BEIJING, July 24 -- Written and directed by Alan Mak and Felix Chong, writers behind the Infernal Affairs (Wu Jian Dao) trilogy, Overheard (Qieting Fengyun) sets itself apart from the usual Hong Kong police-gangster film, without car crashes, bloodshed and gunshots. The film focuses on three wiretappers at Hong Kong commercial crime investigation bureau, who find out about a listed company that is trying to manipulate the stock market. With the crucial information in hand and facing the giant temptation of getting rich overnight, they trap themselves in fatal dilemmas. The topic of insider trading has rarely been touched on in Hong Kong films before Mak and Chong found the inspiration to elaborate further in a restaurant, in 2007. "The Hong Kong stock market was extremely prosperous then, but we could not find investment for our screenplays," recalls Chong. "One day we were talking about some script in a restaurant, in a low and anxious manner, while people around us talked enthusiastically about stocks. The contrast inspired me to create a story about commercial crime. When we talk about Hong Kong police-gangster films, we always have bank-robberies or drug deals, this time I wanted to make something different." Stocks have been a big issue in the mainland, too, since the market hit a record 6,000 points in 2007, attracting millions of investors, ranging from tycoons to school kids. As such, four noted mainland film critics Wei Junzi, Zhang Jiangnan, Da Daochang and Song Ziwen reckon Overheard could be the hottest film of the summer. Chong and Mak finished the script in just 10 days. Mak calls it the best story he has written in recent years. Mak's father and brother are policemen. With their help he talked with many former staff at the Hong Kong commercial crime bureau, which investigates commercial fraud, computer crime and the counterfeiting or forgery of commercial instruments. He also asked for help from actress Anita Yuen, who has 10 family members working in the Hong Kong police force. To create a convincing team of professional inspectors, three leading actors of the ensemble cast, including Lau Ching-wan, Daniel Wu and Louis Koo, talked to former staff working for the bureau. And Koo creates a special talking style for his character. "I found the real inspectors talk extremely fast," he says. "Sometime I could not catch what they said. They live under great pressure and anxiety, because they have few friends. They cannot tell their friends their profession." The film premieres Friday. Source: China Daily
