The 2003 film Running on Karma is an eccentric blend of police procedural, spirituality and mysticism that marks Hong Kong film director Johnnie To Kei-fung and frequent collaborator Wai Ka-fai’s first foray into self-consciously “artistic” cinema – and it remains an engrossing watch today.

While the storyline is less esoteric than Throw Down (2004), it remains an ambitious project, packed with the unusual characters and situations for which To was becoming known. Although he had already established himself as an auteur with innovative late-1990s crime thrillers such as The Mission (1999), Running on Karma was entirely different.

“Mystery, murder, humour, action, special effects, plus Buddhism and Andy Lau [Tak-wah] in a muscular body suit – Running on Karma is nothing if not ambitious,” noted critic Paul Fonoroff in his review in the South China Morning Post.

Comedy in disguise?

To’s nifty 2001 comedy Love on a Diet featured matinee idol Lau playing against type in a “fat suit” – a prosthetic costume making him appear severely overweight. Early promotions for Running on Karma showed Lau in a similar costume, leading many to expect a cheery sequel, only to be disappointed by the strange, serious film they encountered.

“Wai Ka-fai and I initially conceived Running on Karma as a commercial film – to have Andy Lau doing comedy with the special effects make-up,” To told the Far East Film Festival’s Tim Youngs.

“However, after making a string of comedies in 2001 and 2002, and with the market flooded with films of a similar genre, we decided to shift our direction – to make films that are more drama-based and hopefully equally entertaining for the audience,” To said.

This time, the prosthesis was an unfeasibly muscular superhero suit for Lau’s character, Big. As with Love on a Diet, To hired the Hollywood special effects company Edge FX. Although the company had never made a muscle suit before, the results were impressive, with seven different versions used in the finished film.

The weight of past lives

Wai and his screenwriting team built an interesting backstory to drive the plot. We first meet Big working as a male stripper in an illegal underground club – apparently living up to his name – where undercover police officer Lee (Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi) arrests him, despite enthusiastically enjoying the show.