The Mad Detective by Johnnie To Kei Fung and Wai Ka Fei (2007)
14 February 2008I have been waiting for another team of Johnnie To, Wai Ka Fai and Lau Ching Wan for so long, it is ridiculous, and this film does not disappoint. In fact this one has you rethinking the whole film by the time you get to the end, and thinking about it for days later. This is an mazing film with a powerhouse performance by Lau Ching Wan as the Mad Detective. This may not be the best film to initiate someone into the Milkyway Films Crime dramas, but it is an amazing one, and another instant classic.
Lau Ching Wan is Bun a police inspector and amazing criminal profiler who literally puts himself into the criminals shoes to solve cases, and solve them he does, even being locked in luggage and thrown down stairs by a rookie detective named Ho (Andy On Chi Kit). Bun has a dark side though and when his superior (Eddy Ko Hung) retired instead of a present he stands there and cuts his ear off and hands it to him, and quickly gets dumped from the police force. Years later two cops are out waiting to catch an Indian thief, these are Ko Chi Wai (Gordon Lam Ka Tung) and Wong Kwok To, and one of the cops disappeared, and 8 months later still hasn’t been sean, and Ho has been put in charge of the case, and goes to see Bun. Bun’s wife May (Kelly Lin) is obviously dismayed and even tells Bun that this case will kill him, and as Ho explains things to Bun, Bun and May get in a fight, and Bun shoves Ho out, but then we see from Ho’s eyes that May is not there at all, but in Bun’s head. Bun does agree and starts working with Ho on the case, and explains to him how he can see people’s inner personalities, and as they start to follow Ko, he says he can see 7 Personalities, and we see them as different actors included Lam Suet as his sweating scared self, the ultra violent self is Eddie Cheung Siu Fai and the calculating woman running the show is Lau Kam Ling.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…
Bun watched Ko, and has Ho go and talk to him, and by watching his personalities he can see he is guilty, and he confronts him in the bathroom peeing on his leg, and is almost killed before Ho stops him.
They go out to dinner with Ho and his girlfriend (Jo Kuk Cho Lam) who is also a cop and May is supposed to be there, but of course they can’t see her.
They then must prove it, using Bun’s instinct instead of logic, because that is how he works. They head out to the forest where the cop went missing and dig a hole where bun plans on burying himself, but Ho wants to learn, so Bun takes his gun and buries Ho, but then he sees Ko, and runs off taking Ho’s car, gun and badge, leaving Ho out in the forrest. He comes back to the police station and an action to find the Indian who supposedly has Wong’s gun and has been killing people with it, but he gets attacked, and ends up wandering off and trying to find Bun. He breaks into Bun’s place and is help up by May at gunpoint. It seems she is still alive, but divorced him, and is worried as he isn’t taking his medication.
Bun is going to go to Ko, but all he sees is a scared little boy. And so Ko gets his girlfriend’s gun to go and find Bun.
Bun goes to find his wife, but finds his actual wife who confronts him, and his inner wife fights with her, but he helps her solve a crime, and we realize he in fact knows that his wife is no longer with him, and knows it is all in his mind and part of his inner personalities.
Ho confronts Ko at the station, but his gun checks out (he changed serial numbers in the computer with his partner after he killed him) and he goes with him to get the Indian with his partners gun. Bun finds out, and texts Ho to stop him and warn him that Ko will kill him, but Ho is too scared and doesn’t listen. Bun shows up and the Indian with the gun, and Ko is going to kill them once he gets the gun, so Bun holds his gun on him, but it is Ho who shoots him. And when Ko gets the gun he is going to kill Ho, but Bun shoots him and kills him and then dies.
Ho then calls him girlfriend to come because he fires her gun, and we last see him moving the guns around in the 3 dead peoples hands trying to concoct a story that will make things OK.
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I love when you realize that Bun knew all along that taking the case would kill him, and that it would be Ho that did it (May tells Bun, but it is the imaginary May who is in his Head), so he knew he would solve the crime and prove that Ko did it, but would get killed, but he was so bored and needed to feel useful and work with the police again, because his skills were useless if they were not helping solve crimes. Wow. Amazing!
A gorgeous and amazing film. Really an absolute must see!!!!