Hong Kong star Andy Lau and director Johnnie To have collaborated on around a dozen films together, but this one completely escaped my attention until Eureka’s new Blu-ray release. Joined by fellow HK star Cecilia Cheung and co-director/writer Wai Ka-fai, Lau and To spin a bizarrely original tale of an ex-Buddhist monk with the ability to see people’s past lives and predict their future. Even weirder, Lau wears a bulky full-body muscle suit without comment for the entirety of the film, shedding it only in the final minute for a meaningless character transformation.
Buy Running on Karma Blu-rayThanks to the top-tier talent and unique premise, the film was reportedly a critical and commercial success during its original Hong Kong run, ranking as the third-highest grosser of 2003 and winning Best Film and Best Screenplay at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t translate effectively on this side of the Pacific, especially since its plot runs out of gas long before its conclusion.
Lau’s ex-monk named Big has devoted his secular life to bodybuilding, earning income as a stripper until he runs afoul of the police during a sting orchestrated by Cheung’s inspector character Lee. When he gets a glimpse of the innocent Lee’s evil past life and her impending death as karmic retribution, he teams up with her to help her close what will likely be her final murder case. It’s all a bit contrived, but serves the purpose of pairing the well-cast Lau and Cheung.
Big’s supernatural abilities help him to find Lee’s target, leading to a tense showdown and resolution that should have served as the natural end to the film. Instead, we get a further half hour of karma-infused melodrama as Lee decides to try to track down the killer of Big’s childhood friend as repayment for his help, leading her down a fateful path Big is powerless to prevent. When he does get involved, he somehow encounters a showdown with his future self that culminates in a final battle fought via meditation. Wai and To try to assign it all deep spiritualism, but the end result is a saccharine, downbeat final act that feels tacked on to what was otherwise a charming hybrid of action, drama, and comedy.
The new Blu-ray in Eureka’s ongoing Masters of Cinema series arrives in a limited edition of 2000 copies. The image quality is clean and precise, seemingly unrestored but recent enough that virtually no defects are evident. Sound is the original Cantonese stereo. A new audio commentary track by two film experts is included, along with a new interview about the film with another expert. However, the best bonus feature is an archival “making of” featurette in glorious lo-fi resolution, seemingly sourced from a VHS or VCD and packed with behind-the-scenes footage from the set.
Running on Karma arrives on Blu-ray on January 28th.
