Johnnie To Kei-fung has been an unobtrusive but prolific and innovative contributor to the Hong Kong cultural scene. He is an increasingly esteemed filmmaker in Hong Kong, admired among overseas aficionados of Hong Kong action films, as well as a highly experienced film producer and the creative heart of the independent film company, Milkyway Image. However he has shunned the short-lived ‘bubble reputation’ of celebrity, relying rather on his prodigious work ethic and his impressive track record to do the talking for him. As well as being a key figure in the industry, To has been a member of the...

Respected local critic, academic and creative writer Leung Pingkwan has astutely identified the inter-space between accurate and realistic representations of a recognisable Hong Kong milieu and the Baudrillard-esque hyper-real spaces that are evoked in many Hong Kong films, including such classics as Rouge, In the Mood for Love and Infernal Affairs. Such simulated reality in the depiction of place is typical of a virtual reality culture and technology, and we should acknowledge the huge shift in the modern film industry where digital techniques can blur the boundaries between fantastical and putatively realistic narrative genres. That said, famous predigital age Hong...

In this chapter we will explore the film’s plot and story as well as its mise-en-scène and the aesthetic principles underlying its composition. As one internet evaluation put it rather whimsically, PTUmust be ‘the best film there is about a bunch of men walking in the street’ (http://www.naturalbornviewers.com/archive/p/ptu/review.htm). This is not purely a tongue-in-cheek comment, since the film’s edgy narrative and forward propulsion rely on the simple device of following the police patrol on the beat, which has its own kinetic logic. As To has indicated in interview (see Appendix) the relationship between stasis and movement in film is for...

The brief coda of the film following the decisive shoot-out is easy to overlook, since the tension has been entirely dissipated by the film’s explosive set-piece finale. However, like everything else about PTU, it is rewarding to examine in some detail. As Lo returns from his redemption in the alley, reports are being radioed back to headquarters. The Orderly informs his PTU superintendent merely that there was ‘a fire situation’ in Canton Road, that everything is under control, that there are six Chinese male casualties, and that all the officers are fine. Significantly, he makes no mention of Mike’s unorthodox...