| This movie is best described as seven parts "Full Alert" and three parts "The Shining." The horror and crime elements are mixed well, and make for an unusual but satisfying watch. However, my first viewing has left me a little confused; there are a number of things about the film I'm not sure about, but at this point I'm unable to tell how much of it was my fault, how much was Ringo's fault, and how much of my confusion was because of intentional ambiguity. I'm heavily favoring the latter cause at this point; I think much of the supernatural plot was purposefully unexplained to keep the audience guessing, which it certainly does. I do agree with some other reviewers that the supernatural elements peter out a bit in the final third or so; while I didn't want cut-and-dried explanations, the final thirty minutes contain barely a reference to the possession story that is so eerily presented in the first hour. Still, while it'll take me another viewing or two to sort everything out and make up my mind about some of the plot, I absolutely recommend this film to anyone who likes crime films but wants to see something a bit different.
Watching Ringo Lam's Victim, it is easy to think about Stanley Kubrick's films. Like Jack Nicholson in The Shining (US 1979), Lau Ching-wan is a failure in life. A respected computer professional just a short while back, he is now a man with "negative assets", an in-vogue label of late. What drives him and Nicholson to the brink are not ghosts or evil spirits. It is manhood, the notion passed on through generations that men cannot fail. Kubrick's last film, Eyes Wide Shut (US, 1999), is also a man's fable. A successful doctor is shocked by his wife's revelation that she is having sexual fantasies about another man. He turns his anger into a quest for sexual adventure but runs into trouble everywhere, even coming close to losing his life. He eventually returns to his wife, like a defeated rooster, not because he has impeccable morality, but because he is afraid. Both Kubrick and Lam are concerned with the vulnerability of middle-class life and the corrosion of manhood. While Kubrick examines the deterioration of humanity through his concerns, Lam is closer to the everyman. He fixes his attention onto the practical side of surviving everyday life. The family is supposed to be the corner stone that stabilizes our society, but its steadiness turns out to be an illusion. Just as in other "normal" families, the wall in Lau's room is adorned with a childhood photograph with his parents. Just like the one that hangs on the wall of the hotel, where a murderous tragedy occurred. We grew up with the family ideal, our nice home representing our happy family. But peel away the peaceful visage and we see the exposed ugliness. Wong Ain-ling: At the end of the film, Lau puts a bullet through his head. The camera pulls away from him as his wife's wail pierces through the darkness. The days ahead with an empty bed, how is she going to deal with it? |
Viewer Comments:
