sccoverton Reviews

September 11: The New Pearl Harbor (2013)

Compelling, whether you believe the theories or not

[8/10 · 10 July 2015]

I write this review only to provide some sense of balance, as at the time of writing there is only one other review on here.

I have no particular opinion on whether 9/11 was an inside job or not, neither do I believe in the New World Order or anything else like that. I was attracted to this film by its length and by how its arguments are constructed using publicly-available documentation, news footage, and the arguments of its /detractors/. There are some talking heads in support of the overall argument, but they are kept to a minimum. It is, in a way, an excellent example of the socratic method, whereby simply questioning a person (or organisation, or government) on its stance can cause it to break down and refute itself.

As such, it is a compelling watch. I watched it in two sittings in one day, and I didn't really feel the time. The arguments are carefully chosen, supported and summarised, each one with a single, simple question aimed at the proponents of the official story. Whatever you believe about 9/11, this is an admirably constructed documentary that is very clear in its purpose and demonstrates the kind of research and insight that is only possible in the Internet age, where disparate people of a shared mind can combine their time and resources and produce something way beyond the sum of their parts.

And to be honest, if you watch this you will at least be made aware of the very fluid nature of "truth" in a late-capitalist world, if not entirely swayed to the side of those who question the official 9/11 story. I recommend this to anyone who cares - or thinks they care - about truth, freedom and democracy.

Naked Comes the Huntress (1978)

A dull whole, despite promising parts

[3/10 · 28 June 2013]

Naked Comes the Huntress opens with three travellers in the snowy wastes of Mongolia, hunting for valuable ginseng that will make them rich. As they battle the elements and the threat of starvation they come across a woman lying naked (but very much alive) in the snow surrounded by the wild minks of the region. The treasure-hunters approach her and fall into her trap, and ultimately discover that this woman will tear them apart and lead one of them to murder and betrayal.

If my synopsis sounds good, that's because the individual parts are, in themselves, quite appealing. The illusive (and naked) Mien Mien, the snowy wastes, the three travellers, the legend of the ginseng that will bring them untold riches, the kung fu (promised on the DVD cover). But the film fails to deliver on every single one of these. Even as the story progresses and further appealing elements are introduced - such as corrupt monks and the possibility of mental breakdown - it fails to deliver on these. For example, the film opens with the travellers depicted in vast snowy vistas, evoking Lawrence of Arabia at times, and yet by the end of the film these have been ditched for back-lot and studio locations, all of which are conspicuously snow-free. There is very little kung fu, and what there is is quite pedestrian. The ginseng becomes a very simple plot contrivance (not even a MacGuffin), and the Huntress, together with her Nakedness, very soon lose all their mystery. She even disappears out of the story for long periods after the first act and is soon reduced to a supporting character. All of which makes this quite a dull watch and a missed opportunity, considering the rather intriguing first 10 minutes.

The best thing to be said about this film is the characters of the travellers and how their relationships shift and change as their loyalties are tested from within and without. That this kind of character development could be achieved within such a dull plot is surprising, and suggests that this film was compromised by someone further down the line than the writer.

This film is notable perhaps for having a Chinese actress doing nude scenes, rather than bringing a Japanese actress in as was (and still is) the usual practice.

Not worth watching, unless you're a completist of some sort.

Seven Years Itch (1987)

Fine b-movie rom-com from early Johnnie To

[6/10 · 18 June 2013]

Raymond (Raymond Wong) is a introverted office clerk with the dreaded Seven Year Itch. Endlessly badgered by his live-in "wife", Sylvia (Sylvia Chang), who is obsessed with Chinese opera, by his busy-body mother-in-law, and by his reckless brother-in-law John (Eric Tsang), Raymond spends much of his day ogling girls in the street and in the office and listening to his colleagues' stories of their sexual conquests. When his boss offers him a promotion and business trip to Singapore, Raymond realises he can finally get his marriage to Sylvia registered, whilst also getting a chance to scratch that itch of his once and for all. Alone on the flight to Singapore, Raymond meets Siu Hung (Nina Li), a petty diamond thief, who has singled him out for flirtation that is far from harmless, and soon their fates are inextricably intertwined...

