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Cast:
Brigitte
Lin
Tony
Leung Kar Fei
Shek
Kin
Kwan
San
Kuo
Chui
Patricia
Chang
Action:
Kuo
Chui
Producer:
Dean
Shek
Director:
Sun
Chung
Score:
 
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LADY
IN BLACK
AKA:
N/A
Year:
1987 Reviewer: Rob
Daniel
For
audiences raised on Brigitte Lin the blazing-eyed fantasy
warrior, her grounded and emotionally raw performance in 'Lady
in Black' as May, a loyal, downtrodden housewife,
illustrates her breadth of talent, and reminds us again of how
much she is missed.
Tony
Leung Kar Fei is perfectly cast as Sang, May's unstable rat of
a husband, who persuades her to embezzle $500,000 from her
company to pay off a gambling debt, and allows her to fall to
a watery grave to cover the crime.
He is soon packing Grandpa (Shih Kien) off to an old
folks’ home, neglecting his son, climbing the business
ladder and bedding the boss’ daughter.
Inconveniently for him, May is still alive.
'Lady
in Black' could have
followed a typical betrayal/retribution plotline and
turned May into a deranged harridan bent on vengeance.
Surprisingly, one-time Shaw Brothers director Sun Chung
(aka Suen Chung) favours drama over psycho-suspense.
A wise decision, it allows Lin to breathe life into the
saint-like May who emerges from her near-death experience
physically and emotionally scarred.
Even Leung's character is humanised, with some
motivation given to his dastardly deeds.
Sun
makes May's fight for justice a true martyr's journey,
rivalling Lars Von Trier's persecution of his saintly
heroines. Initially
turned away by her closest friend, who is unable to recognize
the broken wreck, May then undergoes surgery to rebuild her
face and repair her larynx.
But, tragedy is never far away, as a confrontation
between Grandpa and Sang expertly escalates tension and
climaxes with a shockingly well realized tumble down the
middle of a stairwell. Sang's
ambitions ruined and the stage is set for a final showdown
between a devastated May and her bitter, unrepentant spouse.
Sun feels the need to remind audiences they are
watching a Hong Kong movie by literally bringing the house
down for the climax, but ends on a suitably sombre note.
Sun's
direction makes full use of rainstorms and claustrophobic
framing to wrack up the tension, and he coaxes first-rate
performances from everyone involved.
The older generation is well served by Shek (forever 'Enter
the Dragon's Han) Kin's touching performance and Kwan San
(father of Rosamund) as Sang's boss, whose honesty juxtaposes
neatly with Sang's conniving duplicity.
Even the moppet ordered from central casting to play
May’s son is not too saccharine.
But,
this is Brigitte Lin's movie and her climactic tirade against
her husband, bursting with anger and confusion lingers as one
of her finest screen moments.
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