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Andy
Lau has come a long way since making his first film debut. A Fighter's
Blues is Lau's 100th film of his career, and looks to be one of
his best. Lau is a prolific actor, often making well in excess of
twenty movies a year during the late eighties and early nineties,
but in recent years, he has only made a couple each year. Lau isn't
getting younger, and he can't go on making those by-the-numbers
triad films anymore. Lau had proved himself a talented actor many
years ago (as early as his TVB days) and it shows that with the
proper material, Lau can come up with a good film.
Filmed
entirely in Thailand, A Fighter's
Blues is a tale about a Hong Kong kickboxing champion, Mong Fu (Lau).
Before an upcoming fight, Fu is interviewed by a Thai-Chinese female
called Pim. She wants to make a documentary about him, but in doing
so, she falls in love with him. The feeling is mutual and Fu likes
to show off in front of her, showing her how great he truly is.
During the fight between Fu and a Thai-boxer called Chart Chai,
Fu tells Pim that he is fake fighting, and that everything would
be taken care of, but Pim is angry that he would do such a thing
and she leaves the arena in tears. Fu regrets what he had said and
goes after her, to the confusion of all the people watching the
fight. Fu does not find her, only a note she had left behind in
his dressing room. Chart Chai is furious that Fu had left the fight
and he wants a rematch. He goes to Fu's dressing room and challenges
him. In a fit of madness, Fu kills Chai, and is subsequently jailed
for 13 years.
When
Fu is released from his imprisonment, he goes to Thailand to find
Pim but is told that Pim had died five years previously when she
went to investigate some drug barons. He is also told that he has
a daughter by the name of Ploy, and she is living in an orphanage
in Pattaway. Fu goes to this St. Mary's Home of orphans but could
not find his daughter there. Sister Mioko (Tokiwa), who is in charge
of the orphanage, tells him that Ploy had run away from the orphanage
and is currently living in the city. Mioko helps Fu find Ploy, and
father and daughter meet for the first time. Ploy is happy to see
her father at long last but is disappointed that Fu is a bit unfriendly
towards her. Later, they meet up again, and after Fu beats up a
gang of hoodlums who were after Ploy, she sees a different side
of him and starts to warm towards him. They spend time together,
getting to know each other, and Ploy is finally able to free her
emotions and to love this man who is her father. Fu, at a lost at
first, comes to terms that this strange girl is his daughter, and
he is grateful that the love between him and Pim can be seen in
Ploy. Fu even helps to train Ray, Ploy's Thai-boxing boyfriend.
Meanwhile,
Fu and Mioko are getting closer and closer, until their feelings
for each other borders on love, but they still would not admit it
to each other. Tragedy happens when one day, as Ray is fighting
in a competition, Fu is seen by some Thai-boxing people. They well
remember the night that Fu had killed one of their fighters, and
they stop the fight and confront him. They tell everyone who Fu
really is. Ploy is upset that her father had lied to her and runs
away. Fu is ordered to leave the arena, and later is warned that
he should leave Thailand for his own good. He agrees and is about
to leave, when he finds out that Mioko isn't really a Sister at
all. She tells him that once he had walked on a path, he should
continue and not walk back. Spurned on by her words and by his need
to finish what he once started, he challenges Tawon, the six-times
Thai-boxing champion to a fight in the ring. Mioko is horrified
that he would do this because he would surely lose. Fu is adamant
that he should rectify what he had done, and goes into training.
The trainer he had had 13 years ago comes to find him, to tell him
what he is about to do amounts to suicide, but in the end helps
him to train for the upcoming fight.
A
Fighter's Blues is a good dramatic film. The story is the main priority
with the action in the background, and I think that Andy Lau is
to be applauded for making his 100th film a good one to remember.
There are a lot of good points in the film, and some bad ones too.
We should not be so critical, because films about boxing are difficult
to make. Stallone achieved that with Rocky, but his sequels were
all disappointments. In a Fighter's Blues, we actually care about
Ah Fu, but it is somewhat difficult to swallow his reasons for entering
the ring again. At his age, he should know that he doesn't stand
a bloody chance, and ultimately he would lose. We wouldn't expect
him to win, otherwise, it wouldn't be realistic in a sense. His
only possible reasoning is redemption for a stupid mistake he had
made. But he had paid for that mistake with thirteen years of his
life, and he could have had his daughter back and the love of a
beautiful woman.
I
thought the most touching scene throughout the film was the one
where Fu and Ploy are in the train station. While Fu is off to buy
tickets, telling Ploy beforehand to remain where she is, he returns
to find her missing, and he goes into a frantic state, running around
looking for her. Ploy had gone off to buy some drinks, and when
she sees her father running around trying to find her, it pulls
her heart-strings, and makes her truly happy that this man really
loves her without question. I also thought the film could have benefitted
by being longer. At it was, there wasn't enough time to flesh out
the characters more. More time could be given to Fu and Ploy, slowly
developing their relationship, so that when she felt he had lied
to her, it would have made a lot more impact on the scene. Also,
the relationship between Fu and Mioko should have been explored
more, although I thought the training sequences were about right
in length. A Fighter's Blues could be the milestone in Lau's career.
There is no reason that Lau's future films could not have the high
standard and quality that Blues have, and we hope that Lau could
sustain his quality filmmaking for many years to come. He may not
hold the crown for the king of action nowadays, but he sure can
retain the king of acting mantle.
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