The Dark Soul (2018)

An almost universal truth is that a filmmaker's directorial debut will be a true labour of love, the culmination of a long process from the initial germ of an idea, through the script development process, to preproduction and casting, the actual production, followed by post-production and finally release. In some cases, this entire process may take years, occasionally even decades.

This was certainly true in the case of writer/director Bey Logan, and his directorial debut: Hong Kong action-thriller The Dark Soul.

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Bey Logan, and also with the star of the film, martial arts champion Kevin Brewerton.

For Bey Logan, this film had been percolating in his mind for a long time. "About twenty-five years ago, after I had first moved to Hong Kong, I was looking for a project to do with Donnie Yen, who was my best friend in Hong Kong at the time, and an American actor. This was around 1995 or 1996.

"We had a script and an initial deal with [another production company], and then, for various reasons, the project just didn't happen."

But eventually, after the script had sat for many years, he suggested it again one day to his producing partner, James Nan, who agreed that the film needed to be made, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The entire film centres around a unique and fascinating concept, which I can't really mention here, for fear of revealing spoilers (the film has not even been released yet, and I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who may wish to see it).

But what I can tell you about the film is this: An American man named Chandler (Kevin Brewerton) arrives in an unspecified city in Asia (the film was shot in Shenzhen, but this is not central to the plot).

He is looking for someone. He has only a name and an identikit picture (you know, the kind of picture a police sketch artist might draw). For the longest time, nothing is really said about why he is so desperate to find the man in the picture; in fact, this is one of the primary thrusts behind the film, and the mystery contained therein.

Through contact with a police chief early in the film, he meets a Chinese man named Dickson Lee (Lang-Xing Ye), who leads him on an incredible search for the man he is looking for, a search that brings them into contact with underworld figures, acquaintances Chandler may or may not have met before, and many other people as they both discover things they would never have expected (believe me, as satisfying as the conclusion to the mystery is, you will not see it coming).

Being the martial arts champion that he is, Kevin Brewerton was able to perform most of his own stunt work, apart from - in his own words - "rolling out of a car at high speed". In fact, he even had the opportunity to assist the stunt team with the choreography of the various martial arts sequences.

One of the things I enjoyed the most about watching this film was the unique cinematography. Director of photography Ah Ping utilises some very interesting camera angles at times, including shooting a Mah Jong game from underneath a glass table. Of course, decisions on angles ultimately rested with the director, but the collaboration between Logan and his cinematographer definitely had a fair amount of give and take. "Most of the shot concepts were mine," says Bey, "but he always made them happen or made them better or both!"

When I asked Kevin Brewerton about his experience making the film, he told me, "It was extremely advantageous having the writer on set [Bey Logan not only directed the film, but was also the screenwriter, and one of the film's producers].

"It gave me the opportunity to ask questions and to really have clarity going forward. The thing about Bey is that he has a vision and he knows how to execute it, but he's extremely open to hear ideas, and he's willing to change or rewrite anything on the spot if it will serve the film."

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film, and the entire process of reviewing it, including having the opportunity to ask questions of the writer/director and the film's star, whose performance in his role is fantastic, and his ability to perform his own stunts and martial arts only adds to the realism of the character, as it allows for seamless editing of said sequences. I must reiterate my heartfelt thanks to Jenna Wilen from DarkCoast for pulling all the right strings in allowing these interviews to take place, and for the opportunity to review a film before its release.

I had to let the film percolate in my mind for a while before arriving at a final rating, and even watch some sequences multiple times. Before I get to that, let me repeat that if you have the opportunity, I recommend you check this film out; it really is a good one, and has a mystery to it that will keep you enthralled all the way to its surprising conclusion.

8 out of 10.

(This film will be available from June 11 on Amazon, DirecTV, Vudu, FANDANGO, Vimeo on Demand and AT&T).