Film Review: The Goldfinger (2023) Felix Chong

“Doing business in Hong Kong is lot of fun”

One of the most expensive Hong Kong movies ever made (HK$350 million or 41 million euros), “The Goldfinger” also brings together Felix Chong, Tony Leung and Andy Lau after “Infernal Affairs”, where the first co-wrote. Set in the 80s, the script is based on the story of Carrian Group, a Hong Kong corporation which rose rapidly before collapsing shortly afterwards due to a corruption scandal.

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The movie actually starts with Henry Ching’s arrest, who is based on Carrian Group founder George Tan, Lau Kai-yuen, principal investigator of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). A bit later, the timeline changes to the mid-70s, with Henry Ching arriving in Hong Kong and trying to get a job as an engineer. Considering the place is filled with people of the particular profession, he has no luck. Although so it seems, since he is eventually employed by K.K. Tsang, one of the heirs of a rather rich family, who has him posing as a buyer for his property, in order to convince Wu Reshong, an actual potential buyer, to increase the price he is offering. The plan eventually succeeds, and Tsang takes Ching under his wing, eventually giving him the capital to open his own company, which he ends up naming after his first hire, Carmen Cheung. Their luck, though, truly changes when Ching gets swindled in the stock market by Wu Reshong’s broker, Chung and decides to hire him. An initially reluctant to leave his employer Chung, is eventually convinced when Ching “offers” him Carmen, with the two eventually becoming a couple.

As they manage to manipulate the stock market and buy property by giving their stocks as contraband for increasingly bigger loans, the group, which eventually also includes Wu Reshong, starts becoming more and more successful. Eventually, they reach international level, with their stock being considered even more valuable than blue chips, but the handover changes everything. The second axis, of the present, also moves forward, showing Ching as a cruel man who does not shy from murdering his opponents, and Lau being continuously on his heels, despite his many failures and the strain his efforts place in his relationship with his family.

First things first. The classic style of Hong Kong cinema, with its permeating nonsensicality and the focus on individual scenes rather than the movie as a whole is not exactly ideal to present true stories. The fact becomes quite evident by the way the story progresses in a fashion that frequently does not make sense, with the back-and-forth in time not helping with the overall sense that the viewer is missing something. The scenes in the court, the presentation of the foreigners, and the ending suffer the most from this approach.

On the other hand, there are definitely enough elements here to make the film rise beyond its issues. First and most obvious, the cast and the acting. Tony Leung as Henry Ching gives another splendid performance, with the way he transforms through the years being a treat to watch. Andy Lau as Lau Kai-yuen is equally good as a character that is essentially the exact opposite of Ching, although the two share an obsession to achieve their goals against all odds. Simon Yam adds even more star quality as the benefactor who eventually becomes part of the group Ching heads. Michael Ning as Chung, and the way he falls for Carmen is one of the best aspects of the movie, while Charlene Choi, who plays her, is an impressive presence but in a role that is rather badly written. Lastly, Tai Bo as Wu Renshong, who will be forever remembered for eating two plates of spaghetti on his face in “Project A”, concludes the overall great cast, as an individual who is the top boss, but eventually is surpassed by Ching.

Furthermore, the comments about corruption, which actually start with the police in the first scenes in the movie, and the relationship between them, the capital, the stock market, and the crime world become quite evident. It is also worth noting that Ching was probably involved with people from the Philippines (Imelda Marcos), Indonesia and Malaysia, and the script actually includes them, giving the corruption an international scale. All in all, this is a great story and the fact becomes quite evident throughout the movie, even with the aforementioned shortcomings.

In that regard, what is actually equally impressive with the casting, is the amount of scenes presented through the 126 minutes of the movie, which is truly exuberant, highlighting both the big budget of the production and the amount of work that was put in the film. Occasionally, the audiovisual approach reminds intently of “The Wolf of Wall Street”, while there is a scene that will definitely make one think of “Sin City”. For the most part, though, “The Goldfinger” is its own animal, with the technical aspect finding its zenith in scenes like the one with the battle in the Golden Triangle, the one with the models dancing in glass cages, and the murder attempt on Lau. Overall, the visuals here, as captured by DP Anthony Pun are nothing short of impressive.

The Goldfinger is screening at UdineFar East Film Festival 2024

Again as usual in HK blockbusters, William Chang and Curran Pang’s editing results in a rather frantic face, which manages to hide the narrative issues to the point, also through the mixture of the timelines.

Overall, I am not sure how much the particular approach of HK cinema still applies here, particularly in real stories, but the fact remains that “The Goldfinger” is an outstandingly casted, audiovisually impressive film that offers entertainment aplenty.