Johnnie To at MoMA: Sparrow

Kei is no street urchin. However, the pickpocket usually earns enough from his work to leisurely idle away the rest of his time like the smooth gentleman he appears to be. His small four-man crew usually works unobtrusively. Unfortunately, when he notices an enigmatic woman, her crime lord captor notices Kei and his gang in Johnnie To’s Sparrow, which screens as part of MoMA’s ongoing retrospective.

With four razor blades and a few well-timed distractions, Kei, Bo, Mac, and Sak score a tidy but not exorbitant sum. It leaves time for Kei to practice photography with his vintage Rolleiflex on Hong Kong’s picturesque (but sadly disappearing) side streets and out-of-the-way cul-de-sacs. One day Chung Chun Lei steps into his viewfinder, making quite an impression. The next time he sees, Kei tries to follow her, but old sinister Mr. Fu always has eyes on her.

He also has Chung’s passport locked in his safe. It is uncertain how physical their dysfunctional relationship is, but his possessiveness is crystal clear. As a result, his chief enforcer Lung has all four pickpockets badly beaten. Of course, that rubs Kei the wrong way, especially when he figures out why.

In some ways, Sparrow (slang for pickpocket) is a perfectly representative Johnnie To film, featuring several of his regular players, including Simon Yam as Kei and Lam Suet as Lung. Yet, in other ways, it is absolutely atypical. Compared to most of To’s films, Sparrow is relatively quiet. The dialogue is rather sparse, but the soundtrack is spritely and often downright jazzy. Perhaps in an even greater departure, these gangsters never wield guns, but that hardly means anyone is safe.

Despite the noir themes and periodic violence, Sparrow also exhibits a slyly comedic visual sensibility, deliberately echoing the likes of Jacques Demy and Jacques Tati. There are several elaborate sequences that share an aesthetic kinship with dance just as much as action choreography. The climatic pickpocketing challenge is an especially grand crescendo.

S.M.A.R.T. Chase: Orlando Bloom’s Shanghai Job

In today’s go-go Shanghai, transporting valuable art should be a high-growth business. Unfortunately, Danny Stratton’s company suffers when they lose a Van Gogh in the prologue. However, they will have a chance for redemption when his closest competitor is killed in a car bombing. The whole living-and-breathing thing will definitely give him a competitive advantage, but he wants some payback to go with his comeback in Charles Martin’s British-Chinese co-pro S.M.A.R.T. Chase (trailer here), which opens today in New York.

One minute, Stratton is riding high in the back of an armored car and before you know it, he is doing demeaning bodyguard work for club kids. His core group stayed with his company (Security Management Action Recovery Team): the grizzled hardnose, Mach Ren, the martial arts specialist J. Jae An, and the drone flying computer geek teen, Ding Dong Tang. Alas, Stratton’s sort of fiancée, Ling Mo (Mach’s niece) throws him over, because she gets sick of his self-pity. Yet, she helps him get back in the game with a contract to transport a priceless vase. When the gang that stole the Van Gogh takes a run at the vase, Stratton goes off script, deciding to play for all the marbles.

As far as action movie premises go, this one is perfectly fine, but Martin and screenwriter Kevin Bernhardt never take it far enough. The producers really should have brought in a moonlighter from Jonnie To’s Milkway Image to punch it up. Instead, all of the action scenes have a rather competent blandness to them.

Still, it is great fun to watch Simon Yam play a slightly unhinged character like Mach, even when he is half-asleep, which seems to be the case here. Orlando Bloom is better than you might expect as Stratton, but that bleach-blond look is such a mistake. Even though An is not much of a character, Hannah Quinlivan shows all kinds of future potential as she struts through the film. Yet, the honors for effort and execution go to Jing Liang, who vamps it up as villainess Tara Yen, whose fingers nails are the most memorable aspect of the film. On the other hand, Martin unforgivably squanders Shi Yanneng/Xing Yu and his real deal Shaolin chops as Long Fei, Yen’s chief henchman.

Given the terrific supporting cast, S.M.A.R.T. Chase (a.k.a. The Shanghai Job, a.k.a. S.M.A.R.T.: Dragon and Phoenix, a.k.a. Smart Chase: Fire & Earth) really ought to be several times better than it is, especially since Bloom isn’t so bad as a martial arts lead. You also have to wonder if the compulsively busy Yam still remembers filming S.M.A.R.T. Whatever. It feels like it was deliberately made to be a time killer to watch on international flights. Not really recommended, but just sort of eh, S.M.A.R.T. Chase opens today (8/31) in New York, at the Cinema Village.

Made in Hong Kong ’18: Colour of the Game

They don’t make Triad gangsters like they used to. Wallace is an example of old school quality, whereas Robert, the son of the high-ranking boss Nigel is a perfect example of everything wrong with the new breed—and then some. When Wallace is ordered to whack Robert, he doesn’t have any choice in the matter, but he knows he is getting pulled into some dangerous business. There will be plenty of duplicity and deception in Kam Ka-wai’s Colour of the Game (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 Made in Hong Kong Film Festival in DC.

Wallace is a grizzled, disillusioned cat, but he still gets the job done. Nobody messes with him or his new protégé Sky. “Superman,” his eager young apprentice, is a geek, but he handles the business side of things well. Sometimes his punky mechanic daughter Lily also helps out, but for a job this sensitive, he will need to call in two old comrades. Tyson is fresh out of prison and raring to go, whereas the ailing BBQ will need more coaxing.

Of course, Robert is an appalling human being, who totally has it coming. Nobody will mourn for him, least of all Wallace. Killing the big boss Dragon’s trophy wife in a coked-up rage certainly merits getting rubbed out, but it is still pretty reckless from the standpoint of internal
Triad politics. Maybe he should have suspected it was a set-up all along. Regardless, Wallace will not leave any of his team at their mercy, even if one of them is a police informer.

