The Mission - your business is death
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Mission - your business is death |
| Original title | The Mission |
| Country of production | Hong Kong |
| original language | Cantonese |
| Publishing year | 1999 |
| length | 84 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Johnnie To |
| script | Yau Nai-hoi |
| production | Johnnie To |
| music | Chung Chi-wing |
| camera | Cheng Siu-Keung |
| cut | Chan Chi-wai |
| occupation | |
| |
The Mission ( Chinese 鎗 火 ) from 1999 is a Hong Kong-produced gangster film directed by Johnnie To . The film is about a group of five men who protect a triad chief as bodyguard. The film was released directly on DVD in Germany.
action
The triad boss Lung only barely survives an assassination attempt in a restaurant, one of his men is killed in the process. The restaurant is owned by Fat Cheung, an underboss who is also part of the Lung triad.
For his protection, Lung hires a team of five men to protect him as bodyguards : Curtis is the most experienced of the group and works in his main job as a hairdresser, the silent gun expert James, the bar owner Roy and his younger gang colleague Shin and the former pimp Mike .
In the next few days he made his first attempt at an attack when a sniper fired at the cars with Lung and his bodyguards from a high-rise building. Lung is hit, but his bulletproof vest prevents significant damage. The men manage to repel the attack, with Curtis deciding to drive away with Lung, James, Mike, and Shin before Roy returns (who had split from the group to pursue one of the attackers). Roy angrily drives a taxi back to Lung's house and beats Curtis, which Curtis endures. In order to make amends, Curtis seeks out a criminal the following day, who caused problems in Roy's nightclub in Roy's absence, and kills him.
The five bodyguards are increasingly well-rehearsed and fend off two more attacks on Lung. They chase one of the surviving assassins to their hiding place. After a firefight, they manage to bring one of the perpetrators alive. This shows that the attacks were commissioned by Fat Cheung, whereupon Lung sends his confidante Frank to Cheung to kill him. After killing the remaining assassin and Lung is no longer in danger, the five bodyguards celebrate the success of their mission in a restaurant.
Frank hands Curtis five envelopes with the payment and tells him that he has learned that Shin is said to have had a relationship with the wife of Lung and that he should go away. Curtis tells him he'll take care of it. He drives to James, asks him to get a gun and arranges a meeting with Shin for the evening. James warns Roy and since he is responsible for him as Shin's boss, he confronts him, confessing that he was seduced by Lung's wife. Roy confronts Curtis and tells him that he can't let Shin get killed. They come up with the plan to let Shin flee to Taiwan in a boat , but this is ultimately rejected because Frank would then pursue Roy.
Everyone meets in the evening in an otherwise empty restaurant to clarify the situation. James leaves the group to beg Lung's mercy for Shin. When he arrives at the Lung estate, he witnesses Lung killing his unfaithful wife. James realizes that the situation is hopeless and drives back to the restaurant, where there is a Mexican standoff . Curtis shoots Shin while Roy empties his magazine without aiming at Curtis. The men leave the restaurant with Curtis tossing a remaining blank cartridge to James ; the death of Shin (who escapes safely through the back exit) was only staged for Lung.
reception
Thomas Willmann from artechock came to the verdict "In what is probably the most beautiful of his no less than three masterpieces shot in 1999, Johnnie To describe a tough man's world of unconditional loyalty in a taciturn manner and razor-sharp."
Johnnie To won the award for best directorial work at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards for the film .
Web links
- The Mission - your business is death in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Mission - your business is death at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ The Mission. Artechock, accessed July 2, 2017 .
- ↑ 19th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards. LoveHKFilm, accessed July 2, 2017 .