Tsui Hark's Dangerous Encounters Of The First Kind aka Don't Play With Fire

1980 · KonCategoryIII

Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind [ a ] ( Chinese : 第一類型危險 , also released as Don't Play with Fire [ 1 ] and Playing with Fire [ 2 ] ) is a 1980 Hong Kong crime thriller film directed and co-written by Tsui Hark . [ 3 ] It follows a group of teenagers who engage in a crime spree in Hong Kong, but stumble into a dangerous group of international arms traffickers. The initial cut of the film was banned for its violence (including unsimulated animal death) and allusions to the 1967 Hong Kong riots . Following the ban, the film was heavily re-shot and re-edited to comply with censors' demands. The censorship generated public interest in the film, that caused its retooled version to become a box office success in Hong Kong. [ 4 ] It is considered part of the Hong Kong New Wave . [ 5 ] Plot edit This synopsis refers to the original uncensored version of the film. Paul, Lung, and Ko are a trio of disaffected teenagers from different economic backgrounds. As a prank, Paul manufactures a bomb using a wristwatch and black powder , which the trio set off in a movie theatre, avoiding any casualties. Wan-chu, a sociopathic girl who spends her time torturing animals, sees them flee the theater and follows them but does not tell the police. After being fired from her job, she argues with her older brother Tan, the police officer assigned to investigate the bombing, and impales a cat on a fence post out of anger. She forces her way into the trio by threatening to expose them to the police. Together, she forces them to commit various acts of criminality, including planting further bombs and hijacking a bus of tourists whom she forces to strip. When the boys try to abandon her, Wan-chu tries to set them on fire with gasoline, but is nearly hit by a car driven by an American man. In an ensuing fight, Wan-chu steals a package from his car filled with money orders for Japanese yen and accidentally drops a written contract in an alley without noticing. The American is revealed to be a member of an arms trafficking ring made up of ex- Vietnam War servicemen. Their ringleader, Nigel, kills him for losing the contract. The youths fail to cash the money orders, first at a bank, and later threatening an exchange manager whom they try and fail to kill with a bomb when he brushes off their extortion. Tan links the two events, and Paul's face is shown on the news as a person of interest. Wan-chu offers a deal to a local gang that previously harassed her and meets their leader, Uncle Hark. He takes Wan-chu and Ko to a banker who agrees to exchange 20 of the money orders into Hong Kong dollars for 30% of their amount, then Hark sends his gang to steal the money. During their escape, Lung throws the money at the gang to ward them off. Wan-chu is furious at him for losing the money, and the boys abandon her again. Hark and his gang attack her outside her apartment. Tan arrives and fends them off, but Wan-chu refuses to identify the men or press charges. In their apartment, Tan angrily beats her before tying her to the window bars with zip ties. The gunrunners learn that Hark has one of their money orders, and kidnap and torture him until he tells them about Wan-chu. They attack her at her apartment, but are interrupted by Tan. In the ensuing struggle, Wan-chu falls and is impaled through the head by a fence post where she earlier killed a cat in the same way. The police find the remaining money orders hidden in Wan-chu's room, and Tan is taken off the case, his chief telling him that the Hong Kong government fears the political implications of the case. When Paul's face is shown on TV in connection with the bombings, the three boys flee and hide out in a large cemetery crowded with gravestones, arguing among themselves. They later attempt to kill themselves by drinking Dettol . Paul and Lung spit it out but Ko swallows it, so Paul runs to a shop to buy milk to dilute the poison and is recognized by the seller. She contacts the police, and Tan rushes over. He handcuffs Tan to a post, then chases Paul through the gravestones. Just then, the gunrunners arrive, having tailed Tan. A shootout ensues, Lung and Paul are both killed and Tan fatally wounded. Ko picks up a gun from the ground and shoots Nigel, but runs out of bullets. With his last ounce of strength, Tan grabs one of the dead gunrunner's assault rifles and kills Nigel. Ko picks up the gun and madly fires it into the cemetery, as a montage of photographs from the 1967 Hong Kong riots is shown. The film ends with a flashback to one of the boys' more innocent pranks when they dropped a bag of red paint onto a pedestrian. Cast edit Lo Lieh as Tan Lin Chen-chi as Wan-chu Albert Au as Paul Lung Tin-sang as Lung Che Biu-law as Ko Ray Lui as Inspector Lui Nigel Falgate as Nigel Bruce Baron as Bruce Pierre Tremblay as Peter Richard Da Silva as Uncle Hark Fung Yun-Chuen as Paul's father Chu Shing-Choi as Paul's mother Nick Wai Kei Lam as Money launderer Lee Chun-Wa as Mr. Hong Kong David Wu