128. The Crossing; movie review
Cert 12A
100 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, moderate sex references, threat
Only today, I was writing to a friend how Hong Kong is the most magical place I have visited in the world.
Indeed, I am very envious of my son who is due to spend a couple of days there this summer.
However, I have to confess that I may be looking through rose-tinted spectacles because I was treated to the very best of the city on a press trip about 15 years ago.
I saw nothing of the back street crime which is represented in Bai Xue's Crossing nor the gangs who prey on teenage girls.
Her film stars Huang Yao as sixteen-year-old Peipei who has a dream to go on holiday to Japan and needs to finance it.
Peipei, whose father is estranged and mother is a sex worker, travels from the mainland to Hong Kong for school but finds little allure in the lessons.
Instead, she wants to make money and, after starting making small wages in a restaurant, alights upon a gang who are smuggling iPhones.
The criminals see her as the perfect mule, dressed in her school uniform and passing through the crossing without sparking any attention, every day.
The Crossing shows the peril of a fast buck. Peipei doesn't see the dangers only the money and the prospect of fulfilling her dreams.
Indeed, her intoxication becomes such that she even sidelines her best friend (Carmen Soup).
The movie also demonstrates how those lacking love will grab on to any praise. In this case, Peipei is exploited by the female gang boss (Elena Kong).
But most of all, it surprised me because it demonstrated that there is still a gulf between the economic standing of Hong Kong and the mainland.
Twenty-two years after China took the territory back from the British, it remains ahead of the mainland, as demonstrated by brand new iPhones being available but coveted like gold over the 'border'.
This creates a foundation for a crime which I am amazed the Chinese haven't just stamped out at its root.
Xue's film shines a light upon the issue without ever grabbing as much as it should.
In my view. I should have sensed an even greater peril for Peipei but for the most part, her rewards outweighed the dangers.
Surely, this isn't the case in real life?
Reasons to avoid: Doesn't engender enough tension
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6/10
Did you know? In 2018, authorities smashed a cross-border gang who smuggled more than HK$620 million worth of mobile phones between Hong Kong and the mainland. Twety-six people were arrested in Shenzhen and 4,000 mobile phones worth HK$20 million were seized. In Hong Kong, 900 phones worth HK$4.5 million were confiscated and three men were arrested.
The final word. Bai Xue: "I began to try put myself in Peipei’s shoes. I asked myself what I would do every day if I were in her place. What would she do after school? Maybe she’d be looking to get into some trouble because, although she occupies both borders, she cannot find belonging on either side."
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