Colour is definitely a throwback to 1990s Hong Kong gangster movies (those white suits are totally cool). It obviously tries to recombine the elements of vintage Johnnie To films (like The Mission), starting with To stalwarts Simon Yam and Lam Suet. It is considered the loosely-tied third installment in screenwriter Jing Wong’s Colour trilogy, but it sure doesn’t seem like they expect much audience familiarity with the previous films.

In some ways, Colour is like a Harry Brown kind of film for Yam and Lam, who take stock of their careers through their aging gangster characters, Wallace, and his direct superior, Slaughter. Yet, it also heralds the arrival of Philip Ng and the promising debut of Sabrina Qiu, as Sky and Lily. Ng took a lot of heat for his cocky portrayal of Bruce Lee in Birth of the Dragon (despite looking like his dead-ringer), but here he truly distinguishes himself in the final smashing fight scene. He also develops some rather appealing chemistry with Qiu.

Nevertheless, nobody upstages Yam, not even Lam. He is hardnosed and hardboiled, but also somewhat philosophical and even remorseful about the state of things. It is the kind of role he was born to play—and watching him do it is always a treat. It is a little odd neither NYAFF or Fantasia programmed Colour, but Made in Hong Kong has it. Highly recommended for fans of the cast and/or the genre, Colour of the Game screens tomorrow (7/15) in DC at the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery.

NYAFF ’18: The House of the Rising Sons

The list of artists who have performed “The House of the Rising Sun” includes some truly impressive names, like Leadbelly, Josh White, Nina Simone, and the Wynners. You would know the latter if you grew up in Hong Kong during the 1970s. They actually started out as “The Loosers,” with a second “o” for extra fun. Their “Behind-the-Music” triumphs and mostly tribulations come to the big screen in The House of the Rising Sons, directed by Wynners drummer Antony Chan, which screens during the 2018 New York Asian Film Festival.

It started out as a garage band despised by their working-class neighborhood, especially by Ah Kin (a.k.a. led guitarist Bennett Pang)’s tailor father. He and Ah Keung (a.k.a. bassist Danny Yip) and drummer Ah Yau (Chan) were going nowhere until the band’s charisma index shot up dramatically with the addition of lead vocalist Alan Tam, and vocalist-rhythm guitarist Kenny Bee. However, there was always a bit of a divide between the pretty boy singers and the grudge kids rhythm section.

Regardless of Tam and Bee’s star potential, the Loosers’ early days were full of scuffling, as you would expect from a name like that. Just when they would make a little progress, they would fall back again. Of course, when the band finally hits, Tam is almost immediately pressured to go solo.

Rising Sons should be an upbeat, candy-colored nostalgia trip, similar in vibe to Tom Hanks’ underappreciated That Thing You Do. However, the tone is just all over the place. It is not exactly clear what Chan was going for, but he makes most of the band look like thoughtless jerks and gives the impression he is an anti-social space-case. Frankly, it is rather unpleasant spending time with the Fab Five.

Still, Kara Wai is terrific in her brief scenes as Keung’s mom. Simon Yam gives a characteristically expansive performance as Kin’s dad, but seeing him play an insecure father figure in a period setting brings back memories of his exceptional work in the beautifully bittersweet Echoes of the Rainbow.

There are plenty of amusing haircuts and awkward fashions, but it seems pretty clear throughout Rising Sons you really had to be there. Chan cleverly stages some after-hours jams, but by and large, he really doesn’t make a case for the Wynners’ enduring musical significance. Even its appeal to sentimental fans is questionable. It will keep you distracted, but it is a cold fish of a film that is hard to fall in love with. Unless you are a Wynners diehard, The House of the Rising Sons shouldn’t be a priority when it screens Monday evening (6/29) at the Walter Reade, as part of this year’s NYAFF.

NYAFF ’17: Election

Big D is the Al Gore of the Triads. He assumed he was next in line for the two-year chairmanship of the Wo Shing Society, but the Uncles elected Lok instead. So, does he accept the results of the voting and concentrate on his own business? No, of course not. The resulting power struggle escalates into full-scale street violence in Johnnie To’s modern classic Election (trailer here), which screens during the 2017 New York Asian Film Festival.

Frankly, Lok appears to be the more forward-thinking of the two candidates, whereas Big D can fly off the handle a wee bit. Slightly disappointed by the election results, Big D lashes out at two swing-voters he holds responsible. In response, the outgoing chairman dispatches his lieutenants to China with the Dagon Baton, which is ceremoniously handed down to each new chairman. Thus, begins a mad scramble between the two factions for strategic possession of the baton. However, most of the plotting will be done within prison after Chief Superintendent Hui has both candidates and several senior uncles arrested, in hopes of preventing open war.

This is the film that will probably always come up first when you google Johnnie To—and for good reason. For many, it was also their gateway drug into a full-on Hong Kong cinema addiction. It is a lean, mean, snarling machine of a film, but there is also something strangely beautiful about its savage austerity.

Both Simon Yam and “Big” Tony Leung Ka-fai give classic, career-defining performances as the diametrically-opposed Lok and Big D, respectively. There scenes together are pure movie magic—those who have seen it will instantly know what I mean.

They are indeed the bosses of bosses, but Election is fully loaded with first-rate supporting turns. Lam Suet and Gordon Lam are terrific as Big Head and Kun, two henchmen initially on opposite sides of the factional divide, who meet rather awkwardly. It is amazing to see superstars like Louis Koo and Nick Cheung getting relatively limited screen-time (at least in the initial film), but they burn up the joint with their hardboiled intensity. It is also cool to see Shaw Brothers mainstay David Chiang as the commanding Chief Superintendent. Yet, perhaps the late, great Wong Tin-lam’s quietly droll turn as Uncle Teng, the Uncle of Uncles, best personifies the crafty film.

