Two gangs are currently fighting for control of Macau, one lead by the brutal Mr. K, and the other by the equally ruthless Mr. Lung. Though their men are frequently clashing the two desire to form an alliance, no matter how uneasy, because there is something that unites them in fear. They both dread the imminent return of the big boss of Macau, the elderly Mr. Hung who is most unhappy with the situation in Macau, undoubtedly the two warring gangs are costing a great deal of money and preventing business from running smoothly. Things have been made more difficult however because a rumour has been started that Mr. K has in fact put out a contract on Mr. Lung, and the source of the rumours is highly sought after. Sam (Tony Leung Chiu Wai - In the Mood For Love, Infernal Affairs) meets up with his boss Mr. K one night, who is more scared than Sam ever remembers seeing. K is greatly on edge because of the rumours of the contract and the threat posed by the return of Mr. Hung. K is also greatly concerned about his son Mark, and asks Sam to keep an eye on him – a short-tempered man who knows only how to solve problems with his gun. Tony is soon to have something else to worry about too, as a mysterious shaven-headed man, forever carrying a battered old kit bag, is headed into town.

This enigmatic stranger is Tony (Lau Ching Wan - Big Bullet, Running Out of Time) who books himself into a hotel before going for a spot of lunch at a quiet restaurant. He makes a couple of phone calls while he’s there, telling ‘Mark’ to meet him that night and leaving the establishment’s phone number with someone else before sitting down to his soup. Soon after Tony and some cronies enter the place and head over to another patron. It seems Tony told this guy to leave town some time ago but he’s still there, and after a gun is found on his person he’s held down while Tony pounds his hand to a pulp with a succession of ketchup bottles. Tony ignores the violence and eats, also answering the phone and speaking to ‘Maggie’, telling her everything is arranged. After he’s finished mashing up this fellow’s hand, Sam and company go to leave until Tony catches his eye. Not liking the look of this outsider (and who could blame him) he warns him to get out of town at the earliest opportunity. Sam then goes to see Uncle Fat, another of Mr. K’s men, who has captured a traitor who knows the person who originated the rumours of K’s contract on Mr. Lung’s head. He’s being tortured but refuses to talk, even when Sam helps out by removing a fingernail. Sam has to split however because he receives a call to go to his apartment where a decapitated body has been dumped, but the head is nowhere to be found. Not only this, as Sam enters the scene we see that Sam is in fact a high-ranking policeman. Tony meanwhile goes to a club and meets up with Mark, Mr. K’s son, a confrontation that takes a bad turn when one of the club hostesses accidentally vomits on Mark’s jacket and Mark nearly shoots Tony, only the intervention of the club’s manager Mr. Lo averts disaster. Tony leaves but encounters Sam and his cronies, one of which forces him to drive to the sea port in a taxi cab to make sure he gets out of town. Tony deals with this policeman in unique style, shattering the windscreen with his own head before hitting the breaks and sending him flying through the glass. Meanwhile Mr. Lo agrees to take the scared hostess home, who fears Mark will come back and kill her, but Mr. Lo is mysteriously shot dead after they leave.

Sam has to look into the killing of Mr. Lo, which get a great deal more complicated when the shaken hostess fingers Mark for the killing. This is bad news because the club is in Mr. Lung’s territory, and the local dons will only give Sam three hours to settle the situation, after that they won’t be able to stop their men from exacting their own revenge. Sam soon tracks Mark down in a bar and requests that he just come quietly to the police station with him so they can keep the peace. However Mark doesn’t take well to the accusation, insisting he didn’t do it and draws his gun. In the chaos that follows he makes a run for it into the bar’s kitchen, and escapes after causing a fire. Frustrated, Sam goes back to the station and receives the news that Tony escaped and put his man in hospital. Even more aggravated, Sam goes to the hostess and forces her to change her statement and say that she saw Tony kill Mr. Lo, the terrified woman agrees. Meanwhile Tony deposits his old kit bag in a public locker, but leaves it unlocked and throws the key away shortly before being arrested. Under significant duress the hostess says she saw Tony (who registers just a flicker of acknowledgement when he sees her) kill Mr. Lo, and Tony is thrown in a cell. Despite the beating he has just taken and his incarceration, Tony sits causally in his cell, totally cool with what’s happening. Sam is called up once again and rushes to see Uncle Fat. The traitor finally gave up the information before he died, he showed an amazing amount of loyalty staying quiet through the incredible agony he suffered before spilling the beans. Things are about to take another turn as the source of the rumours is named, as Sam himself...

