Running Out of Time (1999)

There's no pun intended with the title although I would be tempted to say so :) but it's not because in this case any "no time to write" excuse won't hold. Because "Running Out of Time" (or "Am Zin" as original title) is something for which if I wouldn't have time to write, I'll postpone it for another day. It's one of the few movies that I get to see during one year, that simply said are indeed heart touching. But it's late, I'm sleepy, and I have no idea from where to start with it. Anyway I'll make time for it :) only that there are chances to get a bit chaotic in the following ...

It's a film produced in '99 in Hong Kong, with a visibly small budget, and from what I managed to find out rapidly by a quick search, actually it was shot in pieces, between other projects directed by the same guy (Johnnie To - I'll come back later to him) and this happened throughout something like two years. But a bit about the story first ... We have two main characters, who are introduced during the first 15 minutes. One guy who is in a terminal state of disease with four weeks left to live, who after the visit paid to the doctor that brought him the news is shown gazing suicidally from the top of one of the Hong Kong sky scrappers. That's pretty much what we get for the start ... well, we can also infer from the two bill rolls paid to the physician that he's not exactly the most law abiding citizen ever. The second guy has an intro which is a bit longer, but I won't reveal it entirely. It's enough to say that he's a police inspector, apparently specialized in negotiations for crisis situations. Also, according to his CV you could say that he's the right candidate for the "policeman of the decade" title. Anyway, one day he's summoned for a hostage situation during taking place during an armed robbery on a bank - this is actually the intro sequence for the character, immediately following the one presenting us the first guy. If you already think that you know how the movie goes on .. well .. think again, or better watch it :) There are some surprises, not big, but there are ;)

If you spend some time to think on it after the end, the story of the movie is not that complicated, and it also doesn't have any major twists after all. But it's told that well that you don't realize this until the end credits :) You don't get unnecessary lengths, you have sufficient side threads to the plot prefectly integrated, and all these summed up result in a rhythm that doesn't leave you much time to "think ahead". You're sufficiently caught not to have time to make predictions about the final while you have your eyes on the screen. On a different note, this thing is also ensured somehow psychologically speaking by the fact that you're given from the start with something certain to happen (the dying guy mentioned above if it's not clear). But anyway, again, for the story, better watch the movie ;) it worth the time ...

For the rest as I said you can see the low budget or the HK style of doing movies - minimal costs for maximum profit. Despite all these, we get to hear a soundtrack that can compete without doubt with Hollywood. The cinematography and editing are ok for the amount seemed to be invested in the movie. We actually have a few shots which are quite nice. The actors, who sometimes in the Asian productions get a bit too theatrical are excellently cast here and you can't see the mentioned issue. Actually Andy Lau (the guy who's dying) got an HK Oscars equivalent award for the role during that year (which is quite significant considering that movies from that side of the world don't get a wide distribution usually and are unable to hit any western galas). The part where you can see the lack of budget is the effects and production design part which are sometimes a bit hilarious. But these, as other stuff, like the typical Asian "overdramatical" style that can be seen here & there, and some far fetched action points, can be overlooked. Because the rest is sufficiently good to make it possible.

Johnnie To is regarded as one of the top HK directors. I don't get too often to see movies from that side of the world, but up to this one I was a bit disagreeing about his appreciation. I've seen a while ago "Election" and "Election 2" by him, which attempt to be basically something like an Asian "Godfather". The outcome is good, but not sufficiently to be able to put the movies on par with similar titles from Hollywood. In the case of the current movie however we have something completely different from the usual mafia flick - although we have the mafia also here :) otherwise I wouldn't have made the reference to the others. It's in the end an example whyu you shouldn't avoid movies made in HK because they're .. again .. HK style made. In this case, you don't have neither the martial arts display with a rate of don't know how many punches and kicks at each 10 minutes nor tons of other violence or the mentioned overacting. It's finally an example (among many - and I'll refer again to the original of "The Departed": "Infernal Affairs"), for what can Hong Kong come up for a limited amount of money compared to the huge budgets on the other continent. It's a move that manages to mix a bit of everything: thriller, drama, comedy (yes, you get even a consistent part of this), action, romance, etc (well .. no SF .. tough luck :) ). It's sad and cheerful at the same time, bitter and bright, dark and bright in equal intensities. And all these are mixed in such a way that it manages to get emotionally intense enough to be remembered.

Rating: 5 out of 5

The most decent trailer version (subtitled) that I found .. as a rule, the HK trailers are usually bad & I'm not talking (only) about the video quality ...


The beginning, in case you're not convinced yet (no spoilers) ...


And a sample from the soundtrack ...