Crazy Stone — Fēnɡkuánɡ de Shítou ~ Chinese Movies&TV

Crazy Stone — Fēngkuáng de Shítou

Crazy Stone (Chinese: 疯狂的石头; pinyin: fēng kúang de shí tou) is a 2006 mainland Chinese black comedy film directed by Ning Hao and produced by Andy Lau. It was immensely popular, earning 6 million RMB in its first week and more than 23 million RMB (US$3 million) in total box office in Mainland China, despite its low budget (3 million HKD/US$400,000) and cast of unknowns. The movie was shot digitally on HD cameras and produced as part of Andy Lau’s “FOCUS: First Cuts” series.

Director: Ning Hao

The film tells a story about three group people who want to protect or steal a precious jade stone which is discovered in an old outhouse. The style of the film looks like Snatch, a 2000 Holywood film directed by Guy Ritchie and starred by Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro and Jason Statham.

Snatch

Crazy Stone is uncommon in that the entire movie is spoken in a mishmash of dialects, with Chongqing; Henan dialect and various Hong Kong idioms used to great comedic effect. As is relatively common in Chinese humor, many jokes are puns or other plays on the language: for example, after one of the main characters crashes into a BMW, the angry owner shouts that his car is a “Bié Mō Wǒ” (别摸我, which means “Don’t touch me”), a deliberate play on the actual initialism.

BMW–Bié Mō Wǒ (Don’t touch me)

The film also pays homage to or draws influence from a number of films, both foreign and domestic. The scene in which a black suited thief tries to steal the coveted jade stone by descending from the ceiling attached to a rope is a reference to Mission: Impossible, for example. Similarly, one of the final scenes, which features a fight in an elevator, is a reference to the ending of the famous Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs.

Pay homage to Mission Impossible