Fiction

YI NGOY

Accident
Soi Cheang
Hongkong 2009
88 min
V'11

Brain is a professional hitman who kills his victims by trapping them in well-crafted “accidents” that look like unfortunate mishaps but are in fact perfectly staged acts of crime. Perennially plagued with guilt, he is also suspicious and morbid by nature. The recent avalanche of memories of his lost wife does not make things any easier. After one mission accidentally goes wrong, causing the death of one of his men, Brain is convinced that this accident has been choreographed: someone is out there plotting to terminate him and his team. Known mostly for his excessively violent expression and psychotic characters with nihilistic worldviews, Soi Cheang strikes a delicate balance between extreme emotions and restrained storytelling in his new film, resulting in a sparing drama that is voyeuristic in action, yet claustrophobic in mentality. As the director traps his audience squarely within Brain’s increasingly paranoid psyche, other characters’ betrayals and “accidents” cast a dubious web of intrigue. Not for a long time – and possibly since the days of Jean-Pierre Melville – have we witnessed a more exhilarating blend of meticulously staged crimes, slow-burning psychological violence, and Zen-like meditation on fate, coincidence and self-fulfilling prophecy; Accident is one of the best Hong Kong films in years. (Edmund Lee)

Credits
  • Louis Koo - Brain
  • Richie Jen - Fong
  • Feng Tsui Fan - Onkel
  • Lam Suet - Fatty
  • Ye Xuan - Frau
  • Monica Mok
  • Han Yu Qin
  • Szeto Kam Yuen
  • Nicholl Tang
  • Fung Yuen Man
  • Martin Richard Chappell
  • David Richardson
  • Xavier Jamaux
  • Silver Cheung
  • Stanley Cheung
  • Stanley Cheung
  • Silver Cheung
Milkyway Image
Media Asia Distribution
35 mm
col
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