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Mad Detective (Chinese: 神探; pinyin: Shēn Tàn; Cantonese Yale: Sun Taam) is a 2007 Hong Kong psychological crime thriller film produced and directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai. The film centers on a schizophrenic, former police inspector (Lau Ching-Wan), who decides to come out of retirement to help a rookie cop (Andy On) solve a complex murder case, involving a missing colleague and a suspected policeman (Lam Ka-Tung) suffering from a multiple personality disorder.

Mad Detective was first screened at the 64th Venice International Film Festival, and later premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, before being released in Hong Kong on 29 November 2007. The film's screenplay won "Best Screenplay" awards at various Asian film ceremonies, making this one of three successful films produced by Milkyway Image, the others being Triangle and Eye in the Sky.

Plot

!!! SPOILER WARNING !!!

Chan Kwai-Bun is a brilliant detective who is forced into retirement after presenting his retiring boss with his severed ear. Bun's gift is that he can supposedly see a person's "inner personalities," or hidden ghosts.

Years later, Inspector Ho Ka-On is investigating the case of Wong Kwok-Chu, a colleague who went missing when he and his partner, Ko Chi-Wai were in pursuit of a suspect. Wong has been AWOL for 18 months, and his gun has been used in a series of armed robberies. Ho turns to Bun, who now lives in seclusion with his imaginary wife, May Cheung.

Bun comes out of retirement and discovers that rather than being one man, Chi-Wai is a seven-spirit collective (with each perhaps representing an aspect of the seven deadly sins with the head, or brain, being a business-like woman. He also discovers that Chi-Wai had his gun stolen by an Indian, named Naresh Sherma, so he killed Wong to steal his gun.

When investigating, Bun takes Ho's gun and identification and runs off. Ho continues the investigation and is assaulted by Chi-Wai, who wants his gun which he doesn't have. Bun meets Ho again later on where he sees Ho's inner person, a scared, bewildered, stupid child. Ho attempts to take in Chi-Wai by himself but, upon finding out that Chi-Wai's gun, which was taken from Wong, matched Chi-Wai's gun (Chi-Wai altered his gun's information online), he begins to trust Chi-Wai. Bun then sent an SMS to Ho, telling him that after Chi-Wai gets his old gun back again by killing Naresh, he would kill Ho, but Ho does not believe Bun.

Chi-Wai and Ho go to a warehouse and find Naresh and Bun shows up as well. Bun tries to warn Ho what will happen, again, but Ho, not believing Bun and believing that Bun is the enemy, calls him in order to reveal his position. A shootout occurs, ultimately leading to Naresh and Bun pointing their guns at Chi-Wai and Ho pointing his girlfriend's gun at Bun. Chi-Wai shoots and kills Naresh while Ho shoots Bun. Chi-Wai turns and shoots Ho, as predicted by Bun. Bun, however, begins to limp towards Chi-Wai, who shoots desperately at Bun to try to kill him. Bun ultimately kills Chi-Wai.

Just as Bun dies, he sees Ho's inner personality, the scared boy, being led by a business-like woman, which looks eerily similar to the woman that led Chi-Wai. Ho then begins to rearrange everyone's guns and fabricate a story of what happened in the warehouse.

Cast

Lau Ching-Wan as Inspector Chan Kwai-Bun
Andy On as Inspector Ho Ka-On
Lam Ka-Tung as Officer Ko Chi-Wai
Kelly Lin as May Cheung
Flora Chan as May Cheung (in Bun's eyes)
Lee Kwok-Lun as Officer Wong Kwok-Chu
Jo Kuk as Cunning Woman/Ho's Inner Personality
Jay Lau as Calculating Woman/Ko's Inner Personality
Lam Suet as Fatso
Cheung Siu-Fai as the Violent Man
Eddy Ko as Retiring Police Chief

Production

The film reunites Johnnie To with Wai Ka-Fai, four years after working together on the 2003 film Running on Karma. The producing and directing duo also reunites with actor Lau Ching-Wan after 2002's My Left Eye Sees Ghosts. The film was written by Wai Ka-Fai and Au Kin-Yee, frequent screenwriters for films made by Milkyway Image.

