[Sentenced To Hang]

A sad but brutal and true story which took place in Hong Kong during the mid 60’s about the group of 3 men known as the ‘Wolfs’. Sentenced To Hang (meaning “Strange Case of Three Wolfs” in Chinese) tells the story of one of the most shocking crime sprees that ever took place in Hong Kong.

In case you are not aware of the story, (I’m sure most fans of crime films will know of the real life story anyway) it’s about 3 men who after blundering a crime decided to carry on with a kidnap and a murder massacre, leaving a several victims dead.

The title is important too, as they were the last criminals to ever be executed by hanging, before law and justice was changed in Hong Kong.

I won’t really go into the story, as it should be obvious anyway from what I have said already. The story is looked at by the perspective of the 3 men and their relationships towards each other (which was probably fictional to a certain extent as the men never really got to tell their own side of the story) and also the hard time the police had to put up with as they tried to track the men down.

Probably the best performances I have seen by Tony Leung, Elvis Tsui and Kent Cheng. If one person spoils the film though, it’s Carina Ng.

If you like thrilling and real life crime films, this is a must. However, it’s category 3 rating (one of the first in HK) is not there for any old reason, as there are some very brutal scenes in it. Also, it’s 2 hour running time is a bit much, as the main story could have been filled nicely within 90 minutes, which means there are several parts of the film that drag. But don’t let that put you off. I’m very surprised though to see nobody else has reviewed this film, as it’s quite old and would have thought loads of people would have seen it. Hats off to Taylor Wong!

Recommended.

Rating: [4.5/5]