Doomsday Party (2013)

Hong Kong Panorama Blu-ray



A very unusual but interesting quirky crime-drama with vibes of the Apocalypse. In an inspired opening the film shifts
contrapuntally between a bankrobbery, chaotic demonstrations on the streets of Hong Kong against the shady business
of banks, corrupted politicians and triad connected property developers and between people doing desperate things.
Maybe the director has used footage from the real protests that shook Hong Kong some years ago, even though these
i think (?) mostly were about mainland Chinas clamp-down on democracy in the former free British Crown Colony.
And this smartly used footage and cross-cutting enhances the feeling of despair among the films players, and it will be
exciting to see what type of films the director Ho Hong will make in the future.

Parallell stories are thrown at us in the beginning. A bomber has placed his device somewhere in the department or
financial district, an older man is burning his belongings, protestors fill the streets and 2 youths are robbing a bank.
It takes some time to connect these scenes but finally all the story lines meets in the final scene.
A male student, Lang (Kelvin Kwan) watches a girl, Fish (Fish Liew), being attacked by other youths and he chases
them away. He's constructing liquid bombs and starts to hang out with Fish and they begin a bomb campaign
protesting against this and that, but they need money and plans a bank robbery.

The Banks has cheated people out of their savings luring them into jumping onto risky fonds and lots and lots of
Hong Kong citizens has lost all their savings in the finance crisis. Poor people are also thrown out of their homes
by the hand of shady property developers, working together with corrupted politicians and the Black sector -
the Triads supplying the violence. A common phenomena in the wild west unhinged capitalistic China today.
A Great opening but maybe a somewhat less great finale of this film. Still a Good film with lots of promise.
Maybe the gorgeous pictures from Hong Kong itself, the Hong Kong skyline, the crowded city with the expensive
living in skyscrapers are the most memorable from this film. Kudos to cinematographer Cheung Siu-Keung.
widescreen, cantonese or a mandarin dub with english subtitles. This was a region A Blu-ray even though the
Hong Kong Blu-ray sleeve said it was region ALL. Very sloppy from Panorama

 

Back to Hong Kong & China Film Page