Blind Detective

Blind Detective Information

Blind Detective is a 2013 Hong Kong-Chinese romantic comedy and crime thriller film directed by Johnnie To and starring Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng.

The film was shown as part of the Shanghai International Film Festival.

Plot

Forced to leave service after turning blind, former detective Johnston Chong See Tun (Andy Lau) ekes out his living by solving cold cases for police rewards. During a bank robbery case, he meets an attractive hit team inspector Goldie Ho Ka Tung. (Sammi Cheng). When Ho notices Chong's strong sense of hearing and smell, she enlists his help in a personal case and he decides to take a stab.

Cast

Andy Lau as Johnston Chong See Tun (??"?), blind detective, a former inspector of the Regional Crime Unit known as "The God of Cracking Cases"
Sammi Cheng as Ho Ka-tung ("???), a female police inspector
Guo Tao as Szeto Fat-bo
Gao Yuanyuan as Tingting
Zi Yi
Lang Yueting
Lo Hoi-pang
Bonnie Wong
Lam Suet
Philip Keung

Production

Filming of Blind Detective began in the second half of 2011 in Hong Kong. In June 2012, filming halted after Sammi Cheng was diagnosed with Ménière's disease before resuming filming in August 2012. The film held a worship ceremony on 3 September 2012. The music in the film was provided by Canadian television music composer Hal Foxton Beckett.

Release

The film was selected to play as part of the Midnight selection at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. while it was be theatrically released on 4 July 2013 in Hong Kong and 11 July in China.

Reception

Film Business Asia gave the film a negative review of two out of ten, noting a poor script and describing it as "A rare example of a Johnnie To movie in which nothing seems to work, and even at a basic craft level is below the prolific Hong Kong director's usual standards" The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a negative review, calling it a "punishingly overlong, overcooked confection. Stir in frequent helpings of larkish blind-man slapstick and what results is a misshapen and unsatisfying stew of different genres." Screen Daily also gave the film a negative review, stating that "Blind Detective is a decidedly minor offering from the director of The Mission and last year's impressive mainland-set Drug Wars."