Daai si gin (2004)

Director:

Johnnie To

Writers:

Hing-Ka Chan (written by) &
Tin-Shing Yip (written by)

Release Date:

2004 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama

Plot:

When an ambulatory TV news unit live broadcasts the embarrassing defeat of a police battalion by five bank robbers in a ballistic showdown...

Plot Keywords:

Police | TV | Camera | Telephone | Police Officer

Awards:

5 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Richie Ren	...	Yuen (as Richie Jen)
Kelly Chen	...	Commissioner Rebecca Fong
Nick Cheung	...	Inspector Cheung
Siu-Fai Cheung	...	Eric Yeung (as Cheung Siu Fai)
Shiu Hung Hui	...	Hoi (as Hui Siu Hung)
Suet Lam	...	Yip (as Lam Suet)
Yong You	...	Chun (as You Yong)
Haifeng Ding	...	Long (as Ding Hai Feng)
Haitao Li	...	Chung (as Li Hai Tao)
Simon Yam	...	Asst. Commissioner C.K. Wong
Maggie Siu	...	Grace Chow (as Maggie Shiu)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Chi Wai Wong	...	Wong
Wah Wo Wong	...	White Hair

Also Known As:

Breaking News (Hong Kong: English title) (Philippines: English title)
Da shi jian (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

Runtime:

Hong Kong:90 min | Argentina:90 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | Philippines:88 min (cut)

Country:

Hong Kong | China

Language:

Cantonese | Mandarin | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 | Australia:M | Malaysia:18SG | Hungary:14 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Hong Kong:IIB | South Korea:15 | France:U (with warning) | Singapore:PG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Argentina:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud)

Company:

Media Asia Films

Goofs:

Continuity: Just after the opening shootout, Cheung's MP5 has a flashlight attached under the muzzle. Later, when the police are chasing the bad guys on foot, the flashlight has disappeared.

Movie Connections:

References Finding Nemo (2003)

Interesting take on the crime-caper genre

When a gang escapes from the police and some reporters get the whole incident on tape there is an outcry towards the competence of the police force. Looking for a chance to redeem themselves the police once again track down the gang in an apartment building and stage a real-TV type of event with hundreds of cameras to show the city of Hong Kong that they can do their job properly. Things get interesting when the crooks fire back with their own video of the incident and it is also revealed that there is not one gang in the building, but two.

From the opening 7 or so minute scene that has no cuts and culminates in a shootout to the unpredictability of the rest of the movie this is film that really grabs your attention as if itself were a piece of "breaking news." Interesting is the fact that the "breaking news" almost breaks the reputation of the police. The ability of the media to get information literally everywhere in the blink of an eye is given an interesting commentary in that it can hurt the police as much as a raging shootout. And how can anyone, in such a hectic and tiresome line of work, be able to do anything correctly or according to some procedure if they have everyone else around them breathing down on their neck? It is possible when your success rate is high, but the moment you fail you are treated with a badgering as this film demonstrates.

All in all, this is more a film about the media then it is about the police. The media are in the background throughout and the cops and crooks are the main characters, but it is the effect of an information hungry media that essentially is the driving force for the events in the film. The film's use of news-like footage is another thing - you want to know and see what is going to happen next, but it is that precise constant peering over the shoulder that hinders the police in doing their job. That makes for an interesting take on the crime-caper genre with the traditional drives like greed and corruption almost totally set aside. 8/10

Not rated (yet at least), but contains R level violence.