Two of Robert McKee's story "commandments" are: 'Thou shalt not make life easy for the protagonist' and 'Thou shalt seek the end of the line, taking characters to the farthest reaches and depth of conflict imaginable within the story's own realm of probability'. And this film really takes those maxims to heart! What starts out as a mild and charming-because-of-its-age sex comedy turns into a grand farce as Raymond faces the multiplicating consequences of his flirtation with Siu Hung in Singapore. The amount of coincidences, bad luck, wrong-place- wrong-time, and misunderstandings that conspire against Raymond are terrific, and yet at the end we genuinely care for his character and want him not only to do the right thing, but also to have the right thing come to him.

There are plenty of visual gags, some of which are predictable (naked man perched outside a hotel window anyone?) and some of which are laugh- out-loud funny, and the actors do their comedy with aplomb, especially Eric Tsang in a small role. Maggie Cheung also makes a quick appearance. It's easy to see how Johnnie To became as well respected as he has done with early work like this. Definitely worth a watch.

Also, watch the end credits for an amusing "warning" about the Seven Year Itch!

Men Suddenly in Love (2011)

Wong Jing recycles an 80s script... with pseudo models!

[5/10 · 28 January 2012]

Wong Jing, Eric Tsang and three other cronies, on the occasion of their teacher Master Jude's 80th birthday celebrations, encounter five beautiful, buxom girls (Chrissie Chau, Carol Yeung and three other pseudo models) and fall in lust... sorry, "love". What follows is a tangled web of deception as the men try to keep their trysts secret from their wives, but are the wives actually in on it all? I'm not entirely sure who in the Hong Kong cinema-going market these films are aimed at, being at once rather puerile and shallow, but populated by actors from a previous generation, and at once filled with scantily-clad bikini models, yet essentially being romantic comedies. Still, they do exist and are pretty much all that's left of a once very special local industry.

What struck me whilst watching this film was its similarity to a 1988 Wong Jing film, also starring himself and Eric Tsang and their friends and focusing on their attempts to win over five young, beautiful girls by following the dubious advice of a "love expert". Perhaps Wong Jing is recycling his scripts.

Anyway, whether or not you get the in-jokes (or can have a Hong Konger explain them to you) it is a rather shallow, silly film, but for the most part it's good clean fun and doesn't take itself too seriously.

How to Pick Girls Up (1988)

Fairly average 1980s Wong Jing relationships comedy

[2 November 2011]

I don't have much to add to ewa-3's excellent review, so I will summarise what I agree with and add what I feel is missing.

Yes, it's rather distasteful (the term "politically incorrect" implies that such negative judgment is prudish or somehow undeserved, whereas this film is often deliberately offensive and unpleasant), and yes, it's of its time, although I can't say that attitudes in Hong Kong towards the mentally disabled, size-ism, racism, sexism, domestic violence or suicide have particularly changed in 25 years.

Yes, the girls are beautiful.

Yes, it's difficult not to think ahead to what these actresses would become, especially Maggie Cheung. If nothing else, she demonstrates quite a range here, from absurd to sentimental.

I think it also needs to be mentioned that this film has a very jerky pace, owing to the fact that it's very episodic and that the four main characters are connected to each other tenuously at best and their stories are told almost in series, rather than in parallel. The film also sometimes suffers from what it needs to do to set up twists for later on in the plot, including what seems to be a complete change in tone (and even genre) for the last reel.

It should also perhaps be mentioned how Eric Tsang shines in this film, somehow being caricature-ish but, unlike the other actors in the film, playing everything straight-faced and without pantomime. His high-pitched voice goes at a machine gun pace (at least, it does in the Cantonese dub) and some of the jokes go by so fast it's hard to get them all first time watching.

Finally, it's worth mentioning how this is a late Shaw Brothers film, comparable with Girl with the Diamond Slippers for its actors, director and overall tone. It is unclear whether it was filmed in Mandarin or Cantonese, or dubbed into both regardless of what was spoken on set, which makes it a little hard to judge or appreciate what the actors are doing, especially in a film where the dialogue is so rich. Still, as with many of these late Shaw Bros / early Maggie Cheung / Wong Jing films, it's worth a watch, if just the one.

Zhuo shu ji (1974)

Shaw Bros B-Movie ticks boxes, but little more.

