Shuang tong (2002)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Kuo-fu Chen

Writers:

Kuo-fu Chen (writer)
Chao-Bin Su (writer)

Release Date:

25 October 2002 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

There Is Only What You Believe.

Plot:

An FBI Agent pairs with a troubled Taiwan cop to hunt for a serial killer who's embedding a mysterious fungus in the brains of victims. |

Plot Keywords:

FBI | Taiwan | Serial Killer | Karma | Taoism

Awards:

1 win & 9 nominations

Cast

Tony Leung Ka Fai	...	Huang Huo-tu
David Morse	...	Kevin Richter
Rene Liu	...	Ching-fang
Leon Dai	...	Li Feng-bo
Kuei-Mei Yang	...	Coroner
Sihung Lung	...	Taoist Expert
Brett Climo	...	Serial Killer
Wei-Han Huang	...	Mei-Mei
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Han Chang	...	Detective Chang
Han Lin
David Newell	...	FBI Agent
David Ross Paterson	...	FBI Agent (as David Paterson)
Doug Penty	...	CNN Journalist
Angus McLaren	...	St. Louis Murder Victim (uncredited)

Directed by
Kuo-fu Chen

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kuo-fu Chen		writer
Chao-Bin Su		writer

Produced by
Kuo-fu Chen	....	executive producer
Kuo-fu Chen	....	producer
Rita Fung	....	line producer
Chih-ming Huang	....	producer
Ricky Strauss	....	associate producer
Te-Sheng Wei	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Sin-yun Lee

Cinematography by
Arthur Wong

Film Editing by
Kuo-fu Chen
Te-Sheng Wei

Casting by
Jia-fung Kuo
Shiu-lan Lee

Art Direction by
Silver Cheung
Ringo Fung
Eddie Wong
Timmy Yip

Set Decoration by
Ringo Fung
Eddi Wong

Costume Design by
Angelo Castilho
Timmy Yip

Makeup Department
Paul Katte	....	special makeup effects supervisor: Make-up Effects Group
Nick Nicolaou	....	special makeup effects supervisor: Make-up Effects Group

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Chi-shiang Lin	....	first assistant director
Sherrie Liu	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Milo Angel	....	graphic artist

Sound Department
Thanos Kazakos	....	sound re-recording mixer: English dub
Andrew Neil	....	sound
Paul Pirola	....	sound
Shiang-Chu Tang	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
Kevin Chisnall	....	special effects supervisor
Paul Katte	....	special effects makeup
Nick Nicolaou	....	special effects makeup

Visual Effects by
Paul Buckley	....	lead 3D animator
Mark Dickson	....	digital compositor
Mike Dunn	....	3D animator
Alan Fairlie	....	digital compositor
Aaron Gardiner	....	3D animator
Michael Gracey	....	digital compositor
Ineke Majoor	....	visual effects producer
Ellie Meure	....	digital compositor
Bruce Phillips	....	visual effects supervisor
Peter Webb	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Tony Leung Siu Hung	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Saeed Adyani	....	still photographer
Raymond Lam	....	Steadicam operator
Jamie Leckie	....	assistant grip: Australia
Jimmy Wong	....	Steadicam operator

Other crew
Sharon Kahn	....	unit publicist
Peggy Lee	....	production controller

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia
• Nan Fang Film Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures
• Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International
• Columbia TriStar Italia (2003) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Nelonen (2007) (Finland) (TV)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) (USA)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2003) (Finland) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Makeup Effects Group Studio
• Phenomena at AAV

Also Known As:

Double Vision (USA)
Doble visión (Argentina) (video title) (Spain) [es]
Doppelt gesehen (Austria) [de]
Double Vision (Finland) (DVD title) [fi]
Double Vision - Fünf Höllen bis zur Unsterblichkeit (Germany) (DVD box title) [de]
Double vision - rituaalimurhaajan katse (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Ilusão de Morte (Brazil) [pt]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence/gore.

Runtime:

Argentina:112 min | France:110 min (Cannes Film Festival) | Japan:113 min

Country:

Taiwan | Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin | Hokkien | English

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:K-18 | Malaysia:18SG (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:PG (cut) | South Korea:18 | UK:18 | Argentina:13 | Denmark:15 | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Australia:R | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company:

Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia

Trivia:

Broke the record for the largest production budget of any Taiwanese movie.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Making of 'Double Vision' (2002) (TV)

hybrid perspective

When Edgar Allan Poe wrote Rue Morgue and other Dupin stories, he is said to have created two branches of the detective-novel: the sensational and the deductive. Trying to reconcile elements of the detective with the supernatural the way traditional Taiwan has married Westernization, DOUBLE VISION--quite the adequate title--is a hybrid worth watching for its bastardy. The detective part suffers when the movie ventures into the supernatural, and the former has holes of its own without the latter. However, once you've taken the Red Pill and bought the protagonist's story about his daughter, these holes in logic somewhat become intrinsic to elements of the supernatural, and the unexplained becomes the unexplainable that is plainly accepted. This fallacy grows on the film like the hallucinatory mold the plot revolves around, and DOUBLE VISION gains dreamy and poetic dimensions. Undoubtedly, this is not the deductive type of mystery--the cancer of sensationalism is as terminal as a brain tumor better left not operated: it is the entire charm of the movie.