Time and Tide (2000 film)

Infobox Film
name = Time and Tide


caption = DVD Cover
director = Tsui Hark
producer = Tsui Hark
Nansun Shi
writer = Koan Hui Tsui Hark
starring = Nicholas Tse
Wu Bai
Candy Lo
Cathy Tsui
Anthony Wong Chau-Sang
Couto Remotigue Jr.
music = Tommy Wai
cinematography = Ko Chiu-Lam
Herman Yau
editing = Marco Mak
distributor =
released = flagicon|Hong Kong 2000
runtime = 113 min
country = Hong Kong
awards =
language = Cantonese
Mandarin
English
Spanish
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:227100
imdb_id = 0251433

"Time and Tide" (Cantonese-tjp|t=顺流逆流|s=顺流逆流|j=Seon6lau4 ngaak6lau4|p=Shùnliú nìliú) is a 2000 Hong Kong action film directed by Tsui Hark that won the 2000 Venice Film Festival Future Film Festival Digital Award.

Plot

Tyler (Nicholas Tse), gets a lesbian cop, Ah Jo (Cathy Tsui), pregnant after a drunken night. He joins an unlicensed bodyguard service lead by Uncle Ji (Anthony Wong), to make money to give to Ah Jo who wants nothing to do with him. Nearly nine months later Tyler meets up with a butcher named Jack (Wu Bai) and his pregnant wife, Ah Hui (Candy Lo), who helps Tyler, at Ah Hui's father's birthday, prevent the father's assassination. Tyler tries to convince Jack to start a bodyguard service with him, but Jack turns him down.

A group of South American mercenaries, known as the "Angels" arrive and threaten Jack, who they call Juan, and their second in command Miguel (Couto Remotigue) offers him a chance to rejoin them if he kills his own father-in-law. Instead, Jack kills the leader of the "Angels" evades Uncle Ji's bodyguards, knocking Tyler out in the process, and then steals a case full of cash from under their noses and escapes from the Angels. Jack drops his wife off at her father's mansion, giving her a key to a train station locker telling her to go there when their child is born. Tyler is interrogated by the cops in connection with Jack, they accuse him of being connected to the killer because he saw him up close. Tyler tells them nothing.

An Jo tries to parole Tyler, but is unable to, though Uncle Ji manages. Tyler thanks An Jo, and Uncle Ji locks him up in a transportation crate for a night before letting him out and getting Tyler to tell him about Jack. Uncle Ji then give Tyler some more money, which Tyler turns around and tries to give to Ah Jo where he finds out that she has just gone into the hospital to give birth. Tyler heads off after Jack, and breaks into his apartment only to find the "Angels" and Jack have the place staked out.

A running gun battle ensues between Jack and the "Angels" as Tyler desperately tries to survive one of them in Jack's apartment. Tyler ends up trapped in the apartment with the gas leaking and only manages to survive the explosion by hiding in the refrigerator on Jack's advise. Jack's tricks and cunning out maneuver the "Angels" into killing one of their own and distracting them long enough so he and Tyler can escape the rest. Miguel admits defeat and tries to call a truce with Jack, but then calls it off when one of the other "Angels" spots Jack's wife who arrives on the scene to see her former apartment burning.

The "Angels" take off after An Hui, along with Tyler who sees this, and they all follow her to the train station. Along the way Tyler steals a taxi with his fake gun, giving his wallet to the driver, who promptly takes it to the cops. The police, still suspicious of Tyler from earlier, place him on the scene of the gun battle and explosion send a SWAT team after him to the station. At the station, Tyler confronts An Hui with his fake gun and takes the money Jack stole from the "Angels". An Hui goes into labor and one of the "Angels" shoots a cop, and an innocent, while trying to shoot Tyler.

Panic ensues, Tyler drags An Hui off to safety and the SWAT team arrives to deal with the situation. As they send in a medic team to retrieve An Hui, the "Angels" open fire on them. Jack arrives on the scene just before the SWAT team, including Miguel and other disguised "Angels", starts a full invasion with tear gas. In the midst of the gases, Jack, the "Angels", and the SWAT team hunts after each other, with several SWAT officers silently killed one by one by the "Angels", who then disguise themselves in SWAT gear, killing even more unsuspecting officers. Tyler escapes with An Hui to the railway tracks, where Jack saves the life of the SWAT team lieutenant and surrenders to him.

The remaining "Angels" escape through a tunnel to a stadium full of concert goers. Tyler has to hunker down in the tunnels as An Hui starts to give birth, and Jack convinces the SWAT Lieutenant to let him go after Miguel in the stadium. Jack confronts Miguel in the catwalks above the concert goers and defeats him. Meanwhile, Tyler helps An Hui successfully give birth before the last of the "Angels" shows up. He beats Tyler up and threatens the child. He gets shot repeatedly by An Hui.

Jack is given a heads start to escape the police and visits with his wife, and Tyler recovers the money before going off to the hospital to see his child.

Cast

*Nicholas Tse - Tyler
*Wu Bai - Jack
*Candy Lo - Ah Hui
*Cathy Tsui - Ah Jo
*Anthony Wong Chau-Sang - Uncle Ji
*Couto Remotigue Jr. - Miguel Joventino