Confession of Pain

Confession of Pain
Traditional	傷城
Simplified	伤城
Mandarin	Shāng Chéng
Cantonese	Seong1 Sing4
Directed by	Andrew Lau Alan Mak
Produced by	Andrew Lau Cheung Hong-Tat
Written by	Felix Chong Alan Mak
Starring	Tony Leung Chiu-Wai Takeshi Kaneshiro Shu Qi Xu Jinglei
Studio	Media Asia Films (Hong Kong) Polybona Films (China) Avex Entertainment (Japan) Sil-Metropole Organisation, Basic Pictures (Hong Kong)
Distributed by	Hong Kong: Media Asia Distribution China: Polybona Films Singapore: Shaw Organisation Japan: Avex Trax
Release date(s)	December 21, 2006 (Hong Kong)
Running time	110 min.
Country	Hong Kong
Language	Cantonese
Budget	HK$80 million

Confession of Pain (simplified Chinese: 伤城; traditional Chinese: 傷城; pinyin: Shāngchéng, literally Forlorn City) is a 2006 Hong Kong crime/drama film directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, and starring Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Shu Qi and Xu Jinglei.

Plot summary

Detective Hei (Leung), a kind-hearted veteran police officer and his partner Bong (Kaneshiro) bust a rapist in 2003. When Bong returns home after the bust, he finds his pregnant girlfriend has committed suicide. Since then, Bong becomes an alcoholic and turns in his badge to work as a private investigator. He is obsessed with finding out why his girlfriend committed suicide years ago.

Three years later, Bong discovers on the night of his girlfriend's suicide, she had been waiting at a bar for her secret lover, who wound up unconscious after a car accident the same night. Bong originally thinks that he will be angry at his girlfriend's lover, but he ends up taking care of the comatose lover while he lays in hospital. Bong eventually moves on and falls in love with a girl who sells beer in the same bar, Feng (Shu Qi).

Hei marries Susan (Xu Jinlei), daughter of billionaire Chau. Hei and two lowlife accomplices break into Chau's home to rob and kill Chau and his butler, Man. Later Hei kills his accomplices making it look like they killed each other in a dispute over the loot. Susan isn't convinced about the two killers being alone, so she hires Hei's friend Bong to investigate further. Bong discovers Hei murdered Chau for revenge. Chau had killed Hei's family when he was a boy living in Macau. Hei then took on a new identity. Hei then tries to kill his wife Susan to end the Chau family line, but she survives the attempt and goes into a coma.

When he visits Susan in hospital, he mentally confesses but all along Susan knows the truth and asks him if he ever loved her. Hei then realizes that in his desire for vengeance for his family, he destroyed the new family that he created with Susan. Susan doesn't believe him and loses her will to live. Unable to bear the pain and anguish, he shoots himself in the head in front of his wife's dead body in the hospital.

Cast

• Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as Detective Lau Ching-Hei
• Takeshi Kaneshiro as Detective Yau Kin-Bong
• Shu Qi as Feng
• Xu Jinglei as Susan Chew
• Chapman To as Inspector Tsui Wing-Kwong
• Yueh Hua as Susan's father
• Emme Wong as Rachel
• Wan Yeung-Ming as Susan's father's servant
• Wayne Lai
• Toby Leung
• Elena Kong

Reception

Critical reception

Critics' review of the movie was mixed. Most critics positively reviewed the performances by Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro, but criticized the plot for the lack of suspense because it revealed prematurely the identity of the murderer.

Box office

Confession of Pain opened in Hong Kong in the same week as Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower starring Chow Yun-fat and was beaten on the opening day, but was still able to generate box office revenues of HK$3 million on opening weekend.^[1]

Awards

Confession was nominated for seven awards in the 26th Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Screenplay (Alan Mak, Felix Chong), Best Actor (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), Best Cinematography (Andrew Lau, Lai Yiu Fai), Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Costume and Make-Up Design, and Best Original Film Score (Chan Kwong-Wing).^[2] However, it only won one award for Best Cinematography.

Distribution

Confession of Pain was released in theatres in Hong Kong on December 21, 2006. The 2-disc DVD edition, 2-disc DVD special edition (with postcard book) and VCD edition were all released in Hong Kong on February 14, 2007. The DVD editions feature audio in DTS-ES and a second disc featuring a documentary of the making of the movie, photo galleries and other bonus features. The Japanese release rights went to Avex Trax, with the title "Kizudarake no Otokotachi" (傷だらけの男たち), which roughly translates as "Heavily Scarred Men".

Remake

A Hollywood remake of Confession of Pain was announced^[3] by Warner Bros., who bought the rights of the film. Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way, is producing the film alongside Roy Lee, who brokered^{[citation needed]} the remake deals on Asian movies from The Ring to Infernal Affairs. At the moment, however, it isn't yet known if DiCaprio, who also starred in the Hollywood remake of Infernal Affairs (another Lau/Mak film), The Departed, will also star in the film. William Monahan, who won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Departed, will work on the script.

Soundtrack

Ayumi Hamasaki performed the theme song Secret, which appears in the international version of the movie. The Mandarin theme song in the Chinese version of the movie, Secret of a Forlorn City (傷城秘密), was performed by Denise Ho.

Trivia

• Sponsors of the movie include: Giorgio Armani, Ayumi Hamasaki, 1010, San Miguel, Citicall, Philip Stein, D-Link, Neway and APM.^[4]

References

1. ^ "Christmas Eve Box Office". Sun Daily. 2006-12-25. http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/ent/20061225/20061224230855_0000.html. Retrieved 2006-12-25. 
2. ^ "HKFAA official nominee list". http://www.hkfaa.com/nominee/home.html. 
3. ^ "After Departed Hollywood to remake 2nd Chinese film". China Daily. 2007-03-02. http://english.people.com.cn/200703/02/eng20070302_353664.html. Retrieved 2007-03-04. 
4. ^ "Sponsors listed on official website". http://www.confessionofpain.html. 

External links

• Official website
• Official Japanese website
• Confession of Pain at the Internet Movie Database
• Confession of Pain at LoveHKFilm.com