Tuesday May 19, 2009
Tony Leung in Hong Kong crime thriller
By SETO KIT YAN
Award-winning actor Tony Leung Ka Fai has the distinction of being picked to play Hong Kong’s notorious Chief Inspector Lee Rock in the 1960s.
IT’S all in a day’s work for versatile actor Tony Leung Ka Fai who plays Hong Kong’s iconic and corrupt Chief Inspector Lak (aka Lee Rock), who headed an empire of corruption during his time.
Leung’s latest film Gam Chin Dai Gwok (in Cantonese) has an English title, I Corrupt All Cops, which features wordplay on Hong Kong’s anti-corruption agency ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption).
Signature smirk: Tony Leung Ka Fai is Lee Rock in the Wong Jing-helmed crime thriller, I Corrupt All Cops. The film harks back to a time when the Hong Kong police force, under British rule, was mired in corruption. In the decade between 1962 and 1972, Hong Kong police corruption amounted to HK$10bil.
“I play a 60s cop, not a good one, with a bit of street smarts, yet not too hateful. He’s corrupt, very powerful and very rich. Yet, the man’s not really a violent criminal. Eventually, it transpires that he’s got a humane side as well,” said the Hong Kong actor in a phone interview from Shanghai where he was filming.
In simple terms, Leung outlined his more contemporary turn on the infamous Chief Superintendent Lee Le Gong, better known as Lee Rock. Leung would be the third Hong Kong actor to play the iconic police chief.
The first was veteran actor Kenneth Tsang (as Chief Inspector Lui Ko Tin) in To Be Number One (Bai Hou, 1991). The second was Andy Lau in the Lee Rock trilogy (Ng Yi Taam Jeung: Lui Lok Juen, 1991-1992) for which Lau got a nomination for best actor at the 1992 Hong Kong Film Awards.
This latest crime thriller comes from Wong Jing, one of Hong Kong’s most prolific commercial filmmakers. Wong, who is better known for his comedies, believes his version portrays a more accurate account of the corruption compared to Lau’s excessively pretty and romantic interpretation.
Stellar cast: Some of the main characters are played by Bowie Lam and Anthony Wong. “Each actor would have his own interpretation. I based my portrayal on the script and the director’s requirements. He hoped for the character to be more cold-blooded, selfish and uncaring,” Leung explained.
“For this production, the script is very complete, giving us a solid base to work on. That leaves out all the guessing and saves time, hence making the film more comfortable to work on. So, it is not terribly difficult or challenging in that sense.”
Does that mean he would be particularly averse to taking on unscripted projects like those by Wong Kar Wai and Johnnie To? “Well, if production conditions are conducive and everybody has time to spare, then I won’t mind. After all, it involves creativity on a different level.”
And, yes of course, what would a Wong Jing movie be without lots of sexy babes.
There is Natalie Meng Yao who plays policeman Unicorn’s mistress, and the 10 women surrounding constable Gale – Liu Yang who plays drug lord Rose, Kate Tsui who plays Gale’s fourth wife Lily and the eight other women who make up the rest of his “wives”.
“Lots of lovely ladies on the set is a good thing, and they were all very pretty. Even the tea lady and the young lady from the costume department!” Leung observed with a laugh at the welcome distraction.
Does he have many scenes with the ladies, then? “Not really. Many of my scenes are with Eason Chan. His character Gale has a pivotal role in bringing out the story of corruption in the police force.”
Eason Chan as Gale and Liu Yang who plays drug lord Rose. Leung’s most memorable scene was playing ball with Chan as the man had not kicked a football in decades. “After a whole day of kicking ball, I woke up the next day feeling like I’d just filmed a martial arts movie!”
Apart from Leung and Chan, I Corrupt All Cops also features Anthony Wong, Bowie Lam and Alex Fong Lik Sun. Yet, as it turned out, it is the director himself who has the most scenes.
Watching the film reels after shooting, the rest of the cast discovered that Wong appeared in so many scenes he was practically half a lead actor.
“Initially, he intended to do a cameo. But, he had so much fun acting that he gave himself scenes with every character and got carried away.
“He’s the big boss, producer, director, screenwriter, and yes, half a lead actor. And, well, that’s no mean feat!” said Leung.
Leung had graciously taken a day’s break from filming because the noisy condition on the set was not conducive for a phoner.
His voice was particularly low and dry and when asked why he sounded so tired, Leung shared that he had just pulled two all-nighters on the two movies that he is now filming concurrently.
Director Wong Jing One is Peter Chan-produced Bodyguards And Assassins (Sap Yuet Wai Sing) formerly known Dark October, which revolves around a group of bodyguards protecting Chinese revolutionary and political leader Sun Yat Sen from assassins in 1905 Hong Kong.
Apart from Leung, the US$23mil (RM82mil) flick’s stellar cast has big names such as Donnie Yen, Simon Yam, Eric Tsang, Nicholas Tse, Leon Lai, Hu Jun and Fan Bingbing.
The other is Tsui Hark-helmed Detective Dee And The Mystery Of The Phantom Flame (Tung Tin Dai Gok, originally titled Di Renjie). It tells of a Tang Dynasty detective enlisted to solve a case involving mysterious deaths that threaten to delay the inauguration of Empress Wu Zetian, China’s only female monarch. The US$13mil (RM47mil) flick also stars Andy Lau, Li Bingbing and Carina Lau.
When asked if his focus is now on the China movie market, the 51-year-old actor replied: “It’s just that my recent movies are filmed in China so I’m spending more time in in the mainland and less time in Hong Kong.”
The multiple award-winning actor has the distinction of bagging his first best actor award at the Hong Kong Film Awards with his big screen debut Reign Behind The Curtain.
Leung has been honoured thrice as best actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards – Reign Behind The Curtain (1984), 92 Legendary La Rose (1993) and Election (2005), twice at the Hong Kong Film Critic Awards – Everlasting Regret (2005) and Eye In The Sky (2007) – and once at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards – Farewell China (1990).
He also has won best supporting actor awards at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Men Suddenly In Black (2004) and at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards for The Drummer (2007).
The main characters
Lak (Tony Leung Ka Fai): A rich and powerful chief inspector who heads a corrupt police force.
Gale (Eason Chan Yik Sun): A constable whom Lak took under his protection because of his superb football skills. Gale has nine wives, eight of whom are actually mistresses of other constables.
Unicorn (Anthony Wong Chau Sang): Lak’s subordinate who ends up joining the ICAC after a falling out over his mistress Lucy.
Gold (Wong Jing): A well-connected middleman who seems to be always in the thick of things.
Bong (Alex Fong Lik Sun): A university student who joins the ICAC after a bad beating by corrupt cops who tried to frame him for a few dozen felonies.
Yim (Bowie Lam): Head of the operation branch of the ICAC who is determined to clean up the police force.
Lily (Kate Tsui): Gale’s fourth wife and the only one who is loyal to him. She gave birth to his only daughter.
Rose (Liu Yang): A drug lord whom Gale falls for after being rescued by her. Her heroin business prospers with his support.
Lucy (Natalie Meng Yao): Unicorn’s sexy mistress who ends up having an affair with Lak, resulting in a fall-out between the two men.
I Corrupt All Cops, distributed by RAM Entertainment, opens in cinemas nationwide on Thursday.
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