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The Sparrow
Cultured Bird
Hong Kong 2008
produced by Johnnie To, Daniel Lam (executive), Ying Chiu Suet (executive) for Milkyway Image, Universe Entertainment, Newlink Development, FOJ
directed by Johnnie To
starring Simon Yam, Kelly Lin, Lam Ka Tung, Lo Hoi-Pang, Law Wing-cheung, Kenneth Cheung, Lam Suet, Lo Chun-shun, Jonathan Lee, Jackson Ha, Cheung Ka-Kit (= Jeff Cheung), Hung Wai Leung, Yeung Yee-Yee, Law Keung, Cheung Chi Ping, Tong Pui Chung, Tiffany Wu, Charis Chung, Wang Tai Wo, Singh Manjit, Courtney Wu
written by Chan Kin Chung, Fung Chi Keung, music by Fred Avril, Xavier Jamaux, action choreography by Yuen Bun
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Kei (Simon Yam), Bo (Lam Ka Tung), Sak (Law Wing Cheong) and Mac
(Kenneth Cheung) are a gang of pickpockets who might be rather good at
their job (especially since they work as a team), but essentially they are
likeable losers. Then they meet lovely Chun Lei (Kelly Lin), with whom all
four of them fall in love, but who lures all of them into a trap and has
them beaten up and hospitalized - so much so that our four heroes want to
avenge themselves, but when they have cornered her on a rooftop, she
instead persuades them to help her. You see, Chun Lei is sort of a
forced companion of rich and old Mr Fu (Lo Hoi Pang), who keeps her
passport that could take her back to mainland China in a safe, and she
needs the gang of pickpockets to make it through his gang of bodyguards
and steal the key to the safe from him. Somehow, the elaborate plan of our
foursome that even involves cross-dressing and a balloon does actually
work, but Mr Fu seems to already be one step ahead of them, and in the
end, the key lands in his hands after all - basically because he started
out as a pickpocket himself. To discourage our pickpockets from ever
trying to steal the key from him again, he invites them to his house and
makes them apologize - but when he insults Kei, the leader of the gang, he
goes too far, and Kei bets his own hand against the freedom of the girl
that he can take Chun Lei's passport home that night. And Kei and his men
actually make it through all of Mr Fu's henchmen (in a pickpocketing
ballet in the rain), only Mr Fu himself proves to be too tough a cookie
for them, and he manages to relieve Kei of the passport ... but even Mr Fu
starts to trip, as he has actually wounded Kei while taking the thing -
which is why he in the end lets Chun Lei go, even if it breaks his heart. And
our four pickpockets - after their adventure they immediately pick up
where they left off, being likeable losers and small-fry crooks ... Essentially,
Sparrow is a gangster/crime tale more than a little reminiscent of
Robert Bresson's Pickpocket, but
also a film that takes cues from many
diverse genres, such as comedy, film noir and even Nouvelle Vague, with a
finale that's sort of an antithesis to the titular sequence of Singing
in the Rain - even if it's brought to the screen just as light-footed.
And if you think this description hints at nothing more than a gigantic
mess, funnily enough the film isn't, it's a very coherent piece of
unconventional genre cinema that's about as entertaining as it's
intelligently made, and is yet another Johnnie To film that's not to be
missed.
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