Daisy (2006)

Director:

Wai-keung Lau

Writer:

Jae-young Kwak (writer)

Release Date:

9 March 2006 (South Korea)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A cop. A criminal. A flower.

Plot:

"Daisy" is a story about the inevitable showdown between a detective and a killer who fall in love with the same woman...

Plot Keywords:

Male Female Relationship | One Word Title | Netherlands

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Gianna Jun	...	Hye-young (as Ji-hyun Jun)
Woo-sung Jung	...	Park Yi
Sung-jae Lee	...	Jeong Woo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sara Bernardo Aires	...	Prostitute
David Chiang	...	Cho
Ho-jin Jeon	...	Detective Jang
Dion Lam	...	Yun Joon-ha

Also Known As:

Deiji (South Korea)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

South Korea | Hong Kong

Language:

Korean | Mandarin | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Basic Pictures

Encouraging effort, but doesn't quite hit the mark

Daisy (데이지) Jeon Ji-hyun, Jung Woo-sung, Lee Sung-jae Dir: Andrew Lau - 2006 - Korea / Hong Kong / Netherlands

Hye-young (Jeon Ji-hyun) is a painter in Amsterdam who looks after her grandfather's antique shop during the week and earns extra money by being a street painter during the weekend. It's through her painting that she meets Jeong-woo (Lee Sung-jae), an Interpol cop who is chasing a criminal, but keeps Hye-young in the dark about his real work. Meanwhile, Hye-young is dying to meet the man who leave flowers on her doorstep every day, and built a bridge over a stream for her when she once fell in. Little does she know that he's really a contract killer, Park-yi (Jung Woo-sung), and a shy man, who has fallen for her.

If I were to super-critical, Daisy unfortunately didn't carry the strongest script for me, despite what appeared to be a fantastic concept. A few plot flaws spoilt the cleverness of some of the scenes, and generally, it lacked some of the sophistication I'd expect from a Korean melodrama. This was compounded by some over-acting, which left a feeling that much of the realism was lost from the movie. However, that would be the super-critical view, as there were some positives.

This is one of the rare romantic movies for acclaimed director, Andrew Lau, who famed for his fantastic thriller, Infernal Affairs. With that background, much could be expected from Lau, and this was one challenge that would test his versatility as a director. One of the outstanding features of Infernal Affairs was the cinematography, and Lau has transferred it to this movie using some superb camera angles to add to the visual beauty and mood of the film.

Overall, I did enjoy the film, although I did think that it could be better, given the brilliance of Lau's previous film. However, Lau has done well with a different script and I think he has proved himself as one of the best directors in Hong Kong mainstream cinema at the moment. One with some nice flowers.

6/10