''Blind Detective'' is a 2013 Hong Kong-Chinese action

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Johnnie To Johnnie To Kei-fung (born 22 April 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter and film producer. Popular in his native Hong Kong, To has also found acclaim overseas. Intensely prolific, To has made films in a variety of genres, though in ...

and starring Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng. The film was shown as part of the Shanghai International Film Festival.

Plot

Forced to leave service after turning blind, former detective Johnston Chong See-tun ( Andy Lau) ekes out his living by solving cold cases for police rewards. During a case involving the search for the culprit who throws acid off roofs, he meets an attractive hit team inspector Goldie Ho Ka-tung ( Sammi Cheng). When Ho notices Johnston's impressive investigative mind despite lack of vision, she enlists his help in a personal case she is unable to solve on her own. The two work together to solve the case as well as other cold cases.

Cast

* Andy Lau as Johnston Chong See-tun (莊士敦), blind detective, a former inspector of the Regional Crime Unit known as "The God of Cracking Cases" * Sammi Cheng as Goldie Ho Ka-tung (何家彤), a police inspector * Guo Tao as Szeto Fat-bo (司徒法寶), chief inspector of the Organised Crime & Triad Bureau (OCTB) *

Gao Yuanyuan Gao Yuanyuan (, born 5 October 1979) is a Chinese actress and model. She ranked 64th on ''Forbes'' China Celebrity 100 list in 2013, 40th in 2014, 76th in 2015, and 86th in 2017. Career Gao Yuanyuan was born in Beijing and graduated from China In ...

as Tingting (丁丁), a dance instructor who is Johnston's dream lover. *Zi Yi as Joe (祖), Goldie's old neighbor *Lang Yueting as Minnie Lee (李小敏), Goldie's childhood friend that have gone missing during their teenage years **Cheng Ho-lam as Teenage Minnie * Lam Suet as Lee Tak-shing (李得勝) *Philip Keung as Chan Kwong (陳廣) *Chung Wong as Fat Guy (肥漢) *

Lo Hoi-pang Lo Hoi-pang (born 21 December 1941) is a Hong Kong actor and singer. Lo attended TVB's Training Classes in 1973. Among his classmates are Chow Yun-fat and Ng Man-tat. Lo won the 2012 31st Hong Kong Film Awards for the Best Supporting Actor c ...

as Pang (鵬) *Bonnie Wong as Minnie's grandmother *

Stephanie Che Stephanie Che Yuen Yuen (born 28 December 1974) is a Hong Kong actress and singer. Che started her career as the winner of New Talent Singing Awards New Talent Singing Awards (Traditional Chinese: 新秀歌唱大賽) or ''NTSA'' for short, ...

as Pang's daughter *

Mimi Chu Mimi Chu (), born Choo Yit Mei () is a Malaysian-born Hong Kong actress and singer. She lived in Singapore before moving to Hong Kong. She has appeared at many events. As an actress, she is a recognised face in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia hav ...

as Pang's wife *

Eileen Yeow Eileen Yeow (born 4 January 1972), also known as Yiu Ying-ying, is a Hong Kong-based Singaporean actress and was named as one of the Five Fresh Beauties of TVB in 1995. Career Yeow won the title of Miss Singapore Universe in 1991. After that, sh ...

as Pang's daughter-in-law *

Li Shing-cheong Lee Shing-cheong (; born 11 October 1957) is a Hong Kong TVB actor. He also goes by the name Henry Lee. Career Acting Lee graduated from the 8th TVB Training Class in August 1979. He landed his first role in Hong Kong '81,http://bbs.ent.163 ...

as Pang's son *Raymond Tsang as Pang's son-in-law *Hedi He as Joe's partner *Yan Ni as Joe's partner's wife

Production

Filming of ''Blind Detective'' began in the second half of 2011 in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. In June 2012, filming halted after Sammi Cheng was diagnosed with Ménière's disease before resuming filming in August 2012. The film held a worship ceremony on 3 September 2012. The music in the film was provided by Canadian television music composer Hal Foxton Beckett.

Release

The film was selected to play as part of the Midnight selection at the

2013 Cannes Film Festival The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place in Cannes, France, from 15 to 26 May 2013. Steven Spielberg was the head of the jury for the main competition. New Zealand film director Jane Campion was the head of the jury for the Cinéfondation and S ...

, while it was theatrically released on 4 July 2013 in Hong Kong and China.

Reception

Derek Elley Derek Elley (born c. 1955) is an American film and music critic and author, best known as the resident film critic for ''Variety'' until his departure in March 2010. With over 1200 reviews to his credit as of December 2014 on ''Rotten Tomatoes'', h ...

of ''

Film Business Asia ''Film Business Asia'' was a film trade magazine based in Hong Kong. The magazine was created in 2010 by Patrick Frater, former journalist for ''Variety'', ''The Hollywood Reporter'', and '' Screen International'' and Stephen Cremin, co-founder o ...

'' gave the film a score of two out of ten, noting a poor script and describing it as "A rare example of a Johnnie To movie in which nothing seems to work, and even at a basic craft level is below the prolific Hong Kong director's usual standards." Neil Young ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' also gave the film a negative review, calling it a "punishingly overlong, overcooked confection. Stir in frequent helpings of larkish blind-man slapstick and what results is a misshapen and unsatisfying stew of different genres." Lee Marshall of ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' also gave the film a negative review, stating that "Blind Detective is a decidedly minor offering from the director of '' The Mission'' and last year’s impressive mainland-set '' Drug Wars''." Andrew Chan of the ''

Film Critics Circle of Australia The Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) is an association of cinema critics and reviewers. It includes journalists in "media, television, major national and state papers, radio, national and state, online and freelance writers, Australian ...

'' wrote, "As a love story, it works, but the film falls flat on the ground with a padded up detective story that will take more than a gallon of gold to convince."

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{MilkywayImage Hong Kong crime thriller films Hong Kong romantic comedy films 2013 films 2013 crime thriller films 2013 romantic comedy films Police detective films 2010s Cantonese-language films Media Asia films Milkyway Image films Films directed by Johnnie To Films about blind people Films set in Hong Kong Films shot in Hong Kong Films with screenplays by Yau Nai-hoi Films with screenplays by Wai Ka-fai 2010s Hong Kong films