This is kind of what happens when you want to make The Godfather, but you just don’t have the tools. Where the Wind Blows is a film about dirty police and crime bosses. There aren’t “good” characters in the film; there are simply characters who might have been good once and characters who are, perhaps, objectively less evil than other characters.
The two main dudes are both Hong Kong police detectives, Lui Lok (Aaron Kwok) and Nam Kong (Tony Leung Chiu-wai). Neither is the person who started at police academy. Being a Hong Kong policeman comes with an understanding that you will be involved in corruption. You will look the other way from time-to-time. You will take bribe money. It’s gonna happen. Being the least corrupt Hong Kong police officer is, apparently, like being the least corrupt member of Trump’s inner circle or the most honest pundit on Fox News. It’s not exactly high praise.
All that would have been fine for American audiences, but while the film neatly described corruption in Hong Kong and the nearly indiscernible contrast between cop and criminal, it went ahead and made sure native 
English speakers were going to be a little put off. First, you don’t put “Blows” in the film title. Anybody who wrote that almost certainly has never visited the United States. The the film went ahead and named a villain “Limpy Ho,” which in the US is less a drug lord and more the call sign for the world’s saddest hooker.
The film is propelled by the enigmatic Nam Kong, who acts as sort of a puppet-master for the evil doings around him. Is Nam Kong himself evil? Well he wasn’t once. How about now? We may never know for sure; we just know that he controls whatever scene he’s part of. Where the Wind Blows has a fair amound of gratuitous violence and even a scene or two of all-out drug war, but the film left me very cold wondering if there were method to the madness or any character to root for. Ninety minutes in, I was “yes, yes, the blurred line between cop and criminal, yada yada. Yada.”
Imagine my surprise at reading the wiki entry for Where the Wind Blows and seeing all the Asian and Hong Kong film awards. Wow! Did they even see the same film I did? My guess is that the film really was intended only for Asian audiences who wouldn’t be put off by the word “blows” in the title, or might catch some of the more nuanced character behavior. I can’t say any of this did much for me, but I will acknowledge that the film won awards from audiences who aren’t me.
Corruption is so big in Hong Kong
That even the police tag along
Doesn’t matter who
For this citywide coup
It’s more “why?” than who’s right or wrong
Not Rated, 144 Minutes
Director: Philip Yung
Writer: Philip Yung
Genre: Poorly titled films
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The Hong Kong enamored
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Me, apparently
