Treasure Hunt (1994)

Jeffrey Lau

Hong Kong

105 min, color, Cantonese (English subtitles)

Review © 2003 Branislav L. Slantchev

Roy Chiao and Chow Yun-Fat on marriage	Crack CIA agent

This is a strange mix of romance, fantasy, comedy, drama, and explosive action, in other words a typical Jeffrey Lau film that simply cannot make up its mind what it wants to be. For a change, however, and helped in no small degree by the charms of the two leads beautifully photographed by Peter Pau, this film works on just about every level. I laughed, I cried, and I rooted for the good guy when he shot up the barn. Well-done and for some odd reason very neglected Chow Yun-Fat film that shines with laughs and the stunning face of Wu Chien-lien.

Chow Yun-Fat tricks Philip Kwok	Cracked CIA agent

Chow Yun-Fat is a CIA agent, whose cover is being a handsome professor at the university, where he is a chick magnet. Being a chick magnet is a hard calling, especially if she's supposed to have very slender fingers (so he can slip that special ring on) and say "Bon Appetite" to everyone prior to eating. As one can imagine, not many girls in modern America can meet either of these criteria. None seem to be able to meet both. So in his spare time, Chow kills lots of people but for a good cause.

Snow at the temple	The courtyard with the tree

Then he is sent on assignment to mainland China, where he is supposed to retrieve some great treasure. Only he is not told what treasure this is. He is smuggled in by a smuggler (Chin Han), who, not very surprisingly --- after all, this is still Communist China --- turns out to be working for the secret police. In fact, he turns out to be a captain there. But Captain Chiu is not the guy who poses to be Tung Ling, who poses to be the smuggler. It is actually his twin brother, who has kidnapped Chiu and assumed his identity, including his undercover one.

Wu Chien-lien is the National Treasure	Don't mess with the supernatural

Why would anyone impersonate a secret service person's cover? To sell the treasure to the highest bidder, of course. Naturally, this turns out to involve the CIA itself, including Chow's very best partner in undercover shoot-outs Michael, who, however, is garroted before he can say "Mei" in Mandarin. But I am getting ahead of the script. Back to Chow, who is stationed at Shaolin Temple, where the monks don't really like him all that much. Either that, or they are in the habit of whacking every visitor on the head, which cannot be very good for tourism.

I know I am handsome, but I hate to admit it	Potting experiment gone awry

While at the temple (and still without a clue about the treasure he is hunting), Chow gets acquainted with Mei (Wu Chien-lien), who is kept under lock and key because she is crazy. As it happens, she is not quite crazy although she does have the ability to make eggs go through solid wood. It gradually dawns on everyone except Chow that she is, in fact, the national treasure because of her supernatural abilities. The bad Chin Han has kidnapped her from the research facility and placed her at the Temple so he can sell her to the highest bidder. To get the monks to cooperate, he has also kidnapped their Chief Abbot, which is also convenient because he can keep his brother company at the shed where he has them both stashed.

Flying through the snowy night	If this is a dream, don't pinch me

Unaware of all this, Chow and Wu slowly fall in love with each other, just as Chow begins to win over the monks with his advanced American charm and common-sense ways. The scenes with Chow and Wu sharing moments in the snow at night are magic, very nicely done, very subtle, with lots of feeling, and not many words. When he asks her to make his fist huge, he inadvertently thinks of flowers instead and has a nice wreath appear on his head. The little boy who is secretly watching them gets flowers all over his body, a walking pot, so to speak. The monks scramble to find out what's going on, and the couple escapes by gliding through the forest in the air.

Gratuitous shot of Wu Chien-lien	CYF messing with Gordon Liu Chia Hui

Then Chow introduces the monks to the wonders of sushi and Coca Cola, then baseball, although he does cheat by having Wu use her powers once in a while to ensure victory. We are now at a point where romance and comedy have made us completely forget the darker side of the plot. Indeed, Chow seems very sincerely in love, and Wu cannot be faking anything. But then Chow accidentally notices Chin, whom he takes for the real McCoy, and follows him to the headquarters of the secret police.

Her face lit up: Chow hasn't left	Cracking baseball

All hell breaks loose when he sees his friend killed, and is himself shot twice in the chest. He manages to escape and a friendly cab driver (Philip Kwok) delivers him back to the temple. It turns out that Philip is an expelled monk, and he uses the opportunity to expose the dealings of the current abbot Gordon Liu. The battle, and what a battle it is, mostly in mid-air, propping themselves against two vertical walls. Unbelievable.

Shaolin Baseball	In sickness and in health...

Soon, the baddies show up and demand to see Chow, whom they suspect in infiltrating and getting shot; in short in exactly what he did. But he turns out to have no marks on his body because Wu has healed him. Not easily fooled, Chin makes a bargain with her: is she would agree to be sold quietly, he would not harm Chow. She accepts and in a very moving scene listens to Chow as he waxes eloquent about their future life in the U.S. She never tells him a word.

Gratuitous shot of Wu Chien-lien	The two abbots about to face off

And so, when Chow is about to leave and take her with him, he finds out that he is late and that the bad commies have taken her already. But they did not count on the crack CIA agent, who tracks them down and initiates a rather spectacular shoot-out, in which he blows up several buildings, and riddles several dozen commies with bullets. In the meantime, Philip has rescued the real commie, who shows up with a contingent of the military to subdue everyone and assume control of the national treasure.

Chow Yun-Fat in what he does best	Anyone doing this to Chien-lien must DIE

Chow and Wu are forced to say their farewells and she is driven off back to the research facility. This would have been the perfect place to stop, but Jeffrey Lau, never known for great subtlety and always pandering to the demands of the audience, delivers the happy ending that makes the film much less poignant and much more melodramatic. After several years, Wu loses her supernatural powers, and is released from the facility. She meets Chow and they (apparently) live happily ever after.

Gratuitous shot of Wu Chien-lien	The long farewell

An altogether surprisingly satisfying film, with very moving scenes, excellent acting, and superb cinematography, Treasure Hunt is recommended for any fan of this sort of films. I have the old Mei Ah DVD (now out of print in favor of the remastered DTS version, which you should get). This one comes with a soft and somewhat scratched 1.85:1 non-anamorphic widescreen transfer, and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks in both Mandarin and Cantonese. The English subtitles are satisfactory. There are no extras to speak of apart from trailers and talent files.

November 24, 2003