Vengeance (film)

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Movie
German title Vengeance
Original title Vengeance
Vengeance logo.jpg
Country of production France , Hong Kong
original language English , Cantonese , French
Publishing year 2009
length 105 minutes
Age rating FSK 18/16 (abridged version)
Rod
Director Johnnie To
script Wai Ka-Fai
production Johnnie To
Michèle Petin
Laurent Petin
Wai Ka-Fai
John Chong
Peter Lam
music Lo Tayu
camera Cheng Siu-Keung
cut David M. Richarson
occupation

Vengeance (in German: revenge), also known under the titles Vengeance - Killer unter sich and Fuk sau ( Chinese  復仇 , Pinyin Fù Chóu , Cantonese  Fuk sau ), is a thriller from 2009 with Johnny Hallyday in the leading role. The film is a co-production between France and Hong Kong and was directed by Johnnie To .

action

Three armed men from Hong Kong kill the family of the daughter of French restaurant owner Francis Costello. The last wish of his seriously injured surviving daughter is that Costello avenge her. He learns from her that she shot one of the three killers in the left ear. Meanwhile, the Chinese gang boss George Fung hires the three killers Kwai, Chu and Fat Lok to kill his wife, who is cheating on him, and her lover. They find them in a hotel and shoot them. The fact happened to be noticed by Costello, who was staying in this hotel. However, Costello does not find the killers, but hires them a little later to find and kill the murderers of his daughter and grandchildren. During the search for the murderers, Costello and the three contract killers develop a friendship. The four get help from Kwai's cousin Tony, who lives in a landfill and does illegal arms deals. A weapon was used in the act, which Tony is known to own and suspects to be in Hong Kong.

Costello travels to Hong Kong with the three killers, where they find the three murderers of Costello's son-in-law and grandchildren. You meet them in a park where they are having a barbecue with their wives and children. Costello, Kwai, Chu and Fat Lok identify themselves, but wait for the barbecue party to be over. Finally, there is a wild shootout in which Costello and Fat Lok, among others, are hit by bullets.

In a shelter, Kwai is treating Costello and removing a bullet from his chest. Costello says that twenty years ago he was also a killer and was shot in the head back then. The bullet couldn't be removed, so it's still stuck in his head, which will eventually cause him to forget everything. As a memory aid, he photographs everyone he sees and writes their name on the photo, and whether the person photographed is his friend or enemy. While the four of them are still looking after themselves, they get a call from George Fung who needs the help of the three killers because three of his henchmen were shot by three Chinese killers and a white man. He will also give you the necessary information about the meeting point - an infirmary where the three murderers, who were also injured, can be cared for.

Once there, they shoot all three in cold blood and leave. The attending doctor informs George Fung, who immediately calls Kwai and wants to find out why they are after him and his people. George Fung has to accept that Kwai, Chu and Fat Lok no longer work for him, but for Costello. Then she lets Fung pursue by other killers and also torture Kwai's cousin Tony and kill his wife. Suddenly Costello suffered from the memory loss caused by the bullet in his head. Kwai, Chu and Fat Lok have to refresh his memories with the help of his photos. In desperation, they give Costello to a friend, a pregnant, single mother of several children, who is supposed to look after him.

Kwai, Chu and Fat Lok now want to avenge Tony and there is a bloody shooting at the garbage dump, in which Kwai, Chu and Fat Lok die in the face of a hostile force led by Fung. Days later, while eating with the single mother and her children, Costello found out about the death of the three in the news. Costello no longer knows who the three are, but one of the children explains to him that the three were his best friends. Costello is desperate because he cannot remember his three friends, his daughter and her family. He then goes to a nearby beach and prays to God there for a whole day and night . Suddenly strange shadow figures appear before him. These shadows represent his lost memories. Suddenly he can recognize the faces of the figures and thus remember the family victims and friends again.

With the help of the pregnant wife and children, Costello lures George Fung into a trap. The children sell him stickers that they stick on his suit. Since Costello can no longer remember George Fung, he now knows that George Fung is the man with the stickers stuck on. It comes to a showdown in which Costello pursues Fung and shoots wildly. George Fung watches Costello specifically looking for someone with stickers on his jacket. He sticks the stickers on one of his henchmen to confuse Costello. After Fung takes off his jacket and throws it away, Costello finds it and calls for Fung. After killing everyone except Fung, Fung, with only one cartridge left in his weapon, emerges from his hiding place and walks past Costello, hoping not to be recognized. But a sticker left on the bottom of his tie gives him away and Costello shoots him down. He threatens Fung and demands that he put on his jacket. Costello compares the bullet holes in Fung's jacket with those on his body. Finally, Costello knows that he has the murderer of his friends and daughter in front of him and kills him with an aimed headshot.

In the last scene you can see Costello sitting at the table with the pregnant woman's children and eating. It seems that he has now lost all memories as he laughs with the children for the first time in a long time.

Publications

So far, Vengeance has only been released on DVD in Hong Kong, France and Germany. In America it was shown at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival .

criticism

“Action virtuoso Johnny To presents us with a first-class ballet in his first French coproduction. Staged flawlessly, he lets his cool characters march mostly in slow motion through an impressive high-gloss look, without forgetting the calm and meditative tones from which one is only torn out again by the brutally choreographed exchange of fire. "

- moviemaze.de

"Cool guys in a hail of bullets, garnished with grandiose ideas."

- cinema.de

“Just as exciting as funny culture clash thriller, which was written for the French old rocker Johnny Hallyday. Johnnie To stages brilliantly by ensuring, in addition to sophisticated action sequences, time and again for rest and culinary delights. "

- filmdienst.de

Awards

Hong Kong Film Awards

Asian Film Awards

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Release certificate for Vengeance . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , April 2011 (PDF; test number: 123 051 V).
  2. ↑ Criticism on moviemaze.de ( Memento from August 4, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  3. ↑ Critique on cinema.de
  4. ^ Criticism on filmdienst.de

Web links