The Stool Pigeon (2010 film)
Encyclopedia
The Stool Pigeon is 2010 Hong Kong action film directed by Dante Lam
and starring Nicholas Tse
, Nick Cheung
and Kwai Lun-mei
. The film is about police detective Don Lee who uses informants to gain information about gangsters. Lee begins to feel guilty when his informants are caught, but sends out a street racer named Ghost (Nicholas Tse
) as an informant to gain information about a gangster name Barbarian (Lu Yi
).
The film was released in China on August 24 and two days later in Hong Kong. The film performed very well in the Hong Kong box office. The film has received mixed reviews.
), a police detective in Kowloon
whose reliance on informants leaves him struggling with a guilty conscience. Lee's previous stool pigeon's cover was blown and was attacked, leading him paranoid and driven from his wife and home. Lee begins to doubt his own methods. Lee recruits a street racer named Ghost (Nicholas Tse
) as his latest stool pigeon who is assigned to infiltrate a gang led by the notorious armed robber Barbarian (Lu Yi
). Ghost accepts Lee's offer so he can rescue his sister from a life of prostitution as well as help his father's one-million dollar debt. Ghost joins an illegal street race to gain acceptance into Barbarian's gang. Lee also has personal problems of his own, as wife Cher (Miao Pu) who he is separated with tried to commit suicide a few months previously and has since had amnesia. Lee begins to realize how wrong he is by exploiting his informants and desperately tries to right his wrongs before Ghost is in serious trouble.
signed on to take an equity stake and a production credit for the film.
Despite having much of the same cast of his previous hit film Beast Stalker
, Dante Lam said The Stool Pigeon is not a sequel. Dante stated that he "felt the pressure when I was working on the new movie because The Beast Stalker did so well and received a lot of positive feedback. I did not want the new film to live in its shadow because it is an entirely different movie, except with the same cast." Dante Lam chose the theme of an informant in the film, stating that there is "Hong Kong shoot-out film on this theme yet. It's a good subject for exploring human nature and I have done research with involved people in real life".
Actor Nick Cheung
stated that he felt much more relaxed working on Stool Pigeon than he did previously on The Beast Stalker as he had worked with the cast before. Some reports noted that Cheung was unhappy that his screen time is shorter, Cheung denied this saying he was misquoted off his Twitter
by the Hong Kong media and paparazzi.
festival. The film premiered at number two in the Hong Kong box office where on its opening week. It was beaten by The Expendables
. The next week it placed at number one on the chart. It has grossed a total of US$
1,598,123.
gave the film three stars out of five stating praising a car race scenes set to the song "White Christmas
" while stating that the action scenes are thin. The China Post also noted that there were "a few unnecessary subplots" and that overall "the story is gripping and entertaining throughout." Film Business Asia gave the film a rating of eight out of ten also praised the "White Christmas" race scene. They compared the film to Beast Stalker
, stating it was "less dark and claustrophobic than Stalker...But it's more deeply characterised from top to bottom, with much better chemistry between Tse and Cheung than between Leon Lai and Richie Ren in [Fire of Conscience
]. Only the subplot of the detective's private life seems pasted into the overall drama." The Hollywood Reporter
compared the film negatively to The Beast Stalker, stating that The Stool Pigeon "falls short in tension and stylistic brio if judged as a sister film...The narrative could benefit from more tautness. As if worried about the audience's attention span for drama, action scenes are intermittently inserted through out but they don't build to one big momentum." Time Out Hong Kong gave the film three stars out of six, finding the film far too similar to Dante Lam's other works.
Dante Lam
Dante Lam Chiu-Yin is a Hong Kong film director, an assistant director, actor, producer, writer, and action choreographer. In 2008 he won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director for his work on Beast Stalker.-Director:* Option Zero...
and starring Nicholas Tse
Nicholas Tse
Nicholas Tse is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor and musician, and son of actor Patrick Tse. He is a member of the Emperor Entertainment Group...
, Nick Cheung
Nick Cheung
Nick Cheung Ka-fai is a Hong Kong actor. He is married to actress Esther Kwan and the two have a daughter together named Brittany.Cheung was a Royal Hong Kong Police officer for five years and changed his career as an actor with ATV...
and Kwai Lun-mei
Kwai Lun-mei
Kwai Lun-Mei is a Taiwanese actress. She started her acting career in the movie Blue Gate Crossing as Meng Ke Rou. Lun-Mei then appeared in a few more movies before she went on to gain more recognition in the movie Secret directed by Jay Chou, which Kwai acted as the female lead, Lu Xiao Yu with...
. The film is about police detective Don Lee who uses informants to gain information about gangsters. Lee begins to feel guilty when his informants are caught, but sends out a street racer named Ghost (Nicholas Tse
Nicholas Tse
Nicholas Tse is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor and musician, and son of actor Patrick Tse. He is a member of the Emperor Entertainment Group...
) as an informant to gain information about a gangster name Barbarian (Lu Yi
Lu Yi (actor)
Lu Yi is a Chinese film and television actor.He graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy in 1999.Lu has appeared in more than one dozen films including the part of Han Shibang, one of the seven heroes, in the wuxia film Seven Swords directed by Tsui Hark.-TV series:*Field of Dreams...