Election would be followed by two sequels that would continue and deepen the story, reaching Shakespearean levels of tragedy. Hubris: it’s a killer. Yet, Election ends on a perfect note that certainly does not lack for closure. There is no question it is a contemporary classic. Very highly recommended, Election screens Friday (7/7) at the Walter Reade, as part of this year’s NYAFF.

Phantom of the Theatre: Gothic Romance, 1930s Shanghai-Style

It is 1930s Shanghai, but Gu Weibang’s decision to shoot his debut ghost story film inside a notoriously haunted movie theater is worthy of William Castle or Blumhouse. His up-and-coming leading lady Meng Sifan and her elegant print dresses certainly looks like they were inspired by Ruan Lingyu. However, Meng has a dark past that is distinctly her own in Raymond Yip’s Phantom of the Theatre (trailer here), which releases today on DVD from Well Go USA.

Thirteen years ago, a tragic fire in the movie palace killed a family of traveling acrobats. Ever since, the theater has sat vacant due to reported supernatural activity. The purse-snatcher who internally combusts after taking refuge inside during the prologue just further stokes its reputation. Nevertheless, Gu is determined to film his ghostly romance there, even though his lover Phyllis Fei Lisi is the coroner autopsying the many corpses found within.

Inevitably, Gu falls for Meng, heedless of the potential repercussions with sleazy producer Tang Shirao, who only funded the film to lust after the popular ingénue. Fortunately, the Phantom will do them a solid, killing off Tang, along with the lead actor. Of course, the show must go on, so Gu will be forced to step in and film all those love scenes with Meng himself. She might even be falling for him too, but her sinister connection to the Phantom rather complicates matters.

As a Mainland production (as opposed to a Hong Kong ghost story), Phantom was duly required to have the Scooby-Do-style explanation for any and all supernatural goings on, but that is still in keeping with the tradition of Gaston Leroux’s Phantom. Frankly, viewers can see the echoes of many cinematic influences, but Yip purees them with panache. In fact, there is something refreshingly old fashioned about the film. The ambiance is evocatively gothic, the sets are baroquely detailed, and the costumes are fab. Scampering through the ostensibly haunted set is just good fun, reminding fans of the old dark house movies of yesteryear.

Ruby Lin also takes a real star turn as tragically seductive Meng. Chaste yet smoldering, she conveys volumes through a silent look. Tony Yang’s Gu looks rather awkward and gawky opposite her, but who wouldn’t? Fortunately, Jing Gang-shan goes all in chewing the scenery and venting his spleen as the titular haunter. Huang Huan is also quite charismatic and ultimately rather touching as Fei, the bizarrely endearing pathologist. Surprisingly though, the compulsively watchable Simon Yam’s sly fox persona does not feel quite right for Gu Mingshan, the rookie director’s estranged warlord father.

Loaded with spooky trappings, Phantom looks great. With its nostalgic heart and little on-screen violence to speak of, it would be an appropriate Halloween selection to view with older parents (but the scenes establishing the acrobats’ fate might be too intense for young children). Recommended for fans of tragic gothic romance and 1930s style, Phantom of the Theatre is now available on DVD and digital platforms, from Well Go USA.

Kill Zone 2: Simon Yam and Wu Jing Together Again, but Different

This sort of an “in name only,” like the kind they often crank out in Bollywood, except Simon Yam almost reprises his hardboiled detective character. In the first S.P.L., he played hard-charging Inspector Chan Kwok-chung, whereas this time around he is steely copper Chan Kwok-wah. They are not same person. In fact, they do not even serve on the same police force, considering the first S.P.L., or Kill Zone as it was renamed for Western territories, took place before the HK handover. Regardless, each Chan is all in favor of taking the fight to the bad guys and he will have two highly trained allies in Soi Cheang’s Kill Zone 2 (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

This Chan is no less driven than his near namesake, but he is also a man of Christian faith. It is quite upsetting for him to see his nephew Chan Chi-kit hooked on smack, but that is one of the perils of undercover work. Under his uncle’s personal supervision, Chi-kit infiltrated an organ trafficking ring, led by Hung Mun-gong a rich weirdo with a bad ticker and a rare blood type. Despite his misgivings Kwok-wah must leave Chi-kit in the field, because he has finally been assigned to an abduction team. The target will be Hung’s own brother.

Thanks to the intervention of uncle and nephew, the HK police stymy the attempted kidnapping, but Chi-kit’s cover is blown in the process. He will get an up-close-and-personal look at their operation when he comes to in the Thai prison secretly holding the abduction victims waiting to be harvested. Inconveniently, Chi-kit is being housed and treated like a common criminal. However, he will have some dealings with Chatchai, an honest prison guard, whose young daughter desperately needs a bone barrow transplant. The crooked warden Ko Chun might have a potential (involuntary) donor for him, but the cost will be his soul.

It is hard to say which is more extreme, action director Li Chung Chi’s intense martial arts sequences featuring Tony Jaa, Wu Jing (also returning from Kill Zone 1, but in a vastly different role), and Zhang Jin (who had the climatic fight with Zhang Ziyi in The Grandmaster), or the nakedly manipulative subplot involving Chatchai’s cute but sickly daughter Sa. Fortunately, the former are spectacularly cinematic and satisfyingly gritty, because the melodrama of the latter gets pretty cheap. Still, it should be conceded Unda Kunteera Thordchanng is highly charismatic and duly heart-rending as Sa. She is effective, but most viewers will instantly resent the scenes built around her.

