Alternate Best Actor 2002: Leslie Cheung in Inner Senses

Leslie Cheung did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Jim Law in Inner Senses.

Inner Senses is a spooky, if sloppy, little ghost story about a woman, after being haunted in her apartment, going to her therapist for help.

This sadly marks the final performance of Leslie Cheung, who unfortunately committed suicide about a year after the release of this film. I will say my own, limited, exposure to Cheung places his tragic passing not in the middle of a phase like it is with so many actors, but rather the beginning of a new one. This is as all the other performances of his that I've seen emphasized a youthful vibe, this even in Happy Together, where he was nearly in his 40's yet came off in his early 20's still. Here however he looks like a man of his 40's, and not in a bad way, as we first see him giving a seminar on ghosts. Cheung is wholly comfortable here, even if almost say him as an entirely different actor, in presenting a middle aged man. This with a quiet assured quality as he rattles off a ghost encounter before dismissing it and the overall concept as a false perception of the mind. Cheung effectively exuding that sort of slight pompousness of a college professor though with the right degree of charisma not feel like a blowhard. When the woman Cheung Yan (Karena Lam) comes to him with her ghost problem, Cheung reacts effectively as a caring yet dismissive psychiatrist regarding the claim. He finds the right balance in that he grants the empathy to the distress of the woman well his eyes also suggest the certain indifference to the claim, suggesting the man quite assured in his lack of beliefs regarding ghosts.

As Yan continues to seek his help, as her counters continue, Cheung naturally increases that sense of empathy towards her. This as he continues to present and speak in a calmly reassuring way, through that of consistent denial towards the existence of the ghosts. This though slowly developing into a more romantic chemistry which I like that Cheung doesn't overplay. This in making sort of a natural flirtation based on his natural charm more so than any overt, potentially creepy attempt, to seduce her. When her condition doesn't improve to the point of severe depression he has her committed. Cheung's portrayal of this is important in the film as even though he presents being comfortably distant in the moment, earnestly as to not encourage her from trying to romantically with him, his eyes still appropriately emphasize the empathy even within that situation. The only problem is Law himself begins to see the ghosts as well. This where Cheung's performance naturally loses that self confidence and ego. This rather falling into just a fear in which he work portrays someone being wholly crippled in his stricken manner and horrified expression. This to the point that his character shocks himself in some futile attempt to end the haunting. This naturally leading himself to believe Yan and actively try to solve the problem without just simply doubting it.

This leading first to a frankly terrible love montage scene that is tonally out of whack with the rest of the film, however Cheung makes his way through it without any issue of his own. This in more than anything granting the sense of connection between the characters, as Law seems to solve Yan by connecting her with her past traumas by reuniting her with her parents. The ghosts continue to haunt Law though and Cheung's performance captures with it the emotional exasperation as the pressures mounts against him. This creating a sense of a devastating depression that seems to form as he begins to realize who the ghost is, a girlfriend who had committed suicide in the past after he had broken up with her. This leading to final confrontation with the ghost through sadly with an eerie connection to Cheung's actual death, as we see Law face this on top of a building where the ghost wants him to jump off. Even forgetting that unfortunate connection to the man's actual reality, Cheung is devastating in the sequence. This in presenting so bluntly the real grief of the man filled with a real anguish and shame as he attempts to apologize for his previous actions, though without taking the next step of killing himself for them. Cheung finding a reality within the personal connection of the scene with a powerful portrayal of the man dealing with the sins of the past. This is a strong performance from Leslie Cheung, even if unfortunately his last, as it suggests he had potential a new phase of his career in store. This in his performance here shows a different side of him, a maturity in his moving portrayal of a man dealing with his past literally haunting him.