Film / Colour of the Truth

Left to right: Truth, Loyalty, Game

Colour of the Truth is a 2003 Hong Kong action thriller film directed by Wong Jing, and is the first installment of the "Colour" trilogy, a Thematic Series of films featuring relationships between criminal organizations and the police officers posing as informants in the syndicate. Often billed as an Infernal Affairs clone, the series do have plenty of action, twists, and suspense to keep audiences guessing and entertained.

In Colour of the Truth, Hong Kong cop "Cola" Chan is recently promoted to Chief Investigator, and ends up being partnered with Inspector Huang (Anthony Wong), whom was a suspect in killing Cola's father years ago in a stake-out, but was released due to lack of evidence. Before Cola can discover the truth, a drug deal gone wrong ends up having Cola and Huang being the targets of assassins led by deadly mercenary Cyclops, who may have something to do with Cola's past.

The 2005 sequel, Colour of the Loyalty, comes with a set of new characters, although the story is told in the same tone and in similar mold. This time there is a new supercop named Fat, who ends up being assigned as the bodyguard of triad boss, Long while posing as an informant.

Twelve years later in 2017, comes the third and last (according to series producer Wong Jing) installment, Colour of the Game, starring Simon Yam as a mobster about to retire. But before he can quit the mob, he has to flesh out an informant among his team of most trusted bodyguards. Has significantly more action, including John Woo-style shootouts and explosions, but offers less on plot.

Colour of the Truth contains examples of:

• Aerosol Flamethrower: Cyclops, leader of the arms dealer, ambushes two SWAT officers by sneaking up on them, aerosol spray in one hand, lighter in another.
• Arc Words: Huang’s advice to Cola, which is repeated in the ending scene when Cola turns his gun and shoots Ray, The Man Behind the Man, from point-blank range using his last bullet.
  Wong: "You must always leave an extra bullet in your chamber. You'll never know when you might need it."
• Behind a Stick: When Cyclops tries taking hostages in Wong’s mansion, he demands for Wong’s daughter, Katie, to come out. She did, but quickly retreats – just in time for Inspector Huang, using her silhouette as obstruction, to reveal himself and shoot Cyclops. Keep in mind Katie is a young, slim lady smaller in size than Huang, played by Anthony Wong, but to be fair there is a table between the two of them.
• Big Fancy House: Boss Wong’s mansion, complete with its own swimming pool.
• Body Double: When Huang, Cola and their team of officers try to track down Cyclops in a shopping complex, they realize Cyclops is accompanied by his own group of mercenaries, and they all have the same facial mask on. The officers frantically try to arrest the real Cyclops while searching between all the doubles.
• Book Ends: With Cola (first as a child, then an adult) using his finger to do a shooting motion at the audience.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: In the middle of a shootout in Huang’s house, Huang’s disabled father motions for him to look under their house’s toilet. Huang does exactly that (while questioning what the hell does his father want, considering they’re in the midst of a gunfight with killers who wants them dead surrounding the house) … and finds a World War II Era Potato masher grenade, which his father had kept with him for the past 50 years since the war. He ends up using that antique grenade to blow up two mercenaries coming after him.
• Bulletproof Vest: Cyclops wears a vest, which allows him to survive when Inspector Huang gets the drop on him and shoot him down.
• Cool Shades: Worn by most of the characters in the movie. Huang even wears these during shootouts.
• Dark Action Girl: Joyce, who ruthlessly kills two police officers with ease when revealing herself to be The Mole.
• Deceased Parents Are the Best: Cola certainly thinks so about his dead father, Seven-Up. Later details in the movie reveal the truth about his father being a corrupt cop.
• Deliberately Monochrome: The opening flashback is replayed near the end of the movie during the Once More, with Clarity scene, but its in black-and-white to depict how the flashback was from decades ago.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: Despite Cyclops being hyped up by the film as the main villain, and surviving being shot by Inspector Huang, barely before the climax can begin, it turns out Ray, The Man Behind the Man and the real Big Bad, has already killed Cyclops in a You Have Outlived Your Usefulness moment. Cola and Huang arrive just in time to see Ray revealing himself to be disguised as Cyclops, before throwing the real Cyclops off a roof.
• Finger Gun: During the opening flashback, Cola Chan as a boy is shown doing this motion while imitating his police dad.
  • In the end of the movie, Cola does this again to Huang, and the audience, before the credits start rolling.
• Imagine Spot: After Joyce reveals her true colours, she then approaches Inspector Huang and shoots him… or at least that’s what she’s imagining. Truth is that Huang, while going through the potential suspects of whom may be The Mole, already semi-suspected Joyce, at which point he beats Joyce to the draw by shooting her non-fatally from below a table.
• Master of Disguise: Ray, who turns out to be the mercenary nicknamed Cyclops the whole time, having disguised himself with a wig and finally revealing himself in the final scene.
• Men Are the Expendable Gender: Semi-averted with Debbie, the sole female officer on Huang’s team, getting killed by Joyce. But played straight for Joyce, the sole female antagonist, who merely gets arrested by Huang.
• A Minor Kidroduction: Cola is introduced before the opening credits as a child waiting for his dad. Who doesn’t return due to his dad dying in a stake-out.
• "Mission: Impossible" Cable Drop: The selected method of a mercenary team coming after Inspector Huang and Cola while both men are on the top floor of Huang’s home. Huang manages to hear them approaching, and gun down the first mercenary who then falls off a tall balcony. Cue shootout.
• Once More, with Clarity: The opening scene makes it look like superintendent Huang betrays, and shoots Senior Inspector "Seven-Up" Chan and Corporal Tam, but later on another flashback with Huang explaining the details reveals that Seven-Up betrays and shoots Tam, and Huang is forced to shoot Seven-Up in self-defense.
• Pineapple Surprise:
  • Casper’s attempt to arrest a suspect end with both of them struggling on the floor with each other, until said suspect, whom his pockets Casper is searching through, suddenly whips out a grenade. And Casper happens to be holding its pin.
  • The grenade trick turns out to be a Chekhov's Gun in the ending, when Casper manage to arrest Boss Wong… by shoving a grenade between Wong’s thighs, sans pin. And tells him to better stay in that position until the police arrive to arrest him, or simply let himself be blown up.
• Playing Possum: Attempted by Cyclops, who gets shot by Inspector Huang but survives thanks to his Kevlar vest, and pretends to be dead behind a couch while trying to lure Huang closer to him. Luckily Cola is on a tall balcony and shouts a quick warning to Huang.
• Punny Name: Inspector "Seven-Up" Chan and his son, Inspector "Cola" Chan.
• The Quiet One: Inspector Bao, who doesn’t like to talk. Inspector Casper, sharing an Uncomfortable Elevator Moment, comments that Bao barely said eight words in a year while trying to strike up a conversation with him.
  Casper: "Well, you don't like to talk so much, so what if someone pisses you off? Huh? What if someone pisses you off?"
  Bao: (sticks out his middle finger)
  Casper: "Oh come on…"
• Slashed Throat: Joyce, revealing herself to be The Mole, does this to one of the officers who was supposed to be guarding her.
• Smart People Play Chess: Ray in one scene is shown playing chess, reverse and Chinese chess blindfolded, where he has a minion move the pieces for him while he merely names the squares for his pieces to move (e.g. Pawn to H4). And he wins.
• The Smurfette Principle: There is only one female officer on Inspector Huang’s team, Debbie. Unlike most examples though, Debbie doesn’t outlive her male co-workers.
• Staying with Friends: When Cola had to share an apartment with Wong and Wong’s paralyzed vegetable father.
• Walking Swimsuit Scene: Madam Wong in one scene near her pool, just when the police are searching her husband’s mansion. Casper managed to have an eyeful of Male Gaze when asking her questions while she’s still in her leopard-spotted bikini.