[12 July 2011]

The Rat Catcher follows the adventures of single father Lin (Liu, Lu Hua) as he tries to scrape a living in the mean streets of Hong Kong and keep his children in their New Territories nursery. In doing so, he continually comes into contact with bumbling traffic cop Brother Neoi and sassy pickpocket Anna ("Tanny" Tien Ni). The former finds that arresting Lin (with his acquiescence) gets him rapidly promoted, and the latter finds the man to be a soft touch and rips him off at every opportunity, even as she scams shop owners, tourists and just about everyone else. Still, Lin and Anna have more than a little in common and they strike up a partnership in petty crime. They soon find that their obligations to Brother Neoi, and each other, run deeper than they thought.

This is a nice film, but nothing more. Many scenes feel like filler and it's often contrived and predictable. However, like many of the Shaw Bros films, it captures an interesting moment in Hong Kong's past - the chase through Central is like stepping into the past (and it looks like it was shot guerrilla-style!); the costumes and hairstyles are straight out of a 1970s clothing catalogue; and there are elements of the kind of screwball cop comedies and rom-coms that were so characteristic of 70s and 80s Hong Kong movies.

Still, there's no denying that this is a B picture, and probably only for fans of the lovely Tanny (Tien Ni) in what is likely one of her better roles. The film has been restored for DVD as part of Celestial Pictures excellent Shaw Bros reissue programme, but only in the Mandarin version.

Hex (1980)

Interesting Shaw Bros horror flick - watch it for the last 15 mins.

[12 July 2011]

Hex follows an uneasy menage a trois in a traditional Chinese mansion where fear, paranoia, and violence consume everyone unfortunate enough to come near. "Tanny" Tien Ni plays Madam Chan, a woman dying of consumption. Her abusive alcoholic husband, Yeung, played by Wang Jung divides his time between drinking and abusing her and the help, which shortly consists of just Yi Wah (Chen Szu Chia), a newly-arrived family friend from the country. When murder comes to mind as a way out of this claustrophobic situation, the characters stir up more evil than they can cope with.

I've not seen Diabolique, which this film supposedly borrows heavily from, but I think that Hex owes a lot to the Hammer films of the 60s and 70s. Lonely house, check; interpersonal problems, check; plot twists, check check; little exposition bits done in voice-over, check check check! This film could do with 15-20 minutes being snipped out of it, and it relies on a lot of techniques that now look very hackneyed - the mirror there-but-not-there thing, the soundtrack bumps... Still, one of the final scenes - which it is no spoiler to say is a kind of exorcism - is weird, wonderful, erotic, creepy and very surprising. The penultimate scene is also genuinely quite disturbing. Tanny gives a good performance, as do the other two. For what is a pretty standard horror flick, a consistent message runs through the various twists and character developments: that fear and violence come from within as much as from without, and that vengeance is often too easily taken. Ultimately, no one can claim the moral high ground.

Overall, this is a flawed but interesting horror that saves its imagination for its last 15 minutes. It has been nicely restored by Celestial Pictures for their Shaw Bros rerelease programme.

Mo deng xian lu qi yuan (1985)

Typically variable Wong Jing fare, but a nice screwball comedy nonetheless

[12 July 2011]

Two hopeless housebreaker brothers, Ah Chi and Fatty (Nat Chen and Wong Jing), steal a diamond that had already been earmarked by a criminal gang. Through a series of unfortunate and - frankly - unlikely events, the diamond ends up in the shoe of a rising star TV actress Cheung Man Ju (Maggie Cheung). They pursue her all over Hong Kong until finally tracking her down at a charity ball where (you guessed it) she must leave by midnight, and accidentally loses a shoe in the process.

This is a genuinely funny film that has stood the test of time. There's plenty of slapstick, comic book violence, wordplay gags (that even work in translation), and sexual and romantic comedy. It is, even at 89 minutes, about 5 or 10 minutes too long, with a beach section near the end that could easily have been excised. Still, the plot is engaging and complex without being confusing, and it builds to a nice climax.

Girl With the Diamond Slipper, was released in 1985 making it one of the last Shaw Bros productions before they effectively shut up shop. It showcases two of the Hong Kong movie industry's titans early in their careers: Maggie Cheung, all chubby-faced and buck-toothed, but still astoundingly beautiful, and Wong Jing, directing and acting. Wong Jing is famously prolific, and while there is always something new and interesting (and often surprising or even shocking) in each of his films, he very much works to a formula and its not hard to tell that he was producing several films and TV series every year at this time. But this film stands up for the most part and doesn't feel too much like hack work.