Happily, there is a massive prison riot right smack dab in the middle of KZ2, giving Jaa, Wu, and Zhang ample opportunity to demonstrate their skills. Frankly, this could very well be Zhang’s breakout film, albeit in the villainous role of Ko Chun. It is pretty awesome watching him go toe-to-toe with both Jaa and Wu. Of course Yam does his thing as Chan Kwok-wah. He flashes some hardcore badness, but he can also deliver a line like “you must have faith, God wouldn’t toy with us,” without it sounding cheesy. Likewise, Louis Koo manages to pull off the shaggy dog pageboy wig and the mumbling persona of Hung Mun-gong, one of the coldest fish bad guys you can ever hope to see.

The martial arts in Kill Zone 2 are everything you could hope for, whereas the final conclusion is so weirdly misconceived and utterly out of place, it becomes an attraction in itself (one that makes you wonder how to say “wtf” in Thai). Recommended for martial arts connoisseurs and fans of the big name cast (as usual, Yam never disappoints), Kill Zone 2 opens this Friday (5/13) in New York, at the Metrograph.

Cross: Simon Yam Saves Souls

They say confession is good for the soul, but probably not in Lee Leung’s case. He has turned himself into the authorities after failing in his divinely inspired mission. His body count is carefully documented, but there might be more to his story than meets the eye in Daniel Chan’s Cross (trailer here), which releases today on regular DVD and digital platforms from Well Go USA.

The fact that co-directors Steve Woo, Lau Kin Ping, and Hui Shu Ning are all credited with helping to complete Cross over a two year period does not inspire a boatload of confidence. On the plus side, it stars Simon Yam as Lee Leung. In fact, it is not the dreary anti-Catholic diatribe we might expect, even though Yam’s serial killer is most definitely devout. Reeling from his terminally ill wife’s suicide, Lee Leung starts to kill off members who post on an online suicide forum, at their own invitation, thereby saving them from mortal sin. They are supposed to pass peacefully, so when he botches his latest assignment, he remorsefully turns surrenders to the police.

Professor Cheung, the police psychoanalyst, starts to investigate the case, at which point the film turns strangely sympathetic towards Lee Leung. It is clear his wife’s death deeply damaged his psyche. However, he may have been manipulated by an outside agency.

Unfortunately, just as the film builds up the mystery surrounding his murders, Chan (or whoever) blithely pulls out a Jenga block, making the entire tower collapse. There are also massive timeline issues with the ultimate truth, but at least there are some nice stylistic touches in how it is revealed.

Cross definitely feels edited-together, but as usual, Yam is rock solid as Lee Leung. It largely confirms our unspoken theorem that every Simon Yam film is worth seeing. Kenny Wong Tak-bun is also terrific as Prof. Cheung, an obsessively empathetic character worthy of his own franchise treatment (which stands no chance of happening). It is also amusing to see Nick Cheung appear in a small role just as his career was igniting.

You can readily see how if circumstances had been different, Cross might have worked quite well. It is still considerably exceeds the expectations established by its reputation. While it should not be anyone’s introduction to Hong Kong cinema, Yam fans will find its consistent moodiness strangely watchable. Consider this a bemused defense more than a recommendation now that it is available from Well Go USA.

As the Light Goes Out: HK’s Bravest

They love their firefighters in Hong Kong. It is easy to understand why when you do the math. Hong Kong has the world’s fourth highest population density, concentrated in a mere 426 square miles, built straight up into the sky. In such an environment, fire equals bad. Ordinarily, no conflagration could withstand the collective manliness of the HKFD, but all bets are off when one of their family members is trapped within the mother of all electrical fires in Derek Kwok’s As the Light Goes Out (trailer here), which releases today on DVD and digital platforms from Well Go USA.

This is supposed to Ho Wing-sam’s last duty day before transferring out of the Lung Kwu Tan station. Frankly, he has just been marking time since he was passed over for promotion, in favor of his more political astute former pal, Yip Chi-fai. His crusty old mentor Lee Pui-to is also due to retire imminently. Factor in the fact that it is Christmas Eve and you know it will not be long before a four-alarm fire breaks out.

Frustratingly, things would not have been so bad if it weren’t for careerist CYAing and denial. When Sam’s team gets the call for a winery fire in the New Territories, they initially extinguish it relatively swiftly. The responsible Ho starts taking a few additional preventative measures until Yip pressures him to return to the station, to help spit-polish everything for the chief-of-chief’s visit. Unfortunately, the winery is a little too close to the septic tank, which is a little too close to Hong Kong’s natural gas pipeline, which runs directly into the main power station. By the time Ho figures this out, the winery has reignited and the die is cast.

At least he has some good men to face down the colossal inferno, including old Lee, whose withering stare is usually sufficient to make most fires fizzle out. Despite his attempted hazing, the veteran fireman also quickly warms to Ocean, a forty-two year old immigrant rookie and former Mainland firefighter, who is still able to pass his physical training with perfect marks. He is assigned to help power plant engineer Ying Lan close the main pipeline, but her short-sighted boss over-rules their efforts at the plant level, making everything go boom. As if the stakes were not high enough already, the son of “Chill” Yau Bong-chiu, the firefighter who took the fall for Ho and Yip during an administrative inquiry, walked away from his school tour group and is now lost in the burning power plant.

ATLGO makes Backdraft look like an Oscar Wilde drawing room comedy. This is the ultimate one-darned-thing-after-another disaster film, featuring almost as many big name stars as The Towering Inferno. The fire truly rages and when particulate matter gets in the air, it become a massively combustive spectacle. Yet for sheer lunacy, nothing tops Jackie Chan’s early cameo (you’ll know it when you see it).

There will be no metrosexual whininess in ATLGO. Even though his mustache is kind of wimpy, Nicholas Tse is all man as “Sam” Ho, whereas Hu Jun is simply all Hulk as Ocean. Yet, nothing is stronger than Simon Yam’s attitude as the crafty old Lee. Fire-fighting is clearly still a man’s business in HK, but Michelle Bai Bing’s Ying convincingly supplies the brains of the film. Add the likes of Andy On, Shawn Yue, and Michelle Wai and you have no shortage of romantic leads playing supporting roles.

