Reviewed by Wong Lung Hsiang

Chinese Title: Zou huo qiang
Director: Lam Wah Chuen
Writing Credits: Lam Wah Chuen
Cast: Kenneth Bi, Crystal Lui, Wong Chun Chun, Wilson Yip
Genre: Action
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese
Year Released: 2002
Runtime: 84 min

The Runaway Pistol is the gun version of Le Million. That is, the pistol is the narrator and we follow its story as it falls into several different hands. The film has a highly dynamic visual style, a sort of hybrid between Fruit Chan and Danny Boyle (more the Fruit Chan of Made In Hong Kong, when Lam used to work for Chan as his cinematographer and composer). Fortunately, Lam did not go for the Guy Ritchie "style first, substance last" approach, but more towards Fruit Chan's humane and social conscience. This gives the film a greater poignancy, a sort of reflection of Hong Kong's fate. It is interspersed with the black comedic violent elements, with visual symbols employed as a series of metaphors. There is a twist in the story which brings the pistol to mainland China, and here it provides a subtle reference to Hong Kong's handover in 1997. One cinematic problem occurs during the later part of the movie in Guangdong Province when the narration drifts away from the pistol and switches to some omniscient Hong Kong observers. The film author is probably trying to say something using this omniscient device, but I will not jump the gun. I will just wait for the Hong Kong film critics to analyze this aspect of the film.