The Monkey King 3
Soi Cheang
The story: Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang (William Feng) continues on his pilgrimage to the West to collect scriptures with his disciples/protectors monkey king Sun Wukong (Aaron Kwok), pig demon Zhu Bajie (Xiaoshenyang) and Sandy Sha Wujing (Him Law). They accidentally enter the all-female realm of Western Liang, where they meet an innocent queen (Zhao Liying) and a ruthless adviser (an unrecognisable Gigi Leung).
This is Hong Kong director Soi Cheang’s third Monkey King after the 2014 and 2016 instalments and it sits between the two in terms of quality.
The first one had underwhelming computer-generated imagery (CGI) while the second had the advantage of a resplendent Gong Li as a silky White-Boned Demon.
Movie No. 3 has a promising premise which upends the chauvinism of traditional Chinese society. Western Liang is peopled entirely by women from the ruling class to the warriors, a land where men are deemed to be venomous and have to be killed. Though to the lascivious Bajie, the place seems like paradise at first.
The CGI is decent, especially in the rendering of a giant deer that the queen rides and can stand upright on. And the finale seems designed to be a showcase for water effects as Wukong and gang take on a river god who has turned vengeful because of a thwarted love.
The cast members are comfortable in their roles and popular Chinese actor Xiaoshenyang scores some laughs with his die-hard lechery and piggish behaviour.
A pity then that there are a couple of missteps here.
The story is stretched too thin in order to fill two hours. Worse, a missing scrap of ancient parchment is given a high-pitched cutesy voice and an annoying personality to match as it plays a game of hide-and-seek with its pursuers. Cheang seems to be cashing in on the popularity of the fantasy film Monster Hunt (2015), which incidentally has a sequel out now.
Inexplicably, there is also a contemporary-sounding pop duet by Jane Zhang and Li Ronghao that takes one out of the movie. It should have been kept for the end credits instead of shoved into scenes between Tang and the queen.
The more audacious and enjoyable adaptation of Wu Chengen’s Ming Dynasty literary classic, Journey To The West, is actually the ongoing K-drama A Korean Odyssey with Tang now a woman and pig demon Bajie a popular idol.
But with Tang and his followers supposedly encountering 81 predicaments in the novel, there is no lack of material for Cheang. Already, Fire Mountain looms at the end of part three.
(ST)
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film. Show all posts
Thursday, February 15, 2018
Black Panther
Ryan Coogler
The story: Thanks to the wondrous metal vibranium, Wakanda is a technologically advanced African nation. T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) ascends the throne and becomes the powerful Black Panther with the help of a magic potion. But he faces a challenger, Erik Stevens (Michael B. Jordan), who wants to export Wakanda’s weapons to the outside world. In T’Challa’s corner are his former lover and special ops member Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), general Okoye (Danai Gurira) and American intelligence officer Everett Ross (Martin Freeman).
Black Panther is a pretty entertaining film and an important one, even though it stops short of being a great one.
For starters, it features a black superhero in the blindingly white pantheon of Marvel characters. And he is not just a lone token symbol. Much of the action takes place in the fictitious Wakanda and the white characters, including Freeman’s obliging Ross, are the secondary characters.
It is almost like peering at a black-and-white photograph with the blacks and whites reversed.
The film also answers the question of what a technologically advanced African society might look like.
The landscape is both recognisably African and sci-fi sleek at the same time. The futuristic-looking flying vehicles sport a mask-like design while colourful murals decorate the gleaming laboratories.
Black Panther also asks the resonant question of what responsibilities, if any, such a society has to the rest of the world: isolationism or engagement?
While Boseman (who played legendary singer James Brown in the biopic Get On Up, 2014), with his lovely lilt and noble mien, is the focus here, he is surrounded by many powerful women.
One definitely does not want to cross the spear-wielding Okoye, played with absolute authority by Gurira (from television’s ongoing zombie hit The Walking Dead). There is also T’Challa’s bubbly younger sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), who is the equivalent of James Bond’s gadget master Q.
The excellent soundtrack curated by American rapper Kendrick Lamar (see review on page D6) adds to the distinctive sense of place – be it Wakanda or Busan in South Korea, where a major scene plays out.
It is a pity that the movie sags in the middle and it takes the appearance of Jordan, who was in acclaimed football drama Friday Night Lights from 2009 to 2011, to liven things up as the villain with a tragic past.
Perhaps director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, 2013) could have taken his cue from the titular creature and prowled at a faster speed where pacing was concerned.
Nevertheless, kudos to Black Panther for successfully showing moviegoers what a black superhero film looks like.
So Hollywood, how about that Asian superhero flick?
(ST)
Ryan Coogler
The story: Thanks to the wondrous metal vibranium, Wakanda is a technologically advanced African nation. T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) ascends the throne and becomes the powerful Black Panther with the help of a magic potion. But he faces a challenger, Erik Stevens (Michael B. Jordan), who wants to export Wakanda’s weapons to the outside world. In T’Challa’s corner are his former lover and special ops member Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), general Okoye (Danai Gurira) and American intelligence officer Everett Ross (Martin Freeman).
Black Panther is a pretty entertaining film and an important one, even though it stops short of being a great one.
For starters, it features a black superhero in the blindingly white pantheon of Marvel characters. And he is not just a lone token symbol. Much of the action takes place in the fictitious Wakanda and the white characters, including Freeman’s obliging Ross, are the secondary characters.
It is almost like peering at a black-and-white photograph with the blacks and whites reversed.
The film also answers the question of what a technologically advanced African society might look like.
The landscape is both recognisably African and sci-fi sleek at the same time. The futuristic-looking flying vehicles sport a mask-like design while colourful murals decorate the gleaming laboratories.
Black Panther also asks the resonant question of what responsibilities, if any, such a society has to the rest of the world: isolationism or engagement?
While Boseman (who played legendary singer James Brown in the biopic Get On Up, 2014), with his lovely lilt and noble mien, is the focus here, he is surrounded by many powerful women.
One definitely does not want to cross the spear-wielding Okoye, played with absolute authority by Gurira (from television’s ongoing zombie hit The Walking Dead). There is also T’Challa’s bubbly younger sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), who is the equivalent of James Bond’s gadget master Q.
The excellent soundtrack curated by American rapper Kendrick Lamar (see review on page D6) adds to the distinctive sense of place – be it Wakanda or Busan in South Korea, where a major scene plays out.
It is a pity that the movie sags in the middle and it takes the appearance of Jordan, who was in acclaimed football drama Friday Night Lights from 2009 to 2011, to liven things up as the villain with a tragic past.
Perhaps director Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, 2013) could have taken his cue from the titular creature and prowled at a faster speed where pacing was concerned.
Nevertheless, kudos to Black Panther for successfully showing moviegoers what a black superhero film looks like.
So Hollywood, how about that Asian superhero flick?
(ST)
Thursday, February 01, 2018
Youth
Feng Xiaogang
The story: Xiaoping (Miao Miao) and Liu Feng (Huang Xuan) are part of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army arts troupe in the 1970s. She is a dancer who gets bullied by the others and Liu, a Jack of all trades, is one of the few who show her kindness. Later on, he gets sent to the front line in the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979 as a soldier, while she helps to save lives as a field nurse. Chinese writer Yan Geling wrote the script based on her 2017 novel of the same name.
Chinese film-maker Feng Xiaogang has proven to be quite the chameleon in his movies, going from contemporary romantic comedy If You Are The One (2008) to heart-rending earthquake drama Aftershock (2010).
The nostalgic Youth is a paean to the bloom of youth and is yet another departure for him. Perhaps the story resonated strongly with him as he had joined the Beijing Military Region Art Troupe as a stage designer after high school.
The lead male character, Liu Feng, is such a good-natured and selfless guy that the others call him a “living Lei Feng”, a soldier held up as a model citizen in Chinese propaganda from the 1960s. But even a saint has desires and his one-sided crush on fellow dancer Dingding (Yang Caiyu) has unexpected consequences.
Meanwhile, Xiaoping desperately wants to dance and do well, but she gets off on the wrong foot with the others and gets ostracised.
The arts troupe environment is something of a bubble but, inevitably, the political tumult unfolding in the background – the vicious Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 and the death of leader Mao Zedong in 1976 – encroaches on the lives of the members. Xiaoping, for example, has to hide the fact that her father is a political undesirable.
This is no rose-tinted view of youth and history, though it is not quite as dark as Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (1998), the big-screen adaptation of Yan’s earlier novel set in 1970s China. Still, the protagonists of Youth find themselves facing tough times years down the road.
The cast includes seasoned young actors such as Huang, who conveys Liu Feng’s initial sunniness and his subsequent stoicism in the face of everything life throws at him, and Miao, who is also convincing as the long-suffering Xiaoping.
But their story as a couple is not quite satisfying in part because the perspective of the movie is not theirs. Rather, we see things and hear the voiceover from the point of view of fellow arts troupe member Huizi (Zhong Chuxi) and the effect is distancing.
(ST)
Feng Xiaogang
The story: Xiaoping (Miao Miao) and Liu Feng (Huang Xuan) are part of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army arts troupe in the 1970s. She is a dancer who gets bullied by the others and Liu, a Jack of all trades, is one of the few who show her kindness. Later on, he gets sent to the front line in the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979 as a soldier, while she helps to save lives as a field nurse. Chinese writer Yan Geling wrote the script based on her 2017 novel of the same name.
Chinese film-maker Feng Xiaogang has proven to be quite the chameleon in his movies, going from contemporary romantic comedy If You Are The One (2008) to heart-rending earthquake drama Aftershock (2010).
The nostalgic Youth is a paean to the bloom of youth and is yet another departure for him. Perhaps the story resonated strongly with him as he had joined the Beijing Military Region Art Troupe as a stage designer after high school.
