Running on Karma

Big is a former monk; he left the monastery and dances in night clubs in Hong Kong. His body is extraordinary; the muscles are exaggerated and that image spreads through the whole language of the film. In a raid he meets the police officer Lee Fung-yee. When Big looks at people he can see their past lives. He looks at her and what he sees is not good. He does not tell her. She is after a killer and Big stays with her. His question is not catching the killer; it is whether another person's fate can be changed. Johnnie To directs with Wai Ka-fai. Andy Lau and Cecilia Cheung are in the cast. It is a Hong Kong production. Andy Lau wore a muscle suit for the part, and that choice carries meaning inside the story; it is how the difference between body and spirit is marked. The film won awards at the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards including best film, best screenplay and best actor. The matter it treats is karma; the film asks whether a punishment is deserved and gives no comfortable answer. It does not fix its genre; comedy, fighting and religious argument are in the same narrative. The second half changes tone entirely and catches the viewer unprepared. The narrative deliberately breaks the usual shapes of Hong Kong cinema. Cecilia Cheung plays her character cheerful and stubborn. The ending closes on an acceptance. Its limit is balance; the narrative is scattered, the tone uneven, and some scenes stay strange. Who it is for: viewers who like Hong Kong cinema and mixtures of genre. Who it is not for: it is strange, uneven, and the ending bitter.