Movies

SUN DRAGON

2007-10-31T18:50:00.000-07:00

SUN DRAGON
猪仔血泪
(Zhu zai xie lei)
Hongkong, 1979

Willy Dozan
Carl Scott
Louis Neglia
Joseph Jennings
Liang Hsiao Sung

Directed by Hwa Yi Hsi

A trio of robbers looking for a hideout happens upon a farm and wipes out the family, save for the son, Tim (Carl Scott), who is badly wounded in his escape. Billy Chong (Willy Dozan) and his pal find Tim and take the battered kid to their doctor uncle, who heals Tim by using Chinese remedies. Naturally, Tim wants revenge on the gang that murdered his family. After some martial arts training from the doc, Tim sets out with Billy for some good ol' fashioned vengeance.

This is Willy Dozan's first appearance in Hongkong movies. And his name was changed into Billy Chong. He was pairing with the same director for the next movies, Crystal Fist and Kung Fu Zombie. There is a-plenty of fighting and both Billy Chong and Carl Scott (who is a very good black fighter) are good leads. Being budget minded, the locations are spare and the fighting is strictly ground kung fu, no trickery or outlandishness.

HIGH AND LOW

2007-10-11T00:25:00.000-07:00

HIGH AND LOW
天国と地獄
(Tengoku to jigoku)

Japan, 1963

Directed by Akira Kurosawa

Toshiro Mifune

Tatsuya Nakadai

High and Low is a play in two acts. The first act tells of an executive named Kingo Gondo (Toshirō Mifune) who mortgages all he has to stage a leveraged buyout and gain control of a company called National Shoes, with the intent of keeping the company out of the hands of its other executives. Gondo disagrees with the executives over the direction of the company. One faction wants to make the company a modern mass market low quality manufacturer while the founder of the company tries to keep it conservative with good quality. Gondo believes he can split the difference by making high quality modern shoes. Then he learns that his son has been kidnapped. Gondo is prepared to pay the ransom, until he learns that the kidnappers have mistakenly abducted the child of Gondo's chauffeur, instead of his own son. The kidnapping occurs in parallel with the corporate buyout drama and Gondo is forced to make an immediate decision about whether to pay the ransom or complete the buyout. His position is exposed to the other executives when his top aide betrays him to protect his own position. Finally, after a long night of contemplation and pressure from his wife and the chauffeur, Gondo decides to pay the ransom. This decision essentially seals his fate as the other executives now have the power to vote him out of this directorship. Interestingly, this move ends up making Gondo into a national hero while the National Shoe Company is vilified and boycotted.

The second act follows police procedure as they put together clues to find the kidnapped child, the ransom money, and the kidnapper. It is revealed that the main kidnapper is in fact a medical intern at a nearby hospital, whose sole motive is his hatred for Gondo which stems from jealousy. His apartment is directly under Gondo's significantly larger house on an overlooking hill, one of the many hints of the films title all throughout the film. As the he gets rid of his accomplices via drug overdose, the detective hatches a plot to catch the him when all seems lost. The detective lures him out of hiding by pretending that his accomplices survived his attempt to dispatch them. Gondo and the kidnapper finally meet face to face at the very end, and motives and feelings are examined.

RAID ON ENTEBBE

2007-09-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

RAID ON ENTEBBE
USA, 1977

Directed by Irvin Kershner

Peter Finch
Charles Bronson
Yaphet Kotto

Raid on Entebbe is a 1977 TV movie directed by Irvin Kershner. It is based on an actual event: Operation Entebbe and the freeing of hostages at Entebbe Airport in Entebbe, Uganda on July 4, 1976. It was the last movie to be released featuring Academy Award-winning actor Peter Finch.

The movie was released shortly after a more hastily released

made-for-television version came out - Victory at Entebbe (1976). This version of Operation Entebbe is believed to be fairly accurate, although some details of the actual raid remain unclear and somewhat controversial even today. The basic facts of the rescue of hostages held when hijackers working for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine boarded and hijacked an Air France plane recounts the events and response of the Israeli government and the controversy that the rescue stirred. This version shows the difficult deliberations held by the Cabinet of Israel to decide on a top-secret military raid on the Jewish Sabbath by commandos; a difficult and daring operation carried out over 2500 miles from home, and of course, an unwillingness of the Israeli government to give in to terrorist demands. One commando was killed (the operation commander Jonathan Netanyahu, brother of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu), a very small number of hostages, and soldiers under the then dictator of Uganda, Idi Amin.

THE STORY OF WOO VIET

2007-09-06T21:07:00.000-07:00

THE STORY OF WOO VIET
胡越的故事
(Woo yuet dik goo si)

Chow Yun Fat
Cherie Chung
Cora Miao

Directed by Ann Hui

The Story of Woo Viet is a political drama made by director Ann Hui in 1981. Actor Chow Yun Fat played the title character, Woo Viet. Stanley Kwan was the assistant director was Stanley Kwan and Ching Siu-Tung was the action choreographer.

The movie was one of the first few political dramas made in Hong Kong. It used the story of Vietnamese refugees (boat people) to reflect on Hong Kong's handling of the refugee issue, and also on Hong Kong's sentiment regarding their uncertain future of sovereignty at the time.

Woo Viet (Chow Yun Fat) wants to leave his country, Vietnam, behind and start over in the United States. But he first must make his way to Hong Kong. In a refugee detention camp there, he discovers many of his countrymen are disappearing under mysterious circumstances. As Woo tries to find out what is happening, he realizes his life is in danger, and has to leave for the United States immediately using a false passport instead of seeking asylum. In the process, he meets a beautiful woman, Cham Thanh (Cherie Chung), who then travels with him. When Woo and his new love stop over in the Philippines, they discover that the females are conned to stay there to become prostitutes. Instead of taking the plane to the United States, Woo Viet decides to stay in the Philippines to save his love. However, as he is stranded in Manila's Chinatown, Woo Viet is forced to work as a hired killer.

Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards 1982

Best Screenplay (Alfred Cheung)

THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS

2007-08-29T21:37:00.000-07:00

THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS

USA 1993

Directed by Bille August

Jeremy Irons

Meryl Streep

Glenn Close

Winona Ryder

Antonio Banderas

Based on Isabel Allende's best seller epic novel, THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS follows the powerful Truebas family on an entrancing journey that begins in the tranquil days of the 1920s and ends in the modern turbulence of the 1970s. The tale begins in South America in 1926, when a young man, Esteban (Jermy Irons), falls in love with the daughter of a rich man, Rosa Del Valle (Teri Polo). He vows to become rich enough to make her his wife and spends months of toil in the gold fields to earn enough money to do just that. Before the two marry, however, Rosa is killed by poison meant for her father. After the tragedy, Esteban moves to Trés Marias, an abandoned ranch, and spends 20 years of his life turning the ranch into a thriving estate, exploiting the labor of the poor who live off the land.

When he returns to the city, he comes across Rosa's younger sister Clara (Meryl Streep), now a woman with telekinetic abilities. Clara took a vow of silence years before, but upon the arrival of Esteban, she speaks for the first time in years -- "You have come to propose marriage to me," she says. Esteban and Clara marry, and Esteban takes her back to the ranch, where they have a daughter, Blanca (Winona Ryder). Their daughter falls in love with the son of one of Esteban's foremen, a hot-headed revolutionary named Pedro (Antonio Banderas). Now, the country is in the throes of revolution. Esteban banishes his sister Ferula (Glenn Close) from the ranch, beats his wife, and rapes a peasant woman. The product of Esteban's rape (Joaquin Martinez) grows into an angry young man who convinces Esteban to send him away to military school. When there is a military coup, the illegitimate son returns to Trés Marias with revenge and torture on his mind.

Principal photography took place in Denmark, but some scenes were filmed in Lisbon and Alentejo, Portugal. It won awards at the Bavarian Film Awards, German Film Awards, Golden Screen (Germany), Havana Film Festival, and Robert Festival (Denmark), as well as from the German Phono Academy and the Guild of German Art House Cinemas

WILD SEARCH

2007-08-28T00:56:00.001-07:00

WILD SEARCH
Hongkong, 1989

Directed by Ringo Lam

Chow Yun Fat
Cherie Chung

Ku Feng
Roy Cheung

Chow Yun Fat plays Hong Kong Police Sergeant Lau Chun Pong, nicknamed "Mew Mew". Mew Mew is a man on the ragged edge. He is, we learn a widower whose wife and child were killed by a robber, he is a man in a downward spiral. He seems numb to life that swirls around him--when he is first introduced, he's sitting in a car, chain smoking cigarettes and drinking from his flask, watching the drama of street life before him as he awaits the arrival of an informan. His expression is disinterested and weary--he pursues the arms dealers who are his prey with a curious detachment. He is going through the motions of being a policeman, yet one senses, that it is only his work that is keeping him going at all. He still commands the loyalty, respect and affection of his colleagues, including his supervisor. He's a good cop and a good man who has lost his way due to overwhelming grief.

Cherie Chung plays the sister of the murdered arms dealer--whose death sets the plot in motion. Chung's Cher Lee is a woman of quiet strength and dignity. Life has not been kind to her. Her husband betrayed her, leading a secret second life with a woman from the Chinese interior, fathering a son. During their marriage he berated her for being clumsy and stupid. Rather than continuing to suffer the humiliation, Cher has divorced him and lives quietly with her father, working along side him in the village fields, harvesting bamboo.

Her sister's death brings Mew Mew--pursuing the arms case--into her life in a dramatic fashion. Their relationship is at first contentious as he suspects her and her father of complicity in the dead sister's arms dealing. The relationship begins to transform as Mew Mew aids Cher in tracking down the father of her sister's illegitimate 4 year old daughter--who turns out to be the kingpin of the arms smuggling operation that the police are investigating.

Their bond is forged as the arms case heats up--thrown into each others company, facing adversity and danger, these two wounded souls begin to blossom. A tentative, tender relationship grows and is tested time and again through Mew Mew's suspension from the force (a result of threatening the powerful, rich arms kingpin); a domestic drama within Cher's family concerning her young niece and her father: the complication of Cher's ex-husband reentering the picture determined to win his wife back; and an assassination attempt on Mew Mew's life by one of the kingpin's henchman--the murderer of Cher's sister.

To be sure, these are restrained performances, yet one only has to watch Cherie Chung as Cher as she sits at the bedside of the wounded Mew Mew, not knowing if he will live or die, her worry, longing and love playing over her features, to appreciate her work in this film. Chow's Mew Mew may lack the flash and dazzle of some of his bullet ballet roles, but the transformation from grief stricken widower to a man being brought back to life by love is fascinating to watch. His scenes with the young actress playing the daughter of the murdered woman are especially touching and heartwarming.

Action fans and bullet ballet junkies will be disappointed by this film. But those of us who enjoy character driven drama will find much to enjoy in Wild Search.

MELODY

2007-08-22T21:25:00.000-07:00

MELODY
UK, 1971

Mark Lester

Tracy Hyde

Jack Wild

Director: Waris Hussein

Producer: David Puttnam

Script: Alan Parker

Original Music: Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb and Richard Hews

David Puttnam's first production and Alan Parker's first script meld together to create this delicate and sensitive story of pre-pubescent romance told from a child’s-eye viewpoint. Bearing a passing resemblance to both The Graduate and If..., this endearing story strains credibility at times but if you can withhold your disbelief this intriguing little film holds great appeal. An excellent musical score is provided by the Bee Gees. The film is alternatively known as SWALK (Sealed with a Loving Kiss), and reunites the youthful stars of Carol Reed’s Oliver; Jack Wild and Mark Lester.

