This, rather lengthy sequence, which is much reminiscent of Johnnie To's style of action and particularly the way he edited his scenes, highlights both David Richardson's job in the particular aspect, but also the rather impressive monochrome cinematography of Cheng Siu Keung, which finds one of its early highlights in the scene where hunter and hunted descend from the roof of a parking lot.Ĭheng's excellent work also transitions to the next point of artfulness, with the way he makes the narrow streets essentially a character of the narrative, being among the best assets of the film, even more so in the way they mirror the dead-end all of the protagonists eventually finds themselves in, both mentally and in reality.
Limbo film 2021 movie#
The appearance of the Wong To, and the impact it has on Cham Lau's overall demeanor and eventually, on the relationship of the three, also signals the beginning of the action in the film, which, starting from the chase between the first two, indicates how relentless and brutal the movie is going to be. The dynamics of the two cops, with the experienced lowlife and the idealistic rookie, is the first point of excellence here, as it allows for a tension between the two that carries the film in its beginning, as Cheang introduces his characters through various episodes that linger between the extremely violent and the dramatic (the “Seven” reference). As the three find themselves “lost” in the labyrinth of Hong Kong slums, the killer continues his spree, and no one seems to be safe from his mania. Eventually, in an effort to atone, the girl offers to help the two in their research, but soon finds herself the target of revenge from the people she betrays, while the detective's attitude towards her never tones down. As Will soon realizes that his colleague, contrary to him, enjoys the respect of their colleagues, he also finds out that he has an agenda with car thief Wong To, a young girl who, in the midst of extreme physical punishment in the hands of Cham Lau, is also revealed as the perpetrator of an accident involving his family. Limbo creates an earned sense of hazy sadness, specific to its desolate locale and the persons that inhabit it.” - Tomris Laffly, RogerEbert.Rookie, dandy-looking policeman Will Ren has his work cut out for him, since his first case is pursuing an obsessive and especially brutal murderer of women who has a fetish with cutting arms, and his partner is the almost ragtag, not-above-using-violence- to-get-what-he-wants, veteran cop Cham Lau. It just engages with its characters’ pain differently than you might expect. It’s not that Limbo ignores despair altogether or dismisses the spiritual hurt that its displaced human beings. “Sharrock’s tale feels almost like a small miracle with its defiant stance against exploitative hopelessness. What results is a stirring exploration of the modern refugee crisis that shirks familiar storytelling tropes and never fully succumbs to bleakness (despite the barren, if beautiful, surroundings).įlashes of sweetness and good humour pepper the film’s melancholy tone, ultimately evoking a quiet profundity. And yet, where those directors often deploy their style to distance the viewer from the subjects, Sharrock’s intentions are far more humanistic. In this immense yet suffocating liminal space, Omar (Amir El-Masry), a gifted oud player separated from his family in Syria, spends his days wandering the landscape, bonding with the other asylum-seekers and trying to stave off hopelessness.ĭirector Ben Sharrock’s sophomore feature contains notes of Cannes darlings Ruben Östlund and Yorgos Lanthimos, employing a similarly ornate, composed visual approach. Stranded on a wintery, blustery island off the coast of Scotland, a group of immigrants and asylum-seekers from all over the world wait interminably for their chance to start a new life on the mainland.
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