MovieChat Forums > Mou gaan dou III: Jung gik mou gaan (2003) Discussion > Explain why Sam sets up Yan on more than...

Explain why Sam sets up Yan on more than one occassion and Shen's brothe

posted 20 years ago by drunkmastersony
5 replies | jump to latest

Why does Sam keep on setting up Yan? Also, is Shen's "brother" also a cop? Because "Shen" or "Shadow" is not the "real Shen".

[–] weichuenwong 20 years ago

in IA3, the story of Sam distrusting Yan happened before the incidents in IA1. Why does Sam keep on setting up Yan? Basically Sam didn't really trust Yan at all. I know many who saw the whole trilogy thought that "Hey, this IS not what I see in IA1", but some to think of it, why would Sam trust Yan in the first place? Second, I think that all the chinese "illegal arm dealers" are undercovers...

... why don't you posts all your questions in the "Questions regarding the IA trilogy" posts? It is troublesome to answer your questions ONE BY ONE... it's better than posting your questions like this and being accused of not putting up the word "SPOILERS" in front of the post's title...

[–] Damasseur 20 years ago

I think Sam doesn't trust Yan because he is also related to the Ngai family. Remember his father is the late Kwun who got shot in the beginning of IA 2.
And his half brother is the character Hau played by Francis Ng. Yan joined Sam's gang after ah Keung, played by Chapman To, asked him to join them. And probably Yan's character always disappear from the gang to meet up with SP Wong.

[–] padzok 18 years ago

Sam trusts Yan, but Yan is expendable as far as Sam is concerned. Sam is testing Shen.

He phones up Yan and tells him to attack the "brother" (who is also an undercover cop). This is coz he wants to see Shen's reaction. When Shen doesnt kill Yan, Sam knows he must be a cop. So he doesnt allow himself to get caught by the deal - but does send Yan to make sure it's not obvious that he has caught on.

What you could say is that someone as shrewd as Sam should have been curious as to how Yan could escape with only minor injuries. So in IA1, Yan ought to have been a prime suspect being for the mole.

[–] fongyellowsandyfield 18 years ago

Yes, Sam was a ruthless S.o.B. He invited Yan to enjoy shark fin soup, as if he was going to promote Yan like what Keung had foolishly thought. Sam suddenly showed up with Shen, his brother and other thugs to catch Yan off guard. Keung barged in to defuse the situation by defending Yan, in the face of an inevitable lethal confrontation, is a nice twist in the story. It gave Shen a perfect chance to let off Yan lightly, othewise he must killed/seriously hurt Yan to cover up his own identity as a Mainland cop in front of Sam.

[–] padzok 18 years ago

It gave Shen a perfect chance to let off Yan lightly, othewise he must killed/seriously hurt Yan to cover up his own identity as a Mainland cop in front of Sam.
Yeah, Shen thought he was able to get avoid killing Yan - but Sam didnt buy it.

Later on, when Keung asked Sam why he was so convinced that Shen was going to betray them, he said "My whole life tells me".

Having spent his whole life round gangsters, Sam knows that no-one who'd reached the heights that Shen was supposed to have reached would have shown any compassion towards someone who had publicly direspected his second-in-command.