''Law with Two Phases'' ( zh, first=t, t=公僕, s=公仆, cy=''Gung buk'', p=''Gong pu''), also known as ''Law with Two Faces'' is a

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Hong Kong film written and directed by the film's lead star Danny Lee in his second directorial outing.

Reception

Impact on Hong Kong Cinema

''Law with Two Phases'' launched Danny Lee's career as an

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. At the time, Lee was not well known to Chinese audiences, having appeared in low-budget productions such '' Heroic Cops,'' a film which marked early appearances by then-unknowns

Chow Yun-fat Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility, encompassing action to melodrama and comedy and historical drama, his accolades include three Hong Kong Film Awar ...

and Ng Man Tat. Hong Kong films centering on

Hong Kong police The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. Pursuant to the one c ...

at the time often relied on comedy rather than action. The American film ''

Dirty Harry ''Dirty Harry'' is a 1971 American action-thriller film produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry (film series), ''Dirty Harry'' series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first appearance as San Francisco Polic ...

'' is said to have inspired filmmakers to bring a more true-to-life representation of life "behind the shield" to the screen (It is probably no small coincidence that Lee later named his production company "Magnum", after Harry Callahan's weapon of choice). Lee's performance in the film earned him a

Hong Kong Film Award The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual List of film awards, film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies typically take place in April, and have mostly been held at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Cent ...

, as well as a Golden Horse Award. The film also helped usher in a new version of the

police drama The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agencies as the protagonists, as ...

with its own visual styles and trademarks, such as everything being painted in shades of grey, and tinged with social resonance and blows of violence. The gritty, almost

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

-like style and

cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...

was a bold charge against the almost cartoonish look of many

action films The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as ...

of the time, and audiences, critics, and fellow directors responded.

Awards and accolades

At the 4th Hong Kong Film Awards, Danny Lee won Best Actor for his performance in ''Law with Two Phases''. The film was also nominated for Best Director (Lee) and Best Supporting Actor (Tai Bo). Lee also won Best Leading Actor at the 21st Golden Horse Awards, where it was further nominated for Best Narrative Feature and Best Supporting Actor in Tai Bo.

References

External links

''Law with Two Phases'' Review
* 1984 films 1980s Cantonese-language films 1984 crime thriller films Hong Kong action films 1980s Hong Kong films {{1980s-HongKong-film-stub