It's worth a watch if you're a Maggie Cheung or Wong Jing fan, but there are better 80s HK stupid crook films out there.

Tennen kajû Sayaka (2009 Video)

Cute and Careless Film

[3/10 · 18 April 2011]

Sayaka has the perfect body, but is clueless about boys. It is her dream to seduce the most popular boy in school, Itan... Etc, etc... Yawn.

Gravure model Rui Kiriyama plays hopeless repressed and inarticulate schoolgirl Sayaka, and it's not clear whether this is intended as super-soft-porn or is actually aimed at Japanese teenagers. Perhaps both. Perhaps the two aren't mutually exclusive. Anyway, while these Asian school sex comedies are kind of a genre unto themselves (and probably worthy of a Media Studies dissertation), I wouldn't bother unless you are a specialist (or an Asian teenager).

3-D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy (2011)

The World's First 3D Sex Film, indeed...

[6/10 · 17 April 2011]

A 3D sex movie, especially one produced in Hong Kong and especially one with a pedigree such as the Sex and Zen movies from the 1990s, should be a lot of fairly harmless fun. There should be plenty of double entendres (and single entendres!), plenty of bosoms heaving out across the audience, and a plot that is as uncomplicated as the sexual positions are complicated.

For the most part, '3D Sex & Zen: Extreme Ecstasy' is that film. Extremely handsome boy meets extremely beautiful girl. They make a lot of love, but something's not right. So, the handsome boy goes off to consult various masters in hopes of improving things. That's the first half of the film. Rather unfortunately, the second half turns to violence, sadism, rape and torture, and where five minutes ago one was chuckling about the protagonist declaring "I must make love to ten women at the same time", suddenly one is faced with genital mutilation, followed by rape, then more genital mutilation, followed by... Well, you get the idea with that one.

I suppose a film has to go in a direction, and a sex film especially, once the thrill of seeing the actors and actresses naked has waned somewhat. It can become increasingly absurd and nihilistic, like many Russ Meyer films; change tack and take in another exploitation genre (such as, ummm, 'Zombie Strippers'?); or go for a message, which more often than not is 'actually, this much sex isn't that good for you' (take 'Austin Powers', if you will). 3D Sex & Zen goes somewhere between all three, and despite being about 20 minutes too long, somehow fails to deliver satisfactorily on any count.

The message that it does have is sweet, however, and understandable to people of all nations. And there's something charming about the fact that in Hong Kong, 3D Sex & Zen made more than Avatar on its opening day. Overall, it's worth a watch, perhaps more for what it is than what it says.

Avatar (2009)

An expensive b-movie

[5/10 · 26 December 2009]

Avatar is a five-out-of-ten-star film. Not bad, but not excellent by any means.

Avatar fails for several reasons: 1) It's a Vietnam film (albeit with a SF bent), many many years too late. The Vietnam film started with "Apocalypse Now" and finished with "Full Metal Jacket", and the canon includes everything in between. There was no reason to rehash it and nothing has been achieved by doing so. Cameron adds nothing to the Vietnam genre, nor the SF world.

2) Despite the nice (but only "nice") backstory that exists for the Na'Vi and the white Americans (who represent all human beings, of course), the story itself is dull, predictable and not worth the time it takes to tell (some /ten-star/ reviews on IMDb even knowledge this - nuts!) In fact, story-wise it's a very expensive b-movie. The characters are unsympathetic (white knucklehead soldier has coming of age experience with foreign land/culture/woman; James Cameron forces another woman (or the same woman, for the second time) into a man's costume/role/story arc), and there are few surprises or story developments to reward our patience. The casting is also very woolly - Worthington, like his character, is expendible, Weaver chews scenery and channels too much Ripley, Rodriguez is rubbish /again/, and Lang is almost cartoonish (although, in many ways his performance sits the most comfortably).

