Protege (門徒) [Hong Kong]

Country: Hong Kong
Production Company: Arm Distribution/ Applause Pictures/ Beijing Poly-bona Film Publishing Co. Ltd./ China Film Group/ Ruddy Morgan Organization
Genre: Thriller
Director: Derek Yee
Starring: Andy Lau, Daniel Wu, Louis Koo, Anita Yuen, Zhang Jing Chu, He Mei Tian, Liu Kai Chi, Yuen Bo, Derek Yee
Length: 106 mins
Date of release: 13th February, 2007

Synopsis

The film tells of a narcotics agent, Nick (Daniel Wu) who goes undercover in the heart of Hong Kong’s lucrative heroin trade. He is forced to deal with the hypocrisy and despair in a life of drugs and crime, as he plays protégé to one of the key players of the game, “Banker” (Andy Lau). In the eight years he has been infiltrating the heroin industry; Nick has amassed enough evidence to indict Banker, but has just received orders to remain undercover in an attempt to expose the identity of the man behind Banker in order to bring down the entire organization. However, as Nick becomes more embroiled with Banker’s craft and increasingly entrusted with his confidences, he finds himself corrupted by the easy money and his new found power. Unable to separate himself from his undercover persona, he immerses himself into his role as a drug trafficker.

Nick also meets Jane (Zhang Jing Chu), a single mother living in poverty who has fallen prey to the dangerous narcotics that has also claimed her estranged husband (Louis Koo). Her brief affair with Nick, gave her hope for a new life, an escape from the past, but the re-emergence of her husband brings with it some dire consequences.In the seedy underbelly of heroin culture, where every redemption comes at a price and the borders of justice, loyalties and truth are permeable; Nick will have to grapple with some dangerous choices and may find himself flirting with more than the devil.