The lead male character, Liu Feng, is such a good-natured and selfless guy that the others call him a “living Lei Feng”, a soldier held up as a model citizen in Chinese propaganda from the 1960s. But even a saint has desires and his one-sided crush on fellow dancer Dingding (Yang Caiyu) has unexpected consequences.
Meanwhile, Xiaoping desperately wants to dance and do well, but she gets off on the wrong foot with the others and gets ostracised.
The arts troupe environment is something of a bubble but, inevitably, the political tumult unfolding in the background – the vicious Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 and the death of leader Mao Zedong in 1976 – encroaches on the lives of the members. Xiaoping, for example, has to hide the fact that her father is a political undesirable.
This is no rose-tinted view of youth and history, though it is not quite as dark as Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (1998), the big-screen adaptation of Yan’s earlier novel set in 1970s China. Still, the protagonists of Youth find themselves facing tough times years down the road.
The cast includes seasoned young actors such as Huang, who conveys Liu Feng’s initial sunniness and his subsequent stoicism in the face of everything life throws at him, and Miao, who is also convincing as the long-suffering Xiaoping.
But their story as a couple is not quite satisfying in part because the perspective of the movie is not theirs. Rather, we see things and hear the voiceover from the point of view of fellow arts troupe member Huizi (Zhong Chuxi) and the effect is distancing.
(ST)
Thursday, January 04, 2018
Call Me By Your Name
Luca Guadagnino
The story: In the early 1980s, academics who stay for a spell in the family home in northern Italy and help out his professor father are a summer ritual for Elio (Timothee Chalamet). When young Jewish-American scholar Oliver (Armie Hammer) walks through their door, he stirs up strong feelings of desire on the part of the precocious 17-year-old. Based on Andre Aciman’s 2007 novel of the same name.
Having read and loved the book, I was a little apprehensive about a big-screen adaptation. The Egyptian-born American writer Aciman crafts lyrical prose and much of it is in the form of interior monologues in Elio’s head. How would this translate to the big screen?
Drawing on a beautiful source text, Italian director Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love, 2010) has made a film that is its own kind of wonderful.
It is an adaptation that is loving and faithful, but not slavishly so. There is no voiceover, for example, but we still get glimpses into Elio’s head through the clever conversion of some of his thoughts into dialogue as well as scrawlings in a journal.
From the gorgeous setting of an idyllic northern Italian town to the casting to the choice of music, the film-maker gets the details just right in evoking a world that we become completely immersed in.
Chalamet slips under the skin of Elio to give a sensitively tuned performance as he swings from the heady rapture of sexual awakening and first love to being torn apart by doubt and insecurity. He flits so naturally from English to Italian to French that it comes as a jolt to find out that he is American, born and raised in Manhattan.
His star-making turn has landed him Best Actor nominations for the Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards and wins from several critics associations. Nominations and wins have also been chalked up for best film, best director and best supporting actor for Hammer and Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays Elio’s father.
Hammer is well cast as the athletic academic with the movie star aura, the object of Elio’s desire. His Oliver has an easy confidence about him and also an innate sense of decency. He says to Elio at one point: “I want to be good, we haven’t done anything yet.”
Elio’s raging hormones are acknowledged – there is a scene involving him and a peach and he also sleeps with a girl from next door – but there is more than unbridled lust between him and Oliver. They talk about books, music and people and share a deeply intimate connection.
There is also a remarkable scene that takes place between Elio and his father, which Stuhlbarg handles with grace and gravitas. The professor talks to his son about love with the wisdom of one who has experienced it and the protective instinct of a parent who wants the best for his child.
Movies often make a big deal about the sex talk, but you rarely see one in which a teenager and his parents have a serious conversation about romantic love.
(ST)
Luca Guadagnino
The story: In the early 1980s, academics who stay for a spell in the family home in northern Italy and help out his professor father are a summer ritual for Elio (Timothee Chalamet). When young Jewish-American scholar Oliver (Armie Hammer) walks through their door, he stirs up strong feelings of desire on the part of the precocious 17-year-old. Based on Andre Aciman’s 2007 novel of the same name.
Having read and loved the book, I was a little apprehensive about a big-screen adaptation. The Egyptian-born American writer Aciman crafts lyrical prose and much of it is in the form of interior monologues in Elio’s head. How would this translate to the big screen?
Drawing on a beautiful source text, Italian director Luca Guadagnino (I Am Love, 2010) has made a film that is its own kind of wonderful.
It is an adaptation that is loving and faithful, but not slavishly so. There is no voiceover, for example, but we still get glimpses into Elio’s head through the clever conversion of some of his thoughts into dialogue as well as scrawlings in a journal.
From the gorgeous setting of an idyllic northern Italian town to the casting to the choice of music, the film-maker gets the details just right in evoking a world that we become completely immersed in.
Chalamet slips under the skin of Elio to give a sensitively tuned performance as he swings from the heady rapture of sexual awakening and first love to being torn apart by doubt and insecurity. He flits so naturally from English to Italian to French that it comes as a jolt to find out that he is American, born and raised in Manhattan.
His star-making turn has landed him Best Actor nominations for the Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards and wins from several critics associations. Nominations and wins have also been chalked up for best film, best director and best supporting actor for Hammer and Michael Stuhlbarg, who plays Elio’s father.
Hammer is well cast as the athletic academic with the movie star aura, the object of Elio’s desire. His Oliver has an easy confidence about him and also an innate sense of decency. He says to Elio at one point: “I want to be good, we haven’t done anything yet.”
Elio’s raging hormones are acknowledged – there is a scene involving him and a peach and he also sleeps with a girl from next door – but there is more than unbridled lust between him and Oliver. They talk about books, music and people and share a deeply intimate connection.
There is also a remarkable scene that takes place between Elio and his father, which Stuhlbarg handles with grace and gravitas. The professor talks to his son about love with the wisdom of one who has experienced it and the protective instinct of a parent who wants the best for his child.
Movies often make a big deal about the sex talk, but you rarely see one in which a teenager and his parents have a serious conversation about romantic love.
(ST)
Sunday, December 17, 2017
BEST MOVIES OF 2017
Call Me By Your Name
Luca Guadagnino
American writer Andre Aciman’s 2007 novel of the same name is a thing of beauty, an account of a love affair between 17-year-old Elio and visiting 24-year-old scholar Oliver in a small town in Italy in the 1980s.
Against an idyllic backdrop of rural Italian gorgeousness, director Luca Guadagnino conveys the headiness of first love and sexual awakening. Timothee Chalamet slips thoroughly under Elio’s skin and gives a sensitively tuned performance as he swings from heady rapture to being lacerated by doubt. Armie Hammer is also well-cast as the athletic American academic who wants to do right by Elio.
Adaptations are tricky things, more so if the original is beloved, but this movie is its own kind of wonderful. After two sold-out screenings and winning the Audience Choice Award at the Singapore International Film Festival, the drama is slated for a run at The Projector from Jan 4.
Midnight Runners
Jason Kim Joo Hwan
A thoroughly entertaining and satisfying South Korean buddy action flick, thanks to the chemistry between the two charming and likeable lead actors, Park Seo Jun and Kang Ha Neul.
They play a pair of police academy trainees who witness the abduction of a young woman and decide to follow up on their own time, even at the risk of getting expelled.
Writer-director Jason Kim Joo Hwan deftly mixes comedy, action, crime and morality drama. Hopefully, there is a sequel.
Mad World
Wong Chun
Young Hong Kong film-maker Wong Chun’s debut feature is a compassionate look at the often-ignored topic of mental illness. The 28-year-old depicts the maladies of intolerance and fear, but does not pretend there are easy remedies.
The drama is also grounded by fine performances from Shawn Yue, as a bipolar disorder sufferer trying to navigate his way in society, and Eric Tsang, as a father who is faced with difficult questions about how to best care for his mentally ill son.
Kudos to the Singapore Chinese Film Festival for screening it in its original Cantonese.
WORST
Love Contractually
Liu Guonan
Yet another dire and dour movie which purports to be a romantic comedy.
Sammi Cheng’s nitpicking executive-type taskmaster is a cold and cheerless creation that is hard to warm up to and there is no chemistry between the Hong Kong star and Taiwan’s Joseph Chang. He is a paratrooper-turned-courier who ends up as her assistant, only to realise later that he was picked to be her sperm donor.
When a movie shifts its location to scenic Paris for no good reason, that is a sign that the film-makers are clutching at straws.
(ST)
Call Me By Your Name
Luca Guadagnino
American writer Andre Aciman’s 2007 novel of the same name is a thing of beauty, an account of a love affair between 17-year-old Elio and visiting 24-year-old scholar Oliver in a small town in Italy in the 1980s.
Against an idyllic backdrop of rural Italian gorgeousness, director Luca Guadagnino conveys the headiness of first love and sexual awakening. Timothee Chalamet slips thoroughly under Elio’s skin and gives a sensitively tuned performance as he swings from heady rapture to being lacerated by doubt. Armie Hammer is also well-cast as the athletic American academic who wants to do right by Elio.
Adaptations are tricky things, more so if the original is beloved, but this movie is its own kind of wonderful. After two sold-out screenings and winning the Audience Choice Award at the Singapore International Film Festival, the drama is slated for a run at The Projector from Jan 4.
Midnight Runners
Jason Kim Joo Hwan
A thoroughly entertaining and satisfying South Korean buddy action flick, thanks to the chemistry between the two charming and likeable lead actors, Park Seo Jun and Kang Ha Neul.
They play a pair of police academy trainees who witness the abduction of a young woman and decide to follow up on their own time, even at the risk of getting expelled.
Writer-director Jason Kim Joo Hwan deftly mixes comedy, action, crime and morality drama. Hopefully, there is a sequel.
Mad World
Wong Chun
Young Hong Kong film-maker Wong Chun’s debut feature is a compassionate look at the often-ignored topic of mental illness. The 28-year-old depicts the maladies of intolerance and fear, but does not pretend there are easy remedies.
The drama is also grounded by fine performances from Shawn Yue, as a bipolar disorder sufferer trying to navigate his way in society, and Eric Tsang, as a father who is faced with difficult questions about how to best care for his mentally ill son.
Kudos to the Singapore Chinese Film Festival for screening it in its original Cantonese.
WORST
Love Contractually
Liu Guonan
Yet another dire and dour movie which purports to be a romantic comedy.
Sammi Cheng’s nitpicking executive-type taskmaster is a cold and cheerless creation that is hard to warm up to and there is no chemistry between the Hong Kong star and Taiwan’s Joseph Chang. He is a paratrooper-turned-courier who ends up as her assistant, only to realise later that he was picked to be her sperm donor.
When a movie shifts its location to scenic Paris for no good reason, that is a sign that the film-makers are clutching at straws.
(ST)
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Fireworks, Should We See It From The Side Or The Bottom?
Akiyuki Shinbo
The story: Norimichi (Masaki Suda) and Yusuke (Mamoru Miyano) have a crush on their junior high school classmate Nazuna (Suzu Hirose). On the day of the summer festival, Nazuna asks Yusuke to go with her to watch the fireworks after she wins a swimming race among the three of them and gets to have her way. Norimichi later finds out the reason for her actions and wishes that he had won the race instead. In frustration, he throws a mysterious ball picked up by Nazuna from the sea – and finds himself back at the moment of the swim.
While it is based on the 1993 live-action movie of the same name, the timing of this adaptation might have something to do with the runaway success of the anime Your Name (2016), a youthful romance fantasy which had body-swopping and time-travel.
And unfortunately for Fireworks, that makes its time-travelling conceit feel a little tired. The animation also seemed more lush in Your Name, though director Akiyuki Shinbo, best known for the magical girls fantasy series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011), comes up with some beautiful shots of colourful fireworks going off at close range.
There are other things to like about the film as well.
The setting is a seaside town and the depiction of giant wind turbines, rocky promontories and students on bicycles tearing down the steep roads anchors the film with a strong sense of place. Perhaps as a clue, the name of the town is Moshimo, a homonym for “if” in Japanese.
The nuances of teenage male friendships and loyalties are sensitively handled: What do you do when you and your bestie both like the same girl?
The awkward silences and denials of Norimichi and Yusuke about this huge thing between them are entirely believable.
In fact, this feels more interesting than the actual romantic coupling as Nazuna remains somewhat opaque beyond being an unhappy figure of desire.
Meanwhile, the title is linked to a discussion Norimichi’s friends have about fireworks – are they round or are they flat? It is a question upon which everything and nothing hinges.
(ST)
Akiyuki Shinbo
The story: Norimichi (Masaki Suda) and Yusuke (Mamoru Miyano) have a crush on their junior high school classmate Nazuna (Suzu Hirose). On the day of the summer festival, Nazuna asks Yusuke to go with her to watch the fireworks after she wins a swimming race among the three of them and gets to have her way. Norimichi later finds out the reason for her actions and wishes that he had won the race instead. In frustration, he throws a mysterious ball picked up by Nazuna from the sea – and finds himself back at the moment of the swim.
While it is based on the 1993 live-action movie of the same name, the timing of this adaptation might have something to do with the runaway success of the anime Your Name (2016), a youthful romance fantasy which had body-swopping and time-travel.
And unfortunately for Fireworks, that makes its time-travelling conceit feel a little tired. The animation also seemed more lush in Your Name, though director Akiyuki Shinbo, best known for the magical girls fantasy series, Puella Magi Madoka Magica (2011), comes up with some beautiful shots of colourful fireworks going off at close range.
There are other things to like about the film as well.
The setting is a seaside town and the depiction of giant wind turbines, rocky promontories and students on bicycles tearing down the steep roads anchors the film with a strong sense of place. Perhaps as a clue, the name of the town is Moshimo, a homonym for “if” in Japanese.
The nuances of teenage male friendships and loyalties are sensitively handled: What do you do when you and your bestie both like the same girl?
The awkward silences and denials of Norimichi and Yusuke about this huge thing between them are entirely believable.
In fact, this feels more interesting than the actual romantic coupling as Nazuna remains somewhat opaque beyond being an unhappy figure of desire.
Meanwhile, the title is linked to a discussion Norimichi’s friends have about fireworks – are they round or are they flat? It is a question upon which everything and nothing hinges.
(ST)
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
The Golden Monk
Wong Jing, Billy Chung
The story: In a time of demons and exorcists in Hangzhou, Butong (Zheng Kai) is a monk with supernatural powers – and a head of hair so tough that he cannot receive a tonsure. He crosses paths with Jade (Kitty Zhang), an exorcist who retains memories of her past life as a fairy banished from heaven after breaking a rule by falling in love with another fairy, Golden Child (Zheng). However, she is unable to see that Butong is Golden Child’s current incarnation.
After a surprisingly worthy outing with the crime epic Chasing The Dragon (2017), Hong Kong film-maker Wong Jing is back to his sloppy ways.
He co-directs with Billy Chung (The Man From Macau, 2014) The Golden Monk, a nonsensical fantasy that is only briefly, intermittently amusing, and inexplicably turns out to be the origin story of another well-known character of whom numerous television series and movies have been made.
If more jokes hit their mark, one would not have time to wonder why heaven here is a vaguely Greek-looking construct. Neither do the nonsensical moments tickle the funny bone. Instead, Butong jarringly breaks into a rendition of Andy Lau’s Water Of Forgetfulness, and Taiwanese actress Evonne Hsieh, who made her debut in the contemporary drama Tiny Times (2013), cringingly parades about as a mustachioed male buffoon.
The central love story is not persuasive and the mix of comedy and romance is strained.
The film is also saddled with an unsavoury and unfunny episode of a man who pimps out his wife, as well as a lame side plot of a dragon spirit attempting to seize control of the court by poisoning the emperor. The running time is further stretched with the inclusion of unnecessarily long recap scenes.
It culminates in a clash of the computer-animated titans as an army of golden monks battles with a villainous dragon. But the CGI stakes are not enough for one to feel invested in this showdown.
Perhaps The Golden Monk might have greater appeal in China, where Zheng is best known as a cast member in the Chinese version of the South Korean variety show Running Man.
He proves himself to be a game and affable actor but, next time, he should run away from such slipshod material.
(ST)
Wong Jing, Billy Chung
The story: In a time of demons and exorcists in Hangzhou, Butong (Zheng Kai) is a monk with supernatural powers – and a head of hair so tough that he cannot receive a tonsure. He crosses paths with Jade (Kitty Zhang), an exorcist who retains memories of her past life as a fairy banished from heaven after breaking a rule by falling in love with another fairy, Golden Child (Zheng). However, she is unable to see that Butong is Golden Child’s current incarnation.
After a surprisingly worthy outing with the crime epic Chasing The Dragon (2017), Hong Kong film-maker Wong Jing is back to his sloppy ways.
He co-directs with Billy Chung (The Man From Macau, 2014) The Golden Monk, a nonsensical fantasy that is only briefly, intermittently amusing, and inexplicably turns out to be the origin story of another well-known character of whom numerous television series and movies have been made.
If more jokes hit their mark, one would not have time to wonder why heaven here is a vaguely Greek-looking construct. Neither do the nonsensical moments tickle the funny bone. Instead, Butong jarringly breaks into a rendition of Andy Lau’s Water Of Forgetfulness, and Taiwanese actress Evonne Hsieh, who made her debut in the contemporary drama Tiny Times (2013), cringingly parades about as a mustachioed male buffoon.
The central love story is not persuasive and the mix of comedy and romance is strained.
The film is also saddled with an unsavoury and unfunny episode of a man who pimps out his wife, as well as a lame side plot of a dragon spirit attempting to seize control of the court by poisoning the emperor. The running time is further stretched with the inclusion of unnecessarily long recap scenes.
It culminates in a clash of the computer-animated titans as an army of golden monks battles with a villainous dragon. But the CGI stakes are not enough for one to feel invested in this showdown.
Perhaps The Golden Monk might have greater appeal in China, where Zheng is best known as a cast member in the Chinese version of the South Korean variety show Running Man.
He proves himself to be a game and affable actor but, next time, he should run away from such slipshod material.
(ST)
Coco
Lee Unkrich
The story: Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) is a 12-year-old Mexican boy dreaming of becoming a musician like his late idol Ernesto de la Cruz. But music is banned in his household because his great-great-grandfather had left his family to pursue those dreams. Then, Miguel unexpectedly finds himself crossing over to the Land of the Dead during the Day of the Dead festival, where he meets charming, troubled trickster Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal), comes face to face with Ernesto (Benjamin Bratt) and learns the truth about the skeleton in his family’s closet.
There was another animated movie recently made about the Day of the Dead, The Book Of Life (2014). Coming in second for a similarly themed project is usually not ideal given that audiences might not have the appetite for more than one such film. Then again, Pixar does have a strong track record in animation works in general.
And indeed, they deliver once again with Coco, with director Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3, 2010) at the helm.
The film is a visually gorgeous tapestry of Mexican culture and it fills the screen with the colourful vibrancy of Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) as people honour the memory of the departed with visits to cemeteries and gather for music, food and drink while bright orange marigold blooms carpet the ground.
The loving attention to detail impresses. There is the use of paper cut-outs to effectively convey a brief backstory involving Miguel’s great-great-grandfather and the latter’s daughter, Coco, and the wondrously imagined Land of the Dead, complete with fantastical spirit guides and the depiction of skeletal figures in a way that makes them come alive as characters.
The voice work by the all-Latino cast is spot-on as well, never overshadowing the roles, but instead, fleshing them out and disappearing into them. Gonzalez’s Miguel is realistically torn between following his dreams and listening to his family, Bratt brings a smooth swagger to Ernesto and Garcia Bernal is by turns likeable and pitiful.
It would be all too easy to use Dia de Muertos as a somewhat exotic backdrop but – as far as it is possible for me to tell – there is a ring of authenticity to the proceedings as cultural traditions such as the construction of ofrendas, a collection of objects placed on a ritual altar, are faithfully depicted. Indeed, ofrendas are turned into a key detail in the story, thus weaving them seamlessly into the film.
While The Book Of Life was hampered by an unsatisfactory storyline, Coco is full of heart and it glows with a cosy familial warmth.
(ST)
Lee Unkrich
The story: Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) is a 12-year-old Mexican boy dreaming of becoming a musician like his late idol Ernesto de la Cruz. But music is banned in his household because his great-great-grandfather had left his family to pursue those dreams. Then, Miguel unexpectedly finds himself crossing over to the Land of the Dead during the Day of the Dead festival, where he meets charming, troubled trickster Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal), comes face to face with Ernesto (Benjamin Bratt) and learns the truth about the skeleton in his family’s closet.
There was another animated movie recently made about the Day of the Dead, The Book Of Life (2014). Coming in second for a similarly themed project is usually not ideal given that audiences might not have the appetite for more than one such film. Then again, Pixar does have a strong track record in animation works in general.
And indeed, they deliver once again with Coco, with director Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3, 2010) at the helm.
The film is a visually gorgeous tapestry of Mexican culture and it fills the screen with the colourful vibrancy of Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) as people honour the memory of the departed with visits to cemeteries and gather for music, food and drink while bright orange marigold blooms carpet the ground.
The loving attention to detail impresses. There is the use of paper cut-outs to effectively convey a brief backstory involving Miguel’s great-great-grandfather and the latter’s daughter, Coco, and the wondrously imagined Land of the Dead, complete with fantastical spirit guides and the depiction of skeletal figures in a way that makes them come alive as characters.
The voice work by the all-Latino cast is spot-on as well, never overshadowing the roles, but instead, fleshing them out and disappearing into them. Gonzalez’s Miguel is realistically torn between following his dreams and listening to his family, Bratt brings a smooth swagger to Ernesto and Garcia Bernal is by turns likeable and pitiful.
It would be all too easy to use Dia de Muertos as a somewhat exotic backdrop but – as far as it is possible for me to tell – there is a ring of authenticity to the proceedings as cultural traditions such as the construction of ofrendas, a collection of objects placed on a ritual altar, are faithfully depicted. Indeed, ofrendas are turned into a key detail in the story, thus weaving them seamlessly into the film.
While The Book Of Life was hampered by an unsatisfactory storyline, Coco is full of heart and it glows with a cosy familial warmth.
(ST)
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
Ajin: Demi-Human
Katsuyuki Motohiro
The story: After a traffic accident, hospital intern Kei Nagai (Takeru Satoh) realises that he belongs to an immortal race called Ajin. He is then whisked away by the government and subjected to all manner of experiments. Coming to his rescue is another Ajin, Sato (Go Ayano), who is prepared to destroy humanity to win rights for their kind. But Kei recoils from his violent means. Based on the manga (2012 to present) of the same name by Gamon Sakurai.
Faced with immortals amid society, the Japanese government reacts with fear and suspicion and subjects those it captures to a brutal battery of ordeals.
As a living test subject, Kei has a hellish existence – he is wrapped from head to toe like a mummy, his limbs get hacked off and he gets killed again and again. It is as though he were less than human.
Immortality becomes a curse for Kei.
There are questions here about humanity and mor(t)ality, but in the hands of director Katsuyuki Motohiro (Bayside Shakedown: The Movie, 1998), the movie also works as an exciting thriller in which Ajin is pitted against Ajin.
Satoh, as he did in period actioner Rurouni Kenshin (2012), plays a man reluctant to turn to violence, but is forced to; and Ayano (Lupin The 3rd, 2014) revels in Sato’s villainy.
The immortals are each able to project an entity outside of themselves – Kei calls his a “ghost” – which seems to have a mind of its own.
The special effects team does a good job of depicting these shadowy, not-quite-solid ghosts who are capable of inflicting very real damage.
Given that the Ajin can regenerate after death, how is one supposed to take another down? Kei comes up with a plan to trap Sato, but is blindsided by a detail he did not consider.
There are enough twists and turns to keep one engaged and the good news is that they feel organic to the fantasy world conjured up here.
(ST)
Katsuyuki Motohiro
The story: After a traffic accident, hospital intern Kei Nagai (Takeru Satoh) realises that he belongs to an immortal race called Ajin. He is then whisked away by the government and subjected to all manner of experiments. Coming to his rescue is another Ajin, Sato (Go Ayano), who is prepared to destroy humanity to win rights for their kind. But Kei recoils from his violent means. Based on the manga (2012 to present) of the same name by Gamon Sakurai.
Faced with immortals amid society, the Japanese government reacts with fear and suspicion and subjects those it captures to a brutal battery of ordeals.
As a living test subject, Kei has a hellish existence – he is wrapped from head to toe like a mummy, his limbs get hacked off and he gets killed again and again. It is as though he were less than human.
Immortality becomes a curse for Kei.
There are questions here about humanity and mor(t)ality, but in the hands of director Katsuyuki Motohiro (Bayside Shakedown: The Movie, 1998), the movie also works as an exciting thriller in which Ajin is pitted against Ajin.
Satoh, as he did in period actioner Rurouni Kenshin (2012), plays a man reluctant to turn to violence, but is forced to; and Ayano (Lupin The 3rd, 2014) revels in Sato’s villainy.
The immortals are each able to project an entity outside of themselves – Kei calls his a “ghost” – which seems to have a mind of its own.
The special effects team does a good job of depicting these shadowy, not-quite-solid ghosts who are capable of inflicting very real damage.
Given that the Ajin can regenerate after death, how is one supposed to take another down? Kei comes up with a plan to trap Sato, but is blindsided by a detail he did not consider.
There are enough twists and turns to keep one engaged and the good news is that they feel organic to the fantasy world conjured up here.
(ST)
Wednesday, October 04, 2017
Chasing The Dragon
Wong Jing, Jason Kwan
The story: An illegal immigrant (Donnie Yen) who sneaks into Hong Kong in 1963 finds that he gets paid more to fight than to work. He soon rises through the ranks of the underworld because of his fighting skills to become the feared drug lord Crippled Ho. Detective sergeant Lui Lok (Andy Lau) enjoys a parallel ascent in these tumultuous times and the two men forge a partnership.
The selling point of this movie is the first-time collaboration between Hong Kong superstars Donnie Yen and Andy Lau. The bigger surprise is that king of B-grade movies Wong Jing has pulled off an entertaining epic crime flick.
Chasing The Dragon is a new take on the acclaimed crime drama To Be Number One (1991), in which Ray Lui played the real-life gangster Ng Sik Ho, or Crippled Ho. But instead of a slavish remake, the film-makers have smartly conflated it with the story of corrupt cop Lui Lok and used it as an opportunity to increase the star wattage.
Yen is credible as he goes from Teochew-speaking penniless immigrant to ruthless criminal despite being hampered by a limp. His character wants to keep his conscience clean, even as he sinks deeper and deeper into a life of crime. This means Yen gets to exercise both his acting chops and his chopsocky moves.
Lau, having previously played the same role in Lee Rock and Lee Rock II (both in 1991), is comfortable here as the slick cop looking out for himself.
But when put together, the two A-listers come up short in portraying the relationship of two men bound together by brotherhood, blood and money.
Good thing the story itself is engaging. It casts an eye on crime and justice in Hong Kong over a span of several decades, during which the Independent Commission Against Corruption, formed in 1974, turned out to be an agency with real bite, instead of a paper tiger.
The scenes here of the now-demolished Kowloon Walled City are fascinating. The infamously lawless slum has not been sanitised and as the camera winds its way through a maze of drug dens, gambling houses and street hawkers, planes fly absurdly low overhead, rubbish is strewn everywhere and danger lurks around every corner.
Perhaps credit for the film’s gritty authenticity is due to Wong’s co-director Jason Kwan, who makes his directorial debut here after winning praise for his work as a cinematographer on films such as crime thriller Cold War (2012) and romance comedy Love In A Puff (2010).
(ST)
Wong Jing, Jason Kwan
The story: An illegal immigrant (Donnie Yen) who sneaks into Hong Kong in 1963 finds that he gets paid more to fight than to work. He soon rises through the ranks of the underworld because of his fighting skills to become the feared drug lord Crippled Ho. Detective sergeant Lui Lok (Andy Lau) enjoys a parallel ascent in these tumultuous times and the two men forge a partnership.
The selling point of this movie is the first-time collaboration between Hong Kong superstars Donnie Yen and Andy Lau. The bigger surprise is that king of B-grade movies Wong Jing has pulled off an entertaining epic crime flick.
Chasing The Dragon is a new take on the acclaimed crime drama To Be Number One (1991), in which Ray Lui played the real-life gangster Ng Sik Ho, or Crippled Ho. But instead of a slavish remake, the film-makers have smartly conflated it with the story of corrupt cop Lui Lok and used it as an opportunity to increase the star wattage.
Yen is credible as he goes from Teochew-speaking penniless immigrant to ruthless criminal despite being hampered by a limp. His character wants to keep his conscience clean, even as he sinks deeper and deeper into a life of crime. This means Yen gets to exercise both his acting chops and his chopsocky moves.
Lau, having previously played the same role in Lee Rock and Lee Rock II (both in 1991), is comfortable here as the slick cop looking out for himself.
But when put together, the two A-listers come up short in portraying the relationship of two men bound together by brotherhood, blood and money.
Good thing the story itself is engaging. It casts an eye on crime and justice in Hong Kong over a span of several decades, during which the Independent Commission Against Corruption, formed in 1974, turned out to be an agency with real bite, instead of a paper tiger.
The scenes here of the now-demolished Kowloon Walled City are fascinating. The infamously lawless slum has not been sanitised and as the camera winds its way through a maze of drug dens, gambling houses and street hawkers, planes fly absurdly low overhead, rubbish is strewn everywhere and danger lurks around every corner.
Perhaps credit for the film’s gritty authenticity is due to Wong’s co-director Jason Kwan, who makes his directorial debut here after winning praise for his work as a cinematographer on films such as crime thriller Cold War (2012) and romance comedy Love In A Puff (2010).
(ST)
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Let Me Eat Your Pancreas
Sho Tsukikawa
The story: Popular high-school student Sakura Yamauchi (Minami Hamabe) is dying as her pancreas is failing. Her unnamed geeky librarian classmate (Takumi Kitamura) stumbles upon her diary and learns her secret. As she draws him out of his shell, he helps her to fulfil her bucket-list wishes. Based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Yoru Sumino.
Never mind its fantasy horror title, Let Me Eat Your Pancreas is actually an old-fashioned tearjerker.
There is a burgeoning romance and a girl with a terminal disease who is outwardly cheerful and optimistic. One would not know that she is seriously ill just by looking at her.
Hamabe brings a sunny chirpiness and a touching vulnerability to the role of a young girl confronting her mortality. Her character, Sakura, is not made out to be a saint as she is curious about sex. However, her attempts at seduction are valiantly resisted, sometimes to almost comic effect, by Kitamura’s character, who remains unnamed throughout the film.
The growing friendship with her classmate seems unlikely, given that they are on opposite ends of the popularity spectrum, but as she says to him: “You’re the only one who can keep my life normal.”
Kitamura, a member of Japanese pop-rock band Dish, gives a sensitive performance as his restrained character slowly opens up. It also makes his breakdown late in the movie that much more moving.
Director Sho Tsukikawa (The 100th Love With You, 2017) is deft with the emotional scenes, letting them land with an impact that stings.
He overdoes it a bit with the soft focus and light-filled scenes, although the shots featuring cherry blossoms in full bloom are admittedly gorgeous.
The movie also jumps forward 12 years, a period that is not covered in the book. It shows the impact Sakura has had on the male protagonist (now played by Shun Oguri), as he was nudged to become a teacher at their school because of something she said; and on her best friend, Kyoko (adult version played by Keiko Kitagawa), who was puzzled by and jealous of their closeness.
The memory of her still burns bright for them.
(ST)
Sho Tsukikawa
The story: Popular high-school student Sakura Yamauchi (Minami Hamabe) is dying as her pancreas is failing. Her unnamed geeky librarian classmate (Takumi Kitamura) stumbles upon her diary and learns her secret. As she draws him out of his shell, he helps her to fulfil her bucket-list wishes. Based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Yoru Sumino.
Never mind its fantasy horror title, Let Me Eat Your Pancreas is actually an old-fashioned tearjerker.
There is a burgeoning romance and a girl with a terminal disease who is outwardly cheerful and optimistic. One would not know that she is seriously ill just by looking at her.
Hamabe brings a sunny chirpiness and a touching vulnerability to the role of a young girl confronting her mortality. Her character, Sakura, is not made out to be a saint as she is curious about sex. However, her attempts at seduction are valiantly resisted, sometimes to almost comic effect, by Kitamura’s character, who remains unnamed throughout the film.
The growing friendship with her classmate seems unlikely, given that they are on opposite ends of the popularity spectrum, but as she says to him: “You’re the only one who can keep my life normal.”
Kitamura, a member of Japanese pop-rock band Dish, gives a sensitive performance as his restrained character slowly opens up. It also makes his breakdown late in the movie that much more moving.
Director Sho Tsukikawa (The 100th Love With You, 2017) is deft with the emotional scenes, letting them land with an impact that stings.
He overdoes it a bit with the soft focus and light-filled scenes, although the shots featuring cherry blossoms in full bloom are admittedly gorgeous.
The movie also jumps forward 12 years, a period that is not covered in the book. It shows the impact Sakura has had on the male protagonist (now played by Shun Oguri), as he was nudged to become a teacher at their school because of something she said; and on her best friend, Kyoko (adult version played by Keiko Kitagawa), who was puzzled by and jealous of their closeness.
The memory of her still burns bright for them.
(ST)
Saturday, September 09, 2017
“Why does the Singapore Government restrict the broadcasting of Chinese dialects in the mass media?”
Mass media content comes under the purview of the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA).
Broadcasters have to ensure that their programmes are in line with the authority’s content guidelines, which are stricter for free-to-air media because they are easily accessible by almost everyone.
Under the Free-To-Air Television Programme Code and Free-To-Air Radio Programme Code, it is stated that all Chinese programmes, except operas or other programmes specifically approved, must be in Mandarin.
Dialects in dialogues and songs may be allowed, provided the context justifies usage and is “sparingly used”.
Other exceptions include news, current affairs and info-educational programmes where interviews are given by older people or foreigners who are conversant only in dialect. Some dialect terms such as those used for food, for example, char kway teow, may be used in local dramas.
Under the Board of Film Censors’ Classification Guidelines, the reason for this is spelt out.
“Films with dialect content are allowed on a case-by-case basis. Chinese films meant for theatrical release should generally be in Mandarin, in line with the Speak Mandarin Campaign.”
This was launched in 1979 with the objective of replacing dialects with Mandarin among Chinese Singaporeans. The use of dialects is seen as fundamentally undermining the spread of Mandarin.
In recent years though, there appears to be a loosening of restrictions on the use of dialect on free-to-air television.
The 10-episode Hokkien drama Jiak Ba Buay (Eat Already?) last year was reportedly the first dialect series aired in Singapore since 1979. It was a collaboration between Mediacorp and the Ministry of Communications and Information that was aimed at conveying government policies, such as MediShield Life, to senior citizens who may not be as comfortable in Mandarin. The third season of the show is currently airing on Channel 8 until Oct 27.
Also last year, variety series Happy Can Already! took on topics from SkillsFuture to retirement in songs and skits in a mix of Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew. The second season ended its run in July.
IMDA says, though, that there is no change to the Government’s dialect policy for mass media. “Dialect broadcasts are not new; we have always had them for older Chinese Singaporeans.”
The authority notes that dialect content remains available on various platforms.
On radio, Mediacorp’s Capital 95.8FM offers daily morning news bulletins in dialects such as Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, Hainanese, Foochow and Hakka.
On free-to-air TV, Channel 8 broadcasts dialect operas on Friday mornings as well as MediShield and Pioneer Generation Package interstitials in dialect.
There is also flexibility for okto channel to screen art-house films with dialect content.
In addition, pay-TV operators offer channels with dialect content such as StarHub’s TVBJ (Cantonese) and Singtel’s Jia Le Channel (Hokkien), and also carry dialect titles on its video-on-demand services.
There are no restrictions on the sale and distribution of dialect videos and music albums, as well as on outdoor and theatrical performances and events.
(ST)
Mass media content comes under the purview of the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA).
Broadcasters have to ensure that their programmes are in line with the authority’s content guidelines, which are stricter for free-to-air media because they are easily accessible by almost everyone.
Under the Free-To-Air Television Programme Code and Free-To-Air Radio Programme Code, it is stated that all Chinese programmes, except operas or other programmes specifically approved, must be in Mandarin.
Dialects in dialogues and songs may be allowed, provided the context justifies usage and is “sparingly used”.
Other exceptions include news, current affairs and info-educational programmes where interviews are given by older people or foreigners who are conversant only in dialect. Some dialect terms such as those used for food, for example, char kway teow, may be used in local dramas.
Under the Board of Film Censors’ Classification Guidelines, the reason for this is spelt out.
“Films with dialect content are allowed on a case-by-case basis. Chinese films meant for theatrical release should generally be in Mandarin, in line with the Speak Mandarin Campaign.”
This was launched in 1979 with the objective of replacing dialects with Mandarin among Chinese Singaporeans. The use of dialects is seen as fundamentally undermining the spread of Mandarin.
In recent years though, there appears to be a loosening of restrictions on the use of dialect on free-to-air television.
The 10-episode Hokkien drama Jiak Ba Buay (Eat Already?) last year was reportedly the first dialect series aired in Singapore since 1979. It was a collaboration between Mediacorp and the Ministry of Communications and Information that was aimed at conveying government policies, such as MediShield Life, to senior citizens who may not be as comfortable in Mandarin. The third season of the show is currently airing on Channel 8 until Oct 27.
Also last year, variety series Happy Can Already! took on topics from SkillsFuture to retirement in songs and skits in a mix of Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew. The second season ended its run in July.
IMDA says, though, that there is no change to the Government’s dialect policy for mass media. “Dialect broadcasts are not new; we have always had them for older Chinese Singaporeans.”
The authority notes that dialect content remains available on various platforms.
On radio, Mediacorp’s Capital 95.8FM offers daily morning news bulletins in dialects such as Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, Hainanese, Foochow and Hakka.
On free-to-air TV, Channel 8 broadcasts dialect operas on Friday mornings as well as MediShield and Pioneer Generation Package interstitials in dialect.
There is also flexibility for okto channel to screen art-house films with dialect content.
In addition, pay-TV operators offer channels with dialect content such as StarHub’s TVBJ (Cantonese) and Singtel’s Jia Le Channel (Hokkien), and also carry dialect titles on its video-on-demand services.
There are no restrictions on the sale and distribution of dialect videos and music albums, as well as on outdoor and theatrical performances and events.
(ST)
Wednesday, September 06, 2017
Colour Of The Game
Kam Ka Wai
The story: Old-hand gang member Wallace (Simon Yam) is tasked to kill Robert, the son of a mob boss. In addition to his protege Sky (Philip Ng), he also rounds up his usual gang, which includes his daughter, Lily (Sabrina Qiu), Tyson (Jordan Chan) and BBQ (Cheung Siu Fai). The mission goes horribly wrong and Wallace later finds out that it was all a set-up to flush out the mole in his team.
As Wallace and gang prepare to head out to take down Robert, they are all dressed in the same hue, as though they are part of a pop group. And pristine white is the colour of choice, never mind that their clothes are likely to be stained with grime and blood.
Meanwhile, the army of baddies who surprise them are dressed head to toe in black, like ninjas.
How else will the audience be able to tell them apart? What better way to illustrate how utterly literal the film is in the interpretation of its title?
Prolific B-grade film-maker Wong Jing previously directed Colour Of The Truth (2003) and Colour Of The Loyalty (2005). Colour Of The Game is supposedly the third film in the trilogy, but it is a standalone title. He writes and produces, but hands over directing duties to Kam Ka Wai (iGirl, 2016).
What this means is that visually, there are some nicely lensed scenes with unusual angles.
But Kam is ultimately hemmed in by the lacklustre story.
The revelation of the mole comes as an anticlimax and the themes of brotherhood and torn loyalties have been more fruitfully explored elsewhere. Meanwhile, busty actresses fill out the one-dimensional female characters.
It is hard to pinpoint why this was even made in the first place. Or how they managed to assemble a cast that includes the likes of Yam, Cheung and Chan. But even these workhorses of the Hong Kong movie industry need something, anything, to work with.
(ST)
Kam Ka Wai
The story: Old-hand gang member Wallace (Simon Yam) is tasked to kill Robert, the son of a mob boss. In addition to his protege Sky (Philip Ng), he also rounds up his usual gang, which includes his daughter, Lily (Sabrina Qiu), Tyson (Jordan Chan) and BBQ (Cheung Siu Fai). The mission goes horribly wrong and Wallace later finds out that it was all a set-up to flush out the mole in his team.
As Wallace and gang prepare to head out to take down Robert, they are all dressed in the same hue, as though they are part of a pop group. And pristine white is the colour of choice, never mind that their clothes are likely to be stained with grime and blood.
Meanwhile, the army of baddies who surprise them are dressed head to toe in black, like ninjas.
How else will the audience be able to tell them apart? What better way to illustrate how utterly literal the film is in the interpretation of its title?
Prolific B-grade film-maker Wong Jing previously directed Colour Of The Truth (2003) and Colour Of The Loyalty (2005). Colour Of The Game is supposedly the third film in the trilogy, but it is a standalone title. He writes and produces, but hands over directing duties to Kam Ka Wai (iGirl, 2016).
What this means is that visually, there are some nicely lensed scenes with unusual angles.
But Kam is ultimately hemmed in by the lacklustre story.
The revelation of the mole comes as an anticlimax and the themes of brotherhood and torn loyalties have been more fruitfully explored elsewhere. Meanwhile, busty actresses fill out the one-dimensional female characters.
It is hard to pinpoint why this was even made in the first place. Or how they managed to assemble a cast that includes the likes of Yam, Cheung and Chan. But even these workhorses of the Hong Kong movie industry need something, anything, to work with.
(ST)
Midnight Runners
Kim Joo Hwan
The story: Jockish Gi Jun (Park Seo Jun) and geekish Hee Yeol (Kang Ha Neul) are fellow students and best friends at the police academy. They witness a young woman getting abducted and, having learnt that time is of the essence in such cases, decide to follow up on their own time – even when they run up against red tape and find they could be expelled.
The infectious chemistry between the lead actors makes Midnight Runners a fun and satisfying movie to watch
It has been a while since such an entertaining buddy action flick came along.
What makes it so watchable is the chemistry between the two charming and likeable lead actors, Park (She Was Pretty, 2015) and Kang (Misaeng, 2014). They radiate an energy that is sunny and infectious and they definitely have a blast when they are together.
Asked how long they have been dating while promoting the movie on a variety show, Park gamely answers: “It’s been about five months.”
In Midnight Runners, they play opposites. Hee Yeol is a germophobic book-smart student; Gi Jun is a jock who tends to be more impulsive.
In response to an exam question on how to investigate a crime, Hee Yeol effortlessly jots down the model answer, while Gi Jun simply lists down qualities such as being passionate.
What unites them is a youthful passion for doing the right thing, even if that means going against the rules. They may joke around and insult each other, but they also have each other’s backs when it matters.
The case here gives one pause as well. It unveils the horrific business of the forced harvesting of eggs from vulnerable young women to meet the demands of desperate couples who turn to fertility clinics.
Writer-director Jason Kim Joo Hwan manages to balance the dark crime with a generally lighter tone, as scrappy underdogs Gi Jun and Hee Yeol doggedly chase after the evil-doers and end up scolded, beaten and even strung up like two slabs of meat.
While Kim takes a jab or two at red tape and the blind following of orders, he is not totally dismissive of the police force. There is a nicely executed scene where Hee Yeol discovers that the self-defence moves he learnt in class are not useless after all.
Kudos to the director for deftly mixing comedy, action, crime and even morality drama in a satisfying movie that makes you want to stand up and cheer at the end.
Perhaps the best sign that the film works is that one would love to see Park and Kang crack more cases, and villainous skulls, together.
(ST)
Kim Joo Hwan
The story: Jockish Gi Jun (Park Seo Jun) and geekish Hee Yeol (Kang Ha Neul) are fellow students and best friends at the police academy. They witness a young woman getting abducted and, having learnt that time is of the essence in such cases, decide to follow up on their own time – even when they run up against red tape and find they could be expelled.
The infectious chemistry between the lead actors makes Midnight Runners a fun and satisfying movie to watch
It has been a while since such an entertaining buddy action flick came along.
What makes it so watchable is the chemistry between the two charming and likeable lead actors, Park (She Was Pretty, 2015) and Kang (Misaeng, 2014). They radiate an energy that is sunny and infectious and they definitely have a blast when they are together.
Asked how long they have been dating while promoting the movie on a variety show, Park gamely answers: “It’s been about five months.”
In Midnight Runners, they play opposites. Hee Yeol is a germophobic book-smart student; Gi Jun is a jock who tends to be more impulsive.
In response to an exam question on how to investigate a crime, Hee Yeol effortlessly jots down the model answer, while Gi Jun simply lists down qualities such as being passionate.
What unites them is a youthful passion for doing the right thing, even if that means going against the rules. They may joke around and insult each other, but they also have each other’s backs when it matters.
The case here gives one pause as well. It unveils the horrific business of the forced harvesting of eggs from vulnerable young women to meet the demands of desperate couples who turn to fertility clinics.
Writer-director Jason Kim Joo Hwan manages to balance the dark crime with a generally lighter tone, as scrappy underdogs Gi Jun and Hee Yeol doggedly chase after the evil-doers and end up scolded, beaten and even strung up like two slabs of meat.
While Kim takes a jab or two at red tape and the blind following of orders, he is not totally dismissive of the police force. There is a nicely executed scene where Hee Yeol discovers that the self-defence moves he learnt in class are not useless after all.
Kudos to the director for deftly mixing comedy, action, crime and even morality drama in a satisfying movie that makes you want to stand up and cheer at the end.
Perhaps the best sign that the film works is that one would love to see Park and Kang crack more cases, and villainous skulls, together.
(ST)
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Cars 3
Brian Fee
The story: Champion racing car Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and others of his generation are starting to lag behind technologically souped-up upstarts such as Jackson Storm (voiced by Armie Hammer). McQueen is assigned a coach, Cruz Ramirez (voiced by Cristela Alonzo), by his new owner and he has to win an upcoming major race – or be reduced to being a product endorsement figurehead.
The previous film, Cars 2 (2011), was a globetrotting affair that imagined cars as spies. Um, right.
The third instalment does away with that far-fetched conceit to focus on the more plausible storyline of talking, self-racing cars.
That right there is the problem.
Pixar has given us talking toys (Toy Story, 1995), talking animals (Finding Nemo, 2003) and even talking emotions (Inside Out, 2015). But talking cars remain the least persuasive creation in its oeuvre.
Cars 3 wants to be a stirring comeback tale of a champion who is not quite done yet, but it is hard to get revved up enough to care deeply for McQueen and the other vehicles.
It does not help that Wilson sounds too placid and laidback to voice a character who is a lightning- fast racer.
Also, McQueen might get upset that he is being overtaken by more powerful models, but that is exactly what you would expect with cars in the real world.
This is particularly so in Singapore, where embracing new and improved vehicles is the norm, given the certificate of entitlement system, where cars are often scrapped after 10 years or less.
There are a few fun moments, though, which prevent Cars 3 from being a movie for the scrap heap, such as when McQueen and his coach, Ramirez, inadvertently get roped into a demolition derby featuring a school bus on steroids.
It takes a while for McQueen to finally come to terms with his, er, mortality and realise that he can still play an important role.
The acceptance arrives in a too-tidy conclusion, which gives him his cake and lets him eat it too. That is, if cars could eat.
(ST)
Brian Fee
The story: Champion racing car Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) and others of his generation are starting to lag behind technologically souped-up upstarts such as Jackson Storm (voiced by Armie Hammer). McQueen is assigned a coach, Cruz Ramirez (voiced by Cristela Alonzo), by his new owner and he has to win an upcoming major race – or be reduced to being a product endorsement figurehead.
