The Adventurers

The Adventurers is probably the last film Ringo Lam makes in Hong Kong for a while. Like so many filmmakers in the former British colony, he finds it better to be on the safe side: when The People's Republic of China takes the command, it might be preferable to watch the events from a distance. This has involved moving to the US, where he has made a film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme; fellow filmmakers, such as John Woo and pretty soon Tsui Hark too, have also made such a film. Obviously, writers of the Hong Kong genre have the ambition to prove their ability to work within the American film industry, which makes such a film compulsory.In the US, John Woo has quickly become an established name; it has not been as easy for Ringo Lam. However, this changed in 1993-94 when it became known among film consumers that Lam's dynamic thriller, City of Fire, has had a strong influence on Quentin Tarantino's first feature, Reservoir Dogs. It is not difficult to spot the similarities, however, these do not take away the originality of Reservoir Dogs; both directors are very disparate when it comes to form. It is easy to understand Tarantino's great admiration for Ringo Lam. It might be that Lam does not have Woo's talent for explosive action scenes that almost take the form of ballet; neither do his characters possess the pathos and the often tragic stature that you see in Woo's protagonists-especially in the actor Chow Yan-Fat, Lam's characters are more morally corrupt and ambivalent; they prefer to go further than necessary. And the humorous glimpses that adds colour to - and sometimes disturb - Woo's films, are not seen in Lam's. The Adventurers is an action-film, ''heroic bloodshed'', of Hong Kong quality, which means that it surpasses most Anglo-Saxon productions. As the genre so often suggests, this film is about blood feuds, skillfully interwoven into the political events that has arisen in southeast Asia during the past 25 years. Lam moves the plot freely between Cambodia, Hong Kong and the US- in addition to this, he also succeeds in capturing the American atmosphere in a convincing way, unlike for example Stanley Tong in Rumble in the Bronx- as a spectator, you are soon captivated by Andy Lau who plays the part of the vindictive man who at a young age witnessed the brutal murder of his parents, Lau might not have Chow Yan-Fat's unique charisma, but he has already shown his breadth; his role as a compromising avenger is probably his best ever. And if Sam Peckinpah serves as one of Woo's ideals, then it is Peckinpah's mentor, Donald Siegel, that is brought to mind in Lam's case. J E

Orig. titel
Dai mouhimga: Medverkande
Andy Lau, Rosamund Kwan, Wu Chien-lien: Producent
Charles Heung & Tsai Mu-ho: Manus
Ringo Lam, Sandy Shaw, Ip Kwong-yam: Foto
Arthur Wong & Ardy Lam: Musik
Teddy Robin Kwan: Talat språk
Cantonese