Two lonely boys from opposite backgrounds, Daniel Latimer (Mark Lester), and Ornshaw (Jack Wild), become firm friends at a south London comprehensive school. Things change when Daniel notices ten-year old Melody Perkins (Tracy Hyde) in dancing class and falls in love. At first Melody rebuffs his advances, but gradually she reciprocates and returns his feelings. Despite initially aiding his friend, Ornshaw becomes bitter at being shoved aside and the two friends fight. Daniel and Melody announce to their perplexed parents, in all seriousness, that they intend to get married. This marriage is not planned for the distant future, but as soon as possible. Ornshaw performs a mock ‘marriage’ ceremony under a derelict railroad viaduct, and their rampaging classmates collude in helping them evade pursuing teachers and parents. Ultimately, the young ‘newlyweds’ escape into the sunset on a railroad handcar.

NEVER GIVE UP

2007-08-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

NEVER GIVE UP/
PROOF OF THE WILD
(YASEI NO SHOMEI)
Japan, 1978

Ken Takakura
Ryoko Nakano
Hiroko Yakushimaru

Directed by Junya Sato

Ken Takakura stars in the Japanese action film NEVER GIVE UP (YASEI NO SHOMEI, aka PROOF OF THE WILD). He plays Ajisawa, who is part of a top-secret military organization trying to cover-up a series of accidental murders that occurred during a training exercise. The only survivor is a young boy whom Ajisawa adopts as his own. Years later, after his retirement from the military, he finds himself forced to return to the scene of the murders to investigate the disappearance of a journalist who was looking into them. He inadvertently reveals his part in the killings, leading to his arrest and the military's decision to eliminate him, placing his adopted son in danger as well. NEVER GIVE UP is an action film about finding redemption.

Ajisawa (Ken Takakura) is a mysterious warrior in a secret Japanese paramilitary group who, while on a training exercise in the woods, stumbles into a group of rural party-makers. In the ensuing conflict he kills everyone except one young teenaged boy. The boy was wounded in the conflict, but Ajisawa adopts him and nurses him back to health. A year later, he returns to the scene of the crime in his job as a claims adjuster, investigating the death of a newswoman who was digging into the story of the woodland killings.

Police detective Kitano (Isao Natsuki) has been looking into the killings also, as well as the death of the woman. He believes that these crimes have something to do with the gangster Ochi (Ryoko Nakano), and that Ajisawa is responsible. When he arrests Ajisawa, the paramilitary group decides to execute its own man because he showed "softness" in adopting the boy. The boy and the policeman also become targets, and the three become allies in their attempts to escape death.

A FISTFUL OF TALONS

2007-08-15T01:26:00.001-07:00

A FISTFUL OF TALONS
Hongkong, 1983

Directed by Sun Chung

Willy Dozan
Pai Ying
Hwang In Shik

A FISTFUL OF TALONS is a classic kung fu gem featuring charismatic star Billy Chong (KUNG FU ZOMBIE), Hapkido expert Hwang In-shik from THE YOUNG MASTER as lead villain and the action choreography of Robert Tai (THE FIVE VENOMS). It possesses more than enough genre talent in front of and behind the camera to make it worth tracking down.

A hot-headed country bumpkin (Chong) encounters a kung fu master, played by Taiwanese wuxia film veteran Pai Ying, who is on the run from Qing loyalists. After getting into his own trouble with the Qing, Chong leaves his father’s restaurant to become Pai’s student and aid him in fighting the Qing and their fierce Manchurian leader (Hwang).

Where TALONS gets a little more interesting is in its time period which is shortly after the fall of the Qing Dynasty and during the Republican era. Hwang, is plotting to lead a revolt against the government yet first needs to claim an imperial seal from Pai. Thankfully, this overused plot device is given little further attention and instead the film focuses on the famous Manchurian queue (ponytail) that all Qing-era men were required by law to wear. With the dissolution of the Qing Dynasty, so went the queue, a sure sign of treasonous loyalty to the old regime.

Chong and his buddies initially make it their mission to cut off any queues they see on Qing loyalists. This leads to a frantic group fight within a grain barn involving scissors, sickles and lots of severed hair. It draws on a similar scene in Jackie Chan’s DRAGON LORD while displaying early, advanced elements of the dynamic rope and ladders scene that the Yuen Clan choreographed for ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA in 1991.

This scene, with its overhead camera sweeps and exaggerated wire-assisted leaps, sets the kinetic tone for all the action to come. Chong, a balanced screen fighter with strong sparring and leg fighting skills has no trouble leaping right into Tai’s action madness with an assured stance and cocksure attitude.

Chong’s mission is complicated when his efforts to bag a trio of petty thieves for the reward money catches the eye of a village elder and more importantly his spirited daughter (Liu Hao-yi). She ends up following Chong as he fights his way through more Qing fighters to catch up with Pai. Chong receives a rather bland and ill-defined kung fu training course from Pai. They come to her rescue towards the end in what becomes one of the most violent, dramatic and cruel uses of animals in a fight sequence.

(edited from Mark Pollard's review)

LE CERCLE ROUGE

2007-08-14T23:15:00.000-07:00

LE CERCLE ROUGE (THE RED CIRCLE)

France/Italy, 1970

Directed by Jean Pierre Melville

Alain Delon

Yves Montand

Gian Maria Volonte

Corey (Alain Delon) is the young gun in the French underworld who has just been released from prison. Escaped convict Vogel (Gian-Maria Volonte) hides in the trunk of Corey's car. The two enlist the help of an alcoholic former cop (Yves Montand) for an elaborate jewelry-store robbery. Police inspector Mattei (Bourvil) whom Vogel escaped in the beginning of the film is on the case trying to recapture the criminals. He is not opposed to using blackmail techniques to get answers out of the unwilling witnesses and criminals brought in for questioning.

