Film Review: A Better Tomorrow III: Love & Death in Saigon (1989)

Third instalment usually represents the moment when the film series, even to their loyal fans, begins to go downhill. The series started by A Better Tomorrow, 1986 action film that made John Woo and Hong Kong cinema look “cool”, wasn’t an exception. Its third part, 1989 film A Better Tomorrow III: Love & Death in Saigon, directed by Tsui Hark, was disappointment compared with the previous two.

Hark, who also co-produced the film, faced the same problem in A Better Tomorrow III as in A Better Tomorrow II. The most iconic and the most popular character of the series, Mark “Gor” Lee, played by Chow Yun-fat, had been killed at the end of the first film. In A Better Tomorrow II, solution came in the form of Mark’s twin brother Ken, also played by Chow Yun-fat. Another solution was used for third film. The plot was simply set roughly decade and half in the past and it showed origins of Mark’s character. At the very beginning he is an ordinary man who comes Saigon in order to bring his cousin Michael Cheung Chi-mun (played by Tony Leung Ka-fai) and his father (played by Shih Kien) back to Hong Kong. It is 1974 and Vietnam is, thanks to Paris Peace Accords, supposed to enjoy peace but fewer and fewer people believe that pro-US regime of South Vietnam could survive incoming onslaught of Communist North Vietnam and their Viet Cong allies. The country is utterly corrupt and Mark learns that at the very beginning when he is almost robbed by customs officials only to be saved by influential and resourceful businesswoman Chow Ying-kit (played by Anita Mui). She is involved in gun running operations that run afoul of corrupt warlord Bond (played by Nam Yin). Mark and Michael save her life and she becomes their good friend and object romantic rivalry, although Kit obviously prefers Mark. Two cousins return Michael’s father to Hong Kong and quickly start successful garage business, but they become target of Sam Ho Cheung (played by Sabiro Tokito), powerful gang boss and Kit’s husband, who has returned after years of exile and sees Mark as a threat. Mark and Michael are forced to flee to Saigon, where they will be reunited with Kit just as the city starts to fall into the hands of Viet Cong.

Love & Death in Saigon was, like the previous two films, supposed to be directed by John Woo, who has co-authored the script. However, during production of A Better Tomorrow II Hark and Woo had falling out and Woo abandoned the project, developing script into separate film under title Bullet in the Head. Hark directed the film and it is quite obvious that, while talented, he couldn’t have sufficiently mimic Woo’s style. Love & Death in Saigon is much rougher around the edges and the script is poorly structured, with villains and important plot points suddenly appearing and disappearing, while the story, apart from character of Mark, has little to do with other two films. The tempo is rather slow in the first half, but it gets better in the second when Hark delivers couple of energetically directed action scenes, including spectacular final showdown that involves use M48 Patton tank. Shot on the locations in Thailand, Love & Death in Saigon takes a little bit too many references from Hollywood films dealing with Vietnam War, although it is delightful that romantic subplot, which was mostly absent from previous two films, plays important part in the third. The cast is very good. Chow Yun-fat again tries something new with the same character, portraying him in his early years. Tony Leung Ka-fai is also convincing as his bespectacled cousin. Same can be said of Anita Mui, one of the Cantopop divas, who is great in demanding role that requires her to be femme fatale, vulnerable woman in love and gun-totting female warrior at the same time. Veteran character Shieh Kien, best known as the villain in Enter the Dragon delivers moving performance as Michael’s elderly and overemotional father. Despite those efforts, Love & Death in Saigon is disappointment, but it can still be recommended to the fans of Hong Kong action cinema.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

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