Kidnap (1974)

Cheng Kang

Hong Kong

122 min, color, Mandarin (English subtitles)

Review © 2003 Branislav L. Slantchev

The artist at work	Lo Lieh, the cool gas station attendant

A surprisingly satisfying melodramatic thriller that tries very hard to make a moral point but somehow loses the high ground in the process, Kidnap is a complicated story on the trite Hong Kong theme: poverty and circumstance compel young people to resort to crime, with disastrous consequences for everyone involved. (For a very similar statement, see Chu Yuan's The Big Holdup.)

Hu Chin: seduction in 3,000 calories	Wouldn't you just love to go with him?

Just to make sure that nobody misses the point, the film opens ponderously with a statement that all similarities with real people are accidental, and then goes on to an ominous narrative that warns everyone that what follows is nothing less than a morality play. Voice-over narration never works well and in this case reminded me of The Brain That Wouldn't Die (or something similar that appeared on MST3K). Not just that, but the film opens with a flash-forward where the Wolves are chasing one of their members. The voice asks "Why?" and the film is the answer. It don't get any more pretentious than this.

You mean you're NOT a rich yuppie?	Contemplating the license plate implications

Lo Lieh is a lowly gas station attendant who meets Hu Chin at an amusement park. After throwing cartons of cigarettes at her fails to sweep her off her feet, he attempts another ruse, namely posing as a rich dandy. She, unabashedly in love with money and the easy life, goes out with him immediately. Unfortunately, even on their first date, his mask is exposed by his obnoxious boss Lau Dan. She abandons Lo, although it is not clear that she has not developed some feelings for him.

The stupidest thing a kidnapping victim can do	The inevitable result of the stupidest thing

What is a guy to do? Obviously, make money. How? Kidnap the son of a bitch who exposed him. So Lo recruits two friends, Fan Mei Sheng (who works as an "artist" gluing public hair on strippers) and Tung Lin (who is a disgruntled truck driver). They agree because Fan has a family to support and Tung has an old mother whom he does not want to disappoint. Whatever. They are joined by another acquaintance of theirs, Lin Wei Tu, who is a compulsive gambler, coward, and a general weasel. To their ruin, they decide to let him participate.

Unorthodox love confession	Yeah, there are thousands in our gang!

The kidnapping goes rather well but when they take Lau Dan to the forest, they manage to reveal their identities. The stupid victim makes the unforgivable mistake of grabbing a flashlight and then methodically illuminating every kidnapper's face. How is he going to credibly promise not to tell the police? He cannot, of course, and he dies with a shovel in his head. Lo decides to pursue the plan anyway, so they cut an ear off and mail it to Lau's dad (Ching Miao) and demand a ransom.

Cook something so his shit doesn't smell	Poor baby, he will cough up the dough, I promise

Ching is a tough guy, so it does not work. What to do? Kidnap the greedy bastard, of course, and the quarter does just that, with more preparation and greater success. They stick him in a small hole in the wall, feed him, give him literature, and even take care of his excrement. Quite the careful kidnappers. But it does not work. Lo finally loses his patience when he discovers that his lover Hu (who is in on the whole kidnapping thing since she's realized her love for him after all) is pregnant. So he threatens to cut Ching's ear off, which works wonderfully, and they get their dough.

I am rich and and I stupid as a brick	This ain't no water pistol, you prick

The problem is that the weakling Lin goes on a spending spree that attracts the attention of his loan shark (Chiang Nan), who quickly unravels the mystery of the source of this sudden wealth. Now the kidnappers are blackmailed but Chiang fails to appreciate their cunning and skills with shovels, and so ends up dead to make company to the already dead Lau. And when all ends seem to be finally tied, it all unravels because Lin steals money from Lo and panics, which forces the rest to kill him. Only they don't succeed.

Stop moaning and start digging	Fuck the Sandman, here's Cleaver-Guy

Once in the hands of the police, Lin begins singing like a nightingale and soon the cops are hot on the tracks of the other four. They snatch Tung at the ferry station, Lo at Hu's apartment, and Fan (after a brief shootout) at his own place. The trio ends up in prison, with death sentences quickly handed down by the ever efficient Hong Kong justice system. They spend their last days thinking about their loved ones. Tung is too ashamed to see his mother even for the last time, and the ever cheerful Fan tries to sound upbeat to his wife and kids. Lo rages believing that Hu has betrayed him again and does not want to come. Only she does, but she has miscarried after a fall and any movement causes her bleeding.

Hu Chin and Liu Wu-Chi	My cell is so much better than yours

The last minutes of the film are melodrama heaped miles high. Tung reads his mother's letter in which she blames herself for not raising him properly. He dies, full of remorse. For some reason, the director also kills of the mother by having her run over by a truck. Fan does not blame anyone but his situation, and dies full of regret that he'd never see his family again. His family burns lots of paper money to ensure that he'll have enough in the underworld. Lo dies full of anger at Hu. He never learns that she has made the trip, given a message for him, and, having begun bleeding again, has died on the pavement at the parking lot. Lo leaves this world unrepentant, unabsolved, and unhappy.

Dramatic split-screen shot	Lo Lieh, unhappy

We are then told that this is what happens to people who do bad things. In other words, even though these guys were really not so bad and many of the evil things they perpetrated were perhaps forced by inertia once given a start by their circumstances, still they retain full responsibility. So much is true and one hardly needs the moral narrative. On the other hand, it is not exactly clear that we should feel no pity for the characters, especially Lo's and Hu's, who may have done bad things but remained true to each other and in their own way did not deserve the bitter ending, dying separately, and in isolation.

Atmospheric hanging	Lo Lieh, very unhappy

The Celestial Pictures DVD is acceptable. The widescreen film transfer at 2.35:1 is non-anamorphic. Both Mandarin and Cantonese soundtracks are available, both in Dolby Digital mono. I only listened to the Cantonese track and it was very nice. The English subtitles are bright and readable, and mostly free of errors. There are very few extras, which include a photo gallery, talent files, and trailers. For fans of Lo Lieh (who plays wonderfully) and Hu Chin (who looks lovely), this is a good DVD to have.

November 24, 2003