The Career of Alan Mak and The Procurator

The career of Alan Mak makes for an interesting case study. Apart from the Infernal Affairs trilogy, which he co-directed with Andrew Lau (and was later remade by Martin Scorsese as The Departed), his filmography has been a bit lackluster. If it weren’t for the trilogy—and particularly the first film, what some consider the concluding film of the Hong Kong New Wave—he would, at best, be a mostly unknown name among globetrotting cinephiles; at worst, he would be a Chinese parallel to some studio soldier like Martin Campbell or a more prolific Josh Trank. (Campbell might even be too generous.) But… neither Campbell nor Trank ever made one of the defining films of their time and neither inspired Scoresee to remake The Mask of Zorro (Campbell, 1998) or Fantastic Four (Trank, 2015).

The Procurator, Mak’s 2023 crime mystery-thriller with a dash of comedy and an even lighter dash of romance, is a statement of populist filmmaking if there ever was one. The film’s beats and movements appear designed to appeal to one type of moviegoer and then another, checking off all the potential audience types like clockwork. In the middle of an otherwise serious mystery moment, we’re introduced to a new character whose main schtick is comedically and ignorantly repeating his name and graduation class before listing his hobbies. For myself, the inconsistent tone destroyed the momentum of the mystery. That’s not to say it’s an altogether bad film; I don’t think that’s the case. Since it appeals to all, there is a tone, a character, a scene perhaps for everyone.

Continue reading at the Boston Hassle.