Jiang Hu - The Triad Zone Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Jiang Hu - The Triad Zone Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 6, 2011

Film of Merit Award and Best Screenplay Award at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards, Dante Lam's "Kong woo giu gap" a.k.a "Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone" (2000) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors CMS Media Limited. The only supplemental feature the disc is the film's original theatrical trailer. In Cantonese, with optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

In bed with the boss

Dante Lam’s Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone satirizes a (under)world which a rather large group of Hong Kong filmmakers have been glorifying for years. But it does so in such an unconventional manner that it eventually evolves into a surprisingly serious crime drama. The director’s last three films -- The Beast Stalker, Fire of Conscience, and The Stool Pigeon -- evolve in a similar fashion.

Powerful crime boss Jimmy Yam (Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Throw Down, Ashes of Time Redux) is informed that a competitor will attempt to kill him. Unsure who the competitor is, Jimmy begins questioning his friends and partners, hoping to get a clue and strike first. Very soon, however, he discovers that none of the people around him, including his lovely wife Sophie (Sandra Ng, All About Love, Portland Street Blues), are to be trusted -- they all have secrets, and rather interesting plans for the future.

Luk See (Robert Siu Leung, Wu Yen, Naked Party), Jimmy’s biggest rival, is the first suspect. On a number of different occasions he has made it clear that there is room for only one of them in Hong Kong, which is why Jimmy believes that he might have hired a top assassin to eliminate him.

Jimmy’s counselor (Chan Fai-Hung, Fallen Angels, La Lingerie) is also a suspect. In times of crisis, Jimmy has shared with him important secrets and trusted his judgment, but the counselor might have been plotting to take over his organization.

Jimmy’s mistress (Lee San-San, My Left Eye Sees Ghosts) has insisted that she understands perfectly that there will always be women who would want to share her lover’s bed and that his wife would always be more important to him, but she may not have been sincere.

Jeff (Eric Tsang, Infernal Affairs Trilogy, Metallic Attraction: Kungfu Cyborg), Jimmy’s right-hand man, who is serving a sentence in a local prison, swears that he would never go against his boss, but he has been behind bars for such a long time that he might have changed his mind.

Tiger (Samuel Pang, Black Ransom, Invisible Target) is a young and ambitious but penniless criminal who has always wanted to be like Jimmy. But when Jimmy offers to pay his bill in a local restaurant – and by doing so seriously hurts his image in front of his men – his admiration for him suddenly evaporates.

Finally, Jimmy is unsure whether he could still trust Sophie. He knows that she loves him, but he also knows that someone has told her about his mistress. A woman can kill the man she loves, can’t she?

Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone does not break new boundaries, but it manages to tell an entertaining story by constantly adjusting its tone – the film begins as a satire on triad life but by the time the end credits roll it rivals some of the bloodiest films that deal with the subject. This quite bizarre evolution is very effective as it manages to create a truly realistic picture of the uncertain environment triad members share while at the same time it pokes fun at the various rituals and mannerisms they most are apparently obsessed with.

The direction is very good -- the action scenes are never over the top and the melodrama is kept in check. The cast is also solid. However, there is a small sequence in the film featuring a cameo by Anthony Wong that is beyond puzzling.

Note: In 2001, Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone won Film of Merit Award and Best Screenplay Award (Chan Hing-Kar and Amy Chin Siu-Wai) at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards.

Jiang Hu - The Triad Zone Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Dante Lam's Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Hong Kong-based distributors CMS Media Limited.

The high-definition transfer the Hong Kong distributors have used for this Blu-ray release looks rather dated. For example, detail is mostly decent during close-ups, but during some of the panoramic nighttime scenes it fluctuates. Clarity levels are more consistent, though it appears that some mild denoising has been applied throughout the entire film. Unless the film is projected, however, its presence is easy to tolerate. Color reproduction is convincing -- the blues, greens, reds, browns, and blacks look unmanipulated. Edge-enhancement is not a serious issue of concern, but there are a couple of scenes where it creeps in. There are no macroblocking patterns. Finally, tiny flecks and very small scratches occasionally pop up, but there are no large debris, cuts, or stains. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Jiang Hu - The Triad Zone Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Cantonese Dolby TrueHD 7.1 and Mandarin Dolby Digital 5.1. For the record, CMS Media Limited have provided optional English and Traditional Chinese subtitles for the main feature.

Though it never disappoints, the Cantonese Dolby TrueHD 7.1 track never impresses either. There are three, perhaps four scenes where it effectively opens up the film, most notably during the big shootout where Master Kwan Wan Cheung saves Jimmy Yam, and the finale. The rest of the time the dynamic activity is rather modest. However, the dialog is always crisp, clean, stable, and easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, hissings or dropouts either. The English translation, however, is not terribly convincing -- I noticed various small spelling and syntax errors.

Jiang Hu - The Triad Zone Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone. In Cantonese, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

Jiang Hu - The Triad Zone Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dante Lam's Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone is a very unusual film -- it begins as a satire on triad life but by the time the end credits roll it rivals some of the bloodiest films that deal with the subject. I liked how unpredictable it became once the main protagonist realized no one can be trusted. The presentation is slightly above average so my advice to you is to look for a sale if you wish to have this Blu-ray disc in your collection. RECOMMENDED.