Breaking News (2004)

*Disc borrowed from Naro Video Collection, not currently streaming in North America

Breaking News is a 2004 Hong Kong film from director Johnnie To, one of the crossover hits that established him internationally in the 2000s. I can see why it won over critics and audiences alike. This is a technically impressive execution of an exciting story with a satirical edge and surprising pockets of humanity.

The movie is probably best known for its extended single take opening sequence. The camera follows a man down the street and then into a building as he meets with other shady individuals. The camera pulls out of the window to reveal a pair of undercover cops in their car at street level observing the criminals. Some unwitting traffic cops stick their noses in the criminals’ business, and everything goes to hell. The camera pans around the chaotic gunfight, then back up to the window where a gunman takes potshots. We see him jump down onto another roof and then to the street. The criminals commandeer a police van that just arrived, and fire a rocket at the cops before fleeing. End take. Hot damn, that’s an opening! The extended take does a great job of building tension before we even know any of the characters or story. The longer it goes on, the more inevitable the explosion of violence feels. It takes time to establish the location and the bustling city life so we worry for the civilians and others ignorant of the lurking danger.

This sequence also establishes two of our leads, intelligent criminal Yuen (Richie Jen) and dogged cop Inspector Cheung (Nick Cheung). Cheung and his men pursue Yuen’s gang as they escape in the van, then abandon it in traffic and have a gun battle through the streets. News crews are already on the scene because of an accident causing the traffic backup. They follow the chase, which means they capture unflattering footage of a uniform officer on his knees with his hands up, begging for mercy from the criminals. The gang escapes, and the police face a public backlash (man, they must expect a lot more of the cops in Hong Kong than we do in the USA). Our last major player is Police Superintendent Rebecca Fong (Kelly Chen), who decides the solution is to fight back… against the media. She immediately tells Cheung he is off the case, which he immediately disregards. In a typical action movie, Cheung’s relentless pursuit of the criminals would be seen as heroic or brave, but here he frequently comes across as bull-headed and on multiple occasions he complicates or escalates the conflict.

The criminals hide out in a huge apartment building. Yuen and his buddy Chung take a father and his two children hostage in the family’s apartment while another pair from their gang move around the building. Finding out their location, Fong puts the propaganda machine into full effect. She deploys an absurd army of officers to surround the building, promising the news channels updates every 30 minutes and giving them footage juiced up with sound effects and music. This results in one of my favorite clever touches in the film: there is ANOTHER pair of random unrelated criminals in the building, and they think the massive police presence is for them. So, they flee their apartment and start moving through the building armed. At this point we now have three pairs of criminals in different locations, Cheung’s squad ignoring orders and tearing through the building, AND an army of cops waiting to start some shit. In the opening, To used the long take and mise-en-scene to build tension in the audience with no other knowledge. Now he has established the characters and narrative and builds the potential for an even larger and more chaotic conflict by adding yet more players and chances for confusion. 

Yuen adds to the chaos by having the hostage kid upload cell phone pictures of the cops getting their asses kicked, immediately torpedoing the victorious narrative Fong has been feeding the media. Since this was 2004, that possibility didn’t even enter Fong’s mind. The conflict escalates and Yuen attempts to get his remaining two buddies to safety but ends up accidentally rescuing the random criminals instead. He immediately gets along with older, intelligent criminal Chun (You Yong), but Chun’s partner is nasty and aggressive with the hostages. This whole situation is a powder keg ready to explode. Obviously, that means it's time to take a lunch break!

The criminals order the hostage dad to cook for them, until he has to admit his children prepare the meals (the dad sucks, he is also a craven coward and tries to escape and ditch his kids at one point). That’s ok though, because Yuen and Chun are both handy in the kitchen! They have a great cooking scene and bond, then sit everyone down for a meal together. On a whim, Yuen takes a picture of their beautiful meal and puts it online (I am assuming this is what started that particular social media trend). The media pounces on the “friendly” criminals and well-fed hostages. Fong retaliates by ordering lunch for all the police and media people on the scene. All the cops end up full, sleepy and farting, great idea Fong!

There are more shootouts and chases, and Cheung’s endless pursuit even endangers Fong in the climax. Our newly bonded criminals Yuen and Chun decide to trade their criminal goals, Strangers on a Train-style, but both are cut down by the cops. Fong and Cheung both get commendations for this clusterfuck.

This is a fantastic movie. I didn’t know if it would live up to that opening scene, but it creates a great ebb and flow of action, then waiting for things to go sideways again. The cast are all excellent. The only element that didn’t completely work for me is the music. At times it sounds like a cheesy 90s Hollywood action movie soundtrack. I wonder if that was intentional, since the movie makes a thing of the police footage being more impressive when they add gratuitous music and sound effects.  Intentional or not, I found it distracting in a few moments.

I am excited to watch more Johnnie To movies, having only seen this, Drug War, and The Heroic Trio. One thing I found interesting, Breaking News was a Hong Kong production, but Drug War (2012) was a mainland China production that was subject to stricter censorship. Breaking News is allowed to portray police as shady or incompetent and does so in a satirical way, but it never feels particularly cutting. Meanwhile, To manages to make Drug War feel like a searing indictment of Chinese drug laws and enforcement without a single critical word, stupid cop, or corrupt official, just by showing the zero sum outcome that results.