Patrick Yau’s second film is a wonder, combining a strong script chock-full of plot twists, innovative cinematography, and benefiting greatly from two extremely strong leading men. From the Milkyway Film company which struck gold in recent years with numerous films directed by Johnnie To such as the huge domestic hit Running Out of Time, The Longest Nite is a cool, slow-burning thriller of the highest order. Though a touch bewildering for the first forty minutes, the second half of the film falls together beautifully as you realise that Yau didn’t show you anything which wasn’t of some significance to the plot. The twists and turns that punctuate the rest of the film up to the fitting climax show the film blossoming, while the seemingly random events of the first part of the film seem incoherent, the viewer’s patience is paid off ten-fold by the jarring revelations of the web the film’s narrative has been secretly weaving all along. Surely this is the best kind of thriller, the kind that deceives the viewer into believing one thing before turning everything on its head, that everything has a purpose and everything was planned to go just as it did. One cannot help but smile as the multitude of plot strands all come together the way they do, and while it may be a little bit of an ordeal for some to get there, its entirely worth it.

Lau Ching Wan and Tony Leung flourish in their roles, showing that despite the departures of Hong Kong cinema greats like Chow Yun Fat, there is still an amazing amount of talent to enjoy. This scribe is used to seeing Leung in far more benevolent roles, the gentle retiring nature of his character in Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood For Love or his compelling performance as the conflicted, pained undercover cop in Infernal Affairs, but here he plays what can only be described as a complete bastard. He’s cruel, threatening, and brutal – one cannot help but wince as he so routinely crushes a guy’s hand with an excessive amount of blows with a solid glass ketchup bottle (so many as to almost become comical, almost) and has no trouble ripping off the fingernail of a captive. Diminutive in frame, his violent nature is tempered with a near-constant nervousness, frequently mopping his brow with a handkerchief and looking more and more frustrated, scared and alone as events unfold around him. All in all Tony Leung is superb, but then that’s what we’ve come to expect from him. Possbily more compelling however, and benefiting more from the cinematography on display, is Lau Ching Wan’s Tony, an ambiguous and extremely interesting character. Played incredibly coolly, though always with a wry personality dwelling just below the surface, Lau Ching Wan provides one of the film’s central mysteries – just who is strange character, what does he want, and how much of what happens to him is mere chance? Lau Ching Wan shows here what a great actor he truly is and is every bit as versatile as his co-star with a stellar performance, holding a great deal of screen presence and never letting us truly penetrate the barrier of cool which hides his true intentions. The supporting cast, while by no means ever likely to overshadow the two leads, are more then solid and feature some faces you might recognise such as Lung Fong (God of Gamblers). Overall an excellent cast, especially considering this is no big-budget extravaganza.

A great pity is that so far the director Patrick Yau has so few films to his credit, as his direction here is extremely impressive. One can complain about the pacing of the film, and indeed the first half suffers from a rather random narrative which though is nicely resolved later in the film, can initially seem a little daunting. Yau extracts great multi-layerd performances from his leads however, and knows the right times to let the story be told with a minimum of distracting flash, and when to bathe the film in atmosphere and style. Indeed there are great contrasts between the very routine, straight-forward way of showing the brutal violence and giving the dialogue room to further the plot by itself, but then other scenes are full of moody lighting, interesting camera angles, and slow motion. Macau is portrayed as a dull, soulless place which while full of bright neon and fancy clubs and casinos, is also a place of shady back-rooms where people lie dead on the floor in pools of their own blood. Yau’s superb use of light and dark play an important part in the proceedings, most easily shown in one of the central scenes of the film – a verbal confrontation between Tony and Sam in a jail cell, the darkened cell split in two by a shaft of brilliant white light. Another interesting touch is the use of light around Tony Leung, at times making him look very pasty and ill in his dank surroundings. Yau has a good eye for getting the best from his performers too, and doesn’t fail to capture the small touches and mannerisms that both Lau and Leung incorporate into their characters, helping to make sure their excellent performances are fully utilised. The music soundtrack must also be noted, it’s an eclectic mix of different styles that doesn’t seem like it should work, but somehow it does and effectively adds to the already engrossing atmosphere.

The Longest Nite comes with the highest recommendation, and is well worth the time and patience needed to acquire and watch the film. While the early pacing is a little difficult, and the enjoyment is lessened on repeat viewing once you know what all the plot twists are, the performances, script, and direction still provides much to enjoy. A darker, more intriguing thriller will be difficult to find. Thank you and Good Nite.