Confession of Pain (DVD) (Limited Edition) (Japan Version) DVD Region 2

The film sets out its stall very nicely in the smooth prelude, introducing two cops who each in their own way find it difficult to handle the ugliness and pain of a senselessly violent world. Chief Hei (Tony Leung) is a cop who dispenses his own immediate justice on the perpetrator of a series of violent sexual crimes they have been tailing. Feeling that the law is ineffective, too caught up in paperwork and crime figure statistics, he is prepared to act outside the law to see justice done. On the same night, his clean-living, non-drinking colleague Bong (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is also brought harshly down to earth by the violent reality of the world they live in, devastated by the apparent suicide of his pregnant girlfriend Rachel.

The shock drives Bong out of the police service and he becomes an alcoholic Private Investigator who, in-between divorce and adultery cases, conducts his own investigation on the circumstances of that fateful night, trying to understand what drove Rachel to kill herself. Hei however moves on to better things and gets married. But when his wife's rich and influential father Chow and his butler are brutally killed, Hei's wife, who herself appears to be the target of a dangerous stalker, asks Bong to help out with the investigation.

Like Infernal Affairs, Confession of Pain is not so much concerned with unveiling any mystery figure - the killer's identity is made known to the viewer through a number of stylishly shot sequences, including one beautifully photographed in black-and-white as a reconstruction - as much as getting underneath the character's motivations and the psychological impact of dealing on a day-to-day basis with a world of murky activity, lies, double-dealing and extreme violence. Evidently, the characters' relationships with women come into play here - as much for the change of pace and tone as for rounding out the situation - showing the effect their work has on their ability to lead normal lives.

As far as that goes, Confession of Pain ticks off all the boxes for a perfectly pitched cop drama, meticulously plotted without too much complexity, clearly defining characters and their motivations, and delivering the situation with a sense of style. The production values are impressive, the Hong Kong location shooting is beautiful, the soundtrack seductive, but with the focus on characterisation, and in the absence of explosive action sequences and car chases, much then rests on the strength of the acting talent. Fortunately, the casting here is almost flawless, with both Leung and Kaneshiro delivering strong, charismatic performances. Inevitably, many will say that Shu Qi is wasted, being reduced to an eye-candy, love interest role - but, let's be honest, that's what she does best.

The flaws however seem to be within the actual characters themselves, the world-weariness of the lead characters certainly being justified and well explained within the film, but not really being enough to carry the weight of the film. Consequently, the film is rather one-note and lacking in any real tension, taking itself far more seriously and into Michael Mann territory than is really good for it.

A few more car chases or shoot-outs actually wouldn't have gone amiss here and been more in keeping with the glossy superficiality of the not particularly original crime/revenge plot. It's consequently slow in places, occasionally frustrating and never fully engages the viewer, but there is nonetheless much to admire in Confession of Pain's melancholic, elegant glide through its characters' pain and suffering.

DVD
Confession of Pain is released in Hong Kong by Media Asia. The DVD is available as a 2-disc Special Edition, with the film and extra features spread over two dual-layer discs. The amaray box is slipcased with a 24-page booklet of large-format heavy paper stock postcard images and stills from the film. The set is encoded for Region 3.

Video
Media Asia's video transfer of the film is one of the best I have ever seen from the label. Colours are rich and well saturated - if possibly a little over-saturated in some interior locations - and the image is clear and sharp, showing good detail even in medium to wide shots. There is no sign of any noticeable edge-enhancement, no motion blurring, and no compression artefacts. If I'm being ultra picky, I'd note some minor posterisation in fades at the end and start of scenes, and shadow detail is not quite perfect, but there is nothing serious here to merit marking the transfer down. All in all, this is a very impressive transfer for an impressive looking film.

Audio
The super high-quality audio tracks complement the fine transfer, the Cantonese DTS-ES track being noticeably stronger than the Dolby Surround EX option, with a superior dynamic range that handles all aspects of the soundtrack well, from crystal clear dialogue, to the warm music score and the thundering action sequences. A Mandarin Cantonese Dolby Surround EX dub is also included.

Subtitles
Optional English subtitles are provided in a clear white font. Although they show the occasional awkwardness in phrasing, they are generally fine and free from any grammatical issues.

Extras
The extra features are all on Disc 2 of the Special Edition DVD. None of them have English subtitles. There is a Making Of (15:00), which is the standard EPK piece of interviews, clips, and a little bit of behind-the-scenes footage. Much more detailed is the three and a half hour (I kid you not) AV Blog (3.37:30), which covers the film's shooting schedule from 28/06/06 through to 06/09/06 in 38 chapters. Taking in everything from set dressing, on-set rehearsals, storyboarding, and actual filming, this is certainly the most comprehensive feature of its kind that I have ever come across. Without English subtitles however, I can't say whether it is worthwhile viewing, but I have a sneaking suspicion it might be a case of overkill. There is also a Press Conference (9:45) with principal cast and crew, three Trailers two of which, (1.28) and (1:55), are just music and images, the third (2:17), the full trailer with dialogue sequences and no subtitles. Two TV Spots (0:15) and (0:30) come with a voice-over, and the extras are rounded out with a Photo Gallery (20).

