Behind the Shadows Brings Hong Kong Noir to Malaysia

When is a detective thriller not a detective thriller? When it’s actually the filter through which a marriage drama unfolds. That’s the basic premise of Behind the Shadows (私家偵探), from writer-director Chou Man-yu and co-director Jonathan Li Tsz-chun. Like Steven Soderbergh’s spy thriller Black Bag or Justine Triet’s courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall, Behind the Shadows hangs an examination of a contemporary relationship on the framework of a genre film. 

The film tells the story of a slightly unsavoury Hong Kong private detective living in Kuala Lumpur, whose most recent client unwittingly provokes a period of self-examination while brushing up against a cop investigating a series of connected murders.

“I didn’t actually pay much attention to the details of the crime itself, such as who the culprit is or if it’s a serial murderer,” says Chou. “Instead, I focused on the private detective, the person. The private detective is admired for their calm objectivity as they dig up the truth and identify the [killer]. My culprit is revealed near the beginning. What I wanted to explore was the private detective’s own struggles.”

The action begins when we meet private investigator Au Yeung Wai-yip in his cluttered, smoke-filled office. He is played by Louis Koo Tin-lok in a role that takes him away from his traditionally cool, in-control persona. Au’s agency is one that focuses on the secrets we keep: finding adulterers, runaway spouses and missing persons. If they fit two of those categories, so much the better: Au Yeung can charge two fees. 

Later that evening, we see him at home with his Malaysian wife, Kuan Weng Sam (Chrissie Chau Sau-na, 29+1), whom he barely talks to and who looks bored and frustrated with her husband. At work, Au Yeung picks up three clients. One thinks his girlfriend is cheating on him. When he hands over a photo of the woman, it turns out to be Kuan. He takes the case anyway, along with a job searching for a distraught man’s missing fiancée, and a case checking up on a local gangster’s girlfriend, Betty (Renci Yeung Si-wing, Smashing Frank).

At the same time, homicide detective Chen Heong Men (Taiwanese actor Liu Kuan-ting, Old Fox) is investigating a series of murders while dealing with the stress of his wife being in a coma after a car accident. Au Yeung and Chen become mirrors of each other as Chou peels back the layers on their psyches.

The film weaves the various stories together in what starts off as a classic “wrong man” mystery before injecting the familiar narrative with some careful misdirects and unexpected left turns. Chou indeed is more concerned with exploring whether or not Au Yeung can remain objective when he’s part of his case, what kind of challenge that could pose, and if it might put his faltering marriage back on course. He cites prolific crime writer Lawrence Block — whose 1992 novel A Walk Among the Tombstones was adapted for film in 2014 — and hardboiled detective titan Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep) as influences in psychologising his detectives. 

There’s a similar duality at the heart of Chou and Li’s last collaboration, Dust to Dust, about the impact of distance and time on two criminal cousins. Despite the surface differences between the films — Dust to Dust was based on true events and real people in 1990s Guangzhou — Chou sees them as actually quite similar, he says. “I have a tendency to lean towards anti-heroes, and the central theme I wanted to explore was human nature.”

Au Yeung and Chen anchor those themes, mirroring each other’s shortcomings, weaknesses and rage – they’re frustrated modern men that feel they’ve been betrayed despite doing the right thing. Kuan’s infidelity isn’t especially malicious; it’s born of a mature exasperation, which like Koo lets Chau, unjustly known more for her sex appeal than her acting, play against type. Chen is a similarly problematic husband, as the film reveals when it peeks into his fractured marriage.

“I don’t think they’re bad husbands,” Chou states firmly, though he admits both men’s pride, wounded dignity and inability to express their feelings hurt their relationships. Whether Chou and Li are making a comment on the confusing expectations of modern masculinity is debatable, both characters in the film think they’re living up to expectations. The relationships hit stumbling blocks when everyone involved is unable to understand or respect the other. “Everyone feels they’re doing the right thing, but are they really?” asks Chou. “Only [Au Yeung] manages to ‘get away’ emotionally. Chen’s wife is in the hospital. So they have no way to communicate, and he must bear the burdens alone. What I wanted to look at is how ordinary men and women all have their own expressions and their own natures, and no one is perfect. Everyone has their blind spots.”

To the untrained eye, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur could be the same city, though of course to anyone who lives in them they’re completely different. Shooting in KL gave Chou, Li and cinematographer Tam Wai-kai a physical space to exploit that effortlessly visualised a story about keeping secrets. “Kuala Lumpur is more diverse, both in terms of its people and the city itself,” says Li. “It has both very commercial areas and authentic, traditional ones, and the way these mix together inspired different shooting techniques and visuals. And the city’s multilingualism, with Mandarin, Cantonese and English all spoken together, contributes to the way we express ourselves … in ways that are different from Hong Kong.” 

The heat of the day was a perfect reflection of the various characters’ anxieties, while the palpable stillness of the night was an ideal metaphor for the darkness they each harbour. Tam’s images make it possible to almost feel the humidity and smell the smoke, offering a window into the characters’ states of mind.

Though produced by Hong Kong’s pre-eminent crime thriller director Cheang Pou-soi, and though set in and shot in Kuala Lumpur, Behind the Shadows is just anonymous enough to be able to resonate with anyone living in a city – as well as anyone who’s ever been in a relationship. KL provided the right backdrop for the story, and rounding out the cast are Hong Kong veterans Eddie Cheung Siu-fai and Raymond Wong Ho-yin, Malaysian actors Kwan Tak-fai and Yumi Wong Sze-ki, and Cai Xiangyu from China. Location, cast and breezy thriller storytelling taken together allow production house One Cool, Li and Chou to maximise the film’s commercial potential, something Koo has been a vocal advocate of for many years, and which Chou and Li are on board with.

“One Cool indeed aims to expand its potential in the Asian region,” says Li. “They want to further the reach of Hong Kong productions in the Asian markets, so that more people can experience Hong Kong cinema.” He says Koo and Chou have “put a lot of effort into making Hong Kong films more commercially competitive while expanding their reach to a wider audience.”

“I believe Hong Kong films should explore all kinds of possibilities as much as possible,” says Chou. “Looking back at Hong Kong films in the 1980s and 90s, many were shot abroad, and there were many different genres. My hope is to inject Hong Kong films with different thinking, sparking something new for the audience through the collision of ideas. This is the essence of filmmaking. Movies should constantly evolve.”

Behind the Shadows opens in theatres on June 12.