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Cast:
Fiona
Sit
Dylan
Kwok
Cheung
Kwok-Keung
Samuel
Pang
Lau
Sek-Yin
Writer:
Joe
Ma
Producer:
Ivy
Kong
Director:
Joe
Ma
Score:
 
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EMBRACE
YOUR SHADOW
AKA:
N/A
Year:
2005 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
The
life of resourceful young woman Ran (Sit) is a day-to-day
struggle to make ends meet and to look after her older brother
who suffers from a disorder that robs him of his independence.
Alongside this responsibility, she also takes care of her
brother's young daughter and admirably manages to play every
role in the household. This self-imposed isolation is
disturbed by the arrival of brooding young stranger Juchin
(Kwok) who takes Ran's niece back home when she gets lost in
Hong Kong one afternoon and instantly gains the respect of the
older brother. Unbeknownst to the family, Juchin is a petty
thief who decides to store his ill-gotten gains in the flat
above theirs, though also begins to become a close friend of
them all. Even the steely reserve of Ran is moved by the
constant help that her new neighbour offers and begins to find
her self-taught defences crumbling away. Juchin exists in a
world that is not quite as content with the status quo and a
brutish young triad is particularly interested in Juchin's
movements, proclaiming that all who will not join him will be
his enemy.
Some
early press-ads for Joe Ma's drama were a reminder of how
certain Hong Kong companies have little qualms about giving
away massive chunks of a films plot. Instead of tantalising us
with minor details, they revealed important plot twists,
tragedies and even give a none-too-subtle hint as to how the
film ends. Not that Joe Ma's 'Embrace Your Shadow' is anything
new or startling in film-making; this is retro-cinema, a genre
that recalls trends and moods of the past and transports them
to a more contemporary setting. The pleasing fact is that,
even though we've seen such dramas before in 'A Moment Of
Romance' and its various clones, 'Embrace Your Shadow' is
still affective enough in tugging the heart-strings. The
manipulations and contrivances may be unoriginal, but they
remain consistently emotive.
As
is often the case with commercial cinema, the plot and the
directions it takes are reasonably easy to telegraph as is the
foreboding ambience that is as much a feature of Hong Kong
drama as gun fights are with John Woo films. Joe Ma, though,
is a director who can produce minor miracles from tired
material, taking tired conventions and giving them enough
humanity to help them to retain a potency. 'Funeral March' was
a fine example of this unusual ability and, despite his lack
of consistency in achieving these heights, 'Embrace Your
Shadow' is a gruelling, yet rewarding 100 minutes that is a
reminder of his skill. Though Ma has often favoured lazy
retreads of his past hits or convenient cash-ins on current
trends - two tendencies that explain why many are reluctant to
credit him with any real directorial vision - he can also
craft works of genuine quality. 'Embrace Your Shadow' is an
old-fashioned tragedy, but Ma's execution here ensures an
engrossing feature.
When
familiarity with a subject or storyline is so strong, its
success is dependent on the characters and the performers in
the cast. The former are nothing extraordinary: there's the
rebel without a clue figure that Andy Lau almost patented in
the 80s and the ignorant savage who acts as his adversary,
while the love interest in naturally the antithesis of her
true love. Juchin is not an especially well written character
and there is never much of an explanation as to why a young
man from a wealthy family has ended up in a quagmire; Wah Dee
in 'A Moment Of Romance' was such an intriguing anti-hero because
we always knew about his inner-demons and the tragedies that
forced him into such a nihilistic life, something that is
never understood about Juchin. Kudos to Dylan Kwok for making
us care about him then, an achievement that may not be down to
his limited range, but certainly says much for his ability to
convey hardship and privation. A few emotional scenes show
that Kwok has a raw talent that could go either way depending
on what roles come his way following this.
'Embrace
Your Shadow' also confirms Fiona Sit as a young actress who
has the intensity to do well in the industry, a fact not lost
on critics after her performance in '2 Young'. As with the
sorely-missed Anita Yuen, Sit has the knack of projecting a
heart-breaking vulnerability with just a withering look, a
feature that many more lauded actresses flounder on. Sit is
given the best character and a chance to experience more
emotions than her co-stars and the resulting performance is
the fulcrum of the film's emotional ferocity. Sit affords her
character dignity despite the miseries that are piled on her
and features in a few especially powerful moments; the
subtlety in which she shows her pain when her brother dies is
a credit to actress and director alike.
Joe
Ma wisely uses the glare of the lens sparingly, choosing to
tell certain events of the storyline in off-kilter montages
that retain a certain naturalism. We know we are being led to
a predictable conclusion, but Ma makes sure that key scenes
are treated with respect and not just the usual mixture of
melodrama and deafening piano-laden soundtrack. In this way,
'Embrace Your Shadow' manages to be moving while sticking
doggedly to established clichés, perhaps an oxymoron, but an
achievement nonetheless. It's not flawless, it's not original
and while these factors may scare off its prospective
audience, it's still a production that is fused with genuine
pathos.
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