KOMA

Directed by Lo Chi-leung
Written by Young Sin Ying
Cinematography by Chan Chin Yin
Produced by Andrew Yu & Yu Gong
Cast: Karena Lam & Sinje Lee

2004/88 mins/Color/DTS
1.78:1 anamorphic/Cantonese/Hong Kong/NTSC Region 1

Review from the Tartan US DVD

After the wedding reception of her friend, Chi Ching (Sinje Lee from THE EYE) is the lone witness of an horrid crime. She finds, almost dead, the most recent victim of the kidney thief terrorizing Hong Kong. At the police station, she recognized the suspect who happens to be a woman (Karena Lam). She also discover that this stranger, called Suen, is having an affair with her lover. The police disregard the whole thing because they believe its a love triangle. To make things worse, her chronic illness resurfaced and takes away the best of her. Soon she is the target of the kidney thief but Suen rescues her. Surprisingly, they start an uneasy frienship which will end up in a twisted cat and mouse game.

After giving us INNER SENSES and DOUBLE TAP, director Lo Chi-leung is back with this thriller which is more or less an homage to the master Alfred Hitchcock. Not only does the movie features two of the most beautiful leads in Hong Kong today, its also very stylish, lush and features superb cinematography. The musical score is also very interesting and gives the movie a creepy atmosphere. Still, there's something about the movie that wouldn't elevate it to the status its aiming for. Maybe Lo Chi-leung tried too hard and in the end failed or its the over acting from Sinje Lee in some scenes that almost lost me. Yet the movie is much better the second time so I guess its the kind of film that grows on you.

Tartan US really delivered the good with the transfer on this one. Unlike the NTSC Region 3 disc released from Panorama Entertainment in 2004, this edition features a stunning, rich and very colorful image. The movie is presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. We get three audio choices and all of them are in Cantonese. There's a 5.1 DTS, 5.1 Dolby Digital and finally a 2.0 Dolby Stereo track. All three are loud, crisp and clear but like you can expect the DTS track shines the most. There's optional English and Spanish subtitles which are easy to read. There's a very interesting and detailed commentary track with the director. Don't worry it is subtitled in English.

We get the same extras as the Asian edition mentioned above; "The Making of KOMA" is a very interesting 16 minutes featurette, subtitled in English, with interview with the director, the leads and the producer. We get lots of behind-the-scenes footage, they talk about why the name KOMA for the title, why they choose these actresses. Also the leads talk about their relationship with the director, their chemistry that took place while making the movie and more. "Photo Gallery" features stills from the movie and some behind-the-scenes and finally we get trailers for other Tartan US releases like OLD BOY, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, WHISPERING CORRIDORS, A SNAKE OF JUNE and of course KOMA. The movie is separated in 12 chapters, features animated menus with music and comes in a keep case without a booklet or inlay card.

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Review by Kim Dubuisson. All Right Reserved. 2005. ©

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