Project Gutenberg

On the heels of the globetrotting actioner Golden Job comes another a big budget Hong Kong production: Project Gutenberg. This movie has a reported budget of $300 million Hong Kong Dollars, which sounds impressive until you do the conversion and realize that works out to just over $38 million USD—in other words, a mid-budget movie by today's Hollywood standards.

Still, the money spent on this production definitely shows on-screen as this film features very solid set pieces shot in Hong Kong and Thailand. Canada also gets a bit of screen time with part of the story taking place out west in Vancouver. With so many Mandarin language films coming out of the Chinese Mainland these days, a Hong Kong film with strong financial backing is a very welcome sight.

Project Gutenberg certainly has much going for it in terms of key performances. Chow Yun Fat is in top form as The Painter, the leader of a bank note forging operation. Chow’s on-screen presence in this film is reminiscent of his impossibly cool roles from his collaborations with John Woo, such as The Killer and A Better Tomorrow. Despite being in his sixties, the veteran actor’s poise and mannerisms belie his age, giving the audience the impression they are watching someone considerably younger.

Aaron Kwok takes the less flashy role of Lee Man, a reserved artist whose work was criticized for being derivative and only finds appreciation for his talent when The Painter enlists him to become a forger. Kwok has come a long way as an actor and has terrific chemistry in his scenes with Chow. The fact that he works so well interacting with Chow Yun Fat is quite a feat as a lesser actor would have been completely outshone and overshadowed by Chow’s incredible charisma.

Catherine Chau’s Ho Wai Lam, the police inspector leading the investigation of The Painter, is reflective of the changes that Hong Kong cinema has undergone. Women in on-screen police roles are not new in HK films, but characters like Chau’s are still unusual given the depth and believability of her character. Chau brings a steely edge to her interrogation scenes but also infuses Inspector Ho with enough humanity to make her more than just a generic woman with a badge as many of her predecessors have been in past Hong Kong productions.

Another area where Project Gutenberg shines is in its meticulous portrayal of the counterfeiting process. While it may not all be real, the level of detail that writer/director Felix Chong goes into is quite impressive and convincing for audience members who are not familiar with the counterfeiting industry.

Felix Chong’s screenplay is rather ambitious telling concentric stories but his narrative is always clear and quite easy to follow. Interestingly, the dialogue of some characters (in particular, The Painter’s) has little to do with the plot, which means you could actually dispense with it and not lose the thread of the story. One of the revelations near the end somewhat accounts for why this is, so the reason for the throwaway lines will make more sense with a second or subsequent viewing of this film.

Having said all this, there is one caveat to bear mind and it is rather significant—audiences familiar with certain Hollywood movies from the ‘90s may find this story derivative to the point where they would accuse Chong of ripping off those earlier films, which would be ironic since forgery is at the heart of Project Gutenberg. Moviegoers who are not well-versed in Hollywood thrillers from 20-25 years ago will probably enjoy Chong’s film a great deal more than those who are since a couple of the crucial twists in his film are actually quite well known amongst film buffs.

The final revelation in this film will change your view of at least one character, and it may not be in a good way. The story makes you think the characters have certain relationships and motivations throughout the bulk of its running time only to take things in a dramatically different direction towards its conclusion.

Your mileage may vary for how you feel about what the twists do to the story that preceded them. Some reviews have been quite forgiving and given this film mild or even strong recommendations despite the critics’ familiarity with the films that Chong’s screenplay apes and how the final twist affects the rest of the narrative.

For this reviewer, that one last plot twist was one too many. In fact, it was a deal breaker because it dispenses with some motivations that are at least somewhat understandable and replaces them with something that is not at that easy to fathom given the events and body count that resulted from what is finally revealed.

Ultimately, the plot twists and late revelations seem unnecessary and actually detract considerably from the rest of the film. This movie might be viewed as Felix Chong’s homage to the Hollywood thrillers that first introduced the twists he so liberally borrows, but his efforts to mimic the older films come off as a lesser attempt to capture the same magic and do more harm than good to his film.

Project Gutenberg is clearly a well-made film from a technical standpoint with some terrific performances. Fans of the actors could do worse than to watch this particular movie but should be prepared for an ending that could go so far as to ruin the entire film.

Rating: 6.5/10.