3) The Na'Vi are irritatingly orientalist. They are a quite unsubtle blend of the United States' lack of understanding of Asian and African cultures. While Sam Worthington's blundering has a certain quality of self-reflexiveness, ultimately, the Na'vi culture is a collection of "preconceived archetypes which envision all 'Eastern' societies as fundamentally similar to one another, and fundamentally dissimilar to 'Western' societies." 4) The digital looks crappy, even (especially?) in 3D. The neon green/blue palette does for cinema what it does for cars - makes it look falsely flash and after a while it reveals its shallowness. Also, the Na'Vi feel false, wooden, despite their 3D Mo-Cap yadda-yadda technology. Sorry, but Jim Henson's stuff still feels exponentially more real than this simply because the things captured by the camera WERE REAL! I would compare Avatar to the Hammer film "One Million Years BC": essentially a good b-movie with effects that are impressive but definitely "of their time", making the film itself a curio of the same.

I predict that this will be James Cameron's greatest flop, dollar-for-dollar, soundbite-for-soundbite. Don't get carried away by the King Of The World's hype.

Lost in Beijing (2007)

Beijing bothering, festival favouring film breaks few taboos

[5/10 · 23 July 2009]

Peng Guo is the story of a young provincial Chinese woman in Beijing, Liu Pengguo, caught between the sexual and financial desires and demands of her husband, An Kun, and her boss, Lin Dong.

It is said that all cultures pass through certain distinctive stages before reaching decadence and decline. I would like to think that one of these stages, one that comes somewhere towards the end of industrialisation, relates to the need to make rather miserable social realist films with wobbly camera work, jump cuts, shallow focus, piano scores in minor keys, and long takes of (non-professional) actors "acting", which win Golden Somethings at European film festivals. China, it appears, is no exception.

OK, I'll admit to being cynical. It is clearly a well-funded, well-produced, and well-observed drama. And I suppose that social realist films don't generally have happy endings, so I shouldn't be smug about that either. Yet, if I had to distil my criticism down to one thing it would be the director's wilful conformity to the "genre". I find myself yearning for Zhang Yimou's films of the late eighties and early nineties, when Chinese film had a real sense of identity. Now it seems to be a mish-mash of various Western influences and little substance, a bit like Mando-pop (just with less smiling). This "conformity" takes on an ironic edge, not just because it was made under a communist government, but because the government banned it. In addition, the producers have been banned from making another film in China for two years, which strikes me as being just enough time to promote this film in Europe, write another one and get some European funding for it! OK, OK, still being cynical. It is a good film. The script is engaging and occasionally quite surprising (especially as we all know it's going to end in tears). The acting is good all round, especially thanks to two Asian cinema stalwarts Tony Leung Ka Fai and Elaine Jin (think Robert De Niro and... um... Juliette Binoche?) playing the boss and his wife, Wang Mei. Elaine Jin steals the show really, creating a character who is both impetuous and enigmatic at the same time. There are some nice insights into Beijing life, which are welcome post-Olympics razzmatazz. The direction is a bit contrived as I have noted, but when director Yu Li finally shakes off film school and gets the camera on a tripod it makes for a nice last few scenes.

That said, the film struggles to find its focus. While it's clearly a film about Fan Bingbing's physically and emotionally abused heroine, the POV shifts to that of her husband for large swathes of the narrative and we are left feeling rather sympathetic for him despite his (rather unsubtle) faults. The second act lightens in tone so much that it seems to be heading towards black comedy. The one and only sub-plot involves a prostitute who seems to be there to remind us that the four central characters are not the only ones having a crappy time – and she drops out of the story just as conveniently.

And then there's the controversy. Yes, it's got sex in it and no, Beijing wasn't happy with that. Would the film be any different without the sex scenes? Not really - decide for yourself. Two swallows don't make a summer, just as two arses don't make a controversial film necessarily polemical. Mind you, 2007 was quite a year for Hong Kong film royalty showing their posteriors - the other Tony Leung (Chiu Wai) bared his for 'Lust, Caution'... But I digress.

If you have watched a lot of these films from emerging economies, you will recognise the format all too well and, given the necessarily downbeat subject matter, the only pleasure might be guessing exactly how everyone is going to plunge into the misery for which they were all destined. Oh well. As films of this genre go it's not bad, so give it a go and make your own mind up.

Bliss (2006)

Nicely photographed, festival-friendly Chinese drama

[5/10 · 13 June 2009]

"Bliss" (Fu Sheng - lit.: Floating Lives) is the story of two disenchanted men, brought together by one's divorced mother and the other's widowed father, in Chongqing city in China.

