Eurocrime with a jolt of Michael Mann's visual design
Given his more famous body of work and especially the title, you'd probably be expecting Men from the Gutter to be another one in a long line of incredible Lam Nai-Choi horror. It is not. Instead, trading the classical Shaw wuxia sheen for street-level desperation, it's an outstanding, gritty, hard-edged action thriller. One that gives a neon-lit glimpse into Hong Kong's grimy underbelly of smoke-filled gambling joints and roach-infested tenements filled with grubby, desperate lowlifes. It's all conceived in a way that combines elements of gritty Eurocrime with a jolt of Michael Mann's visual design. It crams a lot into its tight 88-minute runtime, with excitingly staged action that's rough, pragmatic and rather splat-tastic at points and all complemented by Lam Nai-Choi's own slick photography, intense direction and even a cool cod-Tangerine Dream electronic score. This isn't heroic bloodshed yet, but you can feel it forming in the margins. The characters are defined less by archetypes than by exhaustion. These are men with no illusions left; every alliance is temporary, every moral line negotiable with the cast selling that weariness well. Lo Meng and Jason Pai Pao deliver earthy, impassioned, and downright menacing performances that are far more morally ambiguous than the stoic archetypes they usually played, especially in the quieter moments where ambition gives way to fear or resignation. As a Shaw Brothers production, it's fascinating precisely because it doesn't feel like a classic Shaw film. The studio trappings are present, but the spirit belongs to what comes next. While Men from the Gutter may not be as iconic as what followed, it serves as a raw and compelling bridge between eras. A tough, unsentimental crime film that captures a moment when both its characters and its studio were fighting not to be left behind.
Was this review helpful to you?
