Product Description

This year s largest grossing Hong Kong film the smash-hit Mad Detective is one of the freshest and most satisfying visits to the cinema in a decade. The traditional Hong Kong police film is turned on its head: the imaginative twist being our hero Detective Bun (a role created for Lau Ching Wan) who has the ability to see people s inner personalities or hidden ghosts . Breaking new ground and establishing new cinematic rules, Johnnie To s latest giddily entertaining collaboration with Wai Ka Fai radically raises the level of storytelling in modern film. This ingenious realisation of a supernaturally gifted copper is fast-paced and furious, yet also complex and disturbingly funny. Nominated for the Golden Lion at Venice, multiple prizewinner at the Asian Film Awards 2008, and winner of Best Screenplay at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards 2008, Mad Detective has been simultaneously thrilling multiplexes and cerebrally challenging arthouses across the world. Detective Bun (Lau Ching Wan) was recognised as a talented criminal profiler until he sliced off his right ear to offer as a gift at his chief s farewell party. Branded as mad and discharged from the force, he has lived in seclusion with his beloved wife May (Kelly Lin) ever since. Strangely, Bun has the ability to see a person s inner personality, their subconscious desires, emotions, and mental state. When a missing police gun is linked to several heists and murders, hotshot Inspector Ho (Andy On) calls on the valuable skills of his former mentor Bun to help unlock the killer s identity. However, Bun s unorthodox methods point to a fellow detective and take a schizophrenic turn for the worse... ---Special Features---Carefully created new English subtitles -- Q&A with Johnnie To at the Cinémathèque Française -- Johnnie To retrospective (Paris, France, March 2008) - 35 minutes -- Exclusive cast interviews shot during the Far East Film Festival featuring Lau Ching Wan, and Lam Suet (Udine, Italy, April 2008) - 14 minutes -- Interview with Johnnie To for the French theatrical release of Mad Detective (France, 4th March 2008) - 21 minutes -- Original UK theatrical trailer -- 16-page booklet containing specially commissioned essay by David Bordwell (Jacques Ledoux Professor of Film Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison) -- The following materials will be released for viewing at www.maddetective.com on the day of the Blu-ray's release: Panel discussion at the Far East Film Festival during the Milkyway Image, Beyond Imagination seminar with Johnnie To, Wai Ka Fai, Lam Suet, Kelly Lin, and Lau Ching Wan (Udine, Italy, April 2008) - 13 minutes -- Following the cast and crew on their tour of the Far East Film Festival (Udine, Italy, April 2008) - 14 minutes -- Footage from the Mad Detective French premiere and Johnnie To Retrospective presentation at the Cinémathèque Française (Paris, France, March 2008) - 6 minutes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #21982 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-11-03
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Dolby, PAL, Widescreen
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 89 minutes

Synopsis
Directors Johnnie To (TRIAD ELECTION) and Wai Ka Fai (FULLTIME KILLER) team up for this quirky action film that was a huge hit in its native Hong Kong. Lau Ching Wan (BLACK MASK) plays Bun, a criminal profiler who's gone off the deep end. After slicing off his ear at a going-away party, he's forced to turn in his badge. Nevertheless Bun's madness comes with a power: the ability to see people's innermost desires. It's a talent that puts him back into action when the police encounter a particularly baffling case. The line between reality and fantasy bends in this surreal thriller that redefines the detective genre.

Customer Reviews

Visually stylish genre-bending thriller
The latest collaboration between Hong Kong directorial duo Johnnie To and Wai Ka Fai is a fascinating, visually stylish and compelling thriller. Although the bare bones of the plot are nothing new and we've seen any number of other police thrillers, what raises this well above average is the directors' challenging of genre conventions.

Flights of surreal fancy reflect the troubled inner workings of central protagonist Detective Bun's mind. His special gift is to read other people's minds and To and Fai visualise this brilliantly by showing the personalities Bun can read and hear their thoughts. This creates a disorienting but compelling twist on the standard policier. The set pieces are superbly staged too.

Interiors are superbly lit and there's a haunting music score which adds to the tension and overall strangeness of the film. Whilst it is unusual for such a modern film to get the full Masters of Cinema treatment, in this case it is fully justified, and David Bordwell's illuminating essay helps tease out the aspects of this film that make it so interesting.

Good Entertainment
I love most Chinese HK film having brought up with them. This one in particular I would highly recommend. It's typicall HK style - fast motion, lots of emotional highs and lows, self-pity, utter madness and senseless beating up scenes.

The story line is very simple. A detective (now retired) has a mental illness problem coincide with a talent to "see" things hence solve mysteries. He was seek by a rookie to help solve a case involving the disappearance of a fellow police officer. The journey and mayhem both questioning the moral judgement of each individual throughout the entire film is portrayed.It is slightly different from the average and Bun's character played by Lau Chin-Wan is very convincing.

Good entertainment, not-overtly funny but funny enough with fast action flick typically delivered by HK directors. Enjoyable.. although I couldn't bear to see the Van Gogh scene ie when he cuts his ear. Euww..

Cinematically great, dramatically a bit turgid.
You would think a film about a detective who can see peoples inner personalities or alter ego's would be a fascinating and compelling experience. And Mad Detective does indeed prove to be so. But it is made so more by the skill of the true cinematic arts of cinematography and use of sound rather than through the machinations of the plot or any of the performances.
Inspector Chan Kwai-Bun ( Lau Ching-Wan) is forced to retire when he presents his own severed ear as a retirement present ( Allusions to Vincent Van Gogh here as well with the tortured genius thing) Bun believes fervently in understanding a case through empirical means even if this means being buried alive or pushed down the stairs in a suitcase.
He is called back into action when Inspector Ho Ka-On ( Andy On) is investigating the disappearance of a colleague whose gun has since been used in a series of armed ( obviously) robberies. It turns out the suspect is a collective of seven spirits( alluding to the seven deadly sins this time) which means Bun has plenty to chew on.
Mad Detective takes these elements and contrives to make a film that for all it's intense performances ( Bun looks like he is suffering from perpetual constipation) and kinetic action somehow drags along ponderously . The real joy of watching this film is to be found in the composition of some of the shots- an audacious high overhead shot of a man running down a street bathed in yellow lights or the way the camera prowls through a moonlight lit wood . This and the use of sound on the 5:1 ( the menu gives the option of this or the standard 2.0 ) option is terrific adding real punch to some of the set pieces .
With plenty of extras and a comprehensive but fawning booklet this Masters of cinema DVD offers a thorough examination of this multi award winning( In Hong Kong and Asia anyway) film. Hardcore fans of Hong Kong cinema will love it. Others like me will find it a bit of a slog while simultaneously admiring much of what is on show. Not enough to watch it again in a hurry though.