ATLGO is a rousingly old-fashioned film about heroism and sacrifice, but it also has a healthy contemporary contempt for bureaucracy and authority. It is sort of the best of both eras. Highly recommended for fans of fire-fighting action, As the Lights Go Out is now available on DVD, BluRay, and digital VOD from Well Go USA.

HK Cinema at SFFS ’14: The Midnight After

It turns out a web novelist by the name of Pizza has captured Hong Kong’s current uneasy zeitgeist with a tale of the Armageddon. As adapted for the big screen, it also involves the challenges of commuting and David Bowie. Hang on tight, because Fruit Chan’s The Midnight After (trailer here) is one heck of a wild ride that screens during the San Francisco Film Society’s annual Hong Kong Cinema series.

Most of the twenty-two Hong Kongers aboard the fateful mini-bus were not planning to be there. Suet, the driver, is covering for a colleague whose wife went into labor. You Chi-chi was anticipating a date with his girlfriend, but she canceled at the last minute. Junkie Blind Fai got on the wrong bus by mistake, whereas the distraught Yuki left a work social outing early after her lecherous boss summarily fired her. Hong Kong is bustling as ever leaving Kowloon, but when they drive through Lion Rock Tunnel towards the New Territories, the teeming masses and incessant traffic mysteriously vanish.

It seems they are the last people left in Hong Kong and the four students who got off at the first stop probably will not last long judging from their sudden symptoms. Trading cell numbers, the core group agrees to reunite in the morning to take stock of the rather dire situation. Soon they are simultaneously receiving bizarre calls that turn out to be the lyrics of Bowie’s “Space Oddity” in Morse Code. Then things really start to get strange, as the apparent apocalypse takes on both metaphysical and science fictional dimensions.

Frankly, we never figure out what is going on with absolute certainty, but we get a pretty good lesson in Hong Kong geography before the zombies show up. Reportedly, the film is also loaded with vernacular puns and wordplay that would even be lost on Mainland audiences, let alone Yankees, but it hardly matters. As it is, Midnight is absolutely bursting with madness.

It is also fully stocked with big named stars, including Simon Yam, naturally playing Wong Man-fat, a low level gangster who more or less assumes leadership of the ragtag group, with characteristic flair. Johnnie To repertory player Lam Suet is also perfectly cast as Suet the driver. Ironically, he probably gets bloodier in Midnight than in his recent To outings. Janice Man (or JM as she is also known, catchy that) is by turns vulnerable and unnerving as the seemingly innocent Yuki. Kara Hui still looks great and maintains plenty of edginess as Mak Sau-ying, a fortune teller-slash-insurance agent determined to do some post-apocalyptic business one way or the other.

Throughout Midnight Chan creates an uncomfortably realistic sense of what the end of the world might really feel like, but unlike Abel Ferrara’s cratering 4:44 Last Day on Earth, he uses it as the foundation of a tense and compelling (though admittedly logic challenged) narrative. Chan Fai-hung and Kong Ho-yan’s adaption of Pizza’s descriptively titled Lost on a Red Mini Van to Taipo nicely balances pitch black humor with moments of deep-seated anxiety-ridden existential drama.

Midinight is unremittingly dark, yet somehow it is still wildly entertaining. It represents a triumphantly off-kilter return to form for Chan, a former stalwart of indie HK cinema who found success producing rom-coms. He certainly doesn’t end the world with a whimper. Highly recommended for a broad cross section of cult cinema fans, The Midnight After screens this Saturday (11/15) as part of the SFFS’s 2014 edition of Hong Kong Cinema.

Iceman: He Cometh Anew

He Ying is sort of a Ming era Austin Powers. The disgraced Imperial Guard certainly kicks things off in a similar fashion when he is re-animated amidst modern day Hong Kong. Just why a cabal of shady characters was ferrying about his incubator in the first place is a question that may or may not be answered in Law Wing-cheong’s Iceman (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

In 1621, He Ying was set up by his comrade Cheung and their sworn brothers Sao and Niehu dutifully believed it. Flashforward to modern Hong Kong, where the truck carrying He Ying, Sao, and Niehu’s cryo-pods meets with a freak accident. He is the first to awaken, but Sao and Niehu soon start tracking him. Initially just as confused by the plot as the audience, He falls in with May, a Mainland immigrant supporting her institutionalized mother as a club hostess. It turns out he happens to have some very valuable knick-knacks on his person that will help pay her overdue bills. He also has some highly motivated enemies on his tail. Further complicating matters, his old nemesis Cheung is apparently serving as the deputy police commissioner.

Loosely based on Clarence Fok’s The Iceman Cometh, Law’s Iceman features a couple of awesome action scenes, but they come amid an awful lot of fish-out-of-water dilly-dallying. One thing you won’t find in there is a sense of resolution. Instead, it ends with a tease for the forthcoming part two. Wisely, it promises more action, because the characters and humor of part one may not have a lot of fans clamoring for more.

Of course, Donnie Yen is awesome getting down to business, but he looks about as stiff as four hundred year old warrior-cycle in his comedic scenes. Fortunately, the always reliable Simon Yam does his villainous thing as Cheung. Since Law is a Johnnie To protégé, you know it is only a matter of time before Lam Suet shows up. In this case, he largely steals the show as Tang, an outrageously crooked politician. Eva Huang Shengyi gives May a bit of an edge, which is nice, but Wang Baoqiang and Yu Kang are largely non-factors as the other icemen.

The big action set pieces will temporarily please genre diehards, but the humor just does not travel well. Still, hope springs eternal for part two. For part one, Yen and Lam fans can safely wait to rent, stream, or demand. Regardless, Iceman opens theatrically tomorrow (9/19) in New York at the AMC Empire.

