Cop film is a triumph
- By Pang Li
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E-mail China.org.cn, June 22, 2012
Chinese director Gao Qunshu's new police movie "Detective Hunter Zhang" is a bold take on Chinese modern society. It is witty, weighty and highly watchable. I have not seen such a well-crafted Chinese film in theater for quite some time.
![A still from the Chinese movie “Detective Hunter Zhang.” [Photo courtesy of SIFF]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20120622/001372acd0b5114e1e5801.jpg "A still from the Chinese movie “Detective Hunter Zhang.” [Photo courtesy of SIFF]") |
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A still from the Chinese movie "Detective Hunter Zhang." [Photo courtesy of SIFF] |
"Detective Hunter Zhang," one of the 17 Golden Award entries at this year's Shanghai International Film Festival, is based on true stories and real characters. It revolves around the life of Zhang Huiling, a counter-theft policeman in Beijing.
The movie assembles a group of amateur actors, most of whom are microblog celebrities. Microblog-enthusiastic moviegoers may recognize some faces. The actors' approach, basically just being themselves, make the movie genuinely realistic and believable. You may feel that some of them are from your neighborhood. Not only microblog celebrities but also the microbloging itself plays a part as the policemen in the movie is so obsessed with microbloging that they talk about it all the time.
The movie is shot as a quasi-documentary. A shaky camera follows the protagonist to many locations in Beijing and shows the city as it is: loud, busy, crowded and dirty. It also shows a wide range of characters as they are: pickpockets, swindlers, farmers, street vendors and beggars, among some others. Moviegoers may find these characters similar to someone they passed by on the street or saw on the bus. In this way, the movie keeps no distance from the audience because it shows nothing but their everyday life.
Director Gao Qunshu said at a premier on Thursday in Shanghai that the movie is the utmost that he could do about a realistic subject-matter under the current rules of censorship. In fact, he is much bolder than he sounded.
On the surface the boldness is reflected in the dialogues. The characters do not only speak dialects and use a lot of foul language. This kind of language makes up a lot of funny and witty moments. It, however, is what other movies try to avoid in order to get the approval for release from the film authorities.
Deep down, the director is bold enough to make a lot of social comments. The movie dwells upon the lives of ordinary people in a big city. Without work skills, some people are forced to commit petty crimes in order to make ends meet. For other criminals, a big city is gold mine for endless exploitation. They believe they can get rich quickly by swindling money out of rich people. Moreover, the movie shows an undercurrent of anger among the general public. Verbal violence and vicious curses become normal in people's talks. When the public stand vigilantes, they are likely to become violent. In some scenes, a mob mauls a petty thief after catching him on the street. They strike the criminal so hard that the police have to stop them.
Although the movie stands out in so many ways, there is a major flaw that cannot escape detection – one dimensional portrayal of cops. Like most current Chinese movies, it has good cops only. The movie does not show much of the protagonist's family life or emotions either, leaving the character relatively flat.
In addition, there are some ridiculous scenes and dialogues in the movie. For example, in one scene, a woman suddenly pops out of a window, preaching no one can get away from the justice of law.
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