Articles on CoP from The Star newspaper today

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Criminal mind

By LI EE KEE

In director Andrew Lau’s murder drama Confession of Pain, Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro play conflicted cops who are tormented by the tragic loss of loved ones.

For the first time in 20 years, Tony Leung, who has always been cast as the romantic lover, suave gentleman or everyday hero takes a gamble by playing the villain in his latest feature length movie, Confession of Pain.


Perennial good guy Tony Leung takes on the challenging role of Hei in Confession of Pain.

Leung plays Hei, a police officer suspected of being involved in his father-in-law Chau’s gruesome murder. Unable to investigate the case alone, he enlists the help of former partner turned private detective, Bong, played by Takeshi Kaneshiro.

On the surface, the murder reeks of a vendetta that has taken a lifetime to fulfil. And as soon as Bong agrees to crack the case with Hei, he realises that nothing is what it appears to be. Undoubtedly, they are after a monster who has committed what seems to be the perfect crime.

Meanwhile, however, Bong has his own demons to fight. Ever since the suicide of his pregnant girlfriend, he has lost his purpose in life.

As he digs deeper into the case, all evidence seems to point to the dead man’s daughter and Hei’s hysterical wife, Susan (Xu Jinglei). But then the killer ups the ante by murdering Susan as well. It is only then that Bong starts grappling with the idea that the man they are hunting is someone very close to them, someone on the verge of a total breakdown.

According to Leung, Hei is a tragic character.

“He became an orphan at a young age after his family was killed. His parents’ murder left him with a deep psychological blow especially when he had no avenues for release. He begins to feel that the world is unfair to him. He turns to liquor to escape and becomes violent. Initially, it never crosses Hei’s mind to seek revenge because he knew he didn’t have the ability. Until one day, when the opportunity arises. That’s when he starts to change, and becomes self-destructive.”

Asked why he decided to work with director Andrew Lau again, Leung explained that he wanted to take on a different type of character.

“Actually, in the initial stage (of the movie), the two characters, Hei and Bong (played by Takeshi) can be inter-changed. But I felt that Bong’s role is something I’ve tried before and there may not be other ways to explore it. So I decided to try and play Hei instead.

“But I did not give myself any pressure. I didn’t approach Hei from a villain’s perspective but rather I looked deep into his character and tried to understand why this person would have such a reaction and did so many things that could hurt so many people.”

On working with Takeshi, Leung said he didn’t know the actor that well prior to filming.

“I used to think of him as someone who is cool and handsome, a good actor and someone with personality. But after working with him, I found that he has a sense of humour and is straightforward ? if he doesn’t like something, he will just say it.”

When asked which scene was the most memorable, Leung singled out the scene where Hei confesses to Bong what he has done.

“To me, that scene was the saddest for Hei because earlier his wife had just woken up from a coma and while he tried to convince her that he really loved her, she didn’t believe him. When he decided to exact his revenge, he never planned on falling in love. She was just part of the plan. But by the time he realised that he loved her, it was too late. He had lost everything. In the end, while he may have managed to achieve his objective, he also succeeded in destroying himself.”

(Source: http://star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2006/12/20/movies/16357471&sec=movies)
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Drawn to the screenplay

By LI EE KEE

Taiwanese-Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro disclosed that his main reason for accepting Confession of Pain was because of director Andrew Lau.

“He’s a good director. I felt there was much I could learn from him. I was also attracted to the screenplay. It’s different from what we usually see, although at first I felt that the scriptwriters were not very clear about what they wanted to express. But we had some discussions on the screenplay and characters.”


Takeshi Kaneshiro plays conflicted policeman Bong.

In the movie, Takeshi plays a policeman. But after a tragic incident, his temperament changes, causing him to lose his job, and then he becomes a private detective.

“Bong is filled with conflict. He finds excuses to hide from the truth yet at the same time he goes in search of the things that he really doesn’t want to see. He uses alcohol to help him hide from his sad past and yet he is also a very determined person.”

