MAN JEUK (SPARROW)
Hong Kong, 2008, 87 minutes, Colour.
Simon Yan, Kelly Lyn.
Directed by Johnny To.
Probably every review of Sparrow will start with a question concerning the way Johnnie To’s many action fans will react to his different kind of film, one that (one might say) eschews his customary excitement and violence. Then they will probably comment on his ‘change of pace’, his change of genre from police and gangster thrillers to comic petty thieves who work in public places and in sunny daylight. Some of the reviewers will probably see the film buff references to Hollywood light caper films, plenty of charades, arabesques and mirages. But, there will be more references to a hero who takes photos (and whose arm goes into plaster) and who looks out rear windows, how it takes a thief to catch a thief, as well as vertiginous stairwells and rooftops. There is no Hitchcock blonde but an Audrey Hepburn style brunette. And there are enough Mc Guffins to fill several Masters theses.
Some reviewers will comment on To’s new vision of Hong Kong, the cityscapes, the cars and buses-filled streets, the fine black and white photos our hero takes.
The four comic thieves (with some indulgence in slapstick) are what Mario Monicelli called long ago ‘I Soliti Ignoti (the usual unknown suspects).
I may be wrong in suggesting that reviewers will note these things. If not, I have.
1.Johnny To’s career, the focus on action films, corruption in Hong Kong, police work? The change of tone?
2.A more playful film? Petty thieves, operating in daylight? The lack of action sequences?
3.The focus on Hong Kong, a city of light, during the day, the city as a character, buildings, the water …? The musical score?
4.The title, the focus on the sparrow at the beginning, coming into Kei’s apartment? His treatment? The later visit of Chun Lei and her response to the sparrow? The symbolism of the sparrow?
5.The introduction to Kei, his apartment, getting up in the morning, dapper, going for his coffee? Surveying the scene, seeing the marks, his allies, the smooth robbing of wallets, passing them to other people, choreographed and orchestrated?
6.Kei’s character, his way of life, relationship with the other thieves? The old man, the man on the cycle, the friend? How well did the film delineate their characters? Show them as an ensemble?
7.Kei, his hobby, photography? The black and white photos of characters all throughout Hong Kong (and their use during the final credits)? His seeing Chun Lei, photographing her?
8.Chun Lei as the enigmatic woman, pursued, seemingly seductive? Her entanglement with the thieves? The boss and his control over her, gifts? Her mysterious character, the bodyguards? Her plans?
9.The four men and their infatuation with her, following her? The irony of their all being bashed and injured by the bodyguards? The repercussions?
10.The pursuit of Chun Lei, her going to the boss? The four men and the final confrontation?
11.The experimental nature of the film, light on intense characterisation, relying on lightness of touch, suggestions of character? Enigmatic plot? The overtones of American thrillers – and all the Hitchcock touches? A playful Johnny To film?
