Inner Senses    (2002) 

                                                                                                              Filmko Pictures Limited

 

                                                 Karena Lam, Leslie Cheung in Inner Senses       Inner Senses

                                       Cast:  Leslie Cheung, Karena Lam, Waise Lee Chi Hung, Valerie Chow, Tsui Siu Keung, Maggie Poon,

                                       Samuel Lam, Olivia Wong, Leung Tin, Sun Li Wan, Liu Hong Dau, So Hang Shuen, Wong Shee Tong,

                                             Lai Pui Yin, Lee Ting Fung, Jova Yuen, Tony Wong, Stanley Wong, Lee Pui Shing, Ho Pui San,  

                                                                   Stefan Kratz, Hugo Chim, Helda Chan, Wat Wai Kwok, Josephine Choi  

 

                                     Presenter:  Alexander Wong     Writer:  Yeung Sin Ling, Lo Chi Leung, Derek Yee     Music:  Peter Kam   

                                  Cinematography:  Venus Keung (HKSC)     Art Director:  Silver Cheung     Editor:  Kong Chi Leung (HKSE) 

                                               Producer:  Derek Yee      Admin. Producer:  Jacob Cheung      Martial Arts Director:  Mars   

                                                                                                               Director:  Lo Chi Leung 

                                                                                      Genre:  Drama | Horror          Length:  99 minutes

   

                                                                                            "If you believe in ghosts, they will exist"

 

                          Inner Senses stars Leslie Cheung as Jim Law, a psychiatrist who is referred a patient by his 

                                  doctor friend Wilson (Waise Lee). That patient, Yan Cheung (Karena Lam) is a young woman  

                                     with her share problems- a series of bad relationships, abandonment issues with her parents,

                                                    suicidal tendencies, a leaky faucet...oh, and one other thing. She sees ghosts. 

                                          Ever since she moved into her new apartment, peculiar things keep happening. Even her 

                                    landlord (Tsui Siu Keung), is a little strange. He tells her about his wife and son, who went to 

                                      the park one day in the rain and were killed by a freak mudslide. He tells her this, cheerfully,

                                       smiling through the pain. Then she sees their ghosts in her apartment, dripping mud. At this

                                                                 point things get really scary. He's got her security deposit!!

                                       Leslie and Karena develop a romance. Leslie starts to see ghosts, too. As a teenager, his 

                                     girlfriend was distraught over their breakup, and jumped off a building. Her ghost is stalking 

                                                                 him, and there ain't no restraining orders in the afterlife.

 

                                  It's impossible to watch Inner Senses, with it's suicide subtext, and not think of the irony at hand

                                        in this, Leslie Cheung's last film. With conventional horror aspects kept to a minimum, it's

                                     more of a psychological thriller than a pure ghost story- though there are still some genuinely

                                       spooky scenes. Cheung's character is fascinated by the human brain- its tricks, its illusions. 

                                    "I want to understand other people", he says. "Although  the hardest to understand is yourself".

                                                                                      

                                   Inner Senses is a film with a message, one that Leslie himself unfortunately did not retain. It's 

                                       about suicide, depression, and controlling one's inner demons as much as anything; and the 

                                    serious subject matter is handled with maturity and care. The acting, music, and photography

                                                 are all good. Karena Lam is a very natural actress, and is beautiful to watch. 

                                       This was a different role for Leslie, and it's a performance, and a film, well worth viewing.

 

                                                                                                     Leslie Cheung R.I.P.

                                             ___________________________________________________ 

  

                             Related viewing:  The Eye (2002)  Angelica Lee, Candy Lo

                                                                                           My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (2002)  Sammi Cheng, Lau Ching Wan

 

 

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