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Cast:
Chin
Siu Ho
Bill
Tung
Lo
Meng
Chiang
Kam
Wang
Lung Wei
Tai
Po
Liu
Li-ling
Action:
Hsu
Hsia
Yuen
Fai
Chui
Fat
Producer:
Mona
Yat
Director:
Hsu
Hsia
Score:
  
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FAST
FINGERS
AKA:
N/A
Year:
1983 Reviewer: Andrew
Saroch
After
his release from prison, Uncle Bill (Bill Tung) - notorious
pickpocket - re-teams with his two adopted sons (Chin Siu Ho
and Chiang Kam) and returns to his home town to make a
fortune. The three amateur con-artists continue to prey upon
the unsuspecting public, but are closely watched by the local
police captain (Meng) who is keen to clean up the town.
Unfortunately the captain's principles are compromised when he
discovers that Uncle Bill is the errant father of his beloved
sweetheart, a fact that puts his crusade on temporary hold.
The would-be hero is also distracted by a big case that
involves a local drug dealer (Wang Lung-Wei) attempting to
take over the city, though it proves to be ironic when he
needs to call on the help of Uncle Bill's gang to assist his
mission.
The
monumental success of Jackie Chan's 'Project
A' and Sammo Hung's 'Winners
And Sinners' had a clear influence on the action genre
within Hong Kong. The ripples created by these two minor
revolutions are clearly evident in Hsu Hsia's 'Fast Fingers',
a film that borrows heavily from the visual ambience of the
former and the quick-fire choreography of the latter. The more
traditional style of Hsia's 1981 effort 'Lion
vs. Lion' is replaced by the progressive modernity that
Jackie and Sammo changed Hong Kong action cinema with.
Importantly, though, Hsu Hsia is not a helmer who stands
shoulder-to-shoulder with the aforementioned genre legends, a
fact that the 90-odd minutes of 'Fast Fingers' fully
re-iterates.
'Fast
Fingers' starts promisingly. The concept behind the opening
ten minutes recalls the ebullient energy of 80s Hong Kong
action comedies, throwing diverse characters into unusual
situations together. The said performers are also able enough
to carry the storyline for the opening portion of the film
while the viewer waits for the main body of the narrative to
click into gear. This transitional moment is sadly absent,
though, and the whole production turns into an extended
sit-com albeit stretched over twice the usual duration. Though
the conflict between the captain and Uncle Bill promises a
battle of wits and the introduction of a more sinister villain
should give the film an edge, these elements are discarded by
a careless director.
The
use of comedy in the genre has produced some masterpieces
worthy of wider attention, but it has also been wildly
overused by film-makers who have little idea how to balance
the components they are working with. While 'Fast Fingers'
fails to appreciate how important a plot is as opposed to a
series of skits, perhaps the most frustrating part of the
production is the fact that there are some very good moments
and many more promising ones. The early comic routines blend
into the overall atmosphere of the film, but then Hsu revels
in the excess of such moments, even wasting a significant
portion of the film with an uninteresting scene in a nightclub
that seems to drag on forever. To put us through this, then
offer up a sublime fight in a hospital a mere ten minutes or
so later leaves us not knowing where to look.
Enough
of the disappointments, what of the strengths? First and
foremost are the moments when Hsu Hsia the choreographer comes
out of the shadow of his inferior alter-ego and ignites the
screen with a few excellent confrontations. The previously
mentioned fight scene between Chin Siu Ho and a would be
assassin in a hospital is easily the best of these, combining
superb acrobatics with masterful innovation. What makes this
scene especially memorable is that the soundtrack is a Chinese
hymn sung by a group of well-wishing nuns - a stark contrast
to the rest of the score which sounds like something lifted
from 'On The Buses'. Hsu Hsia also groups together a fine cast
with Chin Siu Ho relishing his chance to be the mischievous
hero and Lo Meng content to play the straight man to his
antics. The chemistry between them - not to mention Bill Tung
- drags the film through the predominantly inane and wasteful
mid-section.
While
'Fast Fingers' may be seen as a combination of kung-fu and
comedy, it is more memorable for being an amalgam of the
sublime and the ridiculous. There are moments of pure 80s
magic here, but they are sadly swamped by the desperate
mugging and extended comic routines. Such lacklustre attempts
to capture the Golden Harvest vibe probably hastened the
demise of Shaw Brothers as a movie-making empire. 'Fast
Fingers' is recommended for its few sequences of inspiration,
but you may need the fast-forward button close at hand.
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