Part of the genius of Jean-Pierre Melville was that he was able to take the formal elements of the crime film and put a thoroughly individual stamp on them. His best films take the stuff of a thousand grade-B thrillers and invest them with a singular intelligence and quiet cool. On the surface, Le Cercle Rouge concerns two criminals thrown into a slightly uneasy alliance with a corrupt and alcoholic ex-cop to pull off a heist, but in Melville's hands this becomes a story about kindred spirits brought together through chance and unforeseen circumstance; their lives on the other side of the law have as much to do with their own personal sense of ethics and honor as those of the lawmen who struggle to track them down.

Melville's clean, elegant framing of shots and his appreciation of the value of silence gives this picture a spare but satisfying feel quite different from most European crime films, and the subtle but sharply etched performances of Alain Delon, Gian Maria Volonte, and Yves Montand are the ideal embodiment of Melville's notion that less is more.

In 1970, Le Cercle Rouge received a spotty release in the United States in a version cut by some 40 minutes; the uncut print finally received a belated American release in 2002, and in its fine form, Le Cercle Rouge reveals itself as a film whose subtle touch only adds to the tension and suspense it generates ? a valuable lesson for filmmakers who believe that the function of genre filmmaking is to slap the viewer about the face and neck.

THE PAINTED VEIL

2007-08-12T21:11:00.001-07:00

THE PAINTED VEIL

USA/China 2006

Naomi Watts

Edward Norton

Liev Schreiber

Toby Jones

Diana Rigg

Anthony Wong Chau-Sang

Directed by: John Curran

Edward Norton, who has given two award-caliber performances this year, in Down in the Valley and The Illusionist, now delivers a third. He uncovers a beating heart in Walter Fane, a social misfit of a British bacteriologist, who manages to persuade headstrong Kitty (Naomi Watts, a seductively dangerous blend of fire and ice) to marry him, leave her London whirl and travel with him to a remote Chinese village beset by a cholera epidemic. When a stop in Shanghai results in Kitty's adulterous fling with a diplomat (Liev Schreiber), the plot suggests that the vengeful Walter may be hoping the cholera will kill his wife. If you're suspecting this third movie version of W. Somerset Maugham's 1925 novel may carry the infectious dullness of prestige filmmaking, rest easy. Norton, who worked for six years to get the film produced, is up to far livelier business. As directed by the gifted John Curran (We Don't Live Here Anymore), from a taut script by Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia), the film is a period piece propelled by emotions accessible to a modern audience. Maugham never detailed Walter's work or Kitty's frustration; the film does. Maugham couldn't show us the China that opened Walter's and Kitty's eyes to a world beyond their own; the film does. And Maugham didn't have the benefit of two actors -- Norton and Watts nail every nuance in their roles -- who could show the romance inherent in mutual respect. The Painted Veil has the power and intimacy of a timeless love story. By all means, let it sweep you away. (Peter Travers / Rolling Stone)

EXILED

2007-08-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

EXILED

Hongkong 2006

Drama/Action

Executive Producer: John Chong

Producer: Johnnie To

Screenplay: Yip Tin-shing, Szeto Kam-yuen

Cinematographer: Cheng Siu-keung

Editor: David Richardson

Production Designer: Tony Yu

Sound: May Mok, Charlie Lo

Music: Guy Zerafa

Principal Cast:

Francis Ng

Anthony Wong

Nick Cheung

Simon Yam

Josie Ho

Roy Cheung

Lam Suet

Directed by: Johnnie To

Bullet-ridden and star-studded, Exiled - the latest action-packed film from Johnnie To - sheds a dusky light on the melancholic end of an era. The 1999 turnover of the Portuguese colony of Macau to China is investigated here through the unique rites of passage of a group of cold-blooded hit men as they wonder what the future has in store for them, try to make quick money or simply hope to retire.

Gathering some of his regular actors - including Roy Cheung, Lam Suet and Simon Yam - and pairing them with Anthony Wong and Francis Ng (from the Infernal Affairs films), To creates an exquisite ensemble piece in which the borders between tragedy and deadpan comedy blur, resulting in a highly entertaining, black-comic thrill.

Directing the viewer to understand and sympathize with each of the characters, To spins the tale of the traitor Wo (Nick Cheung), who has decided to quit his criminal life and wants to live quietly with his family. His story is tied to that of the other hit men - and former buddies - who have come to Macau to kill him. Resolved to take him down, but also willing to negotiate a sort of gentlemen's agreement, they grant Wo another day of life and help him find one last job to provide for his future widow and newborn baby.

Enigmatic yet visually eloquent, Exiled seems to follow a fleeting code of honour in its compelling articulation of situations and moods. As various contract killers crop up on the small island to stalk each other, To's slow-burning storytelling builds a strong narrative tension and unveils the inner rhythm of his characters' emotions. The film's aesthetic mixes gangster iconography, languid atmospheres and stylized Macau sets with superb cinematography, recalling the baroque intensity of Caravaggio's paintings. The blazing trajectories of bullets cross paths with the men's desires and palpable anxieties about their uncertain futures in this brilliantly choreographed ballet.

