MovieChat Forums > Duet ming gam (2011) Discussion > A few questions and comments. *Spoilers*

A few questions and comments. *Spoilers*


I really liked this movie but I would like to hear some other people's opinions on some things.

1) Doing some quick math I have discovered that $5 million HK is about $645,000 USD. Thats a lot of money. Is it possible to put that much money into a purse and walk out of a bank like the female bank employee did? Did she quit because she came into the money, or was she going to quit anyway?

2) Was the bank employee about to be fired after her shift? It seems like that, but her boss also didn't make a big deal about her quitting either. I mean if you were about to get fired, would your boss just casually say "you didn't stop by to see me after work?" More likely she would have been escorted out of the building if she was about to be fired.

3) Did the bank employee help out the old lady? It doesn't appear that she did, but they did add a scene where the old lady comes back and says "please help me". I was a little confused about that scene.

4) What was up with the cabinet that the money was stored in? At first the lock doesn't work, but then it opens easily. Obviously some symbolism here, but what exactly was the message?

5) The criminal, played by Lau Ching-Wan has a friend that runs a stock broker-type business. How did the owner get into trouble with the Triads? Something about hacking into an account? I was also confused by this. He owned the business right? Why would he hack into a Triad gang's account?

Other than that, I just have a few comments. Although I was rooting for the bank teller, and Lau Ching-Wan, neither one of them were really good guys.

At the end of the day, only the cop did anything good, and he was the most boring of all the characters. Lau Ching-Wan basically let his friend die to play a hunch. For some reason he thought he was an expert in stocks after studying a computer spreadsheet for a few hours and he got lucky. Both he and the bank teller hit the streets at the end of the film with $645,000 in cash.

Once again, great movie, it just really made me think at the end. Would love to hear other thoughts about this film.

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1. Yuen (the loan shark) was about to make a total deposit of $10 HK million but took half of the money with him to help out a client and left the rest to Teresa (the bank employee) without signing a deposit slip (showing details on money being deposited by customers). Then he gets murdered and the money taken by Panther. My notion was that with no record of any money being deposited at the bank, it was presumed by the cops that Yuen carried all the money with him at the time of his demise. As for the other half of money, they went completely unnoticed by the bank staff except for Teresa. But she didn't do any good with recommending new customers to sign with the bank and decides to opt for the money. She willingly quits her job but leaves with her "reward" for trying to keep up with her competitors and as a way to clear herself from problems with Yuen and the old lady.

2. Teresa obviously quit her job considering that the boss said that she wanted her in her office after work. She didn't do her job good enough but she definitely wasn't about to get fired but more to be called for a meeting concerning counseling to do her job better. The earlier scene in the ward with Jackie (the boss) and all the employees is the beginning of what is culminated in that scene.

3. Depends on which occasion you're referring to. Teresa obviously did her job faithfully by giving thorough explanations and showing a video for further information. But after the crisis hit, things started to differ greatly for Teresa. I think the message here was that, regardless of principles and knowledge of your line of work, there's always going to be situations where problems matter more than solutions.

4. I got the impression that it was a case of frustration. Being caught in a trap that you're trying to get out of. That's what Teresa went through when the cops were investigating Yuen's death and was approaching her so that they could look into Yuen's purpose of visiting the bank. She felt the cops were suspecting her of being involved with the money being gone.

5. This is the fishy part of the whole story. It was never told. However, looking into the relationship between Panther and Pop-Eyed Dragon, Panther implies that Dragon used to be a criminal before moving up to become a legit businessman. My interpretation was that Dragon's company was doing well before the crisis hit, and was meeting up with someone in China to "do business" around the same time. Somewhere between that and going back to his company to erase stocks after the crisis, this is where he must've hacked into Sung's account. Breaking principles to survive something terrifying.

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Thanks for the reply RealDeal. I love this movie, lot of things to think about.

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You're welcome :)

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