Tian xia wu zei (2004)

Director:

Xiaogang Feng

Writer:

Xiaogang Feng (writer)

Release Date:

9 December 2004 (China)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

A con-team couple (Andy Lau & Rene Liu) head west after taking a city businessman for his BMW. But an encounter with a naive young carpenter travelling home with his life savings challenges their fate as thieves. |

Plot Keywords:

Egg Tricks | Bad Wig | Train Journey

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Andy Lau	...	Wang Bo
Rene Liu	...	Wang Li
You Ge	...	Uncle Bill
Baoqiang Wang	...	Sha Gen
Bingbing Li	...	Xiao Ye
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Biao Fu	...	General Manager Liu
Ka Tung Lam	...	Four-eyes
Fan Xu
Yong You	...	Number Two
Hanyu Zhang	...	Han
Ping Zhong	...	Policewoman

Also Known As:

A World Without Thieves (International: English title)

Runtime:

113 min | China:100 min

Country:

China | Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | Australia:M | Malaysia:U | Singapore:PG

Company:

Focus Films

Major Disappointment from talented crew

I have been a fan of Feng Xiaogang for quite some time, and of Ge You also - he is easily my favourite contemporary Chinese actor. However, this movie seems to miss the mark, in spite of the best efforts of talented actors Ge You, Rene Liu and Baoqiang Wang (from Blind Shaft). Whether Andy Lau acquitted himself well I could not judge, distracted as I was by the ridiculous wig he was wearing for most of the film.

The script sounds like a good idea, and on the whole believable, though the character of 'Dumbo' seems a bit too naive, even for a country bumpkin. The story was, at least, in the right spirit, and sufficiently melodramatic for such a 'holiday film'. The action sequences were well done, often highlighting the dexterous talent of the pickpockets.

What bothered me most, however, was the amount of shameless product placement - an assortment of brand names repeated in the credits. Feng Xiaogang has always tended towards commercialism, but oversteps the mark here. Perhaps the director should consider directing TV commercials as an outlet for this tendency.

In sum, this is a good-looking and mildly entertaining holiday film, with pretensions to depth, but too much commercialism to make it ring true.