The divorced woman, Xiue, is the mother of Lei, who has recently emerged from prison for a crime that remains unclear for most of the film. With his friend / boss still behind bars, Lei wanders the streets aimlessly, not wishing to be stuck in a small apartment with his fussing mother or her new husband, Lao Li.

Lao Li is an ex-policeman, and father of taxi-driver Jian-jun. He has just received a parcel containing the ashes of someone loved and long-lost, which a painful wound for him and his son. He manages to get a job for Lei working as on operator on the city's trans-Jialing River cable car. It is here that Lei meets Qian Xue, and they begin an uneasy relationship of sorts.

Meanwhile, Jian-jun's wife Xiao-hong (or just Hong) has conflicting loyalties with her co-workers, managers, friends and even her husband after the factory where she works is closed down and demolished.

The drama slowly, almost imperceptibly unfolds under the harsh, foggy skies of Chongqing, with its flat grey tenement buildings, its abandoned construction sites and its disenchanted factory workers, who all seem to live, work, copulate and die with benign fatalism.

Is "Bliss", the international title, ironic then? Perhaps. Or perhaps it indicates the relative happiness of people who are almost without hope finding respite or closure. Perhaps it refers to the wilful ignorance in which many of the characters live.

I tend to be suspicious of beautifully photographed, but rather depressing social commentary films. In fact, I wouldn't have picked this one up had it not had Fruit Chan's name attached to it (he is a producer). I stayed with the film, however, and reasonably enjoyed it. It has an impressionistic feel because of the somewhat isolated camera aspect of many shots and the effect of the narrative: many scenes and actions of characters are apparently pointless but are justified later. This leaves us continually trying to guess their motivations, which keeps us engaged and adds to the rather patchwork feel of the film as a whole. This is a nice effect, but of course it is lost on second viewing. This does, however, lead me to suspect that it is a good, but not a great film, despite winning prizes from several international film festivals.

Ultimately, if it were stripped of its narrative effects we would be left with a fairly uncomplicated story about five people, whom we mostly don't get to know - or care - that much about. The city is captured on film expertly and with great aesthetic appeal - almost too great in fact as at times we are so busy admiring the National Geographic-esquire squalor that we miss the vague, subtle actions of the characters. The actors do a fine job, however, and if you are at all interested in modern China or the privation of many of the people who live in its polluted cities, then this 90 minute film is by no means a waste of time.

Boat People (1982)

A well-made and important counterpoint to the canon of 'Vietnam films'

[7/10 · 8 December 2008]

A Japanese photographer returns to Vietnam three years after documenting its 'liberation' and becomes increasingly involved in the fate of a young girl and her family. It is a time of poverty, violence and death.

There are many deaths in this film and the majority of these deaths are graphically depicted. One of the least explicit, but perhaps the most moving, occurs on a scrap heap surrounded by a body of filthy water. While the young victim's blood is still flowing out, his peer runs the length of the heap bearing a standard, his identity and the colours of the flag rendered anonymous by the remote camera angle and the silhouette produced by the setting sun. The boy lays the flag over the body with a timeliness and purpose that implies he is always ready for such tragedies. It is one of the film's most striking images, calling to mind such questionable iconic images as the flag-raisers of Iwo Jima.

Such readings are possible over much of the film. Director Ann Hui's 'vérité' camera calls to mind Altman's M*A*S*H, as does her treatment of violence and its bloody consequences - something which contrasts with the comic book violence of later 80s Hong Kong films (with which many people are more familiar). Comparisons could also be made with Kubrick's use of zoom (though M*A*S*H has this too) and formal composition, with characters placed in the centre of frame as if being interviewed for live television. Kubrick, of course, would later direct his own Vietnam masterpiece, Full Metal Jacket.

Comparisons could even be made with Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Coppola's helicopter sequence filmed in the Philippines shares a lot with Hui's remarkable opening shot of tanks driving through the streets of Hainan, China (both standing in for Vietnam). However, where Coppola tended towards using the imagery of Vietnam to attain a greater artistic goal, Hui would be discredited for receiving any such reading. Where the sound of Coppola's napalm explosions bring a certain excitement and satisfaction to the viewer, the gunshots heralding executions and the chance for children to pillage the corpses has an entirely different motive and effect.

