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An architect is arrested for murder in Hong Kong. His name is Mak Kwan; that he killed a contractor is accepted, and he will not say why. Inspector Pao, running the interrogation, sees that something is missing: the man is part of a robbery plan and the plan is still moving. Mak escapes. A pursuit begins, and the further the inspector goes the more his own life comes apart. Ringo Lam directs. Lau Ching-wan plays Pao and Francis Ng plays Mak. The idea is that the two men resemble each other. The policeman and the criminal work with the same exhaustion and the same obsession, and the narrative shows both from the same distance. Ringo Lam is among the best known directors of Hong Kong crime cinema; City on Fire is his. This counts among his best work of the nineties. The action is stripped of display. The shootouts are short, in tight spaces and chaotic; realism is preferred to choreography. The handover of Hong Kong sits in the background; the film was made in 1997 and the uncertainty in the city is inside the narrative. It was named best film at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Who it is for: viewers who like Hong Kong crime cinema and realistic police narratives. Who it is not for: there are many characters, the family strand stays thin, and the ending does not deliver the large confrontation expected.