Director: Wilson YipStarring: Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Sammo Hung, Wu Jing
Running Time: 93mins
In 2005, the Hong Kong movie scene seemed to be lacking one thing: a major budget martial arts film. Then came along Wilson Yip’s ‘SPL: Sha Po Lang’, featuring the exceptional fighting skills of Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung and Wu Jing. The film enjoyed two weeks atop the Hong Kong cinema charts and won the ‘Best Action Choreography’ award at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2006.
It is not hard to see why. The fight sequences throughout are uniformly excellent, with Donnie Yen’s ju-jitsu proving to be an outstanding match for the more traditional skills of his opponents. Every bump and bone-breaking move is so vividly captured both visually and aurally, that these sequences can be painful to watch, as it really feels as if you are experiencing them first hand. The cinematography is relatively plain, allowing the martial arts skills themselves to be at the forefront of the viewer’s attention. This gives the scenes a much more gritty feel than the sometimes over the top camera dramatics that accompany such action in other films.
The most spectacular scene is between the characters’ of Donnie Yen and Wu Jing, who pull off a fight sequence that will stay embedded in the memory of anyone who has the pleasure of seeing ‘Sha Po Lang’. In what appears to be one long take, the tempo of the fight starts off high, with both men providing able counters to their opponent’s moves. As the fight continues, the tempo slows, and takes on a more freeform style, as it becomes clear that although key points are choreographed, a lot of what you see in front of you is being created on the spot by the two actors. This realisation just multiplies the effect of the action on screen, making it even more impressive than it first seems.
Of course, you can have all the amazing fight scenes in the world, but a film is unlikely to be taken seriously unless the story in between these scenes is strong enough to sustain the viewer’s attention. Thankfully, the story, and general production values of ‘Sha Po Lang’ mean that this is never an issue.
The title, ‘Sha Po Lang’ refers to Chinese astrology, where the initials SPL are short for three stars, all capable of producing good or evil, according to their position in the heavens. This theme is carried throughout, with the line between good and evil being constantly blurred and good and evil actions having knock-on effects for those involved. The most poignant example of the latter is in the penultimate scene, where triumph quickly turns to despair for one of the characters.
The overriding plot arc is similar to many Hong Kong cop versus gangster movies, with Detective Chan Kwok Chung attempting to reprimand notorious gang-boss Wong Po by any means necessary. After an idyllic opening scene on the beach, we are swiftly brought back to reality with the crunching sound of metal on metal, as the camera pans back to show two vehicles mangled together following an accident. A key witness in a case against Wong Po (along with his wife) has been killed by Jack (Wu Jing), an affiliate of Po, in order to stop him testifying. Det. Chung, who is also on board, has lost his opportunity to nail Po.
The daughter of witness survives the crash, and Chung promises to raise her, as well as avenge her parents by putting Wong Po behind bars. However, upon treating his injuries from the crash, the doctors discover that Chung has an incurable brain tumour and he therefore knows that his time is limited.
Fast forward three years and when an amateur cameraman catches footage of Wong Po and an affiliate killing Chung’s undercover agent, he and his team see an opportunity to frame Po and embark on a mission to destroy all evidence relating to the second man involved. Chung only has two days until his retirement, with Inspector Ma Kwan (Donnie Yen) taking over his duties. Kwan is suspicious as to the activities of his new team and provides the voice of righteousness and reason against their desperate attempts to capture Po. As each scene unfolds, the viewer is constantly pulled back and forth from one school of thought to the next and it is an effective device, cleverly employed by Yip and co-writer Szeto Kam-Yuen, which adds real weight to the story.
The conclusion takes place on Father’s day, with the violence constantly juxtaposed with the sentimentality of fathers conversing with their daughters and loved ones. This serves to make the bone-crunching fight scenes seem even more brutal than previously in the film and certainly adds an extra level of emotion in the closing scenes. Once all scores have been settled, we return to the beach for the final scene, as calmness and serenity take over from the agitated violence of the scenes preceding it.
Wilson Yip has created a film that mixes the quick fire martial arts of the 1980s, with the rich, developed storylines of today, to create what is arguably his finest effort. From the opening credits it is clear than ‘Sha Po Lang’ wishes to be seen as an epic tale and it succeeds in pretty much all areas. It is refreshing to see martial arts rather than gun-fights at the centre of a Hong Kong crime film and largely because of this, ‘Sha Po Lang’ is highly recommended to anyone that enjoys cop versus gangster, or action films in general.
Buy the Hong Kong DVD (English subs) at Play-Asia.
Buy the US DVD at dvdboxoffice
