"Everything you want to know about drugs, but never knew” is the tagline of Derek Yee’s entertaining yet frequently disquieting police drama Protégé, which opened last month nationwide.

A Hong Kong version of Traffic, the film, produced by Peter Chan (Perhaps Love), probes the seedy depths of the city’s heroin trade. Nick, an undercover cop (Daniel Wu), is the protégé of one of Hong Kong’s most powerful drug barons (Andy Lau). Torn between duty and greed, Nick seeks redemption by helping a young woman kick her habit, though her abusive, junkie husband played by Louis Koo works to opposite ends.

The director’s interest in this sordid topic began while researching his 2005 crime drama, One Nite in Mongkok. Yee was intrigued by the stories of drug addiction and trafficking told by his friends in law enforcement, and consequently spent eight months researching the topic before writing the script. Eight months is long by Hong Kong standards, but Yee felt the investment was necessary if he was to fully comprehend the complexities of the drug scene. Even so, Yee says his film barely skims the surface. “If we wanted to dig deeper into the topic, ten films wouldn’t have been enough.”

That said, Protégé does offer a fairly in-depth account of this very lucrative trade, from the farmers and drug lords in Thailand to the chemists, mules, pushers, junkies, prostitutes and drug barons scattered along the heroin food chain. As a result, the film is one of the most beautifully written and directed Hong Kong-Mainland co-productions to emerge of late, featuring some of the finest acting we’ve seen in years.

Zhang and Koo (the junkie couple) also did extensive research into the habits of drug addicts and deliver award-winning performances. Indeed, Zhang eclipses the two leads (Wu and Lau), while Koo goes further – challenging, and vanquishing, his pretty-boy image. With such powerful and convincing performances, perhaps those tempted by the money and false glamour associated with drugs will think twice before accepting an apprenticeship.

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
March 2007 issue