Film review: Imprisoned - a warm, humorous take on material world
The film is the third big-screen adaptation of fiction serialised on web portal Hong Kong Golden Forum.
Nelson Yu (Gregory Wong Chung-yiu) is a thirty-something prodigal son who leads a decadent life fuelled by sex, drugs and fast cars. When he is handed an 18-month sentence for reckless driving on a drunken night out, the spoiled brat is forced to re-evaluate his values inside Stanley Prison — or maybe not.
Peppered with cheeky humour that occasionally subverts conventional wisdom, Imprisoned presents a "civilised" world that is run on a materialistic system — albeit with cigarettes, not money. Even the prison guards, the faces of totalitarianism usually, stay out of the conflicts.
The ward assigned to Nelson is regulated by the quasi-leader Szeto (Tommy Wong Kwong-leung) who, while observing the custom of beating up sex offenders, isn't much of a bully himself. Upon figuring out prison life, the new inmate also finds a true friend in the drug addict Ng Jai (Babyjohn Choi Hon-yick) and a father figure in the Bible-quoting long-term prisoner Uncle Dat (Liu Kai-chi).