Overall
Confession of Pain delivers just about everything you could expect from Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, working very much within the same territory as the Infernal Affairs films. Every plot element seems perfectly designed, every performance is delightful to watch, the screen is a constant feast for the eyes, yet Confession of Pain never adds up to anything more than the sum of its parts and fails to break through its beautiful glossy surface melancholy with anything approaching real feeling. With a superb transfer to DVD by Media Asia, this is nonetheless a classy piece of filmmaking, but a somewhat unengaging experience for the viewer.

by Noel Megahey - DVD Times

Without giving too much of the plot away, the basic set up sees Tony Leung Chiu Wai as Hei, a top Hong Kong policeman soon to be married to Susan (Xu Jinglei), and Takeshi Kaneshiro as Bong, Hei's ex-colleague who has fallen into an alcoholic stupor following the suicide of his girlfriend some years back. After Susan's father and his servant are brutally murdered, she begins to see a stalker lurking in the shadows. She hires Bong to investigate, presumably due to some sense of loyalty rather than any display of competence on his part. As Hei stands around looking suspicious, Bong gradually draws nearer to solving the crime, one drink at a time. Needless to say, tragedy ensues.

Part of the problem with Confession of Pain is the fact that Lau and Mak have quite obviously aimed for a mass-appeal blockbuster, incorporating romance, action, mystery and comedy, and as a result the film ends up somewhere in the middle, neither one thing nor the other. Although the central mystery itself is engaging, it never really works to generate much tension, mainly due to the fact that even aside from any pre-release revelations, its twists are glaringly obvious from the start.

Thankfully, since Lau and Mak hedge their bets and at least attempt to add a few extra layers of complexity through a variety of character-driven subplots, this doesn't detract from things too much, and the film is still gripping, albeit in a rather pedestrian fashion. In fact, with so much going on, and with the plot developing in sudden, often illogical bursts, the film comes to resemble not the soul searching drama it seems to pride itself in being, but a faintly ludicrous, though highly entertaining soap opera.

The film's tone also veers around quite wildly, from bleak nihilism to slapstick comedy, with Chapman To's wacky policeman (who may as well have 'kick me' written on his back) and Shu Qi's daft, bubble-headed beer girl, who seems to have been written into the script solely for the convenience of always being in bars when Kaneshiro is drunk and needs to either flirt or moan. It is Kaneshiro's character that provides the film with its funniest moments, and arguably sums up the directors' approach to the subject matter, with Bong being a classic film-drunk who somehow manages to spend the entire running time pouring booze down his throat without seeming to suffer any ill effects. This case in point being a great scene where Bong engages in an acrobatic chase with a suspect after having consumed a vast quantity of hard liquor. Bravo, sir!

Despite such amusements, Lau and Mak seem to be harbouring the impression that Confession of Pain is a deeply profound and emotional affair, throwing in a great many shots of people staring glumly into the neon night, and building to a climax which practically begs the viewer to shed a tear or two, though with little success. Again, although this uncertain feel does make the proceedings rather chaotic, if anything the film is the better for it, and once the viewer realise that the kind of po-faced pondering that might have been expected is not going to emerge, the mix of laughs and tears work surprisingly well.

Holding Confession of Pain together is Lau and Mak's slick direction, which is tight if unspectacular throughout. Although they do drop the ball during a couple of scenes, and add in a few too many flashbacks for comfort (most of which involve the central murder being replayed from a variety of angles, even after the identity of the killer has been revealed), the film generally moves along at a brisk pace, with a few good action scenes and some startlingly brutal moments of violence being inserted to keep things lively. All of this gives the film the kind of glossy, blockbuster sheen which the duo were no doubt aiming for, though Confession of Pain would have benefited from a more gritty air which would perhaps have made its darker aspects more believable.

Still, even with such criticisms, Confession of Pain remains a solid thriller which makes up in laughs and overwrought emotions what it lacks in originality and coherence. Whilst some may berate Lau and Mak for pushing the film so determinedly into commercial territory, it could be argued that the results are far more fun, and indeed more entertaining than they would have been if the film had been played solely for artful doom and gloom. Certainly, the film is far better than the majority of similar Hong Kong productions, and with its undeniable air of quality and all-star cast, at the very least deserves to win recognition as an endearingly trashy pleasure rather than as a serious commentary on the human condition.

by James Mudge - BeyondHollywood.com