Love Massacre

Patrick Tam's 1981 Hong Kong film follows Ivy, a student in San Francisco. Helping her friend Joy recover from a break-up, she becomes involved with Joy's married brother Chu Chung, whose balance steadily gives way. What the film is known for is its design. Red and white are used across large surfaces; corridors, dormitory rooms and clothing are arranged in blocks of colour, and the violence erupts inside that order. Tam is among the directors of the Hong Kong New Wave who leaned hardest on form. Brigitte Lin leads. The narrative produces no motive; the reason for the killings is left unexplained and the tension comes largely from the cutting. Who it's for: those who like the Hong Kong New Wave and formalist thrillers. Who it's not for: viewers expecting psychological explanation; the film leaves the violence without cause and the scenes are explicit.