Neo-realism is alive and well in Beijing. On the Beat, the story of a group of policemen in the capital city, is an extremely naturalistic and highly entertaining look at law enforcement at the grassroots level.
To great effect, director/writer Ning Ying has made his camera a mere spectator and created a work that transpires on screen as unvarnished reality.
The movie does not portray the police as heroes; nor, as is often the case with Hong Kong films, as kung-fu stars thrust into extraordinary and unbelievably action-packed events. The men of On the Beat are just regular guys trying to enforce mundane regulations to the best of their ability.
Ning's skills are such that 98 minutes pass by swiftly, a marked improvement from her 1993 debut For Fun, a fascinating but slow-moving docudrama about a bunch of elderly Beijingers that could be done with more zip.
However, there is plenty of energy here. The opening sequence features long tracking shots following two cops as they cycle and chat through the streets and alleys of Beijing. The city is palpably captured, the dialogue (with English subtitles) creating a slice-of-life quality that makes Beijing come alive. It seems as if the camera stumbled on them, until the two - veteran policeman Li (Li Zhanhe) and 20-year-old recruit Wang (Wang Liangui) - stop to let some bulldozers pass. Then the camera set-ups reveal that this is not a documentary.
It is Wang's first day on the beat, and he is introduced to the real powers in the district: the middle-aged ladies of the local neighbourhood committee.