Mad Detective (15)
Sunday, 20 July 2008
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I'd be tempted to say that Mad Detective is the sort of slick, flashy crime thriller which could only have been made in Hong Kong, except that there's bound to be a Hollywood remake in the next year or two. Let down only by its politically incorrect but accurate title, it takes the concept of an eccentric Holmesian sleuth to a delirious new level, as Lau Ching Wan's policeman solves murder cases by, well, hallucinating.
Possibly by dint of a supernatural ability, or possibly because of his beautiful mind, he talks to ghosts and he sees people's inner personalities. The viewer gets to see these personalities too, so Wan's partner is sometimes shown as a wimpering young boy, while a schizophrenic villain is shown as seven different men and women crowded into one car. It's an absurd gimmick, but it's also a stroke of genius, and the film-makers keep finding novel variations on it all the way through. Much like Guy Pearce in Memento, Wan plays his character as a pitiable pariah, so there's more to Mad Detective than a wacky visual idea – although that would have been enough to make it one of the most entertaining cop movies in some time. My money's on Nicolas Cage for the remake.
