashion house splashed with burning bright colours matching the glittering gold covering the Kau household, which starts to melt as the inspector puts down the phone.