| It is low budget filmmaker Tony Leung Hung-Wah behind the camera so ambitious goals that speak of the psychology behind a rapist and a murderer, in connection with schizophrenia is smothered a bit under the low-fi package that A Lamb In Despair is. Having said that, Leung's ideas are worthwhile ones and manages to unexpectedly resonate a wee bit. The Category III vehicles of this exploitative kind didn't usually allow for slight bit more intelligence, especially not in 1999. Using the cliché of an abusive childhood to elaborate on, lead Mok Ga-Yiu's Ted is both the unstoppable beast and an unfortunate victim as his sickness springs to life again when media (led by a journalist with an agenda, played by Anthony Wong) hounds him. But the human mind is difficult to map out and predict, leading both to Ted's ex-neigbour Mendy (Sherming Yiu) and Maggie, a girl with a keen interest in psychology, hovering in danger. Leung shoots effective, degrading sequences worthy of the III-rating but is not overly interested in graphic depictions. Cheung Tat-Ming is horribly miscast as a tough as nails cop while Simon Loui and Joe Cheung also appear. |
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