One of the film's strengths is that, while it plays with, even exploits some well-established grammars of film making - tragedy, documentary, romance - it never defers to a single one. The film works on each level equally well. It is a well-told story: excellently paced and genuinely compelling right up to the end credits. At the other end of the spectrum, it is perhaps the boldest and most unflinching criticism of the brutality and hypocrisy of communist states to come out of a small island that would, 17 years later, become a Special Administrative Region of such a state.

The film has elements of curiosity. One can accept for purely practical reasons the need for Cantonese to be the common language of Vietnamese and Japanese characters. It is harder to understand why a Japanese man (played by a local Hong Kong actor) should be the main protagonist, especially considering the film's political overtones. Does he represent objectiveness or irony? Perhaps there is no single answer.

Despite some minor flaws, the film manages to illustrate without preaching, condescending or even aestheticising the subject, even though the dimly-lit tableaux and pitch-perfect editing combine very pleasingly for the eye. Hui works with a lightness of touch rarely seen in Hong Kong or Hollywood at that time or since and with a feminist subtext scarcely seen in her later work. This film well-deserves the acclaim with which it was awarded on its release and is sadly underrated at the time of writing. It serves as an interesting and important counterpoint to the various lavish 'magnum opuses' of American directors of that era and has an enduring relevance and importance that many young people, especially of the film's native land, would benefit from experiencing.

Hong Kong, Hong Kong (1983)

Minor Treasure of Hong Kong Cinema Misconstrued as Erotic Drama

[6/10 · 8 November 2008]

Hong Kong Hong Kong (or "Man and Woman" as it literally translates) is the story of a young woman, Man Si Sun, who has arrived illegally in Hong Kong from mainland China, and Kong Yuen Sang, a young man who is a gambler and wannabe boxing champion.

This film doesn't exactly sell itself. It was released in 1983, the same year as Shaw Brothers decided to discontinue their film production, making this one of their final releases. The early 80s was also a time when local Hong Kong cinema had taken off in its own right, and Shaw's brands of cheap and cheerful Mandarin-language kung fu films, melodramas and occasional erotica were looking out-dated and irrelevant. Furthermore it is classed (by DVD distributor Celestial Pictures) as an erotic film, which brings to mind slow-motion, saxophones and soap opera acting.

If one were to read the script before watching the film, one would probably remark that, without the sex scenes it would make a fairly respectable drama with some keen-edged social commentary. It is a credit to the director, Clifford Tsai Kai Kwong, that the sex scenes are, for the most part, in no way gratuitous and actually contribute a great deal to the story and the development of the characters. It would be pertinent to note here that the director received the award for Best Original Screenplay at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival that year. To class the film as 'erotic' is really to do the director and his film a disservice.

The story begins with some priceless shots of early-80s Hong Kong - a city that metamorphoses every half-decade - executed like a tribute to the French Nouvelle Vague. It moves to a shanty town, where illegal immigrants live cheek by jowl in squalid shacks, and where Si Sun (played by Cherie Chung Cho Hung) occasionally obliges her male associates with joyless sexual favours. From their we meet the arrogant but charismatic Kong (Alex Man Chi Leung), who becomes a boxer in a protest against the corruption inherent in the sport, only to become embroiled in similar problems himself. The two meet, and begin an uneasy love affair, which is frustrated by Si Sun's would-be marriage of convenience to a local carpenter, Kwai. Later, we are treated to an excellent homage to Raging Bull - released some three years prior - with editing and effects that would make even Scorsese smile.

In following this triangular relationship through its course, the director presents us with some uncomfortable, and often ugly truths about Hong Kong and the world, which unfortunately are still applicable today. Despite the clunky 80s mise-en-scene, the film has aged extremely well and continues to be relevant and engaging. The intimate scenes are cramped and sweaty and loaded with subtext and the tragedy reaches a brutal climax for all three protagonists. One can imagine a young(ish) Fruit Chan being influenced by this film.

With different marketing this film could really be a minor treasure for Hong Kong cinema. As it is, it's likely to be overlooked. While it is far from being excellent film-making, it certainly comes with this reviewer's recommendation, especially for those with some insight into Hong Kong culture beneath the fairy tales of John Woo and Johnny To.

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Far from Oscar-worthy direction, which at times approaches cliché

[5/10 · 6 April 2006]

Not being a great fan of Ang Lee, after his dilute-to-taste Crouching Tiger, I had to steel myself in order to approach this film impartially. I should note that I watched this film for the first time post-hype and post-Oscars.

