LONGEST NITE, THE (1997) back to main
Directed by Patrick Yau; Produced by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai; starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Lau Ching-Wan, Maggie Shiu, Lung Fung, Mark Cheng.
Gritty urban cat-and-mouse thriller from the director of THE ODD ONE DIES, produced by Johnnie To (LOVING YOU) and Wai Ka-Fai (TOO MANY WAYS TO BE NUMBER ONE). More compact and potentially subversive than Yau's much-touted other 1997 film, EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED, full of surprises and grimly realistic observations about the triad world (Go home, Andrew Lau!). After some initial confusion, superlative performances (especially by Tony Leung), stylish, sometimes brilliant photography and uncompromising direction win the day ... err, night. A superior entry in  new wave cinema. Minor flaw: Hans-Zimmer-like synthsizer score.
This man has power-games on his mind.
Returning to Macao after many years in exile ...
... he gives corrupt police detective
Tony Leung Chiu-Wai 
much food for thought.
As does "Baldy" (Lau Ching-Wan),
the new kid in town. In this scene,
he is treated to a pleasant little chat
by the authorities.
Meanwhile, some triad bigshots
(or sons of triad bigshots, actually) are losing their patience.
The trigger-happy guy on the right is
Mark Cheng.
Women are not treated nicely either.
That's Tony's pencil, by-the-way. 
After some civilised talk (well, sort of) between gentlemen ...
... it's back to the artillery to decide
the outcome. Oh, yeah...?
LONGEST NITE is a Hong Kong triad
thriller, so some people always end up dead. Hmmm, quite a lot of 
them do.