Island of Greed

Black Gold is a good portrayal of corruption in Taiwanese democratic politics, but is also packed with action, romance and all of the other trademark Hong Kong stuff. Yes, Hong Kong! I watched this movie not knowing what it was about, and was shocked to see two Hong Kong actors speaking terrible Mandarin in a movie set and filmed in Taiwan! Anyways, Black Gold is about a former mobster (Tony Leung Ka Fai) who tries to run for election in the Taiwanese Legislative Assembly and the cop who is out to stop him (Andy Lau Tak Wah)

One thing I disliked Black Gold is how Andy Lau's cop character is the protagonist, while Tony Leung's to-be politician is the antagonist; Tony faced way more obstacles (enemy mobsters, police investigation) than Andy did. Honestly, Andy really had no reason to hate Tony. On another note, I found there were many unnecessary characters, such as a Buddhist cult minister and a few extra mob bosses. Also, I also found that the action scenes were unclear and and the camera often seemed too close. There may also have been continuity problems, but this may be due to TV censorship.

Though not a great movie, it was nice to see rare shots of Taipei. And of course, viewers must remember that Hong Kong movies are cheesy, and it's important to overlook some minor errors.

ISLAND OF GREED (Hei Jin)

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Anamorphic)

Sound format: Dolby Digital

A Taiwanese special agent (Andy Lau) goes on the trail of a Triad gang leader (Tony Leung) who attempts to bribe his way into political office.

Large-scale blockbuster from director Michael Mak, unusual for its up-front exploration of Triad involvement in Taiwanese politics. Stand-out action set-pieces include a chaotic shoot-out in a crowded marketplace between Lau's men and a group of would-be assassins, and a large-scale riot on the streets of Taipei as taxi drivers stage a huge strike commissioned by Leung for nefarious purposes. Look out, too, for an audacious sequence in which Lau and his cohorts struggle to prevent a character from being attacked by snapping Alsatians, though this scene is compromised by images of horrific animal cruelty (chickens are dragged behind speeding vehicles and savaged by the rampaging dogs, for real), resulting in this scene being completely removed from British prints.

The narrative unfolds at such a breakneck pace, it's often difficult to keep tabs on proceedings, and the film will leave some viewers trailing in its headlong wake. Leung is terrific as the vicious gangster stifled by circumstances beyond his control, and weary of his arrogant superiors, and Pauline Suen ("Love and Sex of the Eastern Hollywood") is equally strong as his sexy but ill-bred wife, all too aware of her intellectual limitations but desperate to support her husband's political ambitions. Sadly, Lau is rather anonymous in a role which gives him virtually nothing to do, and his character barely registers as a presence. Given its setting, the film was recorded in sync-sound Mandarin and dubbed into Cantonese for its Hong Kong theatrical release - stick with the original.

(Mandarin dialogue)

Don't even bother watching this movie. I watched it at a theatre and wanted to leave half way through it but decided against it since I'd already spent my money on this worthless movie anyway. The plot is predictable, the action scenes worse than a home-made movie, and even a film school freshman could have done a better job on the editing.

Island of Greed is a pretty ruthless and gritty chronicling of corruption in the government of China and their occupation of Taiwan. Although it's much more of a political thriller using current affairs as a backdrop to tell the life of a triad boss in his attempts to seize power and the opposition he faces from both political rivals and an ever-persistent police detective. A lot of the movie is carried by the charisma of its two leading men, nice direction from Michael Mak, a haunting score by Raymond Wong & Landy Wei and some decent action set pieces that are too few and far between. However, the story relies so heavily on viewers knowing the ins and outs of Taiwan like the back of their hand, so I was extremely lost on most things that would more than likely have a deeper meaning to those who have grown up there. Nothing special but still worthwhile for the action and performances if you can get invested in all the political talk.

I wasn't going to write a review, but in seeing some of the other reviews here, I thought I should probably give it some justice seeing as I enjoyed the movie.

Firstly, this is NOT an action movie. This movie has strong political and triad commentaries, and it chronicles the life of a triad boss, more along the lines of a movie about Escobar, Al Capone etc.

Secondly, if you've never visited Taiwan before or grew up in Taiwan, I'm afraid a lot of really good bits about the movie would just fly over your head which is a real shame. For example, everyone was into foot reflexology during the 90s which was a real craze, and it is believed that the blind masseuses are especially good. Scenes at the night market, or yeshi as it is called in Taiwan, was also very iconic, as were the rampant corruption and rampant Triad infiltration into society; so many aspects of the film would create resonance to those who know Taiwan, and create a level of realism unlike other films, but wouldn't do the same for an international audience. Tony Leung's character was also bold and innovative, and his comments about converting Emerald Island, a famous prison, into a golf course for the triads fits his character perfectly, but wouldn't have the same impact to a foreigner.

In the end I would only give it a 7 though, as everything in the storyline is somewhat credible until the ending finale, which is way over the top and shatters all the carefully built up gritty realism. Over the top is the only way to describe the ending scenes, as there is no way things can happen like that, that it feels like it's switched directors or the producers got involved and wanted pyrotechnics and overrode the filming crew.

It's the only blemish to a great movie which I had enjoyed as a political piece about the corruption of Taiwan politics and the influence of their triads. Indeed, even today, Taiwan's GDP and economy is abysmal considering how hard the average citizen works and how it was once the shining star among the Asian Five Tigers.