TOO MANY WAYS TO BE NO. 1

REVIEW:

                        This arty triad flick from Wai Ka-Fai and Johnnie To is as good as genre pictures get in this era. Lau Ching-Wan is Kau, a small potato in the triad world who must make a fateful decision to discover who he is. With that decision, his life can diverge in two paths, each leading to an ultimate fate.
                        Due to some narrative trickery, both options are explored in this film. The result is something truly interesting and entertaining. Kaus experiences are triad parodies of the most blackly comic kind. The motley crew assembled to carry out the crimes consists of a bunch of inept losers, played with appropriate histrionic flair by Francis Ng, Cheung Tat-Ming, Tsui Kam-Kong, Cheng Cho, and Matthew Chow. This is a world where hired killers cant drive and gaining face is an absurdist comedy.
                        Aiding matters is the bizarre choices the filmmakers made. Scenes are distorted through fish-eye lenses, one entire sequence is shot upside-down, and the cinematography could easily be described as "vomit grain." Frequently hilarious, this film isnt for everyone, but those who like black comedy should stand in line. Johnnie To & his crew have put out the best stuff this year (Lifeline, The Odd One Dies), breathing new life into HK genre flicks. Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 is pulp fiction, HK-style. [REVIEWED BY KOZO 1997]