In The Goldfinger, a tale of financial chicanery, Hong Kong screen icons Andy Lau and Tony Leung Chiu-wai reunite with director Felix Chong for the first time in 20 years since their box office hit Infernal Affairs (2002). It was so good, Martin Scorsese remade Infernal Affairs as The Departed (2007) with Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon and it won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Inspired by real events, writer-director Chong’s The Goldfinger fictionalises Malaysian-born businessman George Tan Soon-gin, who accumulated businesses and real estate as his wealth grew in the 1970s, becoming one of Hong Kong’s richest men.
Nevertheless, Tan is best known for his involvement in the Carrian Group scandal, which led to the conglomerate’s catastrophic collapse in the 1980s due to fraudulent accounting, deception, bribery and human greed.
Infernal Affairs starred Leung, now 61, as an undercover cop in a triad gang, and Lau, 62, as a police mole. This time around, they star on opposite sides of the law. Leung portrays Henry Ching, or Ching Yat-yin, as a penniless chancer-turned-corrupt tycoon who becomes wealthy through market manipulation with the help of his friend KK Tsang (Simon Yam). He goes on to lead a multibillion-dollar empire, Carmen Century Group, which eventually collapses, ruining everyone’s lives.
Lau plays Lau Kai-yuen, a senior investigator at the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), who tries to put Ching away for years. Throughout the film, he wears the look of a man bested, vowing to defeat Ching in a decades-long cat-and-mouse game.
It was great, almost nostalgic, to see the two superstars together again. Both put up solid performances, especially Leung who was clearly relishing his flamboyant portrayal of the bad guy (in recent interviews, he lamented at not being offered to play more villain roles).
However, even as Ching’s suits get shinier, his cigars fatter, and the gleaming glass skyscrapers soar into the clouds, The Goldfinger barely hints at the real-life greed and drive of George Tan, who was said to have held a Singapore passport for some years and had dealings with high level executives and politicians in the region.
Hollywood insiders say the movie wears shades of David O. Russell’s American Hustle and Scorsese’s The Wolf Of Wall Street – except that it happened in Hong Kong. As a matter of fact, it’s easy to compare the film to Scorsese’s ode to Wall Street excess and the crazy world of Jordan Belfort, especially in the Busby Berkeley-style number where yellow-dressed dancing girls sprinkle confetti everywhere in Ching’s boardroom.
The Goldfinger also has some great supporting actors. In addition to Charlene Choi, Alex Fong and Philip Keung, Simon Yam’s character is the film’s standout who is almost unrecognisable as Ching’s business partner.
But all that glitters is not necessarily gold. Like the ridiculously flashy penthouse where Ching resides, the film is a seductive entertaining ride until the credits roll, then you realise you’ve been razzle-dazzled, and are left longing for more than style and spectacle.
The Goldfinger is currently showing in theatres.
