''Protégé'' is a 2007 Hong Kong-Singaporean co-produced crime drama film written and directed by

Derek Yee Derek Yee Tung-sing () is a film producer, director and a former Shaw Brothers actor from Hong Kong. Early life Yee was born Yee Tung-sing in Hong Kong on 28 December 1957, the son of Yee Kwong (爾光), a film producer from Tientsin (Tianjin), ...

, starring

Andy Lau Andy Lau Tak-wah (; born 27 September 1961) is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maint ...

Daniel Wu Daniel Ng Neh-Tsu (, born September 30, 1974) is an American actor, director and producer based in Hong Kong. He is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese language film industry. Since his film debut in 1998, he has ...

Louis Koo Louis Koo Tin-lok ( zh, t=古天樂; born 21 October 1970) is a Hong Kong actor, singer and film producer. He began his professional career as an actor in local television series, winning TVB's Best Actor award in 1999 and 2001. After 2001, he f ...

Zhang Jingchu Zhang Jingchu (, born 2 February 1980) is a Chinese film actress. Zhang is best known for winning the China Film Media Award Best Actress award for the 2005 film ''Peacock'', which was shown at the Berlin International Film Festival. Early l ...

and

Anita Yuen Anita Yuen Wing Yee (born 4 September 1971) is a Hong Kong film and television actress. Pageant career At the age of 18, Yuen entered the Miss Hong Kong 1990 pageant. She was a heavy favorite to win the crown from the semifinal to final. During t ...

Plot

Undercover To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...

officer Nick had spent the last seven years penetrating into the core of a drug ring, working his way up from a street

dealer Dealer may refer to: Film and TV * ''Dealers'' (film), a 1989 British film * ''Dealers'' (TV series), a reality television series where five art and antique dealers bid on items * ''The Dealer'' (film), filmed in 2008 and released in 2010 * ...

post to the managerial position handling cargo deliveries for Kwan – the biggest player in the local

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

market. When the ailing Kwan makes Nick his

protégé Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

, Nick cannot help but sway before money and power and starts to perform his role like a real drug trafficker. This, together with his affair with heroin-addict Fan, causes Nick to become more and more confused about his true identity, and eventually leads to a disastrous end. The film begins with a scene in a dark isolated rundown apartment building, showing a heroin addict living poorly with her young daughter. The scene then forwards to the perspective of Officer Nick who is suffering from loneliness just after completing an undercover assignment. He recalls the entire story of what happened and the events to lead to his emptiness. Towards the end of the film, Nick finally builds a case strong enough to catch Kwan. However, Kwan realizes he has no way out and commits suicide traumatizing Nick because Kwan has put so much trust and faith in Nick, treating him like family. In addition, he finds that Fan who he had been looking after throughout the film, died of an overdose, discovering her body with rats on it. Due to this trauma, Nick completely goes into a breakdown. Swearing vengeance, and knowing that Fan's drug addicted husband was responsible for her death and encouraged her multiple times, Nick tricks Fan's husband into doing a drug run, however it turns out to be a trip to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, and arriving at

Changi Airport Singapore Changi Airport, commonly known as Changi Airport , is a major civilian international airport that serves Singapore, and is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia. As one of the world's busiest airports by international passen ...

, Nick sets a trap with Singaporean customs officials to arrest Fan's husband on the spot. Nick then coldly informs Fan's husband that its over and that he will receive the death penalty under Singapore Law. Nick then returns home to Hong Kong, but is deeply affected by the death's of Kwan and Fan. He considers using drugs himself and just before he does, Fan's surviving daughter comes in and throws the drugs away saving Nick and silently reminding him he has something to live for.

Cast

as Lam Kwan *

as Nick (Lee Chi-lik) *

as Fan's husband *

as Fan (Pang Yuk-fan) *

as Kwan's wife *

as Miu Chi-wah *

He Meitian He Meitian (born 2 December 1977) is a Chinese actress and former gymnast. She was previously a contracted artist under the Hong Kong television network TVB. After her contract with TVB ended, she returned to mainland China and continued her ca ...

as Kwan's sister in-law *

Liu Kai-chi Dick Liu Kai-chi (, 30 September 1953 – 28 March 2021) was a Hong Kong actor, best known for his everyman supporting roles. His career spanned over 40 years, with appearances in over 90 television series and 70 films. He earned eight nomina ...

as HKCED Customs Chief * Nirut Sirijanya as Gen Chanchai *

Qi Yuwu Qi Yuwu (; born 28 November 1976) is a Chinese actor based in Singapore. He is a permanent resident of Singapore and a contracted artiste under Beijing Enlight Media Group. Early life and career Qi studied at Guangzhou Physical Education Ins ...

as a Singaporean custom's official (Cameo Appearance)

Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews. Perry Lam, for example, wrote in ''Muse'' magazine, 'The movie is powerful precisely because it doesn't preach, and therefore spares us all the usual opinions, standard platitudes and naive assumptions about drug dealing and addiction.'

DVD release

Region 1 DVD (US & Canada) On 24 February 2009

Dragon Dynasty Dragon Dynasty is a joint venture started by The Weinstein Company and Genius Products. The company was created on May 23, 2006 for the sole purpose of distributing East Asian films on DVD in the U.S., whose licenses are held by, or will be acqui ...

, released "Protégé" on Region 1 DVD: Special Features: *Feature Length Audio Commentary with Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan *The Making of ''Protégé'' Undercover & Over the Edge: An Exclusive Interview with Leading Man

*Chasing the Dragon: An Exclusive Interview with Leading Lady

*The Dealer: An Exclusive Interview with Producer

Peter Chan Peter Ho-sun Chan (born 28 November 1962) is a film director and producer. Early life Chan was born in British Hong Kong to parents China. He and his family moved to Thailand when he was 12, where he grew up amongst the international Chines ...

*Original Theatrical Trailer

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * *
HK cinemagic entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Protege (Film) Cantonese-language films 2007 films 2007 crime drama films Hong Kong crime drama films Films set in Hong Kong Films set in Thailand Films set in Singapore Films directed by Derek Yee Films about heroin addiction Films about the illegal drug trade Polybona Films films 2000s Hong Kong films