ROCCO & HIS BROTHERS

2007-08-03T03:03:00.000-07:00

ROCCO & HIS BROTHERS

Italy 1960

Directed by Luchino Visconti

Alain Delon

Renato Salvatori

Claudia Cardinale

Luchino Visconti's operatic masterpiece tells the story of the Parondis, a poor family from a village in southern Italy who come to Milan seeking a better life. Following the death of her husband, proud Rosaria (Katina Paxinou) picks up stakes and moves to the city with her four sons: Simone (Renato Salvatori), Rocco (Alain Delon), Ciro (Max Cartier), and Luca (Rocco Vidolazzi). Awaiting them in Milan is her oldest son, Vincenzo (Spiros Focas), who himself is preoccupied with his impending nuptials to the beautiful Ginetta (Claudia Cardinale). Divided into chapters focused loosely on each brother, the movie chronicles the Parondis' struggle to get by, as the brothers take odd jobs and the family endures life in a cramped tenement. Much of the movie's second half deals largely with Simone and Rocco. The loutish Simone eventually finds success as a boxer, and the family soon moves to a better neighborhood. Meanwhile, Rocco gets drafted by the military, and becomes a successful boxer himself upon his return. Complications arise when Nadia (Annie Girardot), a prostitute, enters their lives. Simone falls in love with Nadia first; however, Rocco eventually becomes the object of her affection. Simone's obsession with Nadia and his rapidly deteriorating behavior ultimately threaten to bring the family to ruin, even as the saintly Rocco tries to save his brother. At the peak of Rocco's success, Simone commits a crime that cruelly dashes Rocco's hopes of keeping the family together.

LEE ROCK

2007-02-20T01:31:00.000-08:00

LEE ROCK

Hongkong 1991

Directed by Lawrence Lau Kwok-Cheung

Andy Lau
Cheung Man
Chingmy Yau
Kwan Hoi-San
Paul Chun-Pui
Ng Man-Tat

How do you remain honest in a fundamentally dishonest system? That's the question raised in Lawrence Lau's Lee Rock, a critically acclaimed 1991 docudrama that details the meteoric rise of its title character from humble beat cop to mega-powerful chief of police. In an HKFA-nominated performance, Andy Lau stars as Lee Rock, a barely literate street urchin who snags a job as a policeman for one simple reason: to put food on the table. At the academy, he learns there's more to being a police officer than he first realized. In a private talk with Lee's graduating class, a respected instructor (Eddy Ko in a cameo) gives his students a final piece of advice: the point of the game isn't to protect and serve, but to move your way up the chain of command. Sadly, this feat requires a lot of shady behavior, including both the giving and receiving of bribes. Not to participate in such actions, Ko's character tells them, is to condemn yourself to a pauper's grave.

At least initially, Lee Rock sticks to his ideals and declines every kickback that comes his way. And while his refusal to take bribes earns him the contempt of his fellow officers, it also garners him the respect and loyalty of Lardo (Ng Man-Tat), a street hawker who soon becomes Lee's trusted confidante. We also meet Rose (Chingmy Yau), the pinnacle of wide-eyed, pigtailed innocence, who loves Lee deeply, but has to keep it a secret from her authoritarian father (Wong Yat-Fei). When her dad learns of the relationship with Lee, he's less than thrilled with the fact that Rose's boyfriend is a policeman. While Rose's father despises cops for their corruption, he actually considers Lee to be even worse since all the honesty in the world won't put a roof over his daughter's head. Rose's father forbids a marriage, and soon enough, Rose is sent packing to a faraway place. A heartbroken Lee uses his police connections to search for her, but alas, has no luck in finding his lost love.

Eventually, the kindly—and only marginally corrupt—Sgt. Chan (Kwan Hoi-San) takes Lee under his protective wing, telling his young pupil, "All great men started small." Taking Chan's advice to heart, Lee vows to rise up the ranks of the department to become chief of police. The only obstacle in his way is Sgt. Ngan Tung (Paul Chun Pui), a morally bankrupt politico who will stop at nothing to destroy Lee's career. Just as Lee's job prospects begin to improve, things heat up in the romance department when he meets a knockout by the name of Grace (played with an alluring brashness by a poodle-skirted Cheung Man). The spoiled daughter of a big-time gangster, Grace provides a romantic entanglement for Lee that is virtually the polar opposite of his situation with Rose. Even so, the issue of money arises with Grace's father as well, but thankfully, this time Lee passes the test. Marriage, promotions, political maneuverings, riots, a hostage situation, and a surprise cliffhanger ending are just a sample of the events that unfold in this thoroughly satisfying motion picture.

Proving worthy of his Best Actor nomination, Andy Lau excels in the role of Lee Rock, playing him as the idealistic country bumpkin in the early portions of the film, yet modifying his portrayal ever so minutely as the character develops over time. Somehow, Lau is able to control his smarminess level, letting it slowly leak to the surface in tandem with Lee Rock's ascension to power. Similarly, the performances of Lau's fellow cast members are equally strong with too many fine turns to single out in the space of a single review.

Like life, Lee Rock unfolds in a series of random events, and it's this seeming absence of a hackneyed formula (save for the cliffhanger) that adds to the illusion of realism. And though the film's lack of trademark over-the-top action might disappoint viewers whose interest in Hong Kong films depends solely on the number of slow-motion gun battles, I found Lee Rock's relatively action-free narrative to be a refreshing departure from the mindless "Let's blow stuff up!" mentality that typifies many a cops 'n robbers flick. Underneath the romance and the drama, it's the ethical quandaries that Lee faces that provide the backbone of the film. It's a Catch-22: you can't clean up the streets as simple beat cop, but you can't move up the ladder unless you get your hands dirty. Unfortunately, it's only by taking kickbacks that Lee Rock is able to get ahead in the world. And consequently, the reachable goal here is not to become a force of good, but instead to be the lesser of two evils. It's the only way that Lee Rock can make some effective changes within a system that runs on corruption. Whether he ultimately becomes the solution or just another part of the problem remains to be seen; that answer lies in the sequel.