In Confession of Pain, Takeshi reunites with Tony Leung, who he first worked with 12 years ago on Wong Kar Wai’s Chungking Express; then however, they did not share any scenes together.

“In that movie, we both played policemen. In Confession of Pain, we are also playing policemen, so it’s a little strange! I was excited and nervous at the same time when I was told that I would be working with Tony because he’s so experienced and a great actor. And now having worked with him, I have greater respect and admiration for him and wish that I would one day be as good as him.”

(Source: http://star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2006/12/20/movies/16357163&sec=movies)
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Winning combination

By LI EE KEE

Confession of Pain marks the return of the Golden Trio of director Andrew Lau, and copywriters Alan Mak and Felix Chong to Hong Kong cinema after an absence of three years, their last project being Infernal Affairs II and III. During that time Lau directed the Korean romantic noir Daisy and his Hollywood debut, The Flock, starring Richard Gere and Claire Danes.

Mak and Chong, meanwhile, filmed Moonlight in Tokyo in Japan. That was why, Lau noted, Confession of Pain was important to them.

“You can say it’s our comeback effort. Prior to filming, we talked about how we should film Hong Kong and make a movie for the Hong Kong people. We put in a lot of effort in every scene and a fair amount of money too.”


Takeshi Kaneshiro (left) and Tony Leung in Confession of Pain.

The film’s budget of US$10mil (RM37mil) went into creating a festive atmosphere on Stanley Road, where they got every shop owner to put up Christmas decorations despite Christmas being five months away then. They also hired a helicopter to film a car chase scene.

“From costumes to the locations, we wanted everything to be perfect. As for the cast, we recruited the best in the industry Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Shu Qi and Xu Jinglei,” said the director-producer.

Lau revealed that at the outset they wanted to cast Leung. The actor, without a second thought, also agreed to sign on. Then, they had to look for the female actress to play Susan, Leung’s wife in the movie.

“We wanted someone who didn’t just have beauty but depth and character. We considered many options from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan before we found Xu. She was suited for the role.

“Finding the other male lead proved difficult too. I don’t know how we decided on Takeshi but people were really excited when we told them about the pairing of Tony and Takeshi. They agreed that it was a fresh combination. When I met Takeshi in Taiwan to talk about the story, he agreed to come on board in less than five minutes.

“I had Shu Qi in mind from the very beginning. And I knew she was perfect for the role of the beer promoter. Quite a few people had their objections (Alan Mak was among them) and felt that she was better suited for the role of Tony’s wife. But I was insistent (the dispute was finally resolved with the final say coming from Media Asia boss Peter Lam) and now, having completed the movie, I felt that my decision was correct.

“I’ve made movies for many years and I feel that I’ve finally found the perfect casting combination.”

But why did they cast Leung as the villain?

“I think everyone is anticipating a breakthrough. We’ve been filming almost the same sort of things and we need a changing point. That’s why I felt that Tony could take on the role of the villain. It was a brave try considering he has never played a villain throughout his 20-year career. It was a big challenge not just for us but for Tony as well.”

So, how well did Leung do? According to Lau, he is confident Leung’s performance will garner the actor his sixth best actor trophy at the Hong Kong Film Awards.


Director Andrew Lau

“His emotional control, interaction with other characters, the way he captured Hei’s inner conflict and turmoil, it was perfect. I have no doubt that he is on his way to becoming the best actor for the sixth time.”

Lau also lavished praise on the rest of the cast. He remarked that Takeshi has grown as an actor since their first meeting a decade ago. “He has his own thoughts and ideas and would not hesitate to voice them out. Xu is a professional and knew what I wanted from her, much like Shu Qi. We’ve worked together numerous times and we have an understanding of one another.”

Lau clarified that Confession of Pain or its Chinese title Shang Cheng (Mandarin for “painful city”) was a story meant for his Hong Kong brethren.

“The word ‘city’ in the Chinese title refers to Hong Kong. In the past few years, the people of Hong Kong have had to endure many painful events. The question then was, ‘Could they fully recover from the experience?’ That was the main message we wanted to bring out.

