Detective Chinatown

Detective Chinatown (Chinese: 唐人街探案) is a 2015 Chinese comedy-mystery buddy film directed by Chen Sicheng and starring Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran.[5] It was released in China on 31 December 2015.[6] A sequel, titled Detective Chinatown 2, was released in February 2018. A third film in the series, titled Detective Chinatown 3, is scheduled to be released in 2020.

Detective Chinatown
Theatrical release poster
Chinese唐人街探案
Directed byChen Sicheng
Starring
Music byNathan Wang
Production
companies
Distributed byChina Lion Film Distribution
Golden Village Pictures
MM2 Entertainment
GEM Entertainment
Wuzhou Film Distribution[1]
Release date
  • 31 December 2015 (2015-12-31)
Running time
136 minutes[2]
CountryChina
LanguageMandarin
BudgetUS$15 million[3]
Box officeUS$126 million[4]

Plot

After being rejected from a police college, Qin Feng (Liu Haoran) goes to Bangkok for a vacation. He plans to spend time with his "uncle" Tang Ren (Wang Baoqiang) who is reputed to be the number one detective of Chinatown in Bangkok. Tang Ren turns out to be a sleazy petty swindler who happens to be an underling of local incompetent police sergeant Kon Tai (Xiao Yang). Meanwhile, the main suspect in a local gold robbery case, Sompat, is murdered and the gold goes missing. The gold belongs to prominent local gangster Mr. Yan (Chin Shih-chieh); as a result, the case gains a prominent status in the local police department. Kon Tai and his rival in the department, the ambitious Huang Landeng (Chen He), are put into competition by the police chief to solve the case and retrieve the gold in order to be appointed the next deputy chief.

After a series of mischievous adventures with Qin in Bangkok, Tang is pursued by police as he is the main suspect in Sompat's murder, being the last person to enter and leave Sompat's workshop where he was murdered. Tang seeks the help of Qin, who turns out to be a prodigy in solving crimes from the knowledge Qin garnered as a mystery novel lover. During their exodus from the pursuit, Qin and Tang are captured by Sompat's cohorts who wish to locate the now lost gold. Qin and Tang, now wanted criminals, are eventually able to escape and hide in the home of Xiang, Tang's landlady and the #1 beauty in Chinatown. However, they are followed by the gold robbers, who arrive just before Kon's meeting with Xiang in the same home, leading to an awkward confrontation between all parties.

Qin later finds out why Tang is implicated: on the day of the murder, Tang received a call asking him to deliver a boxed Buddha statue from Sompat's workshop at midnight. The pair, after deciding to stay in Thailand and risk their lives, goes to the parking lot where Tang delivered the box. Qin finds a trace of fish in the area, after which they go to a nearby seafood market and a junk yard. That night, Qin and Tang searches the workshop, narrowly avoiding an encounter with the robbers. Qin deduces that Huang Landeng's assistant, Tony, is part of the scheme.

To solve the murder, Qin and Tang must watch the surveillance footage of the workshop. As it is kept in Huang's computer, Tang lures the police force away while Qin and Kon retrieve the footage and other documents about Sompat. After translating the documents, Qin finds that Sompat's son went missing a year prior and that Sompat frequented a café. Following the trail, Qin and Tang are led to Snow (Zhang Zifeng), who was a school classmate of Sompat's son.

Qin and Tang are soon captured and led to Mr. Yan, who gives them 3 days to find the stolen gold. Qin and Tang split up, Qin meeting Snow for a second time and Tang being pursued again by Huang. Qin discovers that Snow's stepfather, who he meets, works at the junk yard near the parking lot, making him a suspect.

Qin and Tang rejoin at the workshop, where they hypothesize that the murderer hid in the workshop for one week, killed Sompat before Tang's delivery, and escaped the workshop by hiding in the box Tang delivered. They are suddenly ambushed by the masked murderer, who sets the workshop on fire. Qin and Tang narrowly escape.

After learning that Xiang is kidnapped by Tony, Qin and Tang confront and defeat him. The pair delivers Xiang to the hospital, where they witness a shootout between the police and the other three robbers. Qin and Tang returns to Snow's home yet again, but finds her on the verge of death, supposedly drugged by her stepfather. After delivering Snow to the hospital, Qin finds the true story behind the murder in Snow's journal. Snow was raped by Sompat, which her father found out, leading him to kill Sompat. The gold robbery and the murder are unrelated.

Qin and Tang finally reveal to the police that the lost gold was hidden in a statue at the workshop, after a lengthy car chase around Bangkok. At the hospital where Snow resides, Qin and Tang convey their findings to the police in the presence of Snow and her stepfather. After being exposed, the stepfather is accidentally killed by Kon's car while he jumps out of a hospital window. Kon is subsequently promoted to deputy chief due to his prevention of the murderer's escape, to the annoyance of a severely injured Huang.

