The last time Soi Cheang made a gritty Category III movie was Dog Bite Dog <狗咬狗> back in 2006. Since then, most of his subsequent movies were targeted for mainstream audiences, notably The Monkey King trilogy.
In his latest movie, Limbo <智齒>, it was a refreshing change of pace to see Cheang returning to the familiar crime-thriller territory. And I don’t mean the kind of SPL 2: A Time Of Consequences <殺破狼II> vibe but more of a pure genre fare that echoes his earlier Dog Bite Dog <狗咬狗>. The story — credited to Au Kin-Yee, a veteran screenwriter who wrote many movies for Milkyway Image ranging from Running Out Of Time 2 <暗戰2> to Life Without Principle <奪命金> and Shum Kwan-Sin, whose credit includes 2017’s Ghost Net <鬼網> — is pretty much a standard-issue police procedural.
Lam Ka-Tung plays Cham Lau, a dishevelled veteran cop who teams up with a by-the-book rookie Will Ren (Mason Lee, son of Ang Lee) to investigate a series of murder cases involving a serial killer, who has a fetish for amputating his female victims’ left hands. Cham has a traumatic past, where his pregnant wife (Iris Lam) ended up in a coma with one of her legs amputated after a car accident.
When Cham finds out that Wong To (Cya Liu), the young addict who was responsible for his wife’s accident just got out of prison, he begins stalking her. At one point, he even wanted to kill her, only to be stopped by Will.
Feeling guilty over the accident, Wong subsequently becomes an informer to help Cham and Will with the murder cases.
In Limbo <智齒>, Cheang clearly has no interest to reinvent the oft-told story about grisly serial killing and mismatched cops. It even has the tone and feel of David Fincher’s Se7en (1995), complete with rain-soaked cityscape which also featured, though not prominently in this movie.
But what makes this otherwise clichéd crime thriller an above-average effort is Cheang’s unique decision in shooting Limbo <智齒> in black-and-white. Not just a mere black-and-white but rather slick, yet atmospheric monochrome cinematography. It was one of Cheng Siu-Keung’s best cinematographic works to date, whose previous notable works including lensing several Milkyway movies such as A Hero Never Dies <真心英雄> (1998) and Breaking News <大事件> (2004), just to name a few.
The black-and-white cinematography not only elevates the movie’s modern noir look but also complements well with Kenneth Mak’s elaborate production design. The latter makes good use of Hong Kong back alleys and littered them with rubbish and all kinds of junk. More like a Hong Kong slum set in an alternate, dystopian world while Kenji Kawai’s haunting score appropriately filled the movie with ominous dread. One could also argue that Cheang’s depiction of a decaying Hong Kong city served as a cruel metaphor that reflects on the current sociopolitical situation.
Limbo <智齒> is also blessed with Jack Wong Wai-Leung’s superb action choreography, which can be evidently seen during the extended chase between Cham and Wong To. The movie doesn’t shy away from violence and brutality (the scene involving Wong To trying to defend herself against a group of knife-wielding gangsters led by Sammy Sum’s Boss Spark comes to mind). Then, there’s the rain-drenched finale which also deserves equal mention.
As for the cast, Lam Ka-Tung’s grizzled turn as the tormented Cham Lau showcases some of his best acting performances to date. Mason Lee delivers solid support as the rookie Will Ren while Cya Liu impresses the most as the guilt-ridden ex-convict. Here, we see her constantly beaten and punished in every way possible as she tries to make things right while fighting for her own survival. Her role is certainly a demanding one, both physically and emotionally and she did great in this movie.
However, the movie could have used a tighter pace with its nearly two-hour length tends to overstay its welcome. Certain scenes could have omitted altogether such as the one involving Hanna Chan’s thankless cameo as Will’s wife, which serves little purpose to the movie.
The Cantonese title of Limbo <智齒> literally means “wisdom tooth”, which actually refers to Will suffering from a toothache throughout the movie.
