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A cop, a hitman and a girl

By Ho Yi
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Apr 21, 2006, Page 17

Three years after the final installment of his ambitious trilogy Infernal Affairs (無間道) hit the big screen, Hong Kong's most sought-after director Andrew Lau (劉偉強) returns to his favored theme of cops and killers in Daisy (愛無間), only this time he has dispensed with a male-dominated plot.

Lau's usual fare of tough-guy action has been augmented in Daisy by the presence of a female protagonist over whose affections a hit man and Interpol agent tussle.

Set entirely in Amsterdam, the film revolves around a young, beautiful street artist named Hye-Young from South Korea (played by Jun Ji-Hyun).

With the purity of an angel, Hye-Young holds out for the man of her dreams who has yet to enter her life.

And low, along comes South Korean assassin Park Yi (played by Jung Woo-Sung) who immediately falls for Hye-Young.

Knowing his soul is tainted with blood, Yi chooses to remain in the shadows and become Hye-Young's self-appointed guardian angle: he leaves a pot of daisies outside her door everyday.

Yi's quiet love turns into agony as he watches Hye-Young fall in love with elite Interpol agent Jeong Woo (played by Lee Sung-Jae) whom she mistakes for her secret admirer.

Fate intervenes when Yi receives orders to dispatch Jeong Woo. The impossibility of the love between the cop, the assassin and the woman becomes apparent when the dark forces of life infiltrate Hye-Young's previously untainted world, leading to bloodshed.

The film tells a Beauty-and-the-Beast story in which the lead woman's love is portrayed as the only path to salvation for men with blood on their hands.

Without degenerating into dull cliches, Daisy is a highly entertaining movie which provides audiences with the chance to momentarily escape the drudgery of routine relationships and indulge in a tragic love fantasy.

A collaboration between Hong Kong and South Korea, Daisy benefits from the cross-cultural perspectives of its crew and production team.

For Daisy, Lau teamed up with renowned action choreographer Dion Lam (林迪安), known in Hollywood for his work on Spider-Man 2 and the Matrix films, and South Korean director/scriptwriter Kwak Jae-Yong who skillfully combined action and romance into a sensible narrative.

The end result is a film with an engaging plot that is rich in action and technically accomplished. The editing is smooth, while the sharp cinematography of the action scenes stands in stylistic contrast to the sometimes impressionistic colors and lighting of the romantic scenes.

The film also greatly benefits from first-rate actors in the leading roles. The charisma of their Hong Kong counterparts such as Tony Leung (梁朝偉) and Tony Leung Kar-fai (梁家輝) can be see in the admirable performances by the South Korean actors .

As international collaborations gain popularity in the film industry, more and more Asian stars and film professionals from different regions are gradually making their marks on the global markets.

Even cold-hearted assassins fall in love and feel the agony of watching it all slip away. PHOTOS COURTESY OF GROUP POWER WORKSHOP

As the maker of several blockbusters, Lau plans a Hollywood debut with The Flock. The time may have come for him to follow in John Woo's (吳宇森) footsteps and make it big in Tinseltown.

Daisy (愛無間)

Directed by: Andrew Lau (劉偉強)

Starring: Jun Ji-Hyun as Hye-Young, Jung Woo-Sung as Park Yi, Lee Sung-Jae as Jeong Woo

Running time: 96 minutes

Taiwan Release: Today

Language: Korean with English and Chinese
subtitles
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