Taiwan Film Days ’13: Ripples of Desire

Public health is a bit iffy on this Ming era floating island.  Medical misconceptions will lead to some very bad decisions.  Old fashioned passion and jealousy will only compound problems.  Love and leprosy are contagious in Zero Chou’s Ripples of Desire (trailer here), which screens during the San Francisco Film Society’s annual Taiwan Film Days.

White Snow is the most coveted courtesan in the House of Flowers, but she harbors a dark secret shared only with her sister, White Frost. Snow is in the early stages of leprosy.  As the sisters contrive ways to withdraw her from daily courtesan life, Frost supplants her as the favorite of their madam.  When the commerce-minded Moon discovers the truth, she commands Snow to seduce Wen, the new resident music teacher, to “transfer” her disease to him. 

Obviously, it does not work that way. Regardless, Snow is not inclined cooperate, because of her burgeoning feelings for the awkward pedagogue.  Meanwhile, Frost plays a dangerous game, spurning the affections of Scarface, her would-be lover-pirate, in favor of the well-heeled, but shallow Sir Li.  Whole-heartedly assuming the femme fatale role, Frost concocts a scheme with Li and Scarface’s Master Hai to fake the tea merchant’s abduction, funding their new life with the anticipated ransom.  However, Li’s wife, Lady Jen, disrupts the plan, unexpectedly arriving to handle the matter in person.  Her courage and beauty make quite the impression on Master Hai, despite his pseudo-relationship with Moon.

Right, there will be no shortage of betrayals in Ripples.  Given its cocktail of pirates, courtesans, and leprosy, it is safe to assume there will not be a lot of happily-ever-afters for anyone. Known for her lesbian-themed indie films, Chou branches out into more mainstream commercial territory here.  For a historical epic, Ripples is unusually stripped down and small in scope, but the intimate scenes crackle with love and intrigue.

Ivy Chen and Michelle Chen are not actually related, but they certainly look like sisters, just as they did in the relentlessly sweet rom-com Hear Me (a prior Taiwan Film Days alumnus).  The former is particularly impressive as the deeply complex Frost, while the latter trembles like a delicate orchid. 

Of course, Simon Yam brings the appropriate swagger as Master Hai, but he also nicely ups the tragically romantic ante in his scenes Li Xiaoran’s Lady Jen.  Frankly, he is the MVP amongst the guys, easily outclassing pop star Jerry Yan and TV star Joseph Cheng.

At times, Chou over indulges the stylization at the cost of narrative clarity, but there is no mistaking the ardor and yearning.  Indeed, it jerks the tears quite effectively.  Recommended for fans of tragic historical romance, Ripples of Desire screens this Sunday (11/3) at the Vogue Theatre, as part of the SFFS’s Taiwan Film Days.

Man of Tai Chi: Keanu Reeves and Tiger Chen Show Their Chops

It was Tiger Chen who really knew kung fu.  He was the stuntman responsible for Keanu Reeves’ martial arts training during the production of the Matrix trilogy and he made quite an impression.  For his directorial debut, Reeves introduces Chen to the world with his old school beatdown, Man of Tai Chi (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

“Tiger” Chen Lin-hu is the last student of Master Yang, a great Ling Kong Tai Chi teacher.  In contemporary Beijing, Tai Chi is mostly associated with old men doing their “soft” qigong in the park.  However, Chen is starting to get noticed in the above board MMA world for his traditional “hard” practice of the ancient discipline.  He also catches the eye of the shadowy Donaka Mark.  When shady developers conveniently threaten to condemn his master’s temple, the lowly deliveryman becomes easy prey for Mark’s overtures. 

Initially, Chen truly does not understand what he is getting involved in.  However, as he notches victories in Mark’s underground fight circuit, Chen starts to enjoy the money and adrenaline.  Unfortunately, the matches make him more aggressive, jeopardizing his relationships with his master and Qingsha, the cute-as-a-button paralegal helping him save the temple. Nonetheless, he cannot help noticing the stakes escalate with each bout. 

Hong Kong police captain Sun Jing-si knows where it all leads: fights to the death broadcast over secure online connections for Mark’s exclusive clientele.  Always a step behind the malevolent mastermind, she needs an informant to take the place of the one Mark just killed, someone like Chen, if she can find him.

With Tai Chi, Reeves had the good sense to make a film he would enjoy for his maiden directorial outing.  Frankly, he shows serious action helmer chops, staging fight sequences that are crystal clear and easy to follow.  There are no barrages of close-ups here.  Reeves gives us the full Fred Astaire body shots, precisely so we can appreciate the technique of his main man, Chen.

The results are convincing.  While Tai Chi is not the most original narrative under the sun, it deliberately harkens back to the gritty low budgets classics that launched the careers of legends.  Chen maybe is not the most expressive actor you will ever see (after all, Reeves is his thesp-mentor), but his earnest gee-whiz persona works well in the context of the film.  Oddly enough, Reeves is a bit of a surprise here, making a dynamite villain with his piercing stare and apparently insatiable appetite for the scenery around him.

Karen Mok is also seriously hardnosed as Sun, bringing real supporting heft to the film.  Simon Yam adds further HK action cred as Superintendent Wong, her suspiciously unhelpful superior.  Qing Ye is not exactly a natural on-screen either, but she still represents Chen’s lost innocence rather effectively.  Yet for genre fans, nobody tops Shaolin veteran Yu Hai, doing his thing with stately gravitas as Master Yang.  Bizarrely though, The Raid’s Iko Uwais is completely wasted in a mere tease of a cameo.

