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LONG
ARM OF THE LAW
AKA:
N/A
Year:
1984 Reviewer: Pat
King
A
group of ex-army mainlanders plan to go to Hong Kong to make a
better future by pulling off a jewellery store. In the process
of escaping from the mainland they lose one of their members
to the security forces. After getting through the Hong Kong
Check point by posing as a dragon dance troupe, they are
stopped by the police while staking out the jewellery store
they intend to rob. They are then forced to postpone the heist
for three days as there was already a failed attempt by
another gang of hopefuls. With no money they need the means to
keep themselves in the meantime so they pull off a hit for
$50,000. However unbeknownst to them the victim is actually a
cop. On discovering this they go back to Tai, the local gang
boss who they carried out the hit for, and unsubtly demand
more money. Outraged, Tai ends up becoming stool pigeon to the
police as a means of removing them.
A
precursor to the 'Heroic Bloodshed' genre which began with
John Woo's 'A
Better Tomorrow', 'Long Arm of the Law' is anything but
stylised. Unlike most of the films from the aforementioned
genre the violence is not romanticised. It is gritty and
savage with an almost documentary approach to film making.
Johnny Mak even cast unknown actors to emphasise this effect.
Because of this characterisation is minimal and the audience
is not invited to empathise with the lead protagonists. All
the characters remain pretty unlikeable. Not even the police
are portrayed as heroic. This does not mean however that it is
not compelling viewing. Though we may not identify with the
characters they still maintain the viewers interest.
'Long
Arm of the Law' does have some technical flaws however. CCTV
footage conveniently use the same camera angles as seen in the
film, and rather than shooting the security cameras the
protagonists shoot the security monitors instead. However if
you can overlook these minor flaws you are left with an
otherwise solid film. Regarded as a milestone and clearly
influential, 'Long Arm of the Law' bears more than just a
passing resemblance to Ringo Lam's later seminal work 'City on
Fire'. But the final reel filmed in the infamous 'Walled City'
is as they say, worth the price of admission alone. Tense and
claustrophobic it is an exhilarating sequence.
Overall
'Long Arm of the Law' falls short of it's reputation but still
remains solid and compelling. If you like 'City on Fire' then
'Long Arm of the Law' is more than a worthy addition to your
collection.
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