Online Review: Overheard 3 (竊聽風雲3)

Hong Kong films rarely talk about real estate hegemony because of no market and can’t change reality. But Overheard 3 (竊聽風雲3) is exception. It is a Hong Kong-Chinese crime-thriller film in 2014. It is the sequel to the film series of Overheard which three main actors (Sean Lau, Louis Koo and Daniel Wu) play different roles with a different storyline, but kept the key elements (eavesdropping) of the previous two films. It is not just about the eavesdrop story, but also related to controversial issue to show that Hong Kong people are fascinated by money. It related to stock market made market and developer hegemony.

Firstly, the theme of eavesdropping is from monitor and keeping under surveillance developing to hacking mobile phones, personal privacy even every move can’t keep hiding. It can be described as the best use of the advantages and crisis of smart phones. In Overheard 3, the theme of eavesdropping is less important than Overheard 1 and 2.

In my opinion, the film is focus on complaining developer hegemony in Hong Kong. The background of the film is starting from ‘New Territories Small House Policy’ to the growth of ‘Small House Grant’. Male villagers use lands to earn money. Some of them such as Sean Lau cooperate with real estate Company to earn more money, but they lose their conscience and use illegal acts to collect more lands. It is the changing of interests and values. The most important thing is earning money, and not any more nostalgia. Isn‘t behind ‘Small House Grant’ is just land and money, survival and humanity? This can reflects and mocks the social issue about real estate to let audience rethinking the land problem nowadays.

On the other hard, the film shows the stereotype of women in village. ‘Small House Grant’ makes the indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories Land rich, but female have uneven distribution of benefits to bring long and deep contradictions. It can be regarded as the highlight of the whole play. YE Xuan (葉璇) can’t distributes lands, so she cooperates with other to seize his father lands. For wealth, everyone is unscrupulously.

For film genres, this type of film must have hero and villain. Zhou Xun(周迅) is a few ‘hero’ in this film. She is conscience of the villagers. She wants to protect her home, but actually she can do nothing. Unfortunately people have principle not equal to have power. She mentioned ‘Land not used to trading’. Maybe it is a sentence Hong Kong people most want to say.

The ending shows that a man to expiate sin and re-invent a way. Daniel returns to village and stay, to show that he repent and be saved because of his conscience give rise by Zhou Xun. Finally, it shows not just fearful human nature, but also conscience. Villain all dead; and hero lives. It is tradition film ending and not novel idea, but show ‘every act has its consequence’ effectively. This movie actually hoped through male’s point of view (masculine) to re-examine possessive and materialism. Squire and local tyrant are metaphor to Hong Kong people's greed for wealth and evil humanity. It hints about the entire community should rethink the blind pursuit of economic development in Hong Kong.

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Student Name: Lee Tsz Yan

Student No. :  10592133/21426225