Bullets Over Summer

A police film set in Hong Kong. Two detectives are after a series of crimes. The man they want uses a gun in bank robberies and kills someone every time. The two move into a house in the neighbourhood. The aim is to watch a street the suspect often uses; the owner of the house is an old woman in the early stages of dementia who takes them for her grandsons. The wait goes on. Through it the film moves away from the investigation: looking after the woman, doing the shopping, talking to a neighbour, ordinary life. The two detectives differ. One is calm, measured and about to marry; the other is impatient, angry and disorderly. At the same time a relationship starts with a young woman in the neighbourhood, and the house begins to resemble a family. What the narrative builds is the wish to believe that this temporary life is real. In the end the investigation returns and the last section goes back to the hardness usual in the genre. The most striking thing is the change of register: for a long while it proceeds like a family comedy and then goes somewhere else entirely. Francis Ng, Louis Koo and Helena Law Lan are in the cast. Wilson Yip directed. An interesting production for anyone who likes Hong Kong cinema and mixtures of genre. For a viewer expecting action throughout, the film gives most of its time to waiting.