Cannes Report: Triangle Review

So, Hark. One of Hong Kong’s brightest lights, a true icon, and—in recent days—also one of the most frustratingly inconsistent. Both the highs and lows of Hark are evident in the opening act. Hark is aiming to throw down the gauntlet for the two directors to follow and he’s not about to make things easy. Here’s what he gives them to work with. At the center is a trio of down on their luck friends, each of them desperate for cash. The three meet a mysterious figure who gives them a gold coin and a website that, when deciphered, opens up a highly lucrative heist job for them. Simple enough so far, but one of the trio (Louis Koo) is also being forced to do a jewelry store robbery for a triad gang he is in debt to and they’re pushing him to find a driver. And, just in case that job won’t pay enough, he’s also working as a snitch for a hard assed cop. The cop, for his part, is having an affair with the wife of one of the trio’s other members (Simon Yam) , a woman who claims she is now pregnant with his child—a problem since her husband is infertile. Needing to get the husband out of the picture, and taking advantage of the fact that Yam is a former rally car driver, the cop pushes Koo to take on Yam as the triad’s getaway driver so that he can bust him following the robbery and clear the path for his relationship with Yam’s wife.

Now, this is just the core of the set up. There’s more. It’s not imposible to follow but it is definitely dense and many will find it overly and unnecessarily plotted, with at least one sub plot too many all vying for attention. Aiming to do too much and, as a result, not quite having the time to do all of it well has been a problem for Hark in recent days and it’s one that crops up again here. Luckily, however, the subsequent directorial pair had full control over the scripting of their own sequences and they waste no time in simplifying and narrowing the focus down.

Ringo Lam carries the bulk of the film’s character work. He steps back from the hectic plotting of the first act and gives the characters room to breath. It’s a smart and welcome move, one that pays off in some quality exploration of the dynamics within our core trio as well as the film’s other major triangle, the three pointed love story between Yam, his adulterous wife and the cop. We get to know the characters considerably better in Lam’s segment which helps the film build to a handsome payoff in To’s concluding act.

Talking about the To segment in any detail is virtually impossible without spilling major plot points but suffice it to say that the man’s hot streak continues unabated. He does an admirable job of wrapping things together into one tight little package that balances out the film’s noir action edge with some vintage comedy of errors.

Were it the work of a single director Triangle could easily be criticized for being a little bit inconsistent. It is. But that’s part of the point of the film. What we have here are three directors at play, setting out to trip each other up while answering the challenges laid down by those that came before. It’s a fascinating little experiment, one who’s weaknesses are easily overshadowed by not only the novelty of the piece but also by the technical virtuosity of the directors and crew and by the film’s unending series of strong performances. Flawless? No. Fascinating? You bet. Entertaining? Hell, yes.

*Edit; by Logboy* First Footage of ’Triangle‘ Is Online; Sound’s poor and subs are French, flash embedded.