“In the movie, each of the main characters have a heartbreaking story behind them whether it was about love, family, or the trust and hurt between friends.”

Lau added that what attracted him to the script was the friendship between Hei and Bong, played by Leung and Takeshi, respectively.

“Hei enlists his friend and former partner Bong’s assistance to investigate the murder of his father-in-law.

“But Bong’s investigation soon leads him to question Hei’s innocence. He finds himself in a dilemma. Should he continue investigating and confront Hei about his findings or should he give up? That was very interesting to me.”

(Source: http://star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2006/12/20/movies/16357013&sec=movies)
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No pain, no gain

By LI EE KEE

After the success of the Infernal Affairs trilogy, Tony Leung had expressed intentions of working with director-scriptwriter Alan Mak again. But where Leung was hoping for a film along the lines of Infernal Affairs which he felt would be more widely accepted by audiences, Mak wanted to explore new territories in his collaboration with the versatile actor. Observing that despite an illustrious film career where Leung has played many different characters, the writer-director pointed out that Leung has rarely been cast as a villain.

“The audiences have always seen him as a gentleman so we wanted to try something new. We naturally had doubts if it would work. And actually, we had initially wanted to cast him as Bong, a former police officer turned private detective who is finding it difficult to come to terms with his girlfriend’s suicide.

“Tony was agreeable and knew that he would have no problems playing the role. He gave us a lot of ideas when we (co-writer Felix Chong and him) were developing Bong’s character. But later on, all three of us decided that he should instead take on Hei’s character, the villain of the piece. Hei was orphaned at a young age and for 20 years he plotted to exact revenge on the man who massacred his parents,” explained Mak.

Of Takeshi Kaneshiro, Mak explained that Chong and him wanted to pair Leung with a younger actor.

“We thought that it would be a good testing ground for the actor to go up against a veteran like Leung. Luckily for us, Takeshi immediately agreed.”

Mak went on to explain that the movie looked at how people dealt with pain and the recovery process.

“Each of us has our own painful and sad experiences. The way in which we deal with them is different but what is important is how we pick ourselves up and stand tall again.”

When it was pointed out that Confession of Pain – like past efforts such as Infernal Affairs and Initial D – is a bloke’s movie, Mak had this to say: “Our movies are skewed towards males because of two reasons. The first is that the movie industry is driven and dominated by males. This has affected investors’ decisions when it comes to making movies. The second is because both Felix and I are men. In the past I’ve tried to write stories for women but they weren’t well received. I guess it’s because the story didn’t accurately capture their inner emotions and feelings. I will admit that I do not understand how a woman thinks!

“But I have to say that where many people felt that Sammi Cheng and Kelly Chen’s characters in Infernal Affairs were mere eye candy, it is different in Confession of Pain. Confession of Pain is a story about how two male protagonists deal with and pull through from their tragic past. It’s also a story about men and women. The two female characters (played by Xu Jinglei and Shu Qi) are important to the development of the story as they hold influence over the two leading men and the decisions they make.”

(Source: http://star-ecentral.com/news/story.asp?file=/2006/12/20/movies/16354795&sec=movies)
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[eliza bennet]

Wow, thank you so much for posting the articles I can't wait to watch this film.

Tony played a villain in The Longest Night, Cyclo and also Your Place or Mine (well, in this the character he plays is a notorious womanizer so I consider him to be a villain of sorts)

Anyone remember any other films in which he is a villain?

[karengoh]

Thanks purple, I missed those on Wednesday's Star.

After watching COP, I agree totally with Andrew that Tony should be Hei, something different this time.

The casting are perfect. With his performance I am sure Tony will collect his 6th award.

Its a very very good movie. A MUST SEE

[summertime]

Great articles purple - thank you

[Patricial]

Hi all !

thx for your articles !

[D-love]

Great job you guys !

D-love
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Tony is Grrrrrrrrrrrrrreate