Johnnie To’s Three

The title comes from a truncated Confucius quote regarding humility that sort of works in the original Cantonese Chinese context. In Western markets, it vaguely seems to relate to the central trio of characters, whose pride most likely will cometh before a fall. However, knowing fan favorite Lam Suet has a considerable supporting role will probably be much more interesting to American audiences than the participation of C-pop star Wallace Chung, especially considering this is a Johnnie To film. Although it is smaller in scope than his gangster classics, To still delivers the goods in Three (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

It has been a bad day for Dr. Tong Qian —and it will soon get far worse. She has had a string of unfortunate surgeries, including the now partially paralyzed young man, who constantly berates her whenever she walks through the recovery ward. Of course, she is hardly the sort of doctor to admit a mistake. This is all beside the point to her latest hard case patient.

Frankly, Inspector Chen hoped his prisoner would never make it to the hospital. That bullet wound to the head was no accident. Yet, in a freakish turn of fate, the bullet became precariously lodged in the perp’s skull. The prognosis would be decent if he would consent to surgery, but the armed robber refuses. Instead, he bides his time fully conscious, waiting for his gang to break him loose. Inspector Chen figures they are coming, but they are actually already there.

Granted, Three isn’t Election or Drug War or [insert your favorite Johnnie To movie here], but it is a lean and mean, finely tuned thriller machine. It also further demonstrates To’s ability to get the best out of HK superstar Louis Koo, who broods like a monster as the hard-nosed but slightly neurotic Inspector Chen. Vicki Zhao Wei really plays against type, out-angsting Koo as the insecure doctor with the sub-par bedside manner. Chung chews the scenery with cinematic glee, more than exceeding expectations, but Lam Suet makes the film as the sad sack member of Chen’s task force. He starts out as comic relief, but gets serious as a heart attack in the second act.

Any HK thriller set in a hospital is bound to bring to mind John Woo’s Hard Boiled, but To goes for more of an intimate Desperate Hours kind of vibe, pulling it off quite nicely. Still, he must be cognizant of the echoes, since he throws in a Battleship Potemkin reference for good measure. Regardless, it all adds up to a lot of fun. Recommended for fans of the action auteur and his big name cast, To’s Three opens this Friday (6/24) in New York, at the AMC Empire.

Lost in Hong Kong: The Blockbuster Franchise Continues

How lost can two Mainlanders get in Hong Kong? Sure, there is the whole Cantonese vs. Mandarin thing, but the latter has become much more prevalent since 1997. However, Xu Lai’s annoying brother-in-law could get lost anywhere. The problem is the would-be documentarian never stays lost for long. He dogs the middle-aged brassiere manufacturer every step of the way as he attempts reconnect with an old flame in Xu Zheng’s Lost in Hong Kong (trailer here), which releases today on DVD and BluRay from Well Go USA.

In 1995, Xu was passionate art student romancing his bombshell classmate, Yang Yi, but whenever they tried to have a quiet romantic moment, events conspired against them. Through a twist of fate, Xu wound up marrying Cai Bo (nicknamed “Spinach”) from the management school and shelving his dubious artistic ambitions to work for her father’s ladies undergarments business. For twenty years, he kept wondering what could have been, so when Yang invites him to the opening of her latest retrospective, Xu resolves to sneak out for that long-denied smooch. Unfortunately, Spinach’s over-indulged younger brother Cai Lala is determined to film Xu for his ill-conceived documentary.

During the brief sit-down Xu grants him, the aggressively irritating Lala unknowingly films a murder transpiring in the opposite high-rise. The cops and killer will want to get their hands on Cai’s camera, but they will have to follow the quarreling brothers-in-law they dash through Hong Kong on a series of misadventures.

Like the old Hope-Crosby “Road” movies, the three “Lost” films are only loosely related thematically, usually involving some form of travel, while featuring a wackily mismatched duo. At this point, Xu Zheng is the main constant, having starred as the straight man half of the bickering tandems and serving as director and co-writer of the second two installments.

Without question, Hong Kong represents a significant step-up in quality from Lost in Thailand (which was the highest grossing Chinese film until Monster Hunt came along). There is still plenty of broad slapsticky humor, but the melodrama involving Xu’s college love triangle is surprisingly potent. Xu Zheng shrewdly takes his time establishing the relationships in a ten minute prologue that is charmingly nostalgic, even if you were not attending a Chinese university at the time. Throughout the film, he frequently tips his hat to the iconic HK films of the nineties and stocks the soundtrack with the era’s popular Cantopop hits. As a result, the more deeply steeped viewers are in HK pop culture, the richer they will find the Lost in Hong Kong viewing experience.

Still, for those who don’t know Ringo Lam from Ringo Starr, Xu ends it with a nifty action-suspense sequence set high in the air amid a skyscraper construction site. It is cleverly choreographed and entails some real drama. Granted, the horrendously shticky Cai Lala needs to be euthanized, but in general, Hong Kong is more grounded and less over-the-top goofy than its blockbuster predecessor.

By now, Xu Zheng is an expert at holding his own opposite outrageous loons, but he is also quite solid in his quiet scenes with Du Juan’s Yang Yi and (Vicki) Zhao Wei’s Cai Bo (seriously, he settled for Vicki Zhao?). Let’s just say Bao Bei’er’s work as Cai Lala doesn’t travel well (just like his character). However, cult director Wong Jing brings down the house in an extended cameo of himself, duly filming on the streets guerrilla-style, sans permit. Actually sort of recommended as a comedy unembarrassed to show its sentimental side, Lost in Hong Kong is now available on DVD, BluRay and digital formats, from Well Go USA.

