THE BIG HEAT Hong Kong, 1988, Johnnie To/Andrew Kam
I love a great opening to a film. Probably my favourite of all time is the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It is such a massive spectacle and sets the scene for a movie which follows suit brilliantly. A great opening scene can make or break a movie for me, due to my incredibly low span of attention and even lower tolerance for things of even a remotely tedious nature. Over on a Facebook page called MOVIE INCIPIT, they have invited people to post their favourite beginnings to movies. Intrigued, I had a rifle through the offerings on display. There were some great examples of cinema on display. But, of course, I was most excited when I noticed that somebody has posted the opening to the violent Hong Kong cop actioner, The Big Heat. I feel these few minutes, not only set the scene for a brutal and exciting crime drama, but also really set the scene for HK crime dramas of this vintage. I won’t spoil this for you all by explaining the clip, just please watch and enjoy. Also, those, like myself used to seeing Waise Lee playing really hate-able villains will enjoy watching him in these brief moments as a hero cop.
