Old Fish (China) (Variety Review)

[dleedlee]

Old Fish / Qian jun yi fa
(China)

A Longjiang Film Studio, Tianjin Film Studio presentation of a Longjiang Film Studio, Tianjin Film Studio, Heilongjiang Province Police Dept. production. (International sales: Creative Artists Agency, Beijing.) Produced by Ren Huanqi, Gao Qunshu, Liu Tao. Executive producers, Lou Dongyi, Han Hongfei. Directed by Gao Qunshu. Screenplay, Lan Jinglin.

With: Ma Guowei, Pan Xingyi, Chi Qiang, Lan Jinglin, Zhou Gang, Gu Erli, Han Dong, Huang Jinjian, Song Wenchao, Yu Xiuhua, Lin Hong, Zhang Huimin, Zhang Jian.
(Mandarin dialogue)

After his offbeat take on war crimes with "Tokyo Trial" (aka "International Military Tribunal Far East"), mainland helmer Gao Qunshu comes out of the box with an even more original idea in sophomore feature "Old Fish." Marbled with mordant humor, this realistically observed drama about an aging bomb-disposal worker is both written and largely played by real-life cops. Drawing much more heavily on his TV drama background than "Trial" did, but still very cinematic, pic more than confirms Gao as a helmer to watch. Titled copped the Jury Grand Prix and actor award for non-pro Ma Guowei at the Shanghai fest.

A former army engineer now working for the Harbin police, Yu Liqing (Ma), dubbed "Old Fish," has a nagging wife (Gu Erli) and a son (Song Wenchao) whom he's trying to get onto the police force before his own time expires. When a time bomb is found in a chicken-processing factory, and there's no time to call in experts from Beijing, Yu is asked by his superiors to dismantle the device.

The underlying joke throughout the whole film is that Yu is simply a meat-and-potatoes, largely do-it-yourself engineer, not a highly trained bomb specialist. In company with pert young female cop Hu Xiaolin (Pan Xingyi) and other shambolic colleagues, Yu manages to disarm the device; back at the office, he finds its construction is cleverer than he thought.

In the midst of celebrating his success with colleagues, news comes of a double time bomb, also in a slum area, and Yu is drafted again. Next day, even more bombs are found, ever more elaborate. With the cops still clueless as to the perps' identities and the reason for planting them, Yu feels he may be running out of luck.

Though the script's structure is necessarily repetitive as the plot continually ups the ante, the performances by the central players, including scripter Lan Jinglin as Capt. Wang, keep the dramatic focus on character rather than countdown. Grizzled Ma is terrific in the central role, improvising with everything from a fishing rod to his own gut feeling, while his baffled colleagues stand around bitching or looking helpless.

Pic's gruff northern humor and wintry setting (with everyone muffled in greatcoats and other thick clothing) also play against the usual slickness of genre thrillers. With its unfussy look and feel for place, "Old Fish" is essentially a character drama that happens to be about a bomb-disposal worker, though helmer Gao's offhand approach to the material does generate its own tension as audience identification grows.

Luo Pan's grungy-looking lensing is largely handheld, and pic uses no music. Film is also known under the more generic but less suitable title "Nick of Time."

Camera (color), Luo Pan; editor, Yang Hongyu; art director, Xiao Haihang; sound (Dolby Digital), Liu Linzong, Zhu Xiaojia; visual designer, Liu Hongman; police advisers, Lan, Yu Xiangqing; assistant director, Hong Biao. Reviewed at Shanghai Film Festival (competing), June 19, 2008. (Also in Hong Kong Film Festival.) Running time: 112 MIN.


http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117937 ... id=31&cs=1

[dleedlee]

Old Fish
BOTTOM LINE: A hero who applies fishing skills to bomb detonation has viewers hooked.

June 26, 2008
By Maggie Lee
Shanghai International Film Festival

SHANGHAI -- Two days in the life of a rank-and-file cop suddenly called upon to detonate 11 bombs make for an absolutely riveting police thriller in "Old Fish." Top-rated TV director Gao Qunshu presents the affecting portrait of an ordinary old trooper, whose unsung heroism is rewarded through a fateful confluence of events. The film deservedly won Grand Jury Prix and Best Actor award in Shanghai International Film Festival's main competition. The story could be transplanted to overseas settings of rural backwaters, but an unglamorous cast and humdrum background may not arouse much foreign sales interest.

The title is the nickname of protagonist, Yu (Ma Guowei), whose hobby is catching puny fish in frozen rivers to make a stewed delicacy. As a cop, he is himself small fry in a small pond. His skill with fish hooks and knowledge of stray World War II landmines become handy when a string of unidentified time bombs are found scattered around town.


Tension is allowed to rise naturally from the situations as Yu tackles his targets like Hercules' 12 labors. The slap-dash way the explosives are cobbled together is matched by the primitive detonation methods he employs. There's also comic relief, when he uses his bargaining power to get showers upgraded each time the stakes are raised.

The crime scenes, all real locations, are highly atmospheric. The first is an illegal chicken factory, dank with dripping tanks where foul carcasses float about -- a scenario to trigger bird flu fears. Further sequences are choreographed around tenements with rickety stairs, junk-filled courtyards and roofs with loosening tiles. Human vulnerability juxtaposed to inhumane risks creates edge-of-your seat suspense.

Yu's bravery is underpinned by personal motive: to help his son get into police academy. This desperate hope adds poignant social realism to an ending which is unexpected yet credible.

Gao Qunshu observes with a photo-journalist's eye the cold, wizened Heilongjiang landscape on the Chinese-Russian border, where life is a heavy trawl even without bomb scares. The cast, including knock-out lead Ma, are all policemen from that municipality. They out-do seasoned actors.

Longjian Film Studio, Tianjian Film Studio present/a Heilongjiang Province Police production

Cast: Ma Guowei, Hu Xiaolin, Pan Xingyi, Chi Qiang, Lan Jinglin, Gu Erli.

Director: Gao Qunshu.
Screenwriter: Lan Jinglin.
Producer: Ren Huanqi
Executive producers: Fan Zhansheng, Sun Yusheng.
Director of photography: Luo Pan.
Production designer: Xiao Haihang.
Costume designers: Liu Hong, Li Li.
Editor: Yang Hongyu.
Sales: Creative Artists Agency/Tianjin Film Studio.
No rating, 113 minutes.

Hollywood Reporter