Final Victory Review
(Disclaimer: Reviewer readily admits limited knowledge of late 1980s Hong Kong cinema. Comments and corrections welcome.)
Flashes of inspiration appear like bolts of lightning throughout Final Victory. Too bad this 1987 romantic melodrama -- digitally remastered and recently released on DVD -- proves to be as generic as its English-language title.
You wouldn't think so from a quick look at the credits: Wong Kar-Wai as scriptwriter! Patrick Tam as director! Tsui Hark as gangster! Each was at an interesting point in their respective careers. Though the film flounders, it is precisely their participation that provides interest for hard-core Hong Kong cine-philiacs.
Bo (Tsui Hark) is a gang boss about to start a prison term. His younger brother Hung (Eric Tsang Chi-wai) is a bit of an embarrassment, never sticking up for himself. Nonetheless, he is Bo's only family, so Bo entrusts him with the responsibility of caring for his two lovers while he's away.
Hung's top priority is to keep Ping (Margaret Li) and Mimi (Loletta Lee) from finding out that Bo was a two-timer. But he is quickly trapped into trying to pay off Ping's large gambling debt, and must jet off to Japan in search of cash and the mysteriously missing Mimi. Ping tags along, and comedy hijinks ensue.
Much of the running time is spent on scenes that feel strung together from different movies. It's not just the smorgasbord of competing genres (broad comedy, heartfelt family drama, grand romantic gestures, brushes with tragedy, gangster fights, car gags), it's their arbitrary placement within the narrative. Too often the humor feels forced -- especially an overlong bedtime sequence wherein Hung bounces between two rooms because each of the women believe the other is his lover.
What works best are the colorful settings and the memorable growth of Mimi. She starts off in a dark, desperate place, and then comes to see that there are other ways to strike out on her own before finally taking decisive action. The ever-lurking threat of street gangsters suddently appearing is another narrative thread displaying a rather twisted view of honor.
Tsang developed greater dramatic abilities as the years passed. In Final Victory, though, he is limited to two basic expressions: wide-eyed bemusement or downcast sorrow. That's fine for the comic relief, but is a drag for the love story/family entanglement angles.
In a supporting role, Tsui generates great energy when he's yelling at his kid brother or his lovers, and maintains a properly menacing glower in each of his scenes. (He acted in this film in the year after he directed Peking Opera Blues and in the same year that he produced A Better Tomorrow II and A Chinese Ghost Story.) In a white suit and black shirt opened wide at the neck, he cuts a fine figure as a gangster.
Margaret Li is fine as the somewhat taller, more strident Ping, but Loletta Lee Lai Chun steals the show as Mimi. With her hair cut short, she's a lovely gamine with a feisty, independent spirit. The 21-year-old actress easily and convincingly navigates the changing moods of her character, and was nominated for a Golden Horse Award for her efforts.
Of all the talents involved in the picture, Patrick Tam Ka Ming is the most fascinating. Without knowing much about his background -- beyond his reputation as a member of the Hong Kong "New Wave" of the early 1980s and the attention generated by After This Our Exile, his recent return to the director's chair after an absence of 17 years -- what struck me were the colors and the camera angles.
Tam also served as art director. Contrasting primary colors often clash within shots. Those colors are sometimes reflective of the sets and locations, and sometimes the result of careful lighting. The color scheme adds a great deal of variety and looks quite good in the digitally remastered edition.
It's a bit disconcerting to see the actors looking directly into the camera, which happens several times in the first part of the film and then periodically during the remainder. Lacking rhyme or reason, the shots add to the off-kilter sensibility.
The uneven editing rhythms occasionally come together in splendid fashion, notably a lovely series of quick shots shared by Eric Tsang and Loletta Lee involving a cigarette, a shoe, a flip of a skirt, a taxi window, and a smile. It feels like one of those moments that couples recall years later as capturing "when we fell in love," and it's beautifully delivered.
Wong claimed that Tam made changes to what Wong considered his "best" script (per the book Hong Kong Babylon by Fredric Dannen and Barry Long), but the two continued to work together. Wong made his directorial debut with As Tears Go By in 1989.
The Fortune Star DVD looks good considering its age (ancient by normal Hong Kong print preservation standards). The original mono Cantonese track is included -- it sounds a bit like it was recorded in a room that echoed, but it was preferable to the other tracks on the disk (Cantonese DD 5.1 and DTS, Mandarin DD 5.1).
The English subtitles had a few minor mistakes, but were generally easy to read -- despite the small font size -- and well-timed. Traditional and simplified Chinese subtitles are also included.
The original four-minute theatrical trailer is a nice bonus. New, shorter trailers are provided for this film as well as Duel to the Death, Once Upon a Time in China III, and Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain. Two photo galleries round out the features.
Note that the disk is coded for Region 3 only.
RELATED LINKS
Patrick Tam's biography at School of Creative Media
YTSL review at Hong Kong Cinema - View from the Brooklyn Bridge
