A scene from Overheard 3 starring (from left) Alex Fong, Sean Lau, Dominic Lam and Gordon Lam Photo: CFP

A news article I read in a foreign media publication recently grabbed my attention: Chinese people's rush overseas to buy land and houses has caused local real estate prices to rise. It seems that no matter where Chinese people go or what we do, when it comes to investments, we always turn to land in the end.

Similar to how the first two films in the series focused on anti-corruption and stock market revenge, this connection to land and property can be seen in the latest film work of Alan Mak and Felix Chong, Overheard 3, in which the golden duo turn their lens to Hong Kong's real estate industry.

While the title, Overheard, refers to wire-taping, this technology is just the theme the duo, who both wrote and directed the films, use to deliver their real message and in reality it's the duo's compassion and concerns that make up the films' core.

It's for this reason that the Overheard series just might become the duo's second classic after the work they did writing the scripts for the Infernal Affairs franchise. 

A big family clan in the New Territories of Hong Kong, Lu Jinqiang (Sean Lau), becomes the only man in the Lu family to look after his cousin's wife, Yuehua (Zhou Xun), after his cousin was killed in a car accident planned by Lu and his other cousins. Throughout the film Lu tries to atone for his crime, as well as the crimes of his cousins.

Lu's struggle with the little bit of good that is left in him becomes a major focal point of the film, and it is this light in the darkness that the directors use to represent their message. 

This can been seen from a scene in the film where Yuehua learns of the conspiracy behind her husband's death and decides to get revenge. While the directors lead the audience to believe that Yuehua is going to run over Lu with her car, in the end she stops the vehicle. Since Lu represents the only remaining bit of goodness in a society full of darkness, the directors don't dare squash that last bit of light.

I believe that it is this last bit of goodness in Lu that connects the movie to reality.

In real life it's extremely difficult to find completely good-hearted people like Yuehua, which in a way makes Zhou's character seem somewhat surreal and unrealistic. On the other hand, there are tons of people like Lu in society, and it is here that the directors paint a true picture of society today, as the decisions Lu makes throughout the film and the pain he experiences are a true reflection of the journey people who have made mistakes and seek to repair the damage they have caused go through.

Although not a crucial part of the film, one other scene in Overheard 3 really made an impression.

In this scene, when one of the cousins, Lu Yongfu (Alex Fong), a womanizer who cheats on his wife with his secretary and has little to no loyalty to her, catches his wife sleeping with his cousin Lu Jianbo (Gordon Lam) he beats the latter to death with a brick.

Scenes like these underscore the sense of jianghu (a community with its own settled rules and regulations) that exists in Hong Kong crime cinema, as it is not the betrayal of his wife that makes Lu Yongfu fly into a rage, but rather the betrayal of his "brother," who must now face the consequences of his betrayal. In a way, the presentation of this jianghu community in Overheard 3 might be the directors' tribute to early Hong Kong gangster films - which many feel have begun to lose their original luster - as similar scenes can be seen in the film Young & Dangerous, directed by Andrew Lau, and the Infernal Affairs films, which Lau worked on with Mak and Chong.

This is also probably the reason why some feel that Mak and Chong's new work is very much in the style of Johnnie To, another Hong Kong director known for his gangster films. For those who miss the golden days of Hong Kong crime dramas this is not a bad thing and would be good for the genre if more directors could be like To. 

A reflection of modern society while also being a tribute to classic crime dramas, Overheard 3 is a worthwhile choice for fans of Hong Kong crime dramas.

The author is a freelance movie critic based in Chongqing