Accident - DVD

Film: Ho Kwok-fai (Louis Koo), called The Brain, is a masterful hitman. Like no other, he knows how to make murders look like accidents. Planned down to the smallest detail and executed by his team with absolute precision, The Brain always completes his missions conscientiously and without even making a mistake. But when a fatal mistake happens during one of his meticulously planned accidents and one of his men is killed, one thing is clear to the naturally very suspicious man: sabotage was involved. He and his team are themselves in the crosshairs of a killer. His paranoia increases more and more and when one day the mysterious insurance expert Fong (Riche Ren) crosses his path, the contract killer is sure to have found his enemy. And from then on, Brain knows only one goal: Fong must die before he can kill him.

Director Pou-soi Cheang has directed Accident, an intriguing thriller that tells a gripping yet very moving story at a leisurely pace. Especially the character of Ho Kwok-fai is designed extremely interesting. Because of the death of his wife he is plagued by feelings of guilt, memories of his great love haunt him again and again. In order to suppress his guilt, he focuses his thoughts completely on his work. The way he plans and carries out his accidents is as calculatingly ice-cold as it is ingenious. How his genius killer instinct is slowly destroyed by paranoia is superbly realized by Pou-soi Cheang and absolutely engagingly played by Louis Koo.

The direction doesn't just rely on the strength of the lead actor, though. The disintegration of the brain is also grippingly realized with extremely strong imagery. It is the interplay of imagery and game that makes Accident so outstanding. The film works as a cool thriller, but can also convince as a psychological drama. Sure, it's a genre film that should appeal especially to connoisseurs and lovers of Asian cinema. But the work produced by Hong Kong legend Johnnie To quickly develops due to its suspenseful story and intoxicating images also for all other lovers of high-quality arthouse thrillers to an almost hypnotic film enjoyment that is difficult to escape.

So if you like to be entertained by gripping genre cinema beyond the mainstream, you should not miss this home theater premiere in any case. Absolutely recommendable!

Picture + Sound: Since only a data-reduced press DVD was available for the test, no rating can be given here about the final picture and sound quality.

Extras: As an extra, the DVD has unfortunately only a slideshow to offer.

Conclusion: Accident is a fascinating thriller, which tells with quiet tones and intense images a thrilling and involving story. Thus, this film produced by Hong Kong legend Johnnie To is truly absolutely recommended not only for fans of Asian thrillers!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp