Change Your Image
fongyellowsandyfield
Reviews
Fong juk (2006)
Reminds us of all those French gangster/Italian Spaghetti Western flicks of the 60's/70's
Exiled (a.k.a. Fong Juk) makes me feel as if the memorable French gangster/Italian Spaghetti Western genre is being revisited.
Director Johnny To has the wisdom to reunite the same 4 out of the 5 main actors in The Mission, his 1999 gangster classic. For some unknown reason one actor was left out and substituted by Nick Cheung (playing Wo in this movie). It seems a pity to me because, not saying Nick Cheung is no good, the original cast of five could have made it possible for making Exiled a genuine sequel to The Mission.
As it stands, Exiled tells a self-contained story (not exactly well-written but reasonable enough as a vehicle for the excellent gunfights it stages): When a Hong Kong mob boss Fay sends two killers, Blaze and Fat, after a renegade ex-gangster Wo found hiding out in Macau, another two hard men, Tai and Cat, turn up to intervene. The five actually know each other. In the face of Wo's wife Jin and baby son, Blaze and his sidekick Fat unwittingly agree to change plan, inadvertently setting things into a violent downward spiral. The final confrontation inside a hotel captured in slow motion is expertly crafted. After the dust is settled the viewers are abruptly reminded that what has just happened only takes as much time for a can of Red Bull drink being tossed up in the air and drops back down on the floor.
There are evidences to prove that Director Johnny To did not dwell in past success of The Mission, because Exile has adopted new techniques not seen before. Being made on location in Macau, Exiled smartly uses a lot of Look-down shots in overcoming the lack of open space provided by this former Portugese enclave some 40 miles west of Hong Kong. The exotic background scenery chosen gives people a surreal sensation, especially for those who know Macau, much more akin to what I'd get from those French and Italian movies of years gone by. The gun play action in Exile is yet another level above that seen in The Mission.
Although overall speaking Exiled did not surpass The Mission, mainly due to its storyline is even weaker than that of the already flimsy Mission, fans of Johnny To would still find it very enjoyable for the directing, acting, editing, music and of course, explosive action.
Dip huet gai tau (1990)
Heroic Bloodshed on the grandest possible scale never seen before or after
Saw BITH on DVD last night after watching it once years ago on TV. I found it surprising the impression it gave me this time is completely different. I did not actually seem to be impressed by it at all when it was shown on a local TV channel, but is now completely overwhelmed when I watched it again on DVD last night. I suppose this movie must be enjoyed uninterrupted by TV commercials, in order to get to grips with the atmosphere it created. From casual and light-hearted to brutal and dead-serious. In other words, it requires no less than totally focused attention from the audience.
I'd like to clear the air for those fans who considered this movie involving the war in IndoChina is something of a first for Woo. Woo actually did a little-known jungle warfare movie called "Ying xiong wei lei" (Heros Shed No Tears) in the early 80's on a shoestring budget, of a story about the Thai government hires group of Chinese mercenaries to capture powerful drug-lord from Golden Triangle, before he became famous in 1986 for his gangster classic "A Better Tomorrow".
In BITH Woo succeeded in recreating the nostalgic look and feel of the 1960's Hong Kong and Vietnam. The characters and events all appeared so genuine and real. I appreciate it as a great movie from the following angles:
In Hong Kong the street lives of those gangster youths vividly coincided with the anti-British riots in the then Crown Colony. The three protagonists living life in poverty, turf wars and a little romance over a backdrop of terrifying bombing campaign waged by pro-Chairman Mao rioters met by brutal clampdown from the Hong Kong police in full riot gears, all being exactly shown as how it would look in those unforgettable days. The scene showing a British bomb disposal expert deactivating a bomb is very true. I still remember in real life seeing the gruesome news picture of one of these guys got his arm blown off while doing such a nasty job in the Wanchai district. All these strongly convinces the audience why the three friends, apart from a murder case hanging over two of them, have good reasons to leave and go somewhere else.
In Saigon the endless anti-war street protests leading to violent bloodshed, dare-devil assassinations met by ruthless summary executions, the ever present pack of International photo-journalists chasing after their opportunity of a good news story, Chinese businessmen living in the country wheeling and dealing with the Vietnamese from North and South. Those (mainly Americans and other foreigners) who had the means enjoy themselves in seedy nightclubs as if nothing unusual was happening outside, where life was so chaotic that looters could be anybody including the soldiers.
In the Vietnamese jungle the three friends and the local hit-man character went through a harsh lesson of survival, including escape through unfamiliar terrain, intense firefights, frequent bickering, unsavory POW camp rituals and a spectacular last-minute rescue by commandos and helicopters. A lesson of survival in which the temptation of getting rich quick was too much for one of the friends to resist, leading to more tragic events. Although some of the scenes would remotely remind audience of Hollywood movie "The Deer Hunter", the fact is that the two are very different in many ways. Just as you can't really say "The Great Escape" and "The Bridge on River Kwai" are similar.
Back in Hong Kong, the two friends who managed to return had to confront each other in a finale that brought the whole story like a roller-coaster to an abrupt end.
IMHO BITH is Heroic Bloodshed on the grandest possible scale never seen before or after.