Pulpmovies Reviews

Set in Macao in 1998, just before the handover of the colony from Portugal to China, Exiled (Fong Juk) is a story of gangsters, loyalty, honour and courage.

Wo (Nick Cheung), an exiled gangster, has unwisely returned to the area with his wife and child and now two pairs of men are looking for him. The first two to warn him of the danger he’s in, the second two to execute him. Wo is not at home when the men come looking for him, so they wait. As they do so, it emerges that they know each other – and they know Wo.

When Wo finally puts in an appearance, two of the waiting men follow him indoors and the first of many spectacular set pieces follows – this one being a shootout that is one part Mexican standoff, one part western style gunfight.

The action is halted by Wo’s crying baby and the men agree to sit down and talk. But before they can do so, they repair the damage and help Wo bring his new furniture indoors. Over dinner, it emerges that all five were childhood friends and all five became mobsters together and, even now when they are on opposite sides, old loyalties remain.

Between them, the five men come up with a scheme that honours both their old loyalties and the new realities. Once they try to put their plan into action, however, things start to go horribly wrong.

Visually, Exiled is a spectacular film, packed with iconic images drawn from Sergio Leone by way of early John Woo. Johnny To’s films have been described as a hallmark of quality filmmaking in Hong Kong over the last ten years and, in this film, you can see why. Every time you think he’s exhausted a particular scene or sequence, he demonstrates how much more can be done with an inventiveness that leaves you stunned.

But the film is much more than a series of action set-pieces. The plot itself is pretty straight-forward and, in lesser hands, could well have started to drag – especially in the few cases where the characters’ behaviour appears to be driven more by the need to keep things moving than any aspect of their personalities so far revealed.

The film is redeemed, however, by both the playful sense of humour that is apparent throughout the film and by the characters, who – while not being entirely likeable – are certainly well-rounded enough for you to genuinely care about what happens to them.

All five of the lead actors put in very solid performances here and play well as an ensemble, allowing their characters to develop and their history and conflicts to emerge naturally. But the real driving force of the film is Josie Ho who, as Wo’s wife, really does stamp her powerful presence on the proceedings and drives things forward to film’s spectacular conclusion.

All in all, then, Exiled is a full-on action film and one that expertly makes use of all the tropes of the various action sub-genres. It is, by turns, a gangster movie, a western, a road movie and a tragedy – and there are also plenty of dramatic and comedic moments thrown into the mix as well. Johnny To brings all of these elements together expertly to make a film that is not only spectacular but also takes a long look at modern ideas of honour and loyalty.

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