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Chow
Yun Fat plays a clairvoyant gambler who never loses at cards, dice
or mah jongg. After a head injury leaves him with the personality
of a child, he is taken in by con man Andy Lau, who soon discovers
and tries to exploit Chow's gambling skills, which have remained
intact. As an innocent boy in a man's body, Chow gets to show off
his full range of acting skills.
The original Hong Kong action movie is definitely different to director
Wong Jing's usual films in that it trys to have heart. You really
feel for the poor Chow character when he loses his memory and begins
acting like a child. The superb theme song coupled with some very
well observed performances make this a winner. The best gambling
scene comes at the beginning when Chow takes on a tattooed Michiko
Nisiwaki. Chow's supernatural skills and cool demeanor make you
really believe that this man is the "Dosan" (Cantonese
for Gambling God). Perhaps a bit uneven in places (as with the majority
of Wong's work) there are however, some classic moments and Chow
also gets to display his famous gunplay with the usual elan. The
only problems here are the end sequence which goes on a bit too
long and is also a bit contrived. Where the film really excels though,
is in the use of motifs: jade rings, photographs and even chocolate
are all used by Wong Jing to weave a very interesting tapestry and
add tenfold to the character of the Dosan. Andy Lau is also very
good supplying the comic relief in his now familiar young rebel
role.
If you are at all interested in watching a Hong Kong gambling movie
this is the one to start with. Chow Yun Fat delivers one of the
best performances of his career and there are some very good action
scenes also. Some of the feats are a bit unbelievable but this is
to be expected and adds credibility to the premise of Chow really
being the ultimate gambler. A Hong Kong classic that has inspired
many pale imitations.
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