Confession of Pain

This time of the relationship between Hong Kong and China. Andy Lau's "Internal Affairs" examined the roles with far greater interest. This time, though, Lau has sunk to the level of soap, which is sad to see, especially considering how sophisticated his previous work is. Shu Qi is criminally misused to boot. "Confession of Pain" in no way compares to "The Banquet," "Curse of the Golden Flower," "Mo Gong," "Three Times," all of which function on more than one level without sinking into the error of this film, which is not so much paranoia as mawkish self-absorption.

As for camera work, set design, sound, and editing, this movie feels more like a commercial than a feature film. The effect is to cheapen what otherwise might have been great and deep. The same goes for the acting, which seems to have been texted in.