However, Qin soon realizes that Sompat was homosexual, meaning he could not have raped Snow. He realizes that Snow was stalked by Sompat because he suspected her of killing his missing son. Thus, Snow planned Sompat's murder, framed him for rape in her journal, and fabricated the evidence to get rid of both Sompat and her pervert father, who she loathed. Qin confronts Snow, but decides to leave her.

In the credits, Qin and Tang are called to New York, where they must solve another case in Detective Chinatown 2.

Cast

Qin's Uncle, a swindler who lives in Bangkok and claiming to be the first detective of Chinatown. Tang accepted an anonymous delivery job before Qin arrived and became the last person entered Sompat's murder scene. Therefore, both police and the robbers consider him as the one who murdered Sompat and left with the gold.
Tang's nephew, a talented teenager who has astonishing perception and memory yet was rejected from the police college for an untold reason. He went to Bangkok for a vacation, then gets involved in Sompat's case by accident.
Tang's Love interest and his landlady.
Kon Tai's rival in the police department. He is ambitious and eager to solve Sompat's murder case.
A police sergeant of Chinatown police department. He is Tang's close friend and rival to sergeant Huang.
Huang's deputy.

Reception

The film grossed US$4.43 million in previews at the Chinese box office.[7]

It was the ninth grossing film in China in 2015 grossing $126 million.

Sequels

A sequel, Detective Chinatown 2, also written and directed by Chen Sicheng and set in New York City's Chinatown, was released on 16 February 2018 during the Chinese New Year holiday season. In addition of the two leads of Wang Baoqiang and Liu Haoran reprising their roles, new supporting cast members in Detective Chinatown 2 include Xiao Yang, Michael Pitt, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Yuen Wah, and Satoshi Tsumabuki.[8] Another sequel, Detective Chinatown 3, is scheduled to be released in 2020.[9]

Nomination

Year Session Award Category Winner result
2016 23rd Beijing University Film Festival Best Screenplay Award Chen Sicheng Won
24th Shanghai Film Critics Awards Newcomer Director of the Year Chen Sicheng Nominated
Best Newcomer Actor Award Liu Haoran Nominated
Newcomer of the year (Best Film) Detective in Chinatown Nominated
19th Shanghai International Film Festival Asian Newcomer Award-Best Film Detective in Chinatown Nominated
Asian Newcomer Award-Best Actor Liu Haoran Nominated
Asian Newcomer Award-Best Screenwriter Chen Sicheng Nominated
7th China Film Index Festival Best Screen New Actor Liu Haoran Won
Best Emerging Director Chen Sicheng Won
20th Huading Awards China Film Satisfaction Survey Releases Ceremony ""Best Film Production Agency" Detective in Chinatown Nominated
Chinese Film Satisfaction Survey Releases Ceremony "Best Newcomer in China" Liu Haoran Won
Chinese Film Satisfaction Survey Releases Ceremony "Best Actor in China" Wang Baoqiang Nominated
7th place in the Top 50 movies Detective in Chinatown Won
73rd Venice International Film Festival Special recommendation and exhibition unit of "Venice Day" Detective in Chinatown Won
53rd Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards Best Photography Du Jie Nominated
Golden Horse Award for Best Action Design Wu Gang Won
Golden Horse Award for Best Art Design Li Miao Nominated
Golden Horse Award Best Design Zhang Shijie Won
Golden Horse Award for Best Original Film Song "Savadica" Nominated
16th Chinese Film Media Awards Most watched Movie Detective in Chinatown Won
Most watched Actor Liu Haoran Nominated
Most watched Performance Liu Haoran Nominated

References

  1. "唐人街探案(2015)". cbooo.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  2. "DETECTIVE CHINATOWN (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  3. Tartaglione, Nancy (11 January 2018). "'Detective Chinatown 2' Director Chen Sicheng On Filming Sequel In New York". Deadline. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  4. "Tang ren jie tan an (2015)". The Numbers. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  5. Brzeski, Patrick (29 December 2015). "China Box Office: 'Mojin' Marches Toward $200 Million". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
  6. "唐人街探案 (2015)". movie.douban.com (in Chinese). Douban. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  7. "China Box Office: 'Mojin' and 'Devil' Score Strongly Over Busy Christmas Weekend". Variety. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  8. "《唐探2》曝"大跌眼镜"阵容海报 王宝强妻夫木聪等中日美明星共襄侦探盛会 – Mtime时光网". news.mtime.com. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  9. Grater, Tom (16 January 2020). "Chinese Blockbuster 'Detective Chinatown 3' To Roll Out In 150+ U.S. Cinemas". Deadline. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
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