The assassination of a gangster’s son and the theft of a police officer’s gun set off a chain of events which ultimately turn the streets of Hong Kong into a war zone.

CRITIQUE

Set over the course of a single night (and filmed over the course of three years,) PTU follows a few members of Hong Kong’s Police Tactical Unit as they assist one of their own - the bumbling Sgt. Lo Sa (Suet Lam,) who had lost his sidearm after being attacked by a street thug who keyed his car. Lo is up for a promotion in a few weeks and it would look bad if his “misplaced” weapon killed someone.  If the weapon does not turn up by dawn, however, Lo is on his own.

PTU is an odd little film.  It is a completely amoral character study, relying more on style rather than substance.  The film lack any real narrative focus (apparently there was no real script for the film, everything that happened was spontaneously constructed,) but this choice does lend the story to feel fairly natural (at times.)  The central theme of the film is the idea of the “blue shield” that one gains when one becomes a member of the police.  They are a brotherhood and they look out for their own, even if it means crossing the line to do so.  The PTU commander, Sgt. Mike Ho (Simon Yam,) understands what Lo has asked of him and intends to keep Lo out of trouble for as long as possible.  He knows the rules of the game, and understands the consequences of failure.

As a character study, PTU is fairly interesting, though doesn’t spend enough time with the characters for us to ever truly understand their motivations.  The subplot of the gangster’s son being murdered feels tacked on, simply existing just to give Johnny To a reason to have a gunfight at the end of the flick. Granted, the shootout does have a decent payoff to it, but still feels unnecessary, especially since most of the characters involved in it have very little to do with the actual story.      Still, Johnny To, is not an incompetent filmmaker by any means.  The film looks amazing, the cast feels perfect.  On a technical level, this is a wonderful little film. If the story held the same depth, this might have been a phenomenal film.  Sadly, it’s just okay.

THE VIDEO

The video transfer of PTU is alright, but does have its share of flaws.  While there are no instances of artifacting, I did notice grain every now and then.

THE AUDIO

PTU is presented with 5.1 Dolby Surround mixes in both Cantonese and English. While I prefer the original Cantonese track, the English dub is decent enough.  The mixes are both solid, with some wonderful ambience bringing the night truly alive.

THE EXTRAS

Commentary by Bey Logan:  Dragon Dynasty’s Hong Kong expert chimes in about PTU.  It’s a nice commentary track, though Logan does have a tendency to mention incidental crew members (and forget their names) who show up in the film.

Interviews with Simon Yam, Johnny To, and Maggie Siu:  Three interviews that describe how PTU was conceived and ultimately shot over the course of three years. The actors discuss how it was working without a real script and how liberating it was for them to have to be able to “be in the moment” rather than over-thinking and over-preparing themselves for the day’s shoot.

FINAL THOUGHTS

PTU is a filmmaking exercise that we don’t get to see that often.  And while I think that it does have its merits, the film will appeal mostly to hardcore Hong Kong film fans.  And even then I would recommend renting it first.