Filming

As with many Milkyway Image films, several scenes were filmed at the company headquarters. The fistfight between Ko Chi-Wai and Chan Kwai-Bun in the restaurant toilet was filmed in the main men’s room of the Milkyway Image building, with a fake urinal added.^[1]

Reception

Category III Rating

The film was awarded a Category III rating, an 18+ restriction rating in Hong Kong. Prior to the film's release, Wai Ka-Fai discussed the film's rating, saying that the rating was based on one exceptionally violent scene in the movie and since he felt the scene was crucial to the story he and his partner, Johnnie To, refused to delete it in order to get a Category IIB rating.^[2]

Criticism

The film currently holds an 83% "fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 18 reviews.^[3] Another review aggretator, Metacritic, gave the film a 68/100 approval rating based on 7 reviews following under the "generally favorable reviews" category.^[4]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote that the film is "insanely inventive and entertaining."^[5] Ty Burr of the Boston Globe wrote that Mad Detective "is equal parts gonzo inspiration and overwrought indecision", and nicknamed the film "'The Lunatic From Kowloon.'"^[6]

Box office

Upon its release in Hong Kong, Mad Detective faced stiff competition with American films 30 Days of Night and The Heartbreak Kid. The film was released on 29 November 2007, making first place and grossing over HK$3.84 million; the film was considered a great success by its Hong Kong distributor China Star, which took it out on a midsized 30 prints.^[7] Finally, it had grossed over HK$10.67 million, which is considered to be a very good result for a film that received a Category III rating in Hong Kong.^[8]

Festivals

Mad Detective was screened at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival's Special Presentations, a showcase for daring and artistic films with high-profile stars or directors. It also premiered in at the 64th Venice International Film Festival where it was nominated for a Golden Lion Award.

Awards and nominations

Mad Detective was nominated for seven Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (To and Wai), and Best Actor (Lau). However, the film only won an award for Best Screenplay (Wai and Au Kin-Yee), making this one of two Milkyway Image films to win HKFA awards in 2008, the other being Eye in the Sky, another film produced by Johnnie To, in which co-screenwriter Au Kin-Yee was also nominated. It also won Best Screenplay awards at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards, the 8th Chinese Film Media Awards, and the 2nd Asian Film Awards.

Award	Category	Winner/Nominee	Result
27th Hong Kong Film Awards	Best Screenplay	Wai Ka-Fai, Au Kin-Yee	Won
	Best Actor	Lau Ching-Wan	Nominated
	Best Directors	Johnnie To, Wai Ka-Fai	Nominated
	Best Cinematography	Cheng Siu-Keung	Nominated
	Best Film Editing	Tina Baz	Nominated
	Best Costume and Makeup Design	Stanley Cheung	Nominated
	Best Visual Effects	Raymond Man	Nominated
2nd Asian Film Awards	Best Screenplay	Wai Ka-Fai, Au Kin-Yee	Won
Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards	Best Screenplay	Wai Ka-Fai, Au Kin-Yee	Won
8th Chinese Film Media Awards^[9]	Best Screenplay	Wai Ka-Fai, Au Kin-Yee	Won
64th Venice International Film Festival	Golden Lion	Johnnie To, Wai Ka-Fai	Nominated

Distribution

Independent film distributor IFC Films picked up the distribution rights to Mad Detective. The studio distributed the film in theaters and through VOD on 18 July 2008, the same day as part of its First Take program.^[10]

Eureka Entertainment acquired the distribution rights for the United Kingdom, opening theatrically on 18 July, 2008 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) London and nationwide after that, with DVD and Blu-ray Disc editions released on 20 October 2008 as part of their Masters of Cinema series.

References

External links

[davidbordwell-1] Observations on film art and FILM ART : Truly madly cinematically

[2] Mad Detective update - Asia entertainment news from Variety - varietyasiaonline.com

[rottentomatoes-3] Mad Detective Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes

[metacritic-4] Mad Detective (2008): Reviews

[New_York_Times-5] Movie Review - Mad Detective - A Madman Is Loose (and He’s the Good Guy) - NYTimes.com

[Boston_Globe-6] Mad Detective (Shen Tan) Movie Review - Mad Detective (Shen Tan) Movie Trailer - The Boston Globe

