Review for Herman Yau's 'On the Edge' (aka 'Hak Bak Do', 2006).

The two most obvious past experiences I've had of Herman Yau, 'Ebola Syndrome' and 'The Untold Story'. Both suffer, to varying degrees, from a disjointed feel, both are perhaps different beasts than they would seem to be. Both remain very nasty films from HK's illustrious past, the old-fashioned, sex/gore mutants that were those 1990's Category III films.

Yau's not a director I've kept track of, prolific as he is, but given Anthony Wong was so obviously a part of 'On the Edge' it was hard to resist this re-teaming of two people that stand out for me. Wong is often termed the King of Cat. III, willing (at least at one point) to really go for what seemed to be a kamikaze approach to a career in films, though that's only because films such as 'The Untold Story' (the style of the portrayal) wouldn't even cross the lips of many pitching ideas elsewhere.

In 'Infernal Affairs' I got my first taste of Wong as surprisingly-slim, matured, and very solid actor - in a more traditional sense. Now I can't take my eyes off him for a whole other set of reasons, one of the best actors in HK as far as I am concerned, of those that I know anyway. Wong, Cheung, Ng; these guys all appear in Johnnie To's upcoming 'Exiled' too, and they're all something special in this film also.

On the surface, without a varying possibility of indifference or empathy, this film's a very traditional well-trodden path. Harry (or 'Harry-boy' as is subtitled) is a cop, 8 years in service and 4 of those undercover; this somehow becomes 8-years undercover in the script, and I think that's their slight mistake and not the subtitles, though I could be mistaken here. Busting, eventually Don Dark (local triad boss) then returning to duty in uniform post-award ceremony, Harry struggles with adjusting back to his true job. Sounds familiar? The tussle is with the blend in his identity, having played substantial roles in both sides of the law, coming to grips with cops who don't know whom he really is, committing crimes himself (unavoidably or through choice, it's potentially either or both), having friendships and relationships in one world and professional requirements in the other. Very familiar.

Now, what makes this a little different is the very solid fashion in which Lau manages to stick Harry in an increasingly difficult situation. Here's where the empathy issue comes in, because you're never necessarily going to that bothered by Harry's situations - if you've ever been in a predicament that feels tentative and perhaps isolates you from resolutions to such a situation, then you're going to feel dragged into the film increasingly over the brief 90-minutes running time as Harry's world closes in, he becomes isolate, torn, paranoid and in danger despite where he may feel he should be able to turn. If you're not the kind of person who has suffered that dilemma, and I can't say everyone is guaranteed to have done so, you should have a very good chance of catching the clever discussion of the differing aspects and could feel empathy as a result, though not to the same extent, I fear.

Harry's job as a policeman puts him in a situation where the transition from underworld to 'real world' is quick and appears to be relatively secure. The triad figures struggle with opportunities, it would seem, to tackle cops - do triads have an inability to carry guns? they always seem to carry long blades, not guns as far as I can tell - so the gun-toting police officer feels pretty secure from that perspective, and he has also temporarily knocked the wind out of local triad operations with the removal of the boss, Don Dark. Some triad folk clearly see the only side of Billy they've ever known, the friend and colleague that was tied to them through friendship more than anything else, and it denies the police status he has in returning to official duties. Other triads clearly think of him as a traitor, and are very vocal (to varying degreed, in increasing amounts) in that opinion when they see him going about his legitimate business. Internal Investigations automatically dictate that Harry undergoes initial tailing, following him around and increasing his natural paranoia, and he worries about the sympathy he feels towards those triad guys suffering from Lung's (Anthony Wong) hard-boiled tactics, his new apartment also makes his personal time particularly lonely.

As a curve, the story ramps up in complicating, though remaining clearly, literally on an edge. For me, Harry and Lung are a good example of a relationship clearly defined and interestingly two-sided in both halves. Harry's triad connections are convincing, his strong friendship with Mini-B particularly strong and important to the plot, as are his professional and personal desires to live the correct, law-abiding way. In one respect then, typically-modern cop drama that has an element of the very well-trodden to it, but the solid portrayal of the balance that curves up throughout the film works very well and leaves it fitting somewhere between pretty plain and something which is not quite fresh enough to perhaps cause major attention, as per To's astonishing 'Election' films. It is a strong study of what would otherwise usually be an element too hidden within a larger plot or as one part of a more complicated situation, and as an example of this particularly-familiar story idea works it's perhaps the clearest I've seen.

Watch the trailer here (streaming Windows Media).
Trailer at Youtube.
Order the DVD here.
This DVD from Universe Laser in HK is presented very well, looks great. The subtitles are near-perfect and a huge improvement on the poor subtitles you'll see on the trailer.