Bloody Secret (2000)
Reviewed by: Mikestar* on 2003-04-25
Summary: Post-handover impact strikes commercial HK cinema
This film more than most, surely represents the impact that the 1997 handover has had on the HK film industry.

Whereas some directors have explored global expansion and interaction within their narratives (with features of multinational casts and locations) others have clearly pandered towards Beijing, keen to seek favour with authorities and expand their distribution within the mainland.

'Bloody Secret' is a clear example of the latter, deliberately collapsing local identities and HK norms in favour of a simplistic and romanticised Chinese ethnic-nationalism.

The glorified image of the Chinese police force in the film, methodically and rationaly determining the good/evil elements within the narrative signifies a distinct shift from pre-handover images of brusque and uncouth police figures (in particular I always think of Dodo Cheng in the 'Her Fatal Ways' series).

The focus on national politics and ethnic homogeny in the film is unmistakable, focussing on the protagonist (Li Ho) who must deliver a disk containing evidence of Japanese war crimes to Chinese authorities, whilst he himself is pursued by a group of right wing extremists. On multiple occasions within the narrative, Li emphasises the importance of his mission to validate 'The Chinese People' and their identity.

Whilst the narrative involves a prolonged subplot in Macao detailing Li's reunification with his childhood sweetheart (who works as a bar hostess) the story primarily functions to showcase Li (played by HK veteran Ray Lui) pummeling his pursuers and protecting the evidence (and by extension the nation) until it can be delivered into the 'safe' hands of the central government.

What is perhaps most interetsing in the text is the way that Chui has dissolved and subsumed norms and boundaries in favour of a cultural and ethnic identity that overcomes local difference. The bulk of the narrative action is focussed in Macao, Japan and Zhuhai culminating in Li overcoming his foes and delivering the documents to the government.

In a highly sentimental and somewhat cynical climax, Li and his group of allies (girlfriend, Macao police) turn with eyes uplifted towards the flag of the PRC. This concluison is highly reminiscent of Mainland films in the Maoist era, including a sequence of flying pigeons that takes on a more than suspicious relation to this style (I think it may well have been pinched from one of these films).

The production format itself is highly ambiguous, bearing few of markers of HK style. The action choreography is unfancy (at times mundane) and overall quality is low budget (somewhat closer to films of Taiwanese films of the 70s) compared to many of its contemporaries.
The acting is quite wooden (Ray Lui tries his best with a limited character)and the narrative is overwhelmed by its inadequacies.

In short 'Bloody Secret' represents some serious implications on the industry since the 1997 handover. Whilst Chui can be easily mocked for his hotch-potch effort to mix commercial viability with 'new' political agenda, his effort may be a forecast for the industry itself. As growth and opportunity within the etsbalished HK industry suffers under the impact of economic globalism and Hollywood expansion, many more HK films may become directed towards Mainland tastes and agendas in favour of a distinct and local identity.