11th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards

• Winner - Best Supporting Actor (Kwan Hoi-San)

• Nomination - Best Picture

• Nomination - Best Actor (Andy Lau Tak-Wah)

• Nomination - Best Supporting Actress (Chingmy Yau Suk-Ching)

• Nomination - Best Screenplay (Chan Man-Keung)

• Nomination - Best Cinematography (Lee Chi-Hang, Andrew Lau)

• Nomination - Best Art Direction (Mok Siu-Kei)

SCORPIO

2007-02-14T00:43:00.000-08:00

SCORPIO

USA 1973

Directed by Michael Winner

Burt Lancaster
Alain Delon

The prime minister of Eritrea is assassinated by political opponents, setting off a chain of events with global repercussions in the intelligence community. Burt Lancaster plays Cross, a CIA operative who dates back to the agency's earliest days as the OSS. Scorpio (Alain Delon) is a protégé of Cross, and one of Cross's best friends in a netherworld where everyone's allegiances, personal and political, are in question. Higher-ups within the intelligence agency decide that Cross knows too much and is better off eliminated; at first, Scorpio refuses the job until the CIA frames him on a phony narcotics bust and coerces him into the assignment. The two men play a game of global cat-and-mouse as Cross consorts with his Russian counterparts--fellow aging dinosaurs in a young man's game. Cross's links with the Russians go back to the days of the Spanish Civil War and the time when Cross was given the ironic label of "premature anti-Fascist" by the House Unamerican Activities Committee. The incredibly convoluted plot is rife with double-crosses and reverse double-crosses, in an environment in which nothing is quite as it seems and no one is to be trusted. Director Michael Winner infuses enough energy and excitement into the film's many action segments to make Scorpio worthy of comparison to John Frankenheimer's best political thrillers. Winner also throws in several curveballs, such as the zither music during a meeting in a Vienna café (shades of The Third Man) and the preposterous device of disguising Lancaster as an African American priest. Though not quite a classic, Scorpio is still an underrated espionage thriller that was well attuned to the political cynicism of the time.

PANDJI TENGKORAK

2007-02-14T00:05:00.000-08:00

PANDJI TENGKORAK
(THE GHOSTLY FACE)

Indonesia/Taiwan 1972

Directed by Yang Sai King

Shang Kuan Ling Feng
Deddy Sutomo
Lenny Marlina

When a man acts as Pandji Tengkorak/Ghostly Face and kills a girl's father and steals his sword, she sets off for revenge. The girl (Shang Kuan Ling Feng) is unaware that Ghostly Face (Deddy Sutomo) isn't the killer, but has been set up by a a band of pirates. Along the way the girl rescues another girl who was taken by the pirates and the pair set off together to find out whats really going on.

Based on the popular Indonesian serial comic books by Hans Jaladara, PANDJI TENGKORAK was made entirely in Bali.

BORSALINO & CO.

2007-02-13T23:40:00.000-08:00

BORSALINO & CO.

France 1974

Directed by Jacques Deray

Alain Delon

Riccardo Cucciolla

Adolfo Lastretti

Gabriella Farinon

Catherine Rouvel

Inspired by Eugene Saccomano's novel THE BANDITS OF MARSEILLES, masterful crime director Jacques Deray delivers the sequel to BORSALINO. Jean Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon starred in the original as partners in crime. Following the death of Belmondo's character at the hands of rival gangsters, Roch (Delon) returns here to extract revenge. Set in the south of France in the 1930s, the film follows its charismatic hero as he protects his underground empire against the Italian mob, all the while wreaking vengeance in particularly gruesome and innovative ways on those responsible for his partner's death. With a meticulously-assembled period set, beautiful photography of the picturesque landscape, and the director's deft touch with the material, this is an adept noir thriller that features France's swoon-inducing equivalent of James Dean. The amazing music done by Claude Bolling.

SHIRI

2007-02-13T23:14:00.000-08:00

SHIRI

Korea 1998

Directed by Kang Jae-Kyu

Han Suk-Kyu
Choi Min-Sik
Song Gang-Ho
Kim Yoo-Jin

"Swiri recorded the Top Box Office in Korean Film history, breaking the Korean Box Office record of Titanic after 57 days in release. The unique combination of 51% action, 49% love helps Shiri become a movie that excites all strands of the audience's sensibility without a moment of relaxation!" The preceding paragraph was not just box-cover hype. This film delivers from start to finish.

Ryu and Lee are special agents of O.P., the nation's top secret intelligence service. The arms smuggler Lim is shot by a sniper in the street one day after volunteering to tell them some important information. From the scene of Lim's death, Ryu instinctively suspects the involvement of Hee, the best sniper of the 8th Special Force Unit of North Korea. She has previously assassinated many government officials and hid herself from the unrelenting pursuit of Ryu. Now she's back after one year.

Ryu and Lee investigate the death of Lim. In the process, they learn that Hee had tried to secure into her possession the CTX, the liquid bomb newly developed by the National Defense Lab with the help of Lim. Meanwhile, Park and the elite agents of the 8th Special Force succeed in seizing the CTX while it is being transported to the corps headquarters. While everyone is trying hard to retrieve the CTX, director Ko, Ryu and Lee are suspicious of each other, creating a delicate and suspenseful situation. While the situation eludes solution, the date set for the marriage of Ryu and Hyun approaches quickly. But their marriage may be another sign of impending misfortune

THE PROFFESSIONAL

2007-02-13T23:06:00.000-08:00

LE PROFESSIONNEL
(THE PROFESSIONAL)

France 1981

Directed by Georges Lautner

Jean Paul Belmondo
Michel Beaune
Cyrielle Claire
Jean Desailly

Jean Paul Belmondo (Godard's Breathless) brings his smoldering intensity to French super-spy Joss Baumont, a top agent sent on a mission to assassinate a foreign dictator. But when the political winds change, and Baumont is double-crossed by his own government, revenge becomes the name of the game. Prison can't hold him and no one can stand in his way as Baumont lays down the gauntlet - he will carry out his assignment and someone must die! Director Georges Lautner delivers a taut, thrilling espionage drama with a sensational score from Ennio Morricone.

