Running on Karma

Running on Karma (大隻佬) Blu-ray cover

It’s what the crowd want regardless of the expectations of decency, Lee Fung-yee screaming loudest among the crowd of excited women for the provocative dancer and bodybuilder called Biggie and his all-male cohort to go further than might be prudent; actually an undercover police officer, when he responds to the encouragement she attempts to arrest him.

Biggie’s swift exit from the club causing him to collide with a suspect from another investigation also on the run, both are caught and arrested but only Biggie is processed without incident at the station, the murderer in the other case escaping en route, prompting the former Buddhist monk turned petty thief turned stripper who is actually named Lin Yun to offer his skills to help Inspector Fung-yee, reassigned to the Serious Crime following the death of a colleague.

Running on Karma (大隻佬); "Biggie" (Andy Lau) goes for a ride on Inspector Lee Fung-yee's moped.

An oddity of Hong-Kong cinema which blends Buddhist philosophy, martial arts, superficial police procedural and a touch of romance, Running on Karma (大隻佬) is directed by frequent collaborators Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai, reuniting with Casino Raiders’ Andy Lau, performing in a neck-to-ankle full body prosthetic muscle suit which gives him the strange proportions of an action figure and, when he frequently disrobes, looks exactly as fake as it obviously is.

Sometimes known by the clumsy but literal translation Big Guy Has Big Wisdom (大块头有大智慧) and also known as the equally descriptive but slightly less cumbersome An Intelligent Muscle Man, the disparate elements are poorly balanced, with three separate cases taking place in ninety minutes none of which have any significant investigation or development, the most interesting, the contortionist killer, apparently only an excuse for Inspector Chung (Cheung Siu-fai) to bully Fung-Yee (Cecilia Cheung).

Running on Karma (大隻佬); Lee Fung-yee (Cecilia Cheung) is surrounded by the images of the misdeeds of her former lives.

Biggie able to see the past lives of those he encounters, visions of a dying dog the reincarnation of a cruel child, Fung-yee a Japanese soldier who murdered civilians, it is that which pushed him from his life of solitude and gives the film its name, but the effect is poorly executed, random footage superimposed like a double exposure, the impression less of a profound revelation and understanding than of a drug flashback kicking in, more effort having been given to the fight sequences which rapidly escalate from fantastical to preposterous.

Making its UK Blu-ray debut as part of Eureka’s Masters of Cinema’s series, the new edition of Running on Karma carries the original Cantonese audio, dubbed in post-production as the production was shot silent to save time and so costs, newly translated subtitles, a new commentary from Frank Djeng and F J DeSanto and an overview of the film and its creators by Gary Bettinson as well as an archive promotional featurette.

Running on Karma will be available on Blu-ray from Eureka from Monday 27th January

Running on Karma (大隻佬); Day turns to night seven times over as Lin Yun (Andy Lau) considers the past and the future.

Comments

comments

Show Buttons
Hide Buttons