).
The film was released in China on August 24 and two days later in Hong Kong. The film performed very well in the Hong Kong box office. The film has received mixed reviews.
Plot
Don Lee (Nick CheungNick Cheung
Nick Cheung Ka-fai is a Hong Kong actor. He is married to actress Esther Kwan and the two have a daughter together named Brittany.Cheung was a Royal Hong Kong Police officer for five years and changed his career as an actor with ATV...
), a police detective in Kowloon
Kowloon
Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait in the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen and Stonecutter's Island in the west, Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock in the north, and Victoria Harbour in the south. It had a population of...
whose reliance on informants leaves him struggling with a guilty conscience. Lee's previous stool pigeon's cover was blown and was attacked, leading him paranoid and driven from his wife and home. Lee begins to doubt his own methods. Lee recruits a street racer named Ghost (Nicholas Tse
Nicholas Tse
Nicholas Tse is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor and musician, and son of actor Patrick Tse. He is a member of the Emperor Entertainment Group...
) as his latest stool pigeon who is assigned to infiltrate a gang led by the notorious armed robber Barbarian (Lu Yi
Lu Yi (actor)
Lu Yi is a Chinese film and television actor.He graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy in 1999.Lu has appeared in more than one dozen films including the part of Han Shibang, one of the seven heroes, in the wuxia film Seven Swords directed by Tsui Hark.-TV series:*Field of Dreams...
). Ghost accepts Lee's offer so he can rescue his sister from a life of prostitution as well as help his father's one-million dollar debt. Ghost joins an illegal street race to gain acceptance into Barbarian's gang. Lee also has personal problems of his own, as wife Cher (Miao Pu) who he is separated with tried to commit suicide a few months previously and has since had amnesia. Lee begins to realize how wrong he is by exploiting his informants and desperately tries to right his wrongs before Ghost is in serious trouble.
Cast
- Nicholas TseNicholas TseNicholas Tse is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor and musician, and son of actor Patrick Tse. He is a member of the Emperor Entertainment Group...
as Ghost - Kwai Lun-meiKwai Lun-meiKwai Lun-Mei is a Taiwanese actress. She started her acting career in the movie Blue Gate Crossing as Meng Ke Rou. Lun-Mei then appeared in a few more movies before she went on to gain more recognition in the movie Secret directed by Jay Chou, which Kwai acted as the female lead, Lu Xiao Yu with...
as Ah Di - Nick CheungNick CheungNick Cheung Ka-fai is a Hong Kong actor. He is married to actress Esther Kwan and the two have a daughter together named Brittany.Cheung was a Royal Hong Kong Police officer for five years and changed his career as an actor with ATV...
as Inspector Don Lee - Liu Kai-chi as Jabber
- Miao Pu as Cher, Don Lee's wife
- Lu YiLu Yi (actor)Lu Yi is a Chinese film and television actor.He graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy in 1999.Lu has appeared in more than one dozen films including the part of Han Shibang, one of the seven heroes, in the wuxia film Seven Swords directed by Tsui Hark.-TV series:*Field of Dreams...
as Barbarian - Sherman ChungSherman ChungSherman Chung Shu-man, is a Hong Kong cantopop singer. She started her career after winning the 2005 EEG Singing Contest...
as Ghost's younger sister - Lawrence ChengLawrence ChengLawrence Cheng Tan Shui is a Hong Kong film actor, director, screenwriter, and producer. He was a Hong Kong DJ and radio channel executive....
as Cher's friend - Deep NgDeep NgDeep Ng is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actor. He is the winner of the 21st annual New Talent Singing Awards Hong Kong Regional Finals. Deep was well received by the viewers since the New Talent Singing Awards in 2002. His first EP Deep was released in 2003 with the hit debut single "先入為主"...
- Derek Kwok as a Cop
- Rob Lok as an Undercover CID Agent
Production
Production on The Stool Pigeon began on November 2, 2009. Early during the production of the film, the Chinese film conglomerate Huayi BrothersHuayi Brothers
Huayi Brothers Media is a movie producer and record label, founded in China in 1994 by two brothers Huang Zhongjun and Huang Zhonglei.-History:...
signed on to take an equity stake and a production credit for the film.
Despite having much of the same cast of his previous hit film Beast Stalker
Beast Stalker
Beast Stalker is a 2008 Hong Kong action film directed by Dante Lam and starring Nicholas Tse, Nick Cheung, Zhang Jing-Chu, and Liu Kai-Chi.-Synopsis:A traffic accident changed their lives forever....
, Dante Lam said The Stool Pigeon is not a sequel. Dante stated that he "felt the pressure when I was working on the new movie because The Beast Stalker did so well and received a lot of positive feedback. I did not want the new film to live in its shadow because it is an entirely different movie, except with the same cast." Dante Lam chose the theme of an informant in the film, stating that there is "Hong Kong shoot-out film on this theme yet. It's a good subject for exploring human nature and I have done research with involved people in real life".
