Revenge; A love story, is a Hong Kong based production from 2010. It's pretty effective as a revenge/love story.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Story: Some maniac is murdering the pregnant wives and husbands of a small town police force. He kills these women by cutting their unborn children out of their wombs while they're still alive, and leaving them to bleed to death. He dispatches their husbands by whatever various means at hand. Did I mention this movie is frequently brutal?
The police are desperate to catch and punish this lunatic, and they soon capture the primary suspect who is obviously the culprit of these crimes. However, there is a lack of evidence to convict him, so he's eventually set free. The police officers tasked with interrogating him before his release, are well aware of who this guy is and soon realize why he's committing these crimes.
As the story unfold via flashbacks, it becomes clear what is going on and why; there is a group of police officers who wronged a young man and young girl in the past and then tried to collectively cover up what happened. What the coppers did in the past is now coming back to haunt them in the present, and they now must pay the price.
If you need to know more, here it is: (SPOILERS) An underprivileged young man who sells roadside steamed buns takes a liking to a pretty young school girl who visits his shop on a daily basis. The girl is semi-mildly retarded, but not totally incompetent, and the two of them eventually develop a relationship. Through a series of events, the young girl gets mistaken for a new prostitute serving the small town (which the local police force is regularly accustomed to taking advantage of). Things spiral out of control quickly, and the police force eventually realizes they've dipped their wicks where they shouldn't have (but only after they have viciously taken advantage of and used this girl for their own pleasure). They somewhat regret what has happened, but the damage has been done, and there is no turning back, so they decide to brush everything under the carpet and protect their brotherhood. Meanwhile, her life is now in ruins, and her young boyfriend has become insane with rage and obsessed with revenge (hard to blame him really). So, there you have it; he's determined to make everyone involved with this incident pay for their sins.
The lead actor (guy seeking revenge) is played by Juno Makhe's, and he's pretty impressive in this role as the love struck young man bent on obtaining brutal revenge. He's also credited as writing the original story, so it's clear he has some talent. The rest of the cast is rounded out by the lead actress, and the 5 primary cops who the lead is seeking revenge on. The actors portraying the cops are quite effective; they range from pure evil to simply complicit in their actions, but they are all pretty much deserving as to what's coming to them. I don't think anybody will feel sorry for any of them.
The lead actress is played by Aoi Sora. She does a capable job in her role, but she's not given a whole lot to do. I don't how much this has to do with the role she's pegged for, or the fact that she's a Japanese actress acting in a Chinese language film, or what have you. It should also be noted that she's pretty new to acting in mainstream movies, and, I find her efforts to evolve from former hard core porn star to legitimate actress an incredibly fascinating story on its own. I thought she was pretty solid as the lead In "Man, Woman, and the Wall", and was effective enough in her supporting role in the wonderfully odd "Torso". She invariably still has to take her clothes off in all of her recent mainstream roles to date, but she seems plenty capable enough to eventually cease having to do so one day, and if she succeeds, good for her!
Bottom Line: This is a solid story that becomes a bit unbelievable and over the top at times, but, it's effective for the most part and pretty good for what it's trying to accomplish. It's frequently brutal & often depressingly sad, and, it's not for the faint of heart. Not great, but, I will recommend it if you like this sort of thing.
As such, I'm giving it 7 out of 10 stars!
