Triangle
2007; directed by Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark, and Johnnie To

Bringing together three of Hong Kong's top directors -- Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark, and Johnnie To -- Triangle frankly could have been a huge boondoggle, delving quickly into a convoluted mess. But even though no member of the trio worked directly with each other, and the film's story is full of twists and turns, somehow everything falls together into one of the more entertaining heist pictures to come out in the last couple of years.

Triangle revolves around a trio of friends: Lee (Simon Yam), Fai (Louis Koo), and Mok (Sun Hong-Lei). They regularly get together at a local watering hole to try and drown away their financial sorrows. After one drinking session, they meet a mysterious man, who gives them a tip on a treasure buried under a government building. The friends do find the treasure, but their attempts to sell it are thwarted by the cops, Triads, and the growing tension and distrust between each other.

Taking an unconventional track to creating a film, the three directors each created a segment of the movie (each roughly a half hour long) without knowing what the other two were doing. Tsui Hark starts the picture out, and his part is full of manic energy and sudden blasts of ultra-violence. Ringo Lam is up next, and his act turns the film into more of a psychological cat-and-mouse thriller. Finally, Johnnie To finishes off, and brings his trademark quirkiness into the mix, adding in more comedic elements, and even a dance sequence. Even though the three directors' styles are quite different, they're blended together quite effectively, and Triangle ends up being a very fun movie to watch, especially when combined with the solid performances from the lead actors.

Triangle isn't without its' problems. The unique film-making technique does leave in some continuity errors, so die-hard nit-pickers might find themselves having to reach for the Excedrin. Also, the story does throw in a few too many twists in, seemingly just for the sake of throwing them in. There's also a lack of development for many of the film's minor characters, which makes their appearances seem a bit hollow in the end. But, overall, Triangle is a fun, exciting, and breezy crime picture that should satisfy fans of the genre, and Hong Kong cinema as a whole.

RATING: 7

DVD Information

Magnolia's new DVD, released through their Magnet label, is pretty solid for the most part. The audio/visual quality is handled well, with a widescreen 2.35:1 picture, and a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack, which can be listened to in Cantonese or English. The subtitles are easy to read, and free of grammatical errors. Extras-wise, your standard "making-of" featurette is included, along with behind the scenes footage of Johnnie To creating one of the film's scenes. Several trailers for other Magnolia releases round out the special features.

The DVD is available from Amazon.