Actor Nick Cheung
Nick Cheung
Nick Cheung Ka-fai is a Hong Kong actor. He is married to actress Esther Kwan and the two have a daughter together named Brittany.Cheung was a Royal Hong Kong Police officer for five years and changed his career as an actor with ATV...
stated that he felt much more relaxed working on Stool Pigeon than he did previously on The Beast Stalker as he had worked with the cast before. Some reports noted that Cheung was unhappy that his screen time is shorter, Cheung denied this saying he was misquoted off his Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
by the Hong Kong media and paparazzi.
Release
The Stool Pigeon was released in China on August 24, 2010 and in Hong Kong on August 26. The film will be shown in Japan at the Tokyo FilmexTokyo Filmex
Tokyo Filmex is an annual film festival established in 2000. This film festival was launched by Office Kitano, which is Takeshi Kitano's film company.For now, Office Kitano remains as one of the main partners for Tokyo Filmex....
festival. The film premiered at number two in the Hong Kong box office where on its opening week. It was beaten by The Expendables
The Expendables (2010 film)
The Expendables is a 2010 American ensemble action film written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and directed by Stallone. Filming began on March 28, 2009, in Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, and the film was released in theaters on August 13, 2010 in North America.The film is...
. The next week it placed at number one on the chart. It has grossed a total of US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
1,598,123.
Reception
The China PostThe China Post
For the article on the postal system based in the People's Republic of China, see China Post.The China Post is one of the three English-language newspapers published in Taiwan , the other two being Taiwan News and the Taipei Times. It was established by Mr. and Mrs. Y.P. Huang in 1952...
gave the film three stars out of five stating praising a car race scenes set to the song "White Christmas
White Christmas (song)
"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.Accounts vary as...
" while stating that the action scenes are thin. The China Post also noted that there were "a few unnecessary subplots" and that overall "the story is gripping and entertaining throughout." Film Business Asia gave the film a rating of eight out of ten also praised the "White Christmas" race scene. They compared the film to Beast Stalker
Beast Stalker
Beast Stalker is a 2008 Hong Kong action film directed by Dante Lam and starring Nicholas Tse, Nick Cheung, Zhang Jing-Chu, and Liu Kai-Chi.-Synopsis:A traffic accident changed their lives forever....
, stating it was "less dark and claustrophobic than Stalker...But it's more deeply characterised from top to bottom, with much better chemistry between Tse and Cheung than between Leon Lai and Richie Ren in [Fire of Conscience
Fire of Conscience
Fire of Conscience is a 2010 Chinese and Hong Kong action film directed by Dante Lam and starring Leon Lai and Richie Ren.-Cast:*Leon Lai as Detective Manfred*Richie Ren as Inspector Kee*Wang Baoqiang as Xiao Yong*Vivian Hsu as Ellen...
]. Only the subplot of the detective's private life seems pasted into the overall drama." The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
compared the film negatively to The Beast Stalker, stating that The Stool Pigeon "falls short in tension and stylistic brio if judged as a sister film...The narrative could benefit from more tautness. As if worried about the audience's attention span for drama, action scenes are intermittently inserted through out but they don't build to one big momentum." Time Out Hong Kong gave the film three stars out of six, finding the film far too similar to Dante Lam's other works.
Awards and nominations
| Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceremony | Category | Name | Outcome | |
| 5th Asian Film Awards Asian Film Awards The Asian Film Awards are presented annually by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society to recognize excellence of film professionals in the film industries of Asian cinema.-History:... |
||||
| Best Cinematography | Kenny Tse | |||
| 30th Hong Kong Film Awards Hong Kong Film Awards The Hong Kong Film Awards , founded in 1982, are the most prestigious film awards in Hong Kong and among the most respected in mainland China and Taiwan. Award ceremonies are held annually, typically in April. The Awards recognize achievement in all aspects of filmmaking, such as directing,... |
||||
| Best Film | ||||
| Best Actor | Lau Ching Wan | |||
| Best Director | Dante Lam Dante Lam Dante Lam Chiu-Yin is a Hong Kong film director, an assistant director, actor, producer, writer, and action choreographer. In 2008 he won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Director for his work on Beast Stalker.-Director:* Option Zero... |
|||
| Best Screenplay | Wai Lun Ng | |||
| Best Actor | Nicholas Tse Nicholas Tse Nicholas Tse is a Hong Kong singer-songwriter, actor and musician, and son of actor Patrick Tse. He is a member of the Emperor Entertainment Group... |
|||
| Best Actor | Nick Cheung Nick Cheung Nick Cheung Ka-fai is a Hong Kong actor. He is married to actress Esther Kwan and the two have a daughter together named Brittany.Cheung was a Royal Hong Kong Police officer for five years and changed his career as an actor with ATV... |
|||
| Best Supporting Actor | Kai Chi Liu | |||
| Best Film Editing | Matthew Hui, Ki-hop Chan | |||
| Best Sound | Kinson Tsang | |||
| 17th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards The Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards are the annual awards given by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society in Hong Kong, China since 1995. The awards are determined by votes cast in three rounds after a substantial discussion session between the members of the society... |
||||
| Film of Merit | ||||