Protégé (film)

Protégé

Protégé Theatrical Poster
Directed by Derek Yee
Produced by Peter Chan
Written by Derek Yee
Starring Andy Lau
Daniel Wu
Louis Koo
Zhang Jingchu
Anita Yuen
Music by Peter Kam
Cinematography Venus Keung
Chan Wai-Lin
Edited by Kong Chi-Leung
Distributed by Singapore:
Golden Village Pictures
MediaCorp Raintree Pictures
Hong Kong:
Gala Film Distribution
Release dates
  • 13 February 2007 (Hong Kong)
  • 15 February 2007 (Singapore)
Running time
 111 minutes
Country Hong Kong
Singapore
Language Cantonese
Box office HK26,280,000

Protégé (traditional Chinese: 門徒; simplified Chinese: 门徒; pinyin: Mén Tú; Cantonese Yale: Moon tow) is a 2007 Singaporean-Hong Kong co-produced crime drama film written and directed by Derek Yee, starring Andy Lau, Daniel Wu, Louis Koo, Zhang Jingchu and Anita Yuen.

Plot

Undercover officer Nick had spent the last seven years penetrating into the core of a drug ring working his way up from a street dealer post to the managerial position handling cargo deliveries for Kwan - the biggest player in the local heroin market. When the ailing Kwan makes Nick his protégé, 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 Jane, causes Nick to becomes 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 as to what happened and the events to lead to his emptiness.

Premise

Based on materials provided by retired undercover agents of the police force, "Protégé" attempts to realistically tell the story of undercover agents in the clandestine drug world, who struggle to constantly walk on the fine line between justice and crime, but who will never see the day of serving in the regular police force.

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.'[1]

Cast

DVD release

Region 1 DVD (US & CANADA)

On 24 February 2009 Dragon Dynasty, released "Protégé" on Region 1 DVD:

Special Features:

Awards and nominations

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lam, Perry (2 2007). "The Good, the Bad and the Freakish". Muse Magazine (1): 77. Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links