Whilst I'm no expert on East Asian cinema I've certainly seen a lot more than the average person, and some of my favourite films are ones a lot of people wouldn't have even heard of. As such, when I received a copy of Running on Karma I was surprised to learn that I'd never actually watched a Johnnie To film before, and that this would be my first. In fact, I'd not seen any films produced by the Milkyway Image production company, and was eager to correct that.
Made in 2003, Running on Karma tells the story of Big (Andy Lau), a former Buddhist monk turned bodybuilder and stripper who we meet in the middle of a police raid in Hong Kong, where he's arrested for indecent exposure and being an illegal immigrant. What makes Big even more unusual (if he wasn't unique enough already) is the fact that he has the ability to look at people and see visions of their past lives, granting him the ability to know what's going to happen to them in this life based upon their karma. Big attempts to escape the police raid, literally fleeing through the streets naked, pursued by undercover cop Lee Fung-yee (Cecilia Cheung).
Whilst the raid is happening homicide police are responding to a brutal murder nearby, and discover a killer able to contort himself into tiny spaces. The killer escapes, and the two police chances literally run into each other in the street. As Big is caught and arrested he sees a vision of Lee Fung-yee as a Japanese solider in a former life and understands that it means she may soon die. Despite the authorities trying to deport him, Big sticks around to try and help Lee and prevent her death after seeing her innate kindness.
Running on Karma is something of an odd film, one that I struggled to come to a decision on. On the one hand it's presented as somewhat comedic. Andy Lau is in a muscle suit that makes him look odd and out of proportion half the time, though the suit looks incredibly good at times too. There's also silly scenes, such as when Big has to follow the cops on a bike, but because he's never driven one before he's crashing and trashing the bike constantly. The film also has some supernatural elements, such as Big being able to see karma, but also there's a killer who can get through impossible holes and bends like he's Tooms from The X-Files, and a burglar who crawls on walls like an insect. This gives the film a somewhat ridiculous tone, but it crashes up against moments like police brutality, people being brutally killed, mutilation, and trauma. These tones often change from scene to scene, giving the viewer tonal whiplash more than once across the runtime.
A film that's trying to mix together Buddhist beliefs, super hero action, comedy, crime thriller, romance, and martial arts might seem so unwieldy that you might think that there's little to keep you engaged, but the central relationship between its two stars was engaging enough that it stopped things from being so boring or silly that I stayed engaged until the end. The two actors have decent chemistry, and it's easy to see how Andy Lau became such a big star of Hong Kong cinema. Even when in a big muscle suit and playing the fool he has charisma that comes through and showcases why he's a leading me. He's charming and you can't help but come to care for Big, despite how silly things may feel.
Despite the silliness, the film takes a pretty sharp turn towards the end, and becomes a very dark affair. Whilst it still can't play things 'normal' and adds some elements that make the ending feel weird and otherworldly, it still manages to have an emotionally impactful conclusion that makes this odd journey feel worthwhile. That being said, the ending is odd, and I can absolutely see it leaving a lot of folks unsatisfied. I think that Running on Karma is a film that people will like certain aspects of, but that most people will come away disliking certain elements as it's a film that seems to be trying the 'throw everything in and see what works' approach.
The new Blu-ray from Eureka Entertainment comes with a 1080p HD presentation of the movie that looks very crisp and sharp. There are a lot of films that when they make the leap to HD don't quite hold up as much as you can see the seams as it were, and I half expected that with Running on Karma, especially when it came to the muscle suit. I thought that it would look overly fake in HD, but it actually looks really good in high quality, and doesn't prove as distracting as I was expecting. There's also two audio commentaries for the film that goes into the behind the scenes, the careers of the people both in front and behind the camera, and the way the movie was received and impacted Hong Kong cinema. They're both very informative, and even if you didn't quite gel with the movie itself the commentaries are definitely worth a watch to learn a bit more about the movie.
Alongside the film and the commentary tracks the disc includes a theatrical trailer, and an archive behind the scenes featurette that includes interviews with cast and crew. There's also a new featurette interview with Gary Bettinson, the editor-in-chief of Asia Cinema journal that does into more depth on the film, its stars, and even some of the history of the Milkyway Production company and the people involved with it. Overall, the extras provide a really nice history and background on the film, and those that enjoy learning about cinema will certainly enjoy what's on offer here.
Running on Karma might be a bit of a weird film, and it's probably not going to be to everyone's tastes, but it makes for some interesting viewing, and the new Masters of Cinema version not only offers a really great quality version of the film, but some cool extra's for film fans, and so is definitely worth looking at for fans of Hong Kong cinema.
Running on Karma is available no Blu-ray now from Eureka Entertainment,
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