

Four cops, four crimes, four hours of Hong Kong's soul rotting in real time.
Four episodes combined. Dawn: the first cop goes to interrogate the parents of a babygirl who got burnt by an iron. These, eventually admit to be the one responsible but they state it was an accident. Going back on a bus, he reads a newspaper article reporting another case of violence against minors. Noon: the moustached cop cop collects the report of a mother regarding the presence of perverts in her building. A thirteen-year-old girl is spotted with a man in equivocal acts: when she is interrogated she shows no signs of anxiety. Dusk: in a nursing home a guest kills another old man with an axe. He is interrogated by the older cop who, once back home, talks with his wife and daughter while watching sadly TV. Night: the fourth cop is in a disco when he gets the call that a collegue’s wife was the victim of a hit and run. The following morning he goes back to the office.
Direction
Patrick Tam's debut—Wong Kar-wai's mentor shows how it's done.
Cinematography
Cramped frames that suffocate; empty streets that haunt.

Director
Patrick Tam Kar-Ming
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made for RTV's 'CID' series, this was Patrick Tam's directorial debut before becoming Wong Kar-wai's legendary editor. The handheld urgency and temporal experimentation here directly influenced 'As Tears Go By' and 'Days of Being Wild'.
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