Reviews

A hilarious and realistic look at (police) life in Beijing; this film was produced on location and used real police, not actors; allegedly, the criminals shown were actually apprehended during the production of the film.

The other review commented that this film was incredibly dull and boring-- I it found the exact opposite. It was absolutely amazing to see the real mid-nineties Beijing. The supposedly "every-day" nature of the material is enlightening to one who has not experienced the mid-nineties Beijing, and is surely an insightful "step-back" analysis even to one who has experienced it.

All the material is first-rate. For someone not particularly looking for sensationalism, for someone who is fascinated by amazing (but not ridiculous) people and things that happen in the real world, this is a great film. I marvelled at the resourceful-- albeit somewhat pathetic, but nonetheless likable-- police officers and criminals.

Imamura Sohei's Kanzo Sensei (Dr Akagi) is reminiscent of Kurosawa Akira's Drunken Angel (Yoidore tenshi). In Kanzo Sensei, Dr. Akagi struggles with the disease that exacts heavy tolls on the Japanese during wartime. There is the sense that the onset of the disease is almost karmatic; people should know to eat well and sleep well, but—because of the country's involvement in the war—are only allowed to do so when they are diagnosed with hepatitis. The patients make the "best of it," getting their basic human psychological and physical needs met. Relaxation and rest brings people back to their human essence and reclaims their health. The sickness is likened to a psychological sickness—"hepatitis of the mind." We see this in Masumura Yasuzo's Kyojin to gangu (Giants and Toys) where the Japanese have been taken over by the Western principles of capitalism and consumerism. In Yoidore tenshi, the benevolent doctor is somewhat over concerned for his patient, who suffers dually from hepatitis and also—as a yakuza—from the cesspool that Japan has become after the occupation. In both Kanzo Sensei and Yoidore tenshi, the doctor is more of a symbol of the medicinal power of compassion; deeply concerned for their patients, the doctors provide not surgery but the common-sense advice to sleep well and maintain a good diet—to understand how society is plagued.