14 Blades, Wielded by Donnie Yen

The Jinyiwei were one of the earliest forerunners of the Secret Service, but they soon became one of the first secret police organizations. Their original mandate was to protect the Ming Emperor, but they quickly became a law unto themselves. Feared and despised, Jinyiwei agents lived short and lonely lives. Nobody understands this better than Qinglong, who persists at any cost to complete what he assumes will be his final assignment in Daniel Lee’s 14 Blades (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

As a Jinyiwei, Qinglong carries the service’s notorious 14 blades: eight are devised for torture, five for fighting (so to speak), and one is designed for a Jinyiwei’s final exit. Like many of his brothers, Qinglong survived a brutal recruitment process when he was only just a child. He still carries the emotional scars from his baptism of fire, so the sense of betrayal is particularly acute when he discovers the Jinyiwei leadership has been corrupted by their eunuch commander, Jia Jingzhong.

Realizing his was set-up during his latest mission, Qinglong goes rogue, seeking the missing imperial seal Jia and his ally, the treasonous Prince Qing, intend to use to legitimize their power grab. Although outnumbered, Qinglong will recruit key allies, retaining the services of the nearly bankrupt Justice Escort Agency (and developing a doomed attraction to proprietor Qiao Yong’s rebellious daughter, Qiao Hua in the process). He will also forge an alliance with a notorious highwayman known as “The Judge” and his Heaven Eagles Gang, who will get to keep all the gold the conspirators are transporting with the Macguffin seal.

14 Blades does not exactly break a lot of new wuxia ground, but the striking Yinchuan desert locations distinguishes it from the field. Kate Tsui (2004 Miss Hong Kong) also makes a memorable nemesis as Tuo Tuo, Prince Qing’s adopted daughter. She her serpentine lash is a fearsome weapon, but the way she sheds her apparently animated robes to disorient her opponents does not make much sense (nor is it done for purposes of titillation). She has the fight chops though, which is the important. When she and Qinglong finally go at it in earnest, their showdown does not disappoint.

In the Ip Man franchise and Dragon (a.k.a. Wu Xia), Donnie Yen proved he can be enormously charismatic and engaging on-screen, but he can also be a tad distant and aloof in lesser films. Frankly, it takes a while to warm to his icy Qinglong, but eventually he forges some nicely tragic romantic chemistry with (Vicki) Zhao Wei’s pure-hearted Qiao Hua. However, Wu Chun nearly upstages Yen as the bold and impulsive Judge. When Qinglong faces him and Tsui’s Tuo Tuo, the film really takes flight. However, it is also pleasing to see crafty veterans, like the late Wu Ma and the great Sammo Hung appearing as Qiao Yong and Prince Qing, respectively.

14 Blades boasts some spectacular action, exotic scenery, and a cautionary message about absolute power and its inevitable abuses. It might not be Yen’s best work, but he responds to the first class ensemble surrounding him. A quality wuxia production, 14 Blades is recommended for serious fans and casual viewers alike when it opens this Friday (8/22) in select theaters and also launches on TWC-Radius’s VOD platforms.

NYCFF ’13: So Young

The Deng era is in full swing, so that means China is getting down to business, especially university students.  A few still find themselves preoccupied by love, but reality will trump storybook endings in Red Cliff actress Vicki Zhao Wei’s smash hit feature directorial debut, So Young (trailer here), which opens this year’s New York Chinese Film Festival.

When Zheng Wei first encounters Chen Xiaozheng, there is so much friction, it must be love.  Frankly, she is not in the mood for romance.  She only enrolled in their civil engineering university to be with her boyfriend from back home.  Arriving to discover he has mysteriously dropped out, she carries on as best she can.  For the most part, she gets on well with her three roommates, particularly Ruan Guan, a tragic beauty with an equally problematic boyfriend.

After a disastrous first meeting, Zheng initially declares war on Chen, but quickly recognizes her true feelings.  Soon she starts pursuing the dirt poor scholarship student in a manner that rather embarrasses both him and her friends.  Romances blossoms over time, but it will not last. Upon graduation, everyone splits up, eventually reconnecting years later as dissatisfied professionals in the big city.

So Young sort of mirrors the college experience, flirting with outright preciousness during its early courtship scenes, meandering somewhat in the immediate aftermath of graduation, but coming together quite powerfully down the stretch.  One could think of it as the Chinese St. Elmo’s Fire, but the drama is crisper and more honest, but the soundtrack is not nearly as catchy.

Yang Zishan anchors the film with unexpected grit, vividly illustrating how youthful pluckiness gives way to jaded toughness.  She commands So Young, but Mark Chao counterbalances her rather effectively as the ever so reserved Chen.  However, the film’s real discovery Cya Liu as Zheng’s spirited tomboy-ish roommate Zhu Xiaobei, who makes the small but intriguing supporting role something special.

Somehow Zhao shoehorns a barrel full of subplots into a fairly brisk one hundred and thirty-one minutes.  She precipitously changes the tone on a dime, but allows good scenes sufficient time to fully play out.  Indeed, So Young is a fascinating corrective to Chinese language rom-coms, where love always wins out, such as the All’s Well Ends Well franchise.  While not a complete downer, it certainly ends in an ambiguous place, which is cool.  If not exactly perfect, So Young’s rough edges are sort of appealing overall.  Recommended for fans of good looking melodrama, So Young screens as the 2013 New York Chinese Film Festival’s red carpet opening night selection this Tuesday (11/5) at Alice Tully Hall.