3 Extremes II (2002)
"Saam gaang" (original title)

Memories: A woman wakes up on a street without memory. A husband cannot remember why his wife left him. The woman wanders the streets trying to contact the only phone number she has on her.... See full summary »

Directors:

Peter Chan, Kim Jee-Woon,

Writers:

Teddy Chan (story), Matt Chow (screenplay),

Stars:

Hye-su Kim, Bo-seok Jeong, Suwinit Panjamawat

6 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Hye-su Kim	...	Wife (segment "Memories")
Bo-seok Jeong	...	Husband (segment "Memories")
Suwinit Panjamawat	...	Gaan (segment "The Wheel")
Leon Lai	...	Yu (segment "Going Home")
Eric Tsang	...	Wai (segment "Going Home")
Eugenia Yuan	...	Hai'er (segment "Going Home")
Ting-Fung Li	...	Cheung (segment "Going Home")
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kanyavae Chatiawaipreacha	...	Nuan (segment "The Wheel")
Jeong-won Choi	...	Doctor (segment "Memories") (as Jung Woo Choi)
Pornchai Chuvanon	...	Plew (segment "The Wheel")
Anusak Intasorn	...	Im (segment "The Wheel")
Jung-Won Jang	...	Eun-Ji (segment "Memories")
Pattama Jangjarut	...	Nan (segment "The Wheel")
Sung-Keun Jee	...	Taxi Driver (segment "Memories")
Savika Kanchanamas	...	Sa-Ing (segment "The Wheel")

Storyline

Memories: A woman wakes up on a street without memory. A husband cannot remember why his wife left him. The woman wanders the streets trying to contact the only phone number she has on her. The husband see's her ghost in his apartment and discovers her mutilated body in a large bag in his home (Korea). The Wheel: Extravagant cursed puppets cause fires, deaths, physical pain and a little girl to be possessed (Thailand). Going Home: A father goes in search of his missing son and is abducted by a strange man. The strangers wife has died of cancer three years prior but he keeps her in his apartment under the impression she will 'wake up' (Hong Kong).

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Plot Keywords:

memory | going home | cancer | hong kong | hair covering face | 

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Taglines:

When two just ain't enough!

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, disturbing images, brief sexuality and some nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Applause Pictures [hk]

Country:

Hong Kong South Korea Thailand

Language:

Korean English Mandarin Thai Cantonese

Release Date:

12 July 2002 (Thailand)

Also Known As:

3 Extremes II

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$433,400 (Hong Kong) (16 August 2002)

Gross:

$910,479 (Hong Kong) (30 August 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Applause Pictures, B.O.M. Film Productions Co., Cinemasia

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min 129 min (DVD)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Released in America as "3...Extremes II" to capitalize on the success of Three... Extremes.

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Connections

Followed by Three... Extremes (2004)

User Reviews

Save the last for the best

Korean, Thailand and Hong Kong filmmakers have a brilliant idea: make a omnibus of three short horror films featuring the best of the the three nation's film crews. The result is three short films, each about 40 minutes, which delve into the theme of death and beyond.

I'm not so sure what I liked about the first short though. Coolly shot, "Memories", directed by Korean director Kim Ji-Wun, is the sparest of the three; it starts with a ultra-slow-moving zoom which focuses on a man on a sofa, who have terrible visions of his wife being killed, before showing us the woman in question who has suffered amnesia making her way back. All sounds very right in synopsis of course, but I had a hard time making head or tails of the story from a first watch. The problem with "Memories" is that it does not have enough of a story; although the director plays with psychological scares and shock tactics and the short is well directed from this point of view, the denouement is hardly worth the fallout and ends up feeling more cryptic than satisfying.

Thailand's entry "The Wheel" is far more conventional, but makes a good story. Essentially, it tells the tale of some puppets which have been suspected to be put a curse on. Very fine cinematography, good pacing, even if the story is nothing to boast about, but the production values and commitment makes this a worthwhile take - and furthermore with some very exotic shots of traditional Thailand puppetry art.

But the finest of the three has to be Peter Chan's "Going Home", a truly macabre and chilling exploration of a man's obsession with his wife. Christopher Doyle's cinematography is superb, but equally outstanding is Peter Chan's direction, which is assured but never outlandish, and slowly sucks us in into a psychological drama which is both compelling and dare one say, poignant. The acting is first rate too, particularly from Leon Lai. My only qualm is in the exposition, which seems too long, and contains too many loose ends, making it difficult to make sense whether it is a realistic world or a paranormal one it is depicting. Nonetheless, this must be one of the best horror tales to come from Hong Kong. If anything, "Three" is worth seeing for this segment alone.