The previous film, Cars 2 (2011), was a globetrotting affair that imagined cars as spies. Um, right.
The third instalment does away with that far-fetched conceit to focus on the more plausible storyline of talking, self-racing cars.
That right there is the problem.
Pixar has given us talking toys (Toy Story, 1995), talking animals (Finding Nemo, 2003) and even talking emotions (Inside Out, 2015). But talking cars remain the least persuasive creation in its oeuvre.
Cars 3 wants to be a stirring comeback tale of a champion who is not quite done yet, but it is hard to get revved up enough to care deeply for McQueen and the other vehicles.
It does not help that Wilson sounds too placid and laidback to voice a character who is a lightning- fast racer.
Also, McQueen might get upset that he is being overtaken by more powerful models, but that is exactly what you would expect with cars in the real world.
This is particularly so in Singapore, where embracing new and improved vehicles is the norm, given the certificate of entitlement system, where cars are often scrapped after 10 years or less.
There are a few fun moments, though, which prevent Cars 3 from being a movie for the scrap heap, such as when McQueen and his coach, Ramirez, inadvertently get roped into a demolition derby featuring a school bus on steroids.
It takes a while for McQueen to finally come to terms with his, er, mortality and realise that he can still play an important role.
The acceptance arrives in a too-tidy conclusion, which gives him his cake and lets him eat it too. That is, if cars could eat.
(ST)
Death Note
Adam Wingard
The story: Seattle high-school student Light Turner (Nat Wolff) happens upon a copy of Death Note. Writing a person’s name in the supernatural notebook while picturing his face will result in his death. Light uses his newfound power by killing criminals around the world using the moniker Kira. He eventually attracts the attention of L (Lakeith Stanfield), an eccentric but brilliant detective who is determined to unmask Kira and bring him to justice.
As far as Hollywood remakes go, this version of Death Note will not leave you itching to scribble director Adam Wingard’s (Blair Witch, 2016) name into any tome.
It starts off hewing quite closely to the premise of the Japanese manga and 2006 live-action film of the same name, but with several tweaks along the way.
Light is in high school and at the mercy of bullies, making the idea of Death Note even more appealing.
The notebook is also a way for him to impress the cheerleader Mia (Margaret Qualley). “Please tell me this isn’t your poetry journal,” she quips, but soon becomes his eager accomplice.
The gore quotient has also been upped here. While most of the deaths in the earlier movie are by fuss-free heart attacks, Light comes up with bloody and gruesome ends for his victims here, including decapitation.
Veteran actor Willem Dafoe is well cast and proves to be both seductive and menacing as god of death Ryuk, by turns nudging his charge along and threatening him.
And in a nice bit of colour-blind casting, black actor Stanfield (Get Out, 2017) plays the role of L.
Where the remake really starts to come into its own is when the story takes a major deviation from its source material.
The battle of wits between Light and L becomes personal when Light manipulates someone close to L, making the stakes higher and more deeply felt.
The Japanese movie ended with a diabolical twist.
By throwing enough digressions into the remake, even those who watched the earlier version get to be surprised by the conclusion here.
(ST)
Adam Wingard
The story: Seattle high-school student Light Turner (Nat Wolff) happens upon a copy of Death Note. Writing a person’s name in the supernatural notebook while picturing his face will result in his death. Light uses his newfound power by killing criminals around the world using the moniker Kira. He eventually attracts the attention of L (Lakeith Stanfield), an eccentric but brilliant detective who is determined to unmask Kira and bring him to justice.
As far as Hollywood remakes go, this version of Death Note will not leave you itching to scribble director Adam Wingard’s (Blair Witch, 2016) name into any tome.
It starts off hewing quite closely to the premise of the Japanese manga and 2006 live-action film of the same name, but with several tweaks along the way.
Light is in high school and at the mercy of bullies, making the idea of Death Note even more appealing.
The notebook is also a way for him to impress the cheerleader Mia (Margaret Qualley). “Please tell me this isn’t your poetry journal,” she quips, but soon becomes his eager accomplice.
The gore quotient has also been upped here. While most of the deaths in the earlier movie are by fuss-free heart attacks, Light comes up with bloody and gruesome ends for his victims here, including decapitation.
Veteran actor Willem Dafoe is well cast and proves to be both seductive and menacing as god of death Ryuk, by turns nudging his charge along and threatening him.
And in a nice bit of colour-blind casting, black actor Stanfield (Get Out, 2017) plays the role of L.
Where the remake really starts to come into its own is when the story takes a major deviation from its source material.
The battle of wits between Light and L becomes personal when Light manipulates someone close to L, making the stakes higher and more deeply felt.
The Japanese movie ended with a diabolical twist.
By throwing enough digressions into the remake, even those who watched the earlier version get to be surprised by the conclusion here.
(ST)
The Adventurers
Stephen Fung
The story: Master thief Zhang (Andy Lau) is released from a French prison, where he landed after his last botched job of stealing the Eye Of The Forest, one-third of the priceless jewellery ensemble known as Gaia. With his long-time partner, Chen (Tony Yang), and a new recruit, Ye (Shu Qi), he goes after the person who betrayed him, even as detective Bissette (Jean Reno) is hot on his trail.
It is a pity the movie that Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau has returned to promote, after a horse-riding accident, is not a stronger offering.
His performance here as the thief Zhang is rather stilted, maybe because he is speaking in English and Mandarin, rather than his native Cantonese.
Neither is there much chemistry between him and Zhang Jingchu, who plays his wife, Amber, an art expert. At least Shu and Yang are mildly entertaining as they flirt and bicker as stock-character types – she the attractive femme fatale and he the earnest sidekick.
Director and co-writer Stephen Fung clearly had ambitions for a slick and stylish heist movie, but making something as buoyant as, say, Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven (2001) or even John Woo’s Once A Thief (1991) is harder than it looks.
Simply setting the action in Cannes and Prague is not enough when the dialogue gets pretty laughable. Bissette says to Zhang ominously at the beginning: “Just because you’re out of prison doesn’t mean you’re really free.”
And inexplicably, Bissette speaks to fellow French cops in English at one point, which just suggests lazy film-making.
Neither is there much of a surprise when the identity of Zhang’s betrayer is finally unveiled. The plot could definitely have been more adventurous.
(ST)
Stephen Fung
The story: Master thief Zhang (Andy Lau) is released from a French prison, where he landed after his last botched job of stealing the Eye Of The Forest, one-third of the priceless jewellery ensemble known as Gaia. With his long-time partner, Chen (Tony Yang), and a new recruit, Ye (Shu Qi), he goes after the person who betrayed him, even as detective Bissette (Jean Reno) is hot on his trail.
It is a pity the movie that Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau has returned to promote, after a horse-riding accident, is not a stronger offering.
His performance here as the thief Zhang is rather stilted, maybe because he is speaking in English and Mandarin, rather than his native Cantonese.
Neither is there much chemistry between him and Zhang Jingchu, who plays his wife, Amber, an art expert. At least Shu and Yang are mildly entertaining as they flirt and bicker as stock-character types – she the attractive femme fatale and he the earnest sidekick.
Director and co-writer Stephen Fung clearly had ambitions for a slick and stylish heist movie, but making something as buoyant as, say, Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven (2001) or even John Woo’s Once A Thief (1991) is harder than it looks.
Simply setting the action in Cannes and Prague is not enough when the dialogue gets pretty laughable. Bissette says to Zhang ominously at the beginning: “Just because you’re out of prison doesn’t mean you’re really free.”
And inexplicably, Bissette speaks to fellow French cops in English at one point, which just suggests lazy film-making.
Neither is there much of a surprise when the identity of Zhang’s betrayer is finally unveiled. The plot could definitely have been more adventurous.
(ST)
Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Tokyo Ghoul
Kentaro Hagiwara
The story: Ghouls, indistinguishable from normal folk, roam Tokyo and feed on human flesh. Kaneki (Masataka Kubota) undergoes surgery after an attack and finds himself turning into a half-human, half-ghoul hybrid whose loyalties are torn between the two worlds. Based on the manga of the same name (2011-2014) by Sui Ishida .
Ghouls are monsters who feed on human flesh and must be exterminated at all costs. Or are they?
Like in Giddens Ko’s recent Mon Mon Mon Monsters, the humans here are capable of monstrous behaviour as well. But Kentaro Hagiwara’s dark and violent Tokyo Ghoul is more nuanced and layered in its indictment.
The viewers’ guide to the world of ghouls is the luckless Kaneki, a socially awkward young man who is inadvertently turned into a halfhuman, half-ghoul hybrid.
Kubota (Death Note television series, 2015) gives an intense performance as, at first, Kaneki desperately tries to satiate his hunger, but throws up everything he ingests, and then realises with horror that the whites of his left eye have turned a sinister red.
As he gets initiated into the mysteries of a hitherto unknown world, we tag along for the ride. His struggle to retain his humanity keeps us invested in the story.
One of the cool things about the manga, and the film, is the character design of the ghouls.
In their natural form, their power resides in all manner of fantastical appendages, such as tails and claws, called kagune, which differ from ghoul to ghoul. The face masks, which range from an innocuous rabbit to a ghoulish black leather veneer with a zipper over the mouth, feel like fan service detail.
Diving deeper into this community, Kaneki meets a shy girl ghoul, Hinami (Hiyori Sakurada), that he is protective of. This sets him on a collision course with the humans bent on wiping out the ghouls, Amon (Nobuyuki Suzuki) and Mado (Yo Oizumi).
It is a measure of how balanced the story-telling is that you do not know whom to root for when the humans battle the ghouls.
