R4 DVD
Siren Visual
Web: http://www.sirenvisual.com.au
Ebola
Syndrome is a film that polarises viewers, it has been described as nauseating,
sleazy and offensive and regardless of how you view the gore and violence, the
plot has certainly been written for maximum impact. This is Hong Kong cinema at
the edge.
Kai
has a short fuse; he has been pushed around all of his life and reacts with a
disproportionate level of fury when pushed too far. The film opens when he is
having a fling with the boss’s wife, it seems this is a very regular occurrence
when the boss is away - initiated by his rather bored and spoilt wife. However,
this time the boss comes home early and catches them right at the wrong
moment. The wife pleads innocence and he
begins to kick the hell out of Kai. He pulls a knife and demands Kai castrate
himself, instead Kai screams “ Stop Bullying Me!” (an reoccurring phrase
throughout the film) and brutally kills the boss, his offsider and his wife. He
goes to finish the job by dousing the bosses’ daughter in fuel, but when
interrupted he runs for his life. Now he is wanted for triple murder so he
flees to South Africa to work cheaply in a Chinese restaurant. They know his
past and use him for cheap labour and he has no choice but to accept the
conditions he is under. Once again the boss pays him cheaply and the bosses
wife abuses him.
Being
Chinese in South Africa is not easy, the White population treat them as Blacks
and the Blacks see them as whites, Kai’s fuse is slowly being lit. Since the
local butchers are charging the restaurant a fortune for meat, they travel to
Zulu territory to buy some pig carcasses.
The village has been devastated by some sort of virus and the tribe is
undertaking a rite of cleansing, they buy the carcases and get out of there
quick. On the way back, Kai crashes into a tree and after a clash with the boss
stamps off in fury. He finds a local African woman semi-comatose and clearly
unwell by the riverside and decides to make the most of it – that’s the sort of
guy Kai is. During the rape she has some sort of convulsion and so he has to
smash her head in to escape her “grip”. I did mention this was a mean spirited
film!
When
they return Kai develops a fever but, of course, they cannot take him to a
hospital. The doctor gives them some medicine but with further research warms
them of the Ebola risk. However, Kai seems to get better. However, if truth be
known, Kai is one of the rare people (one in ten million) who the virus does
not kill but turns into carriers.
Things
go from bad to worse when the bosses’ wife decides to dump him in the forest to
avoid being caught with his body if he dies from the illness. This pushes him
too far. He yells “ Stop Bullying Me!” and attacks her, beats her and rapes
her, when the husband returns home and interrupts, he brutally kills him (using
the restaurant’s doors no less) and then returns to finish the wife. He also
kills a cousin who turns up while he is cleaning up the mess. Kali then drags
them into the kitchen and using a electric blade turns them into “African
Burgers” which he sells as a new product line...
Just
as he thinks he has it made, the child who survived his first rampage (now an
adult), identifies him and so he must make a quick escape to Hong Kong. Of
course, this is not before a major outbreak of Ebola in Johannesburg, but by
the time it is traced to the restaurant he is a long way away and the virus is
fast spreading...
This
is a dark, vicious and violent film. Anthony Wong as Kai is impressively
monstrous, while we may try to develop some sympathy for his plight as someone
who had been “pushed too far” by life, it is next to impossible to do so. He is
just too sleazy and revolting. The film
itself is packed by sex, bodily fluids, gore, violence and death. The plot seem
deliberately written to shock and appal with nobody spared.
That
being said there are some intriguing themes. Class, for example, is explored, as
Kai is clearly used and abused by those who have money, from his first boss and
his wife, to his second boss at the Chinese Restaurant. There is also a
powerful portrayal of Chinese life in South Africa during the Apartheid period.
Obviously
quite a bit of research was undertaken on Ebola and this shows throughout the
film ranging from the perfectly played sense of fear and paranoia to the
depictions of the virus spreading via bodily fluids and of course the autopsy.
While there is lots of violence, the mood is enhanced by powerfully simple
images such as Kai coughing or people simply falling and shaking in convulsion.
The mood of the Ebola Syndrome is as powerful as the effects and violence.
The
Ebola Syndrome will challenge many; it is shocking, violent and filled with
gore. However, it creates a superb sense of dread and paranoia and is packed
with such dislikeable characters and written with such a mean spirited plot
that it is actually quite a unique piece of “shock cinema” .
It
is a classic example of extreme Hong Kong cinema and certainly worth seeing.