Shun liu Ni liu (2000)

Director:

Hark Tsui

Writers:

Koan Hui (writer)
Hark Tsui (writer)

Release Date:

19 October 2000 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Trust is fatal.

Plot:

Tyler is a restless, streetwise 21-year-old Hong Kong native who's had trouble gaining the trust of others all his life...

Plot Keywords:

Hong Kong | South America | Bodyguard | Hand Grenade | Love

Awards:

1 win & 7 nominations

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Nicholas Tse	...	Tyler
Wu Bai	...	Jack
Candy Lo	...	Ah Hui
Cathy Tsui	...	Ah Jo
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang	...	Uncle Ji
Jun Kung	...	Miguel (as Joventino Couto Remotigue)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arsenio Bhoy Agpoon
Albert
Tsu Chun Bon
Angelo Carmones
William Chan
Charles Fok
Jack Kao	...	Police Officer
Kenji
Leung Tal Keung
Roderik Lam
Joe Li
Robert Miller
Chang Hung On
Fu Yeuk Pang
Francis Pardeilhan	...	Jack (voice)
Wong Kam Pong
Wong Ting Pong
Antonio Represan
Roberto Rojas
Kenji Tanigaki
Erik Man Wai
Paggie Wong

Also Known As:

Time and Tide (Hong Kong: English title) (USA)
Shunliu niliu (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive strong violence and brief drug use.

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

Hong Kong | China

Language:

English | Mandarin | Hokkien | Cantonese | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:18 | Norway:15 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R

Company:

Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia

Trivia:

Wu Bai was requested by the director to compose a Happy Birthday song that nobody has ever heard of just half an hour before filming. Then he was given half an hour again to come up with alternate lyrics for the song, used for a later scene of them singing in the car.

Movie Connections:

References Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo. (1966)

Guy Ritchie should be taking notes

The effect of music videos over the past two decades on the film industry has been phenomenal. Directors such as Spike Jonze ("Being John Malcovich") & Tarsem ("The Cell") started their careers in the music video game. Soundtracks and their accompanying videos are as much part of the advertising of a movie as the trailers themselves. Most importantly, techniques used in popular music videos are often mimicked in feature films. Economy has played a large part too, and now with the popularity and relative low-cost of digital cameras and effects almost anyone can create a visually alluring piece of eye-candy.

David Fincher upped the ante of digital effects with "Fight Club". A original storyline with an even more original script, it initially received a lukewarm response before becoming a cult favourite. Mr. Fincher is an example of a director using a new medium with a combination of precise care and wonderful abandon.

And then there is Guy Ritchie. A mostly talentless hack who in "Snatch" proved that fancy camera effects and funny accents will wear themselves out if there is nothing to support it.

"Time & Tide" by Tsui Hark is both a homage to the films that helped popularize a new visual style and it raises the bar a few more (large) notches. It is by turns brilliant, relentless, and breathtaking.

"Time & Tide" follows the interweaving lives of a pregnant lesbian cop, two mercenary friends and their underworld dealings, and a pregnant surrogate woman drawn into their world. Thematically it delves into issues ranging from mafia-like loyalty to Peckinpah-esuqe themes of man entering manhood through violence. But what is most impressive in "Time & Tide" is the delicate balance of tension and release. Something that flashy directors like Guy Ritchie should be paying attention too. The last two action sequences are phenomenal and take up a good half of the movie, but with Mr. Hark's careful direction you hardly notice. The first sequence is simply unequaled, taking place in three apartment towers in the tenements of Hong Kong. The second in a train station and stadium downtown. It is in these sequences that requires characters to hold back their flaring emotions in order to survive that Mr. Hark clearly flexes his directorial muscles. In a sequence which involves a young man trapped in an apartment slowly filling with gas, its conclusion is one of the most clever bits of action in recent memory.

"Time & Tide" is the real deal. An action film that delivers from beginning to end and doesn't blow its load halfway through. It is also truly cares about its characters and valiantly tries to delve into large issues. However, it never takes itself too seriously and for any action fan this is a must.

Highly recommended. Do not pass this up.