Kung Fu Cult Cinema

Story: An American FBI agent is sent in Taipei to help the local police force solve a series of strange murders. Two bodies have been discovered and they both share some strange connections - a mysterious fungus imbedded in the brains of the bodies, and signs that both died in a hallucinatory state. Huang Huo-Tu, a Chinese police inspector who lost the trust and respect of his co-workers for reporting a corrupt colleague, has to team up with Kevin Richter, the American FBI agent who is a specialist in serial killer profiling. They will soon discover that the murders are not just ordinary murders but seem to have connections with old Chinese legend and beliefs. Conflicts soon rise between the two officers as Kevin is a man of science, and doesn’t believe in ghosts and demons. As the body count rises, other victims are found dead with the same strange causes of death. The two men have to try to understand each other's beliefs and work together to find out what is behind these strange and unnatural killings

Review: If all co-productions between Asia and the U.S. would give a result like this, I would have nothing to fear anymore about American companies screwing up Asian cinema. 'Double Vision', a production from Taiwan and financed by Columbia (US), had a very good reception from the public at the Cannes festival in 2002. Since then, I've been really eager to see this piece of art, and I can say that the movie is up to my expectations. Of course, it is not a perfect movie and some points could have been better, but in general, Double Vision is a well crafted production exploring fantasy and Chinese legend, and mixing it with buddy-cop and thriller elements.

The minor faults of the movie are really in the script. Before the viewing I never had the chance to see a movie from director Kuo-fu Chen, who is apparently known for his ambiguous plots. There are a lot of good things about the story but a few points need a lot of consideration to get all the answers. It’s not really a bad element, as this will probably push the people who liked the movie to do multiple viewing to dig deeper for more information about the story. However, this might turn off casual viewers or people who prefer cinema as nothing but entertainment, with no efforts required by the viewer.

The general story is very good, especially the investigation by the main characters. The line between fantasy and reality, even during the investigation, is extremely well done as the director really plays with the mind of the audience. We are never sure if what happens is in fact a dream, an illusion or the reality. Again, the hints, connection and chain of evens are not completely clear and will demand a bit of reflection. I suggest you to watch this movie with other people because great discussion can follow the viewing and it’s always fun to know other people point of view about these unclear facts.

David Morse plays the American FBI agent and his acting is top notch. At last, we can finally see a white actor appearing in an Asian production not make a fool of himself. These kinds of characters usually get the worst and most stupid dialogue in a movie, and are most of the time plain annoying, but this time the character is very pleasant and charismatic.

But the actor who steals the show is of course Tony Leung Ka Fai in the role of the dark Chinese inspector. He really puts a lot of effort in his performance and it really shows on screen. His performance also gives a boost to the dramatic scenes to make them even more touching. The relationship that develops between him and the American character is also really good, and fun to follow. One of the best elements of the story is those small moments when Tony's character tries to initiate the FBI agent into the Asian culture, it's stereotypical but very well presented.

There has been talk of how violent and scary the movie is. Yes, there are few moments of high tension during the investigation but it never goes really far. As for the violence, there’s one part that really turns into a blood bath but it only last a few minutes. I just want to warn people who are expecting a gory film from start to finish, Double Vision is not that kind of movie. There’s a reason why that scene is so violent and it totally makes sense, but I’m afraid that these few minutes won’t satisfy the avid gore fans. As for the 3D special effects, which are extremely well done for an Asian production, their quality really shows that meticulous care was taken to make it as realistic as possible, something that we don’t see very often in Asian productions.

With its notable high production values and mixture of different ingredients such as buddy-cop moments, chilling scenes, fantasy elements and psychological drama, Double Vision is much more than just another Asian horror movie. It is highly recommended for those of you who like serial killer and investigation movies. If only all US/Asia co-productions were like this. I hope that Miramax and Disney are listening.