PROOF OF THE MAN

2007-02-13T22:24:00.000-08:00

NINGEN NO SHOMEI (PROOF OF THE MAN)

Japan/USA 1977

Directed by Junya Sato

Yusaku Matsuda
George Kennedy
Toshiro Mifune
Mariko Okada

When an American is murdered in a Japanese inn, Tokyo police detective Munesue follows the trail of the killer to New York. There he is joined by a New York City detective named Shuftan and together they sort out the crime. The film had a brief run in the Japanese art houses back then, and never got a good U.S. booking for a big film from Japan in 1977. There is two version of the film, one is a Japanese print which runs more than 130 minutes, and a U.S. version, which was re-dubbed and addition scenes was added, and some Japanese scenes were cut out (Making Toshiro Mifune only appear once). The US version never got any theatrical booking as it came out on video in a small label in 1985.

--------

The film is about a Black man (played by singer Joe Yamanaka) murdered in Japan, and a cop (the late Yusaku Matsuda, star of Paramount film BLACK RAIN) is on the case to solve the mystery. He later goes to America to team up with George Kennedy, who later Yusaku realized is the man that killed his father in WW2 days. Many American actors like Broadrick Crawford, Theresa Merritt, Rick Jason and William Sanderson are featured in supporting parts. There is lots of well acted scenes, car chase in New York, and the film is like a big puzzle slowly being put together. The title song Mama Do You Remember was sung by Joe Yamanaka.

CITY ON FIRE

2007-02-13T01:04:00.000-08:00

CITY ON FIRE

Hongkong 1987

Directed by Ringo Lam

Chow Yun Fat
Danny Lee
Carrie Ng

Sun Yeh

What's more important, loyalty or justice? That's the dilemma facing undercover cop Ko Chow (Chow Yun-Fat) in Ringo Lam's excellent crime drama City on Fire. The film is a definite must see for HK enthusiasts, if for no other reason than to witness what a Ringo Lam movie was like before he became Jean Claude Van Damme's director of choice.

Like Donnie Brasco and other films of its kind, City on Fire explores the internal ethical struggle for a policeman who get too close to his prey. The plot: after a fellow cop is knifed to death in the streets, detective Ko Chow is put on the trail of some jewel thieves by his world-weary superior, Inspector Lau (Sun Yeuh). Chow, however, has deep reservations about the assignment. "I fulfill my duties?" Chow complains, "But I betray my friends!" Despite his protests, Chow agrees to the job and attempts to befriend head crook Lee Fu (Danny Lee). After a few tense situations, Chow is eventually accepted into the Fu's confidence and asked to join in on the crew's next big score. As the two strike up a friendship, Chow's personal ethics are put to the test as he finds himself genuinely liking Fu, the very man he's supposed to arrest. Later, the climactic jewelry heist goes terribly wrong with bullets flying everywhere and bodies littering the streets. In the end, Chow is forced to make a definitive, but not surprising, decision on where his loyalties reside…with fatal results.

There have been many comparison made between this film and Tarantino's "re-imagining" (An unfortunate buzzword that emerged after Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes debacle. But I digress). Though similar in theme, City on Fire and Reservoir Dogs are dramatically different in execution. Whereas Quentin Tarantino's debut film had a sleek look and crackling dialogue, City on Fire does not—and that's not necessarily a criticism of Lam's flick. Tarantino's world is a kind of hyper-reality in which common thugs can riff on pop culture; Ringo Lam's domain seems a tad bit more realistic. The criminal element depicted in City on Fire operates in a grim, gritty underworld that's only shred of romanticism lies in the immutable loyalty between brothers. Same idea, different methods—but both pretty damn cool movies.

7th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards

• Winner - Best Director (Ringo Lam Ling-Tung)

• Winner - Best Actor (Chow Yun-Fat)

• Nomination - Best Picture

• Nomination - Best Actor (Danny Lee Sau-Yin)

• Nomination - Best Supporting Actress (Carrie Ng Ka-Lai)

• Nomination - Best Screenplay (Shum Sai-Sing)

• Nomination - Best Editing (Wong Ming-Lei)

• Nomination - Best Art Direction (Luk Chi-Fung)

• Nomination - Best Original Film Score (Teddy Robin Kwan)

• Nomination - Best Song ("Yiu Jaang Chui Faai Lok", performed by Maria Cordero)

THE KILLER

2007-02-07T23:23:00.000-08:00

THE KILLER

Hongkong 1989

Directed by John Woo

Chow Yun Fat
Danny Lee
Sally Yeh
Chu Kong
Kenneth Tsang

The lead characters in John Woo's The Killer oscillate between searches for atonement and affect (the ability to do something that makes a permanent, tangible difference). John (Chow Yun-Fat) seeks (self-endowed) forgiveness for the wrong he has done Jenny (Sally Yeh), the taking of her eyesight. Li (Danny Lee) seeks a similar sort of self-endowed redemption for what he has done to John (bringing Tony Weng's men against him). The two, as John tells Li, are in a sense one another. John is a hitman still following the old code of honor; Li is a cop who breaks the rules when they conflict with his methods.

Sight is a running motif in The Killer. Jenny has lost her eyesight at the movie's opening, after an action sequence in which John kills a nightclub full of armed bodyguards. With the loss of her sight the viewer gains an awareness, the first evidence of John's code; John covers her eyes, both tending her wound and hiding her lack of sight from the audience's line of sight. John will continually conceal Jenny's increasing blindness, but from Jenny, not the audience (who upon recognizing John as compassionate come to identify with him). He lies when she asks him why the world has suddenly grown so dark, making excuses that he and the audience (and Li) all know to be lies.

Two such instances occur. The first is in John's apartment, after Li catches up to him for the first time and confronts him with gun and the potential of arrest. John tells Jenny that Li and he are old football buddies, loaded guns at arms' length. Jenny behaves towards them as if they truly were old friends, and Li a guest, offering him tea.