[7] Hong Kong box office goes 'Mad' - variety.com/

[8] rt.com

[monkeypeaches-9] News - May 2007

[10] Ifc Picks Up Mad Detective

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v t e Films directed by Johnnie To
Films	Happy Ghost III (1986) The Eighth Happiness (1988) All About Ah-Long (1989) The Fun, the Luck & the Tycoon (1990) Casino Raiders II (1991) Justice, My Foot! (1992) The Bare-Footed Kid (1993) The Heroic Trio (1993) The Mad Monk (1993) A Moment of Romance III (1996) Lifeline (1997) A Hero Never Dies (1998) Running Out of Time (1999) The Mission (1999) PTU (2003) Breaking News (2004) Throw Down (2004) Yesterday Once More (2004) Election (2005) Election 2 (2006) Exiled (2006) Linger (2008) Sparrow (2008) Vengeance (2009) Don't Go Breaking My Heart (2011) Life Without Principle (2011) Romancing in Thin Air (2012) Drug War (2012) Blind Detective (2013) Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2 (2014) Office (2015) Three (2016) Chasing Dream (2019)
Films with Wai Ka-fai	Needing You... (2000) Wu yen (2001) Love on a Diet (2001) Fulltime Killer (2001) Fat Choi Spirit (2002) My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (2002) Turn Left, Turn Right (2003) Running on Karma (2003) Mad Detective (2007)
Co-director	The Big Heat (1988) The Royal Scoundrel (1991) Executioners (1993) Running Out of Time 2 (2001) Triangle (2007) Septet: The Story of Hong Kong (2020)
See also	Milkyway Image Filmography Awards and honors Tactical Unit series

v t e Films directed by Wai Ka-fai
Directed alone	Peace Hotel (1995) Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (1997) Fantasia (2004) Himalaya Singh (2005) The Shopaholics (2006) Written By (2009) Detective vs Sleuths (2022)
Directed with Johnnie To	Needing You... (2000) Help!!! (2000) Love on a Diet (2001) Fulltime Killer (2001) Fat Choi Spirit (2002) My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (2002) Love for All Seasons (2003) Turn Left, Turn Right (2003) Running on Karma (2003) Mad Detective (2007) Don't Go Breaking My Heart (2011)

v t e Milkyway Image
Films	Beyond Hypothermia (1996) Intruder (1997) The Odd One Dies (1997) Final Justice (1996) Too Many Ways to Be No. 1 (1997) The Longest Nite (1998) Expect the Unexpected (1998) A Hero Never Dies (1998) Where a Good Man Goes (1999) Running Out of Time (1999) The Mission (1999) Sealed with a Kiss (1999) Help!!! (2000) Needing You... (2000) Comeuppance (2000) Love on a Diet (2001) Fulltime Killer (2001) Running Out of Time 2 (2001) Gimme Gimme (2001) Wu yen (2001) Let's Sing Along Second Time Around (2001) Fat Choi Spirit (2002) My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (2002) PTU (2003) Looking for Mister Perfect (2003) Turn Left, Turn Right (2003) Running on Karma (2003) Love for All Seasons (2003) Breaking News (2004) Throw Down (2004) Yesterday Once More (2004) Election (2005) 2 Become 1 (2006) Election 2 (2006) Exiled (2006) Eye in the Sky (2007) Triangle (2007) Hooked on You (2007) Mad Detective (2007) Linger (2008) Sparrow (2008) Tactical Unit - The Code (2008) Tactical Unit - No Way Out (2008) Tactical Unit - Human Nature (2008) Tactical Unit - Comrades in Arms (2009) Tactical Unit - Partners (2009) Accident (2009) Vengeance (2009) Don't Go Breaking My Heart (2011) Punished (2011) Life Without Principle (2011) Drug War (2012) Blind Detective (2013) A Complicated Story (2014) Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2 (2014) Office (2015) Trivisa (2016) Three (2016) Chasing Dream (2019) Septet: The Story of Hong Kong (2020) Mad Fate (2023)
Filmmakers	Johnnie To Wai Ka-fai Law Wing-cheung Patrick Yau Matt Chow Cheang Pou-soi Lawrence Ah Mon Ringo Lam Tsui Hark Jeffrey Lau
Screenwriters	Yau Nai-hoi Au Kin-yee Yip Tin-shing Szeto Kam-Yuen Ivy Ho
Crew	Dennis Law Cheng Siu-Keung Martin Chappell May Mok Patrick Tam Lai Yiu-fai
See also	Tactical Unit series