Woohoo! A jamboree for delinquents. What?! A summit meeting of young felons ended in tragedy?! Who could possibly have seen that coming? I’m getting ahead of myself; first we have to introduce the, for lack of a better word, “hero.”
Zenong Zhou (Hu Ge … seriously, this guy is HuGe) is a mob boss on the run. The movie begins with him alone at a train station trying very hard not to look like a guy on the run from the police. A mysterious woman, Aiai Liu (Lun-Mei Kwei), has been sent to help him. Of course, the only way she can elude the police herself is by having absolutely no connection whatsoever to Zhou. This all might prove amusing in a Marx Brothers comedy, but this is Chinese film noir.
The trouble began at the “Olympic games of theft,” a summit meeting among the young delinquents of the town. The meeting was prefaced by a helpful Ted Talk on “how to steal a motorbike.” I see there’s gonna be some Gone in 60 Seconds action goin’ on, right? No? Unfortunately, before the tasty hors d’oeuvres and seminar bling, that old saw of “boys will be boys” takes over. “Cat’s Eye” and “Cat’s Paw” (the local Chinese Catsenjammer Kids) stir up some stuff. And before ya knows it, every police officer in the prefecture is lookin’ for Zenong Zhou, an otherwise decent fellow.
The fight began over territory, who’s gang got to thieve which streets, etc. And when the police show up, they break out a map and start going over the same territorial divides to look for Zenong … wouldn’t it be funny if they had the same territorial battle that the punks did? No? I think that would be hilarious. Well, either that or a post-chaos counseling session with the Kittens – “Fellows, don’t you see how pointless your frustration is? You got all jellie over a supporting cast member.”
The Wild Goose Lake wanted to be noir so badly it left a few deets out. At the end of the day, I knew Wild Goose Lake itself as a place of sun, fun, ‘n’ lawlessness, but I couldn’t tell you if it were actually a zoo or not. Dude, what’s with the stray tiger? You don’t just leave those things lying around. The plot convoluted itself once or twice with Aiai Liu –is she helping him? Is she not? Is she a femme fatale? is she a prostitute? Does she even matter? And all for the sake of presenting a hero we know is going to get caught. The film’s conclusion was foregone from the opening scene, which made it all so anti-climactic. Meh.
Policemen often struggle for naught
In finding the beach of titular plot
Despite the infinite mirth
It’s the only place on Earth
Where the chased Wild Geese get caught
Not Rated, 113 Minutes
Director: Yi’nan Diao
Writer: Yi’nan Diao
Genre: Bot scout meeting without boyscouts goes bad
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Wild geese
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Chasers
