Exodus

The movie industry in Hong Kong has been centered around genre films fitting a specific mold for years. Action flicks, comedies and martial arts spectacles are what HK cinema is all about. Finding interesting work outside of these genre clichés is not an easy job, so when I came across Ho-Cheung Pang a couple of years ago, I was hooked.

Exodus is his sixth film and one that is without a doubt a valuable and interesting addition to his body of work.

Ho-Cheung Pang is known for decorating his comedies with a darker edge. Something that is an absolute rarity in Hong Kong cinema, setting it aside from hundreds of fluffy HK comedies. But Pang is more than a comedy director. His films are littered with references to classic directors and classic films. And he has a very keen eye for colors and angles. While his earlier efforts were fun to watch, it's only with Isabella that he took a swing at a true masterpiece. With Exodus, Pang proves it was more than a lucky shot, by blending the atmosphere and skills seen in Isabella with the wit and humor of his earlier films.

Exodus is pretty weird, but the key to the film is already hidden in the first scene. While slowly panning back from an Elisabeth II painting, we see a couple of frogmen beating up a criminal in a police station hallway, set to a soothing classical score. One of the most effective opening scenes I've ever seen, blending the themes and capturing the atmosphere of the entire film.

Exodus is a slow, understated film, both in narration, humor, acting and visualization. The camera is pretty static or slowly pans across scenes. The film is pretty lush as Pang paid a lot of attention to the use of color and the framing, but people expecting to see an exciting HK police drama are probably at the wrong address. Complementing the stylish visuals is a subdued soundtrack composed of classical piano pieces, slowing down the pace even more.

The film stars Simon Yam, old veteran and classy actor in a role that suits him well. He lays down a great understated role, showing little emotion and taking things as they come along. Still, at the end of the film I wondered if a guy like Anthony Wong wouldn't have made it just that little bit better. Still, Yam's performance works wonders and doesn't miss it's effect.

But the thing that makes Exodus stand out is the combination of the subdued atmosphere and its nutcase storyline. Exodus is completely nonsensical, sending Yam after a case where women conspire in toilet rooms to kill men. The apparent seriousness with which the theme is handled just begs for laughs, a feeling that is only enhanced in it's final 10 minutes. It's easy to miss the humor, or simply be put off by the whole setup, but I found it quite refreshing and simply lots of fun.

Ho-Cheung Pang is a director I'll keep following closely as he's able to keep his work refreshing. Exodus is a hard film to recommend as you should like the art-house aesthetics and you're required to pick up on the humor, if not this film is probably a serious drag. But if you do, it will be a worthwhile experience, guaranteed. 4.0*/5.0*

At the denotative level, the film comes with an explicit theme of females' distrust on the other sex. At the connotative level, it is loaded with a wider exploration on the disequilibrium of the sexes. Set in a story line of suspected conspiracy of the feminine gender, it is a film noir with a mild degree of suspense and tension. Director Pang adopts a multiplicity of film language and cinematographic techniques alongside the restricted narrative. Pang deliberately leaves time for the audience to self-explicate the narrative and the leads' staging by use of, among others, freeze action, slow camera movement, slow cutting, lugubrious piano key strikes, subdued blue lighting and sound off, all in consonance with the tone of the story. The film is particularly slow-paced and consequently relatively hypnotic in the first half. The exposition on the lead's (Simon Yam) personality is unnecessarily long and the portray on his intrinsic psychology seems to be pointless, weak and, after all, in vanity. Pang also uses discontinuous and elliptical editing for narrative purposes. The former renders several scenes mildly undecipherable before the entire narrative is shown, although this is probably an ostentatious narrative device of Pang to intensify the audience's brain working process in a psychology loaded product. Creation of sparse mise-en-scenes together with the infrequency of dialogues further establishes a mood of alienation among characters in addition to the story's mystery mantle. If termed a comedy, the film is a noir comedy. Not surprisingly, it is not associated with logic, nor are the lines of thoughts behind the theme reasonably articulative as the screenplay is from Goo Bi GC. It is ontologically more an exquisite, eccentric and cult film aimed at a minority market.

Let's skip the formalities and build up, Exodus is a capable addition to Hong Kong's minimal catalogue of conspiratorial psychedelia, and even though it also stars Simon Yam, it actually gets the job done very well, unlike his bigger release from last year, Eye in the Sky.

Yam returns to his cop roots for another foray, but here we have one of the city's more recognizable actors in a decidedly indie release that's not very well known and has been given none of the limelight treatment many lesser releases have received.

Exodus is a tense, paranoid affair with an undercurrent of madness that's very subtle. There's nothing overwhelming about the story or action, but after watching the whole thing you'll have to reflect and conclude it was well worth the time and effort.

So, we have Simon Yam as a cop again. Sure, but not the glamorous type he's done in many instances in the past, but rather a regular beat walker of twenty years, with apparently no ambition and even less sympathy from his superiors. This Sgt. Tsim happens to be married to a wealthy young woman (Annie Liu from Ah Sou), complete with a mother in law that's quite the nag, going on and on about how a real man should have his own business, etc.

Tsim (full name Tsim Kin-Yip, which probably has more than one meaning if you ask the filmmakers) is posted to suburban Tai Po, an area that offers several interestingly desolate and rundown location opportunities. One evening, or night, Tsim takes over a deposition from another cop, only to realize he's happened on a corker: alleged sex maniac Kwan Ping Man (excellent Nick Cheung) was arrested for some peeping tom action, but claims to be investigating a wide conspiracy by women to kill all men.

As ludicrous as this may sound, Tsim immediately warms to the notion, and begins to look into matters. He also starts to notice a variety of clues and other suspicious occurrences around him, a gradual process the movie does very well. There's almost no drama – Exodus is about subtlety, and this it achieves marvelously. The transition into paranoia and conspiracy-spotting is seamless.

I won't spoil it for you, but there are a few minor surprises along the way. The main thing here is the viable mood and very flowing storytelling that Exodus pulls off. It's a rarity in Hong Kong these days, and in fact has always been: for the surreal, one always had to turn to the mainland or Taiwan, HK has always been almost entirely about the fast and the cashious, even in its movies. But when this one opens and what you get are a bunch of barely-clothed guys beating up a hapless victim with hammers while wearing goggles and snorkels, well, you can't help but nod the nod of warm acceptance.

Plus, we also have the long-awaited return of leggy actress Irene Wan, who's on board and carries out her duties well.

Director Edmond Pang (credited as Pang Ho-Cheung) has delivered the goods, making sure the film features a multitude of elements to ensure multiple viewings become warranted: for example, this reviewer would like to know why there's so much eating going on in Exodus? Seriously, of its ninety minutes, at least ten are spent taking in food.

Go figure it out – it'll be rewarding.