Reeves might not be Clint Eastwood’s successor as the next great actor-director, but Tai Chi is a pretty slick calling card.  If need be, he should easily find a second career as a straight-to-DVD action director, which is considerably higher praise than it sounds (those cats actually have to be good).  Likewise, Chen might not be the next Daniel Day-Lewis, but watching him kicking butt is hugely entertaining.  Way better than you think, Man of Tai Chi is recommended for martial arts fans and Karen Mok admirers when it opens this Friday (11/1) in New York.

Thieves: The Macao Job

In the movies, casinos exist just so they can be taken down.  However, one Korean criminal mastermind is not just pulling a heist because the casino is there, like Everest in downtown Macao.  He is out for payback.  Nor is he is not the only one looking to settle scores in Choi Dong-hoon’s Thieves (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

A monster hit in Korea, Thieves has just about all the classic heist movies elements.  There is Popie, the cynical ringleader, Yenicall, his hot new accomplice to shimmy about in Cat Woman suits, and her predecessor, Pepsee, fresh out of prison.  They have been recruited for a job in former Portuguese colony by the man Popie and Pepsee blame for her incarceration, their former partner, Macao Park.

After a rather unfortunate incident in an elevator shaft, Macao Park disappeared with a bag full of gold, reinventing himself as a bank breaker in Macao’s casinos, thereby earning his new moniker.  It is not the casino’s cash Park is after this time.  He is interested in the “Tear of the Sun,” a spectacular diamond a guest is storing in their vault.  That would be Tiffany, the mistress of mobbed-up fence Wei Hong.  The plan is to steal the diamond and sell it back to Hong, with the help of a Hong Kong crew led by the sly Chen (for the record, this will make them an even ten).  That might not sound like a very good plan, because it isn’t, but it’s not really what many of the conspirators have in mind.  There are a lot of agendas at play in Thieves that will inevitably lead to a series of crosses and double crosses.

Dripping with style, Thieves will draw obvious comparisons to the Oceans franchise, but it is rather better than that.  While there is comic relief here and there (mostly from Oh Dal-su’s crook, Andrew), Thieves is far edgier with very real sense of danger present throughout.  Nobody here mugs for the camera or tries to show the audience how much fun they are having.  They are professionals and not all of them are going to make it.

Thieves also has something else the Oceans lack: Simon Yam, bringing all kinds of HK action movie cred as the crafty old Chen.  This is a great part for him, allowing him to stretch out as he develops romantic chemistry with Kim Hae-suk’s “Chewing Gum,” the mature Korean con woman he has been paired up with. 

Yet, Yam does not quite out-grizzle Kim Yun-seok’s Macao Park.  Rumpled in a noir way, he could kick Clooney’s butt while still hung over, much like his breakout character in The Chaser (but not quite as dark).  Also recognizable to international audiences (from The Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, among other films), Gianna Jun makes flirtation looks dangerous as the seductive cat burglar Yennical.

Clearly, Choi was not afraid to cut loose with third act action sequences.  There will be no place for smug looks over champagne when it is all said and done, which is what makes it so refreshing.  An amped-up but pleasingly devious heist movie, Thieves is highly recommended for genre fans when it opens this Friday (10/12) in New York at the AMC Empire.

SFFS HK Cinema ’12: Nightfall

George Lam is like the Kurt Wallander of the Hong Kong police force.  At least, this inspector has good reason for being moody.  Still grieving his wife’s unexplained suicide, Lam will tackle a deeply disturbing case in Roy Chow Hin Yeung’s Nightfall (trailer here), which screens on the opening night of the San Francisco Film Society’s eagerly anticipated second annual Hong Kong Cinema Festival.

Eugene Wang has just been released from prison.  Convicted for the murder of a famous opera singer’s teenage daughter, he had to drastically harden himself to survive his sentence.  When said opera singer, Han Tsui, is discovered brutally beaten to death, suspicion naturally falls on Wang.  It is pretty clear though Tsui’s death is no great tragedy for his younger daughter, Zoe, who has grown to become the spitting image of Eva, the older sister she never knew she had.

Of course, Lam is the best and worst detective for a case like this.  A habitual scab-picker, he cannot help delving into the darker corners of the human psyche.  If you consider passing out dead drunk in the middle of the afternoon hard-boiled, than he is amongst the hardest boiled.  He is not much of a father though, nor is he a good candidate for romance.  Yet, his younger cuter partner Ying Au-yeung still has eyes for him, probably because he is played by Simon Yam.

Basically, Nighfall is a contest between Yam and Nick Cheung to see who can be more intensely wound up.  Cheung’s Wang probably wins that one, but Yam also brings an appealingly rumpled charisma to the party.  As a mystery, Christine To Chi-long’s script telegraphs every revelation well in advance, but it is a dynamic showcase for the antagonists, eventually going Mano-a-mano on a sky-gondola to Lantau.

Yam versus Cheung is definitely the main event here, but there are some fine contributions from the big name supporting cast.  Cantopop superstar Kay Tse is an energetic and realistically grounded presence as Ying, whereas the Shaw Brothers veteran Gordon Liu adds even more grizzle as an old corrupt copper.  Janice Man looks exquisitely ethereal as Zoe and Eva, but she never has much to express besides vulnerability. However, Michael Wong’s turn as the late Tsui is in a category by itself, beyond over-the-top.

Cinematographer Ardy Lam has a knack for shooting scenes at great heights while maintaining the noir vibe.  Frankly, the film might actually peak with the first scene—an adrenaline charged throwdown in a prison shower room, but Yam is always compulsively watchable and especially so here.  In fact, one can easily see his George Lam becoming a franchise character.  Very satisfying for fans of HK movies, Nightfall screens this Friday (9/21) at the New Peoples Cinema in San Francisco as part of the opening night of their 2012 Hong Kong Cinema Festival. 