(ST)
Kentaro Hagiwara
The story: Ghouls, indistinguishable from normal folk, roam Tokyo and feed on human flesh. Kaneki (Masataka Kubota) undergoes surgery after an attack and finds himself turning into a half-human, half-ghoul hybrid whose loyalties are torn between the two worlds. Based on the manga of the same name (2011-2014) by Sui Ishida .
Ghouls are monsters who feed on human flesh and must be exterminated at all costs. Or are they?
Like in Giddens Ko’s recent Mon Mon Mon Monsters, the humans here are capable of monstrous behaviour as well. But Kentaro Hagiwara’s dark and violent Tokyo Ghoul is more nuanced and layered in its indictment.
The viewers’ guide to the world of ghouls is the luckless Kaneki, a socially awkward young man who is inadvertently turned into a halfhuman, half-ghoul hybrid.
Kubota (Death Note television series, 2015) gives an intense performance as, at first, Kaneki desperately tries to satiate his hunger, but throws up everything he ingests, and then realises with horror that the whites of his left eye have turned a sinister red.
As he gets initiated into the mysteries of a hitherto unknown world, we tag along for the ride. His struggle to retain his humanity keeps us invested in the story.
One of the cool things about the manga, and the film, is the character design of the ghouls.
In their natural form, their power resides in all manner of fantastical appendages, such as tails and claws, called kagune, which differ from ghoul to ghoul. The face masks, which range from an innocuous rabbit to a ghoulish black leather veneer with a zipper over the mouth, feel like fan service detail.
Diving deeper into this community, Kaneki meets a shy girl ghoul, Hinami (Hiyori Sakurada), that he is protective of. This sets him on a collision course with the humans bent on wiping out the ghouls, Amon (Nobuyuki Suzuki) and Mado (Yo Oizumi).
It is a measure of how balanced the story-telling is that you do not know whom to root for when the humans battle the ghouls.
(ST)
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
The Battleship Island
Ryoo Seung Wan
The story: During World War II, the Japanese island of Hashima (also called Gunkanjima, or Battleship Island) was the site of a brutal mining operation that used forced labour, including boys from South Korea. South Korean women on the island faced the fate of being used as sex slaves. Bandmaster Lee Kang Ok (Hwang Jung Min) and his young daughter So Hee (Kim Su An), as well as notorious gangster Choi Chil Sung (So Ji Sub), are among those shipped off to it. Park Moo Young (Song Joong Ki), an American-trained operative, infiltrates the island to rescue a fellow independence fighter, but eventually tries to help about 400 Koreans escape.
There is more than one way to approach wartime movies, as the recent box-office successes of Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Ryoo Seung Wan’s The Battleship Island prove.
In South Korea, the latter has been setting records and had surpassed six million admissions by the 12th day of its run.
Nolan keeps ratcheting up the tension in his portrayal of the Sisyphean task of staying alive, but does not really flesh out those caught in the cross hairs of battle.
In contrast, writer-director Ryoo gives us a vivid cast of characters to root for in a thrilling tale of escape: Song plays the marquee role here like an extension of the super soldier-hero he played in the blockbuster series Descendants Of The Sun (2016); and the other K-drama star, So (Master’s Sun, 2013), swaggers with menacing aplomb as the macho gangster who plays a pivotal part in the escape attempt.
But it is the father-daughter pair, played by award-winning actor Hwang (Ode To My Father, 2014) and child star Kim (Train To Busan, 2016), who anchor Battleship.
Lee will do anything to keep himself and his daughter alive; this survival instinct drives him on, even if it means he has to clown around for the amusement of the Japanese.
The grimness of the war situation is leavened by some sweet little moments shared between the two characters. Both Hwang and Kim turn in vivid portrayals.
Story-wise, Ryoo packs some surprises along the way, which prevents the proceedings from getting too predictable. There is a poignant scene where a woman reveals that she was betrayed by her countryman – a Korean pimp who condemned her to her fate as a “comfort woman”.
The director also deftly handles the complex scenes depicting the hellishness of the underground mining and the intensity of the gripping finale.
While the escape is fictional, the island exists and was inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage site in 2015. At the end of the film, a coda notes that Japan has yet to acknowledge the events that took place there, a sombre reminder that the shadows and scars of war linger on today.
(ST)
Ryoo Seung Wan
The story: During World War II, the Japanese island of Hashima (also called Gunkanjima, or Battleship Island) was the site of a brutal mining operation that used forced labour, including boys from South Korea. South Korean women on the island faced the fate of being used as sex slaves. Bandmaster Lee Kang Ok (Hwang Jung Min) and his young daughter So Hee (Kim Su An), as well as notorious gangster Choi Chil Sung (So Ji Sub), are among those shipped off to it. Park Moo Young (Song Joong Ki), an American-trained operative, infiltrates the island to rescue a fellow independence fighter, but eventually tries to help about 400 Koreans escape.
There is more than one way to approach wartime movies, as the recent box-office successes of Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Ryoo Seung Wan’s The Battleship Island prove.
In South Korea, the latter has been setting records and had surpassed six million admissions by the 12th day of its run.
Nolan keeps ratcheting up the tension in his portrayal of the Sisyphean task of staying alive, but does not really flesh out those caught in the cross hairs of battle.
In contrast, writer-director Ryoo gives us a vivid cast of characters to root for in a thrilling tale of escape: Song plays the marquee role here like an extension of the super soldier-hero he played in the blockbuster series Descendants Of The Sun (2016); and the other K-drama star, So (Master’s Sun, 2013), swaggers with menacing aplomb as the macho gangster who plays a pivotal part in the escape attempt.
But it is the father-daughter pair, played by award-winning actor Hwang (Ode To My Father, 2014) and child star Kim (Train To Busan, 2016), who anchor Battleship.
Lee will do anything to keep himself and his daughter alive; this survival instinct drives him on, even if it means he has to clown around for the amusement of the Japanese.
The grimness of the war situation is leavened by some sweet little moments shared between the two characters. Both Hwang and Kim turn in vivid portrayals.
Story-wise, Ryoo packs some surprises along the way, which prevents the proceedings from getting too predictable. There is a poignant scene where a woman reveals that she was betrayed by her countryman – a Korean pimp who condemned her to her fate as a “comfort woman”.
The director also deftly handles the complex scenes depicting the hellishness of the underground mining and the intensity of the gripping finale.
While the escape is fictional, the island exists and was inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage site in 2015. At the end of the film, a coda notes that Japan has yet to acknowledge the events that took place there, a sombre reminder that the shadows and scars of war linger on today.
(ST)
Wednesday, August 09, 2017
A Day
Cho Sun Ho
The story: Returning to Seoul after an overseas trip, doctor Kim Joon Young (Kim Myung Min) arranges to meet his headstrong young daughter Eun Jung (Jo Eun Hyung). On the way to the rendezvous, he witnesses a car accident and realises his daughter was killed in it. And then the day starts all over again for him.
The premise of a time loop has been used in films as diverse as romance comedy Groundhog Day (1993) and sci-fi military thriller Edge Of Tomorrow (2014).
South Korean director and co- writer Cho Sun Ho manages to put a fresh spin on it to deliver a tight and taut thriller elevated by philosophical shadings.
The key questions, as always, are: Why is the time loop happening? What needs to be changed in order for time to move on?
Actor Kim (Behind The White Tower, 2007) conveys the wrenching anguish of a father forced to relive his daughter’s death again and again and his increasing desperation as he tries to alter the course of events.
With each repetition, you keep your eyes peeled, wondering which detail will prove to be the key that unlocks the puzzle.
And then Cho drops a bombshell. Emergency services first responder Lee Min Chul (a completely unrecognisable Byun Yo Han from his role as an irritating intern in Misaeng, 2014) approaches the doctor to reveal that he is reliving the same day as well. This is in the trailer so it is not exactly a spoiler for audiences.
Gradually, the characters discover how they are linked to one another.
At one point, someone remarks that this is a version of hell, reliving a day of tragedy over and over again.
So how does one break the cycle of suffering and vengeance?
A Day is a satisfying thriller that turns out to be a rumination on Buddhist concepts of karma, rebirth and deliverance.
(ST)
Cho Sun Ho
The story: Returning to Seoul after an overseas trip, doctor Kim Joon Young (Kim Myung Min) arranges to meet his headstrong young daughter Eun Jung (Jo Eun Hyung). On the way to the rendezvous, he witnesses a car accident and realises his daughter was killed in it. And then the day starts all over again for him.
The premise of a time loop has been used in films as diverse as romance comedy Groundhog Day (1993) and sci-fi military thriller Edge Of Tomorrow (2014).
South Korean director and co- writer Cho Sun Ho manages to put a fresh spin on it to deliver a tight and taut thriller elevated by philosophical shadings.
The key questions, as always, are: Why is the time loop happening? What needs to be changed in order for time to move on?
Actor Kim (Behind The White Tower, 2007) conveys the wrenching anguish of a father forced to relive his daughter’s death again and again and his increasing desperation as he tries to alter the course of events.
With each repetition, you keep your eyes peeled, wondering which detail will prove to be the key that unlocks the puzzle.
And then Cho drops a bombshell. Emergency services first responder Lee Min Chul (a completely unrecognisable Byun Yo Han from his role as an irritating intern in Misaeng, 2014) approaches the doctor to reveal that he is reliving the same day as well. This is in the trailer so it is not exactly a spoiler for audiences.
Gradually, the characters discover how they are linked to one another.
At one point, someone remarks that this is a version of hell, reliving a day of tragedy over and over again.
So how does one break the cycle of suffering and vengeance?
A Day is a satisfying thriller that turns out to be a rumination on Buddhist concepts of karma, rebirth and deliverance.
(ST)
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