I ordered this movie on Hong kong disc for a couple of British pounds so i wasn't expecting much. Needless to say i was pleasantly surprised, cause it was quite good. What i expected to be just another prison movie turned out to be a well acted drama with a few tender scenes. The film deals with police corruption inside and outside prison and how this affects the lives of the prisoners and their loved ones. The prison scenes are filmed in washed out colours as we are shown the cruelty and sadism of life inside, whilst the family scenes are shown in vibrant colours especially the nightclub scenes The story is your standard one of a man falsely accused trying to survive amongst the dregs of society. There are some comic scenes that are sort of hit and miss but thats HK movie humour, you either love it or hate it. The movie reminded me of Ringo Lams 'Prison On Fire' films and was well made without being fantastic. A movie that i would recommend to anyone who likes Wong Kar Wei's early films. Just don't expect a sleazy violent Cat III shocker. I will be watching this again soon.
Review of Chinese Midnight Express