Also screening Friday night is Pang Ho-cheung’s Love in the Buff, a well written look at the pitfalls of romance with a highly attractive cast and an appealingly swinging soundtrack.  Recommended for movie-goers looking for something smart but not too heavy, it also screens Sunday (9/23).  See the full review here.

HK at SFFS: Echoes of the Rainbow

Fifty years ago, there were still quiet family neighborhoods in Hong Kong, where everyone knew everyone’s business. Writer-director Alex Law pays tribute to this innocent world of his youth gone by in the unabashedly sentimental Echoes of the Rainbow (trailer here), Hong Kong’s recent official submission for best foreign language Oscar consideration, which screens during the San Francisco Film Society’s Hong Kong Cinema showcase.

Shot on-location around historic Wing Lee Street, Rainbow saved that last remnant of “old” (meaning 1960’s era) Hong Kong from redevelopment after his partly autobiographical feature won the 2010 Berlin Film Festival’s Crystal Bear in the children’s division. Run down but respectable, it is a neighborhood where a cobbler’s family might live. Times are difficult, but the Law Family sacrifices for the sake of older brother Desmond’s education. A star in the classroom and on the track field, all their hopes rest in him.

As for the slightly klepto younger brother, not so much, but “Big Ears” has his own dreams of becoming an astronaut. This explains the fishbowl he often wears around town like a space-helmet. In fact, fish factor prominently in Rainbow. Desmond fights and bonds with his younger brother over the fish they keep. Fish also play a role in the older Law’s tentative courtship of the ridiculously cute Flora. Unfortunately, just about every imaginable tear-jerking complication will thwart their budding romance.

There is absolutely no irony in Rainbow—zero, none. Instead, it wears its heart on its sleeve, which is completely endearing. Buzz Chung is a legitimately charismatic young actor, who handles Big Ears’ heavy dramatic moments quite convincingly. Whereas the photogenic Aarif Rahman and Evelyn Choi should also well satisfy tweener fans of sappy CW/WB youth soaps.

However, Simon Lam provides the real heart of the film as Mr. Law. His initial appearance is deceptively simple, a grunting man hunched over his workbench. Slowly but surely, Lam expresses with exquisite nuance all the dignity, humility, and desperation of a father who only wants a better life for his sons. It is also rewarding for American audiences to watch Lam in such a departure from his frequent gangster roles in Johnnie To movies (even though those are profoundly cool). Known more for comedic turns, Sandra Oh does a bit of fast-talking as Mrs. Law, but develops some genuinely touching chemistry with Lam. Together, they are simply devastating in late scenes, as they struggle to save their son.

Shot with gauzy sensitivity by cinematographer Charlie Lam, every aspect of Rainbow aches with wistful nostalgia. While it might sound melodramatic at times, the film’s honesty and sweetness cannot be denied. Though probably too tragic for small children, many parents and pre-teens should find it an engaging respite from the jaded cynicism of Hollywood. Yet another official foreign language Oscar submission that is considerably better than this year’s winner, Rainbow screens Saturday (9/25) at the New Peoples Cinema as part of SFFS’s Hong Kong Cinema series.

NYICFF ’11: Echoes of the Rainbow

Fifty years ago, there were still quiet family neighborhoods in Hong Kong, where everyone knew everyone’s business. Writer-director Alex Law pays tribute to this innocent world of his youth gone by in the unabashedly sentimental Echoes of the Rainbow (trailer here), Hong Kong’s recent official submission for best foreign language Oscar consideration, which screens during the 2011 New York International Film Festival.

Shot on-location around historic Wing Lee Street, Rainbow saved that last remnant of “old” (meaning 1960’s era) Hong Kong from redevelopment after his partly autobiographical feature won the 2010 Berlin Film Festival’s Crystal Bear in the children’s division. Run down, but respectable, it is a neighborhood where a cobbler’s family might live. Times are difficult, but the Law Family sacrifices for the sake of older brother Desmond’s education. A star in the classroom and on the track field, all their hopes rest in him.

As for the slightly klepto younger brother, not so much. However, “Big Ears” has his own dreams of becoming an astronaut. This explains the fishbowl he often wears around town like a space-helmet. In fact, fish factor prominently in Rainbow. Desmond fights and bonds with his younger brother over the fish they keep. Fish also play a role in the older Law’s tentative courtship of the ridiculously cute Flora. Unfortunately, just about every imaginable tear-jerking complication will thwart their budding romance.

There is absolutely no irony in Rainbow—zero, none. Instead, it wears its heart on its sleeve, which is rather endearing. Buzz Chung is a legitimately charismatic young actor, who handles Big Ears’ heavy dramatic moments quite convincingly. Aarif Rahman and Evelyn Choi should also well satisfy tweener fans of sappy CW/WB youth soaps.

Yet, Simon Lam provides the real heart of the film as Mr. Law. His initial appearance is deceptively simple, a grunting man hunched over his workbench. Slowly but surely, Lam expresses with exquisite nuance all the dignity, humility, and desperation of a father who only wants a better life for his sons. It is also rewarding for American audiences to watch Lam in such a departure from his frequent gangster roles in Johnnie To movies (even though those are profoundly cool). Known more for comedic turns, Sandra Oh does a bit of fast-talking as Mrs. Law, but develops some genuinely touching chemistry with Lam. They are painfully believable as struggling parents and as a long married couple.

Shot with gauzy sensitivity by cinematographer Charlie Lam, every aspect of Rainbow aches with wistful nostalgia. Though it is certainly melodramatic at times, the film’s honesty and sweetness cannot be denied. Probably too tragic for small children, many parents and pre-teens should find it an engaging respite from the jaded cynicism of Hollywood. Yet another official foreign language Oscar submission that is considerably better than this year’s winner, Rainbow screens Saturday March 19th at the Asia Society as part of the 2011 NYICFF.