Director – Che Chun Hei – 2018 – Hong Kong – Cert. N/C 12+ – 30m
****1/2
A gangland sniper’s shooting of his designated target leads to a friendship with a dog and further unauthorised killings – online and Free To View in the UK in the Fresh Wave short films strand of Focus Hong Kong 2021 from Tuesday, February 9th to Monday, February 15th
Gangland boss Shing (Lau Kong) sets up a sniper (Bowie Chan Wai Wing) in an apartment in a block overlooking a patch of waste ground. Every day, a man walks his dog over this patch. The man is the sniper’s designated target. So the sniper sets up his gun, passes the time, tries to get a decent signal on the TV, smokes, relaxes on the sofa, anything but look through his viewfinder and watch the man and dog pass.
Finally, the order “today” comes though his pager from Shing. One shot and the guy is dead. The dog just sits there, remaining where his master fell. A black van rolls up. Two guys. One has a revolver and thinks of shooting the dog, but doesn’t do it.
The sniper feels for the dog. He takes it food. He spends time with it. The dog finds an old tennis ball and they play ‘fetch’. They bond.
Later, a gang of schoolgirls hang around. One decides she’ll feed the “stupid dog” some chocolate. He puts a bullet through the chocolate bar. That doesn’t deter her for more than a few seconds, so he puts a bullet in the back of her head too.
The senior of the two investigating cops wants to close the case as a suicide. But when an important mobster is later shot dead, that’s no longer an option. And when two dog catchers are shot dead in front of police, they realise they have to catch the sniper.
Through all this, from it’s opening frame, the sniper has a recurring dream about a jellyfish. It floats in the water until a hook caches it and rips its hood. In the finale, he will to all intents and purposes become the jellyfish. This is at once an effective comic book gangster yarn and, when you realise where it’s going, a bizarre exercise in film poetry. Beyond the reliance on stock characters – sniper, boss, henchman, cops, even a schoolgirl – and its clear adoration of violent gangster fare – a genre at which Hong Kong excels – it becomes a simple tale about a man bonding with a dog. And a very affecting tale at that.
Jellyfish plays online and is Free To View in the UK as part of the Fresh Wave short films strand of Focus Hong Kong 2021 from Tuesday, February 9th to Monday, February 15th.
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