Motorway (Motorway)
Contemporary World Cinema
Synopsis
Motorway’ takes the elements of a classic buddy pic, melds them with a high-thrills cops ‘n’ robbers yarn and injects the whole thing with a hefty dose of octane. In the hands of Hong Kong auteur Soi Cheang, the result is a sleek, darkly stylish thriller with substance. Cocky young cop Cheung is paired up with soon-to-retire veteran Fung on Hong Kong’s Stealth Riders, a top-secret, high-speed chase squad equipped with a fleet of seriously souped-up Audis. In the quest to bring down Sun, a legendary getaway driver, the rookie learns a thing or two from the old-timer. Eschewing the frenetic editing that characterises so many contemporary car-chase sequences, and making clever use of the threatening near-silence of Hong Kong’s streets at night, Soi’s film brings back the old-school, grab-them-by-the-throat tension of classic police action pics – a move heightened by an intense, brilliantly understated score by Xavier Jamaux and Alex Gopher.
About the Directors
Born in Macau and raised in Hong Kong, Soi Cheang Pou-Soi worked as an assistant director before making his directorial debut with ‘Diamond Hill’ in 2000. ‘Dog Bite Dog’ (2006) was invited to the Tokyo International and Deauville Asian Film Festivals, while ‘Accident’ screened in competition in Venice. Other films include ‘New Blood’ (2002) and ‘Sharno’ (2007).
Credits
- Director
- Soi Cheang
- Screenwriter
- Joey O'Bryan, Szeto Kam Yuen, Francis Fung
- Producer
- Johnnie To
- Editor
- Allen Leung
- Associate Producer
- Ding Yuin Shan
- Executive Producer
- John Chong, Song Dai
- Co-Producer
- Shirley Lau, Lorraine Ho, Ren Yue, Lam Ping Kwan
- Music
- Xavier Jamaux, Alex Gopher
- Cinematographer
- Fung Yuen Man, Tse Chung To
- Sales Company
- Media International Pictures / Fathallah
- Cast
- Anthony Wong, Shawn Yue, Guo Xiaodong, Lam Ka Tung, Barbie Hsu, Josie Ho, Michelle Ye, Li Hai, Li Guangjie