English Title: A Cause To Kill
Starring:
Ivy Ling Po, Kwan Shan
Rating:
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Plot Summary
A well-known movie star (Ivy), who was at the apex of her carreer, abnegated her success to wed a publisher (Kwan Shan) and was left to witness not only a decline in her stardom but also an extramarital affair between her husband and another woman. Stumbling across their love letter and feeling betrayed by the man she loved had led her to plot out his own death.
Her plan is going well until the assassin fails his task and gets himself kill by the husband during their struggle. While feeling frustrated by the unsuccessful attempt, the star is happy to learn that her husband has been arraigned with murder. The detective has reasons to believe that there is a motive for the husband to kill this man.
Unfortunately, as the investigation moves along, the movie star becomes a suspect. And when they finally learn that it was her who planned everything, she decides to take the matter once again in her hands by committing suicide.
Review
There is one reason to watch this movie: To see Ivy Ling Po in an atypical role where she portrayed a jealous wife who is willing to do anything to seek for what she sees fit as a revenge for being cheated by love. Confucius once said that the two things in life that are hard to nurture is women and small people ('small people' is a literal translation from Chinese which stands for people who are backstabber or who is willing to do anything to hurt others for his/her own advantage). People also say that it's better to be enemy with 'small people' than with women. Of course, the saying is bias and we must keep in mind that Confucius is a man who held very minimal favor towards the female gender. Yet, the saying is to reveal how dangerous women can be when they are...well basically pissed off. They can ruin their adversary without one knowing about it. And in this movie, viewers see the extra mile a woman willing to take when she is faced with an unfaithful husband. She would rather put him three feet below the ground than having to share or see him walk off to the sunset with another woman.
In the end, Ivy's character left a note for her husband saying: "I loved you but you were unfaithful, you owe me an apology." While women can be cruel, but they always have a soft side. Her determination to kill him marked not only anger, but it also revealed the acme of her pain.
Doesn't matter how much society has changed between now and a thousand years ago, in a marriage, the woman always sacrifices and gives up more than her spouse. Ivy's character gave up success for marriage and lost everything. In other words, she was willing to give up what she has in order to be with a man she loved even though what lies in the future is unforeseeable. When faced with his betrayal, she is forced to become a murderer that she was not set out to be. I remembered a writer once wrote, "Success makes a man attractive and beauty makes a woman desirable. Success is attained while beauty is lost." Thus, who is the victim and the murderer? An interesting question where each of us will have our own answer. From my perspective, this movie provides a good twist by having Ivy's character committed suicide. As a victim of her own marriage, she took her own life but done so for a cause - a cause which was created by the husband. In the end, the intended murderer turns out the be the victim and the victim turns out to be an indirect murderer. Death and life in this movie is all due to a cause, which gives the film a very meaningful title - "A Cause To Kill".
On another aspect of the film, I am not too happy with the ending for one simple reason: Kwan Shan's character never showed any remorse for being unfaithful, not even after his wife took her own life. From his expression, he was shocked and sadden by her death. However, it wasn't the sadness and guilt that I had hoped for. If a person loves someone dearly, then he would grab and hold onto something he just lost (well, if someone loves someone dearly, he would have never cheated to begin with). Yet, Kwan Shan's character didn't take a step closer to his wife's body. This leads me to believe that he never truly loved her nor is he sorry to see her dead. From this aspect, if I were her, I'll shoot the guy first and then kill myself.
One may also say that Ivy's character is quite foolish by ending her own life, a point in which I don't disagree. Yet, one must also praise her for being a determined woman. She is capable of loving a man with her whole heart, but yet won't let that love walk all over her. She loved and lost, then she seeked for fairness and didn't go weak when it comes to making a tough decision. Furthermore, the lady truly believed in what she did and never apologized for anything. In fact, she demanded an apology from him. Got to love that!
Overall, it is a movie that made me walked away feeling unsatisfied and mistreated. If one can't already tell, I don't particularly root for films that put women in a vunerable position. But hey, that's life and most of the time it's unfair...so tough luck uh?!
DVD Information
This movie had been re-released by Celestial Pictures Limited on January 8, 2004 and is available for purchase online. Refer to the "Resources" section for more information on retailers.
Picture: Very Good
Sound: Very Good
DVD Code: Region 3
Running Time: 98 minutes
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