Fu Bo

Set in Macau (the locations are a prison, a nightclub and a morgue), this tapestry of impressionistic images has three strands of narrative, related by theme rather than plot. Using highly inventive visual grammar, the film sutures together three lives: an introverted pathologist (Fu Bo - 'Uncle Fu' - is the generic name for morgue attendants) who is not big on human attachments, but very respectful of the dead; a Portuguese cook, more like a priest than a chef, who prepares meals for the cons on Death Row; and the psychotic triad gangster Gui, doped to the eyeballs. It adds up to a mildly disturbing meditation on mortality and decay, a viable co-feature for Pasolini's Porcile. Part of a creative surge in the Hong Kong indie sector, this project by two first-timers was strong and original enough to attract guest star cameos from Eric Tsang and Anthony Wong. Terrible subtitles, though, on the print under review.