Asian Cinema

[Autumn]

I watched some Hong Kong films over the Christmas period, but with BBC4 (a British TV channel) showing various Asian films recently I decided to make this thread to discuss any film from the Asian continent. Spoilers ahead.

I'll start by going over a few of the Hong Kong films I watched:

A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2: This film is directed by John Woo and stars Chow Yun Fat, and if you're aware of what their other movies are like you'll know there's plenty of violent action. Having watched two right after one I can say I preferred the second film. Yes, there was a lot of killing in both films but at the end of the first I was disappointed at watching Chow Yun Fat stand in the open gunning down all the triad members who ran at him. The final action scene in the sequel is set in a large mansion and there are three people doing the killing. It was more enjoyable to watch, but that's just me. The first movie was overly-sentimental in parts, similar to scenes in The Killer, if you've seen that. A Better Tomorrow 2 still had a good storyline and slightly developed characters but the 'pace' of the film was faster. I find it hard to describe, which is a shame. Also, the ending of the films are sad, but completely appropriate.

On a side note, A Better Tomorrow 2 is the film Patricia Arquette's character in the film True Romance is watching while Christian Slater decides to kill the pimp played by Gary Oldman. I can't remember the names of the characters in True Romance, sorry.

Hard Boiled: Hard Boiled is what got me interested in Hong Kong action movies and is my favourite film of all time. The first time I saw this was a few years ago on late night Channel 4, and after seeing the highly impressive opening scene I realized it was far better than sleep. There's a passable storyline, some stereotypical characters and the acting isn't too bad but the action sequences really make the Hard Boiled stand out. The only Western film I can think of which comes close to the amount of killing in Hard Boiled is Desperado.

God of Gamblers: One of Andy Lau's earlier movies; I considered him to be the best actor in the film. Overall, it wasn't too bad but I often found it too boring and predictable - like when "Chocky" (Chow Yun Fat's character) loses his memory, starts behaving like a child and Lau & Friends take him out on a shopping trip. Oh yes, they also discover his amazing talent for gambling and win lots of money. In the end Chocky gets his memory back, and wins an important gambling match.

Fulltime Killer: This was shown on BBC4 last week so it is more likely the British people at TFF have seen this than the other films I've talked about so far. The best thing about this film is Andy Lau's hitman, Tok. I liked the film for much of the early part, especially where Tok was showing off during his assassinations but when the audience finds out he is epileptic it becomes predictable that would be his downfall. I didn't like the ending very much. Tok seemed to lose his intelligence for no apparent reason. He set up the location with weapons and kevlar inside yet he still chose a fireworks warehouse. Even so, when O got blinded by the flashbang and was crawling around being shot at, Tok should've killed O with a headshot instead of firing at him for a bit, stopping to laugh while O gets up and fires back at him, and setting the fireworks off. As Tok looks at the fireworks display he starts having a seizure and of course, gets killed. EDIT: I neglected to mention how Tok imitates killings from other action movies, I thought it was a nice touch to the character and film as a whole.

BBC4 also showed three Japanese films and maybe I'll comment on them later. I'd like to watch the Infernal Affairs Trilogy sometime too.

Your turn.

[Mike]

One of my favorite Asian movies is Versus. It involves lots of gunplay, hand to hand combat, sword fighting, zombies and has a twist of that strange Japanese humor. If you want to read more about the movie you can find it on Amazon.com.

Another great Japanese flick that I like is Samurai Fiction. It is a comedy based in the days of the samurai. There isn't as much fighting in it as there are in most flicks of this kind. But I liked the story and the cheesy Japanese jokes. The bad guy in this movie is realy cool. He is a famous gitarist in Japan and did a lot of the music for the movie. Whenever you hear an electric guitar it is him playing.

[postalblowfish7]

Suicide Club will blow your skull wide open. it's the story of a detective desperately trying to figure out why there's been a rash of mass suicides plaguing his city - but on another level it's about how cell phones, television, and the internet are severing our connections with each other and with ourselves - really a truly brilliant film.

also, takashi miike's Happiness of Katakuris is truly hilarious. It's sort of a slasher musical, with elements of the sound of music, broadway productions, and wes craven movies - only more gory. there are several parts that had me rolling on the floor laughing, definitely worth a watch.

[Autumn]

Revive FTW.

When I saw FilmFour was becoming free and that Infernal Affairs was going to be on that night I was so happy.

Infernal Affairs: There wasn't much in the way of action, but the tension and build-up to the meeting between the two main characters at the end was great. The atmosphere and style was very nice. The score was very good too. However, the finale was frustrating. I was annoyed at how Tony Leung didn't require the other mole in the police force to throw down his weapon at the end. After all, it would've made sense for him to do so, but then the ending couldn't have been the way it was. Fortunately, the sequence was smooth and didn't feel forced. Furthermore, Leung could've easily exposed Lau at the police station when Lau went off to retrieve his file. There, no-one would've shot him and he would be deemed a hero.

Tony Leung is one of my favourite actors. The first time I saw him in a film was in Hard Boiled, which was brilliant, but I've watched him deliver impressive performances in Hero, Bullet in the Head, In the Mood for Love and now Infernal Affairs.

Still, I recommend Infernal Affairs.

City on Fire: The lead actors are Danny Lee and Chow Yun Fat, the same two leads in The Killer. The action scenes aren't that good, the dialogue isn't too bad but the plot and "twists" are only mediocre. I felt it was particularly let down by the build-up at the start which made the gang that Chow Yun Fat had to sell weapons to, to be really good but then it turned out they were somewhat inexperienced and didn't seem as much of a threat as the police made them out to be. The ending wasn't surprising, although quite sad like many Hong Kong action films I've seen. It may be worth your time, but I wouldn't go out of my way to watch this again.

[Akira]

Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman is a modern rendition of Japanese classic samurai movie called the Blind Swordsman. Actually, it's a series of films and they all revolve around a blind masseuse who acts very timid and pacifistic. But when aggrivated to a certain degree, Zatoichi will annihilate anything in sight. I've seen some of the old movies as well as some of the newer remakes. The newer ones tend to stress lots of violence and blood spilling; in my opinion, not a bad thing. Definitely movies worth checking out if you like samurai culture as well as good action packed flicks.

Another movie worth checking out is Ran. This movie by the legendary Akira Kurosawa, revolves around a Japanese kingdom under the rule of a daimyo. In the beginning, the daimyo gathers his three sons for a metting and tells them that he will divide the kingdom amongst the three. The eldest son warns his father that this will create aggressions amongst the brothers but the father doesn't listen and banishes the son. The whole movie is about the realisation of the eldest son's prediction and the struggle to reinstate balance within the land. This movie has some really epic samurai battles, long before anything like Braveheart or The Gladiator came out. I can only highly recommend this film as well as other films by Akira Kurosawa. He isn't referred to as a god in the Japanese filming industry for nothing (think of him as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Peter Jackson combined; okay maybe not that good but still a damn great director).