The Big Holdup (1975)

Chu Yuan

Hong Kong

92 min, color, Mandarin (English subtitles)

Review © 2003 Branislav L. Slantchev

My Chu Yuan marathon continues with a contemporary criminal-social drama, a departure for the director who is better known for his romantic wuxia/fantasy films. This one has the usual ensemble cast, featuring Yueh Hua, Ching Li, Wang Chung, and Chen Kuan Tai in addition to the very young Danny Lee is one of his first more central roles. This film opens with a robbery, pretty violent in itself, but unlike an offering by Chang Cheh, continues in a much more subdued style, concentrating on characters and their motivations.

He shoots straight	Wang Chung and Yueh Hua on the run

Some have found the film to be a bimodal affair: a spike of violence at the beginning (the robbery, the betrayal, and the police chase) and another one at the end when everyone dies, with a lull in the middle that is considered boring. The middle part of the film is where each robber tells someone why he's sunk so far. Although sappy, unpersuasive, and somewhat melodramatic, this does round off the characterization, and squarely lays the blame for the crime away from its perpetrators.

Chen Kuan Tai and Danny Lee	Impromptu committee meeting

In fact, the five cut rather sympathetic anti-heroes. Chen Kuan Tai plays an ex-movie star who has lost his career and dreams when he got injured on the set. His sleazy and duplicitous producer cheats him out of any income, and his expensive girlfriend leaves with the furniture. He wants to get his house back, so he needs money. Danny Lee is from a really broken home, has starving siblings, an abusive alcoholic step-father, and an uncaring mother. He wants money. Wang Chung is a drug-addict, deep in debt to a local loan shark. He needs money. Yueh Hua is his brother and agrees to help. Ling Yun is an ex-race car driver who is in love with a singer dying of cancer. He wants to take her on a trip around the world before she dies. He needs money.

Gratuitous shot of Ching Li	What? Get a job? Me???

All these are brought together by a guy (Tien Ching), who works for a boss no one has seen. After the successful robbery, the gang is supposed to split in different directions but is betrayed and the police begin a hunt for the five. The traitor is himself betrayed and murdered by his boss, who turns out to be the Police Inspector's son (Tsung Hua). This is the setup, and the rest of the film deals with the efforts to apprehend the gangsters as they each face their demons.

Cigarettes are cool	Not singing in the rain

Danny Lee meets with a spoiled upper-class girl who longs for "love" (read: adventure) and decides to run off with him. They are forced (by their good natures) to help a local couple they had taken hostage, which leads to their capture by the police. However, having decided there is nothing for them to live for, they commit suicide by proxy. It is never made clear exactly how Danny Lee is going to help his family by dying. He could have gone to jail and his new flame could have given some financial support to his siblings. Instead, they selfishly choose to opt out of life. In the end, they show themselves desperate but not caring for others.

Gratuitous shot of Ching Li	Ching Li and Yueh Hua

Yueh Hua's predicament is quite different. His addict brother has become a real burden on him and his beautiful young wife. Yet, instead of dumping the louse, he risks everything to help him, much to his wife's consternation. She cannot understand why he feels a compulsion to do this, but I do, and it's perfectly real. He even plans to turn himself in after paying off the debt, in effect sacrificing himself for his no-good brother. But the brother dies, and Yueh Hua fulfills his promise by surrendering to the police. His wife is the one pathetic victim who, through no choice of her own, is left without a family and without a husband. The sibling bond was simply stronger than the husband-wife bond. I wonder how Confucius had these ranked.

Ling Yun, moody as usual	She comes (and goes) with the house

Ling Yun's sacrifice is for love, this time for his girlfriend. He also plans to turn himself in after having used the money to take her on a world trip. Why he chooses to die is a mystery and is never adequately explained unless he simply feels unable to live without her. But why he cowardly told her that she is dying of cancer (she apparently had not been aware of that) then becomes a real problem in need for explanation. He seems to justify his own behavior by dumping on her the bad news. Not well thought-out by the writer.

Suicidal Tendencies	He was like this when I found him, I swear

And then finally we have to deal with the criminal mastermind, the Police Inspector's son, who resents his Dad's straight nature which has prevented him (and his family) from enjoying the riches of corruption. Since he cannot convince his Dad to accept bribes, he decides to get some money in a rather unconventional way to secure their future bliss abroad. He, of course, would sooner or later have to face his Dad, who will have to make a choice between integrity and blood. And here's the most dramatic moment. Instead of arresting his son or killing the witnesses, his Dad (Tung Lin) shoots him, preferring to murder his offspring with his own hands to suffering eternal disgrace as an officer of the law. A strong statement, perhaps a bit unrealistic, but strong nevertheless.

El fugitive es muerto	Tsung Hua shot in the stomach

In the end, Tung Lin demonstrates what everyone should have realized earlier: that one simply should not succumb to pain when the choice is between that and one's own integrity. This ending instantly makes a complete mockery of the supposed tragic fates of all other characters and subverts the tone of the film entirely.

There is some rather good acting and especially moody scenes. Chu Yuan, who can stage a fight like everyone else (or even better), actually excels other studio hacks at the time with his mastery of characterization and sense of drama. He also uses sly methods to inject additional layers of interpretation that may escape viewers initially but then give the film color and flavor generally lacking in other straightforward dramas.

The Celestial Pictures DVD is very nice. The anamorphic widescreen picture at 2.35:1 is very clean and not as dark as it may appear from the screen caps on this page. The Mandarin soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital mono, and the English subtitles are quite readable and error-free. The only extras are the usual picture gallery, talent files, and trailers. Definitely a recommended buy for this overlooked entry in Chu Yuan's oeuvre.

November 11, 2003