Woh ping faan dim (1995)

Director:

Ka-Fai Wai

Writers:

Yun-Fat Chow (story)
Ka-Fai Wai (writer)

Release Date:

12 April 1995 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Western

Plot:

Set circa 1930, "The King of Killers", a one-man killing machine who, after his wife's murder, has decided to set up the "Peace Hotel"...

Plot Keywords:

Heroic Bloodshed | Legend

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Yun-Fat Chow	...	The Killer (as Chow Yun Fat)
Cecilia Yip	...	Shau Siu Man / Lam Ling
Ho Chin	...	Ting Moon
Shun Lau	...	Blindman
Annabelle Lau	...	Skinny
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gary Mak	...	Fook - guest at Peace hotel
Lawrence Ng
Chien-lien Wu	...	Cameo appearance

Also Known As:

He ping fan dian (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
Peace Hotel (Hong Kong: English title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 | South Korea:15 | Australia:M | Germany:18

Quotes:

The Killer: Put your trousers back on, before your willy catches a chill

Movie Connections:

References Django (1966)

Offensively trite rubbish

This contribution to the "Western" genre from Hong Kong is just about the most offensively poor film I've seen that actually had a budget. I don't know how much it cost to make (I'm guessing at a few million), but it was money down the toilet. I am an admirer of the work of Chow Yun Fat, both in Hong Kong and Hollywood, but I was shocked and disappointed to discover how low his standards are capable of dropping, as demonstrated by his heavy involvement in this shoddy piece of work (main actor and co-writer). Essentially, the story is of a part of wild China in/around early 20th c, in which a former gangster and mass-murderer reforms his life and builds the Peace Hotel, a refuge for all the area's disowned and hunted. This situation is maintained for 10 years, when a woman of dubious character turns up and claims refuge. However, she is at the centre of a plot to bring down the Peace Hotel, the owner, and all he stands for. Why is this a disastrous production? Where do I start.....The back-stories of the two main characters are treated in an overly sentimental way, the soundtrack throughout the film is irritating, the story didn't interest me, I found the pacing to be slow without being gripping, and most of the characters seemed to be one-dimensional, pointless, irritating and/or unlikeable. I also got the impression that there were gaps in the story in terms of explaining motives, but it may be that if I had taken more of an interest in the film I might have understood it better. Frankly, I was bored rigid after the first 30 minutes, and couldn't wait for it to end. Yawn.