Koma (2004) (DVD) (Hong Kong Version) DVD Region 3

Awarded as Outstanding New Director at the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards for his masterpiece Inner Senses, director Law Chi-leung comes up with a whim in naming his 2004 production: Koma. In German koma means the same as coma in English. Laden with another definition of scream, Koma is obviously set to give you the creeps.

Gathering the star power provided by two award-winning actresses Angelica Lee from The Eye and Karena Lam from Inner Senses, Leung tells us in his own words how his latest work differs from these two previous acclaimed thrillers.

Leung: Koma is actually nothing like The Eye and Inner Senses. They all make you scream but Koma, unlike the other two thrillers, does not scare you with ghosts. Dark and moody like a nightmare waiting to occur, this movie offers a roller-coaster ride that keeps the audience glued to the screen anticipating the next steep slopes or sharp curves to arrive.

Is Koma anything similar to your previous work Inner Senses?

Leung: Not at all. Inner Senses has done so well that it became a blockbuster on the European market and its remake copyright in the U.S. is still under negotiation. Its success, however, made me reluctant to make any similar movie at first. But one day my boss came to me with an excellent idea that we might cast two actresses this time instead of having the typical co-ed combination. I was absolutely thrilled by this and no longer stuck to the first script with barely six scenes. Considering the cast, Angelica Lee and Karena Lam were definitely the first two choices on my mind. Blurring the line between who the victim and the culprit is has been so much fun and challenging that the scriptwriter and I only spent five hours to come up with thirty complete scenes.

Would it have been hard for you to find another pair of young actresses who can act as brilliantly as Angelica and Karena?

Leung: Absolutely. It was also wonderful to see them build up such a strong friendship before the movie was actually shot. Since both of them are not native Cantonese speakers, we spent one whole month to do the rehearsal and that was when these two became close friends. For example, in one scene we needed Karena to rend the air with cries in the police station after learning that both her mother and her best friend have passed away. I aimed at completing the shot in one take and Karena managed beautifully. Karena was always the first to rush to her partner and give her a towel after each take. Anyway, it is so rare and lucky for us to have had a pair of actresses who have put their unselfish hearts on helping each other on and off the screen instead of vying for more lines or better shots.

Anything special on the filming?

Leung: Rather than being desperate to make a movie as good as Inner Senses, this time I just wanted to make a good movie. To shed the impression that Koma is nothing but a sequel to Inner Senses, I have altered the monotone lighting and enriched my palette with flourishing colours. It is no longer the darkness but the beautifully-choreographed daytime that provides the scary moments. Unlike the slow mystery in Inner Senses, I have used a large number of actors and camera motions in Koma to create more exaggerated close-up shots.

Source: City Entertainment (Hong Kong)

Reviewed by He Ma

Translated by Holly (Hong Kong)