It became almost instantly, and thereafter increasingly, clear that Lee didn't deserve the Best Director Oscar. The direction is clumsy, and often unimaginative. For the first half of the film, I felt rather detached from the two main characters, and this meant that I felt very little empathy (or even sympathy) for them in the concluding half. Clearly one of the main facets of the film is denial or disavowal, but I think Lee overplays it in his mise en scene, and his actor direction, and thereby fails to provide any emotional attachment for the audience.

His handling of homosexuality is deeply clichéd and very obviously comes from a (not just cinematic) tradition of very little understanding of, or empathy for, the subject. The sex is depicted as aggressive, even violent, which is how homosexuality has typically been portrayed by the mainstream, and this portrayal has only really ever been refuted by gay cinema itself. It was also a rather hackneyed and superficial idea to show Heath Ledger buggering his wife, as if anal sex were the exclusive territory of gay men (which, like AIDS, it definitely isn't). It is for this reason, perhaps, that Brokeback sits so comfortably with the heterosexual mainstream, in the same way that Miranda from "Sex and the City" does. I would suggest that simply exposing the mainstream to these uncomfortable subjects, if done in a familiar and predictable way, doesn't educate or provoke thought, it merely reinforces existing prejudices and gives narrow-mindedness a sheen of justification.

The supporting characters are forgettable and have unclear roles in the film, which ultimately exposes the script as being unfocused and rather thin, with the ideas being few and overstretched at feature-length.

To the film's credit, the very final scene - the final shot, in fact - is tastefully and professionally executed, and provides a genuine moment of empathy and emotiveness, although it lacks in its want of preceding scenes of emotional engagement. The cinematography is noteworthy too - it must have been a real achievement getting consistent exposures outside and in the dark scenes, and it's such a pleasure to see a film with *real* landscapes in the age of "let them CG it in in post".

Overall, Brokeback Mountain is not a bad film, and while it was a brave choice for the Oscars politically, if not a sound choice artistically, it hardly goes down as a great film. I can't imagine anyone including it in their top ten, or even top 100 films even just a year from now.

Maria Full of Grace (2004)

Predictable fodder for the Western thinking classes

[3/10 · 29 April 2005]

There was something more than a little apt about watching this film in Covent Garden in London, in an auditorium full of people benefiting from a commuter-newspaper's free film voucher promotion (myself not one of them, I may add).

It seems that 2004 finds the middle classes with somewhat of a taste for "realistic" South American films that are "powerful and affecting". And while I concede that California-born Marston's film is shot in a realistic fashion, in South America, and the subject matter and story are affecting, there's something about it that leaves me cold. In part it is the director's unashamed adoption of ALL the clichés of (what has become) "the genre": wobbly "documentary-style" camera work (which made me a little sea-sick at first, but mercifully had settled down by the third act); the beauty of the South American landscape contrasted with the dire conditions of the population's workplaces and homes; the stunning lead role with their dumpy sidekick (see also 'The Motorcycle Diaries', which can at least claim not to be sentimental)...

But really, the thing that doesn't sit comfortably with me is the way that, in trying to present a humanised account of what is (to people with the means and leisure to watch films and write reviews on the internet for them) a rather abstract and distant problem, we end up objectifying the people, the culture AND the problem. This is a fictional work after all, and by extension, entertainment. It is, like a holiday to the region, or reading about it in National Geographic, a break from our comfortable lives to enjoy the aesthetics, concern ourselves with the injustice that our lifestyles contribute to, and squirm at "shocking" moments (such as when Maria has to reswallow a drug package that she has just 'passed'), a buzz that we no longer get from horror films (not that we like to watch them of course, but a 'thriller'... now maybe...) But let me pull this back from a tirade against the middle-classes to say that it is a strange and sad thing that such a genre as 'Maria' fits into even exists, and by showering Catalina Moreno with glossy US and European awards we comfortably assimilate her into "our world", and after 100 minutes and a happy, slow-motion ending (ooh, I'm really feeling affected now!) we can forget about it, secure in the knowledge that we have engaged with it in a realistic fashion. I can't wait to see Ms Moreno starring alongside Tom Cruise in a Hollywood remake, or being fondled by Nicolas Cage in soft focus. After all, she is authentic.