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Screened at Golden Shadows on 26 May 2001: In the late 1980s and early 90s, cinematically I was just getting a handle on the great HK crime films like John Woo's The Killer and Tsui Hark's The Big Heat.........then along came A Killer's Blues. A superb human drama packaged as a crime thriller, A Killer's Blues plays down screen violence and shows us people struggling with the ever present ghosts of the past. Emotionally and psychologically this film is as tough as any of the more visceral crime movies from this period. Famous Shaw Bros. Actor Ti Lung (Blood Brothers, Blade of Fury) is Ming, a once powerful triad enforcer who has fallen on hard times. He is returning to Hong Kong after a fifteen year jail stretch in America. And yes - things are very different on his arrival home. It's a hackneyed sounding storyline, but with the screen treatment it receives viewers will find A Killer's Blues being the type of movie which lingers long in one's memory. Script writer Nam Yim (Prison on Fire, Full Contact) uses Ming's return home as the catalyst for much soul searching and eventual bloodshed. Director Raymond Lee (Dragon Gate Inn, The East is Red) opts for an excellent mix of experience and youth with his cast. The former reflected by Kwan Hui-Shan (My Heart is that Eternal Rose) as Ming's down-on-his-luck gang boss, and famous martial arts actor Lo Lieh (Five Fingers of Death) as Ming's best friend, Tai. The youth represented by Fennie Yuen (School on Fire) as Ah Shuet, the adopted daughter of a dead gangster, whose role is pivotal to much of the film's drama. Up and coming (at least in the early 90s!) HK screen nasties Roy Cheung (School on Fire) and Mark Cheng (Raped by an Angel) are opposing gang leaders blinded by blood feuds and ruthless ambition. Apart from the central role of Ti Lung's which is so commanding, Olivia Cheng as Wai, Ming's lover, gives a standout performance as a person on an emotional knife-edge who has been living a lie for the past fifteen years. The final scene of this movie - heartbreaking as it may be - is just perfect. It never ceases to amaze me at how this film has been so ignored over the years. It's impossible to find on DVD or VCD and most Chinese video copies are very poor quality. Recently, what has surprised me about A Killer's Blues is that it has been remade in Hong Kong as Goodbye, Mr Cool - and opened to not very enthusiastic reviews. Hopefully, this remake might direct some interest back to the original and by far the best. - JOHN SNADDEN This film is an impressive Heroic Bloodshed Ti Lung is totally convincing as
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