Advertisement
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film
LifestyleEntertainment

Why Danny Lee’s best police movie isn’t The Killer, but his own Law with Two Phases

Danny Lee’s nuanced role in Law with Two Phases redefined Hong Kong police dramas, showcasing gritty realism and complex character arcs

4-MIN READ4-MIN
Listen
Eddie Chan (left) and Danny Lee in a still from Law with Two Phases (1984). Lee put in his most nuanced performance in the film, which he also directed.
Richard James Havis

For decades, the quintessential image of a Hong Kong big-screen detective was defined by a familiar face sporting signature braces and a gun holster: Danny Lee Sau-yin.

The actor and filmmaker achieved international fame playing the policeman who bonds with Chow Yun-fat’s good-hearted hitman in John Woo Yu-sum’s legendary action epic The Killer (1989), and he often feels typecast by his success in Woo’s smash hit.
Lee built a career playing police officers – ultimately donning the uniform across dozens of his many films – but The Killer and his turn as a gang boss in Ringo Lam Ling-tung’s 1987 classic City on Fire remain his most famous works.
Chow Yun-fat (left) and Danny Lee in a still from City on Fire (1987). Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Film Archive
Chow Yun-fat (left) and Danny Lee in a still from City on Fire (1987). Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Film Archive

Yet, Lee put in his most nuanced performance in a lesser-seen project: 1984’s Law with Two Phases (or Law with Two Faces), which he also co-wrote and directed. Playing a conflicted detective trying desperately to do the right thing, Lee was named best actor at both the 1984 Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan and the 1985 Hong Kong Film Awards.

“For director, co-writer and star Danny Lee, it’s virtually a one-man show, and he pulls it off well,” noted critic Terry Boyce in a South China Morning Post review at the time of its release.

It is often said that Lee gravitated towards law enforcement roles because he harboured a real-life desire to join the Royal Hong Kong Police Force.

From boyhood dreams to the director’s chair

Born in Shanghai in 1952, Lee moved to Hong Kong as a young child. Growing up in a squatter settlement in the Kwun Tong district, he was deeply impressed by a local patrolman.

Advertisement
Select Voice
Select Speed
1.00x