Colour of the Loyalty contains examples of:

• Bloodier and Gorier: Compared to Colour of the Truth. Plenty of bloody squibs are used to depict death scenes, and the onscreen fatalities are actually more graphic this time.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: Fat, the main character, is assigned to become Boss Long’s bodyguard, nevermind Long being the leader of a triad syndicate is a badass himself.
• Coat Cape: Boss Long is shown wearing his coat like this in a few scenes, including the poster.
• Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Plenty of characters from both sides smokes in the sequel, which is averted in the previous film. Boss Long himself is a Cigar Chomper who prefers thick Havana cigars.
• Malevolent Masked Men: The henchmen in this movie are frequently seen wearing ski masks when attacking Fat or other characters.
• Shout-Out: The character, Fat, gets called "Chow Yun-fat" by Boss Long during a dinner scene.

Colour of the Game contains examples of:

• Badass Crew: Boss Wallace’s team, consisting of Chun, Tyson, Sky, Lily, and Robert.
• Bald of Evil: Nigel, the Big Bad.
• Ear Ache: Choi-tau, in a standoff scene with Chun, ends up being captured alive after having his ear shot off.
• Excrement Statement: Choi-tau, infiltrating the party at a rival boss’ mansion, pees in the boss’ indoor pool. With the boss’ wife in it. Before he jumps in and drowns her.
• Fanservice Extra: Several girls in skimpy bikinis show up in the yacht scene. They don’t serve any purpose other than being background filler.
• Flush the Evidence: Right in the opening raid scene where police officers bust the drug dealers’ hideout, some of them are seen attempting to flush their cocaine down the toilet.
• Guns Akimbo: Tyson in the final scene, when he ends up getting gunned down while holding a gun on each hand.
• Harpoon Gun: Used by Wallace's Badass Crew during the yacht infiltration.
• Heroic Bloodshed: This time with more shootouts and action scenes inspired by old-school John Woo.
• Jabba Table Manners: Uncle Slaughter during the dinner scene with Wallace and Wallace’s team, where he would overflow his bowl of rice with toppings, gobble up its contents, and spill contents all over the front of the dining table. Justified though, because he’s both nervous and afraid at the same time with Wallace staring intimidatingly at him.
• Mexican Standoff: With a pistol against a kukri…
• Samus Is a Girl: Lily’s first scene in a garage had her working under a car in overalls and wearing a cap, and partially obscured to the audience, who immediately assumes she’s one of the men working for Wallace… until she gets out from underneath the vehicle.
• Stuff Blowing Up: Plenty of explosions happens in this movie, may it be exploding cars, grenades, gas tanks... the last time something blows up in this movie, is the antique grenade from Colour of the Truth.
• We Have to Get the Bullet Out!: After Lily gets hit in the shoulder by a stray bullet, there’s a rather graphic and stomach-churning scene where Chun digs the bullet out of her shoulders with a pair of tweezers.
• White Shirt of Death