The second is in the church, the moment of total reconciliation between Li and John, in a siege scene strikingly similar in setup to the one performed by Chow and Lee in Ringo Lam's City on Fire (in which Lee plays the killer and Chow the cop out to bust him). But whereas Lam's inspector was an undercover agent wracked with the guilt of betraying his friend, Li has been open with John (though when we first see him he is on his way to an undercover assignment). Jenny claims everything has gone black; Li and John wave candles by her face to confirm.

Jenny's claim that all is black coincides not only with John and Li's union, but with Li's promise to John that if he dies his corneas will be saved for Jenny. At this point Li becomes, for the first time, concerned with the bystander in a way that has defined John's personality from the beginning. Li, when confronted by police officials for giving a nearby woman a heart attack while gunning down a fleeing cop killer, claims he doesn't give a damn about the woman, and that all that sort of concern does is make his job difficult. Li has come to embody what good is in John and lacking in himself, shortly after John did the same. John tells Jenny he had once thought the men he killed deserved to die, but now knows everyone has a right to live, a philosophy more in line with the one Li presents to John when confronting him outside Sydney's house, just before Weng's men lay siege. It should be noted the first scene occurs at night, the second in broad daylight. The darkness works as a metaphor for indistinction, but also for a sort of hierarchical reification, in which John's world view is held superior, both through its penultimacy and its locale; John becomes Li inside an assassin's house, Li becomes John inside a Catholic church.

Li takes on the role Sydney (Chu Kong) had once held, upon Sydney's redemption and subsequent death. In a single scene he and John kill more people than in all of Woo's American movies combined. John asks for guarantee that Li will uphold his promise twice, once in the heat of battle, once when they have cornered Tony Weng (Wing Cho Ip), who is holding Jenny at gunpoint. Between the two of them (now, at last, one) they sacrifice John's life, but in an ironic twist his eyes as well. John blindly crawls on his stomach, futilely searching for a now blind Jenny, futilely searching for John on her stomach. They pass each other, calling the other's name, until John falls silent and still, Jenny still crying out to him. Li runs Weng down, who is trying to turn himself in to a newly arrived battalion of police, where, in the presence of his superiors, he guns the crimelord down.

Jenny's final blindness is a recognition of John and Li's synthesis (when Li first approaches Jenny she mistakes him for John); John's blindness draws an association between him and Jenny. John has become the wounded bystander, not in his innocence, but in his purity (both operate as a sort of naïveté). John and Sydney, after John's botched attempt on the life of Tony Weng, speak of themselves as outmoded professionals, replaced by a breed of ruthless, codeless assassins who never take "the rules" into account. Li alone remains alive, though facing (extrapolatically) jail time. (Ironically, he catches John by becoming John; John would rather die before going jail, but by becoming Li does both, in the prophesied order.) Li emerges, compiling now all four characters (John and Jenny by association with John, Sydney in occupying his role), the only one not dead, and the only one not crippled at some time in his life. Li is perhaps the solution to the decay of the code, a man who is both investigator and vigilante, both cop and assassin, who both reveres and rejects the law as such.

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9th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards

• Winner - Best Director (John Woo)

• Winner - Best Editing (Fan Kung-Wing)

• Nomination - Best Picture

• Nomination - Best Supporting Actor (Paul Chu Kong)

• Nomination - Best Screenplay (John Woo)

• Nomination - Best Cinematography

(Wong Wing-Hang, Peter Pau Hei-Ming)

OEROEG

2007-02-07T20:23:00.000-08:00

OEROEG

Netherlands/Indonesia 1993

Directed by Hans Hylkema

Rik Launspach

Martin Schwab

Jeroen Krabbé
Ayu Azhari

Adi Kurdi

In 1948, novelist Hella Haasse published a novel based on her experiences in growing up in Dutch Indonesia. Oeroeg captures the dilemma of those caught between the pretensions and culture of their Dutch homeland and their respect and affection for the native people of the colonies, and it has became a classic, with many editions printed. In this story, Johan (Rik Launspach), a European boy grows up on a plantation running and playing with his best friend, the son of the foreman, a native boy called Oeroeg (Martin Schwab).

He is only barely aware of the gulf that divides them, but gradually becomes more aware of it as he leaves to study back in the Netherlands. When he comes home, it is as a soldier in the army, who are in Indonesia to put down the local independence movement. Not only is Johan grieved to be taking arms against Indonesians in general, and distressed at the racism of his colleagues, but he has reason to believe that his old friend is now a leader in the forces he is obliged to fight. He goes on a mission into the jungle to find him.

STONE AGE WARRIORS

2007-02-07T18:44:00.000-08:00

STONE AGE WARRIORS
(EKSPEDISI HARTA KARUN)

Hong Kong/Indonesia

Directed by Stanley Tong

Fan Siu Wong
Elaine Lui
Nina Li Chi
Advent Bangun
Dick Wei

Stanley Tong, in his directorial debut, announces the arrival of a thoroughly enjoyable new talent with a campy, comedic, stunt-filled thriller. Determined to discover if the man whose life she insured is really dead, Lucy Wong (Nina Li), an insurance investigator, travels to New Guinea - where he disappeared - with his daughter, Eko Nakamura (Elaine Lui), a kung-fu movie actress. The two women, aided by Lung Fei (Fan Siu-Wong), an able martial artist they meet along the way, brave warring aboriginal clans, treasure-hunting mercenary scoundrels, animal attacks, and other deadly perils of the jungle! Shot mostly in Indonesia, including the amazing shoots with the dragon komodos at Komodo Island.

CHINA WHITE

2007-02-07T18:39:00.000-08:00

CHINA WHITE

Hong Kong/USA 1991

Directed by Ronny Yu

Russel Wong

Steven Vincent Leigh

Billy Drago

Lisa Schrage

Ku Feng

Shot in both English and Asian versions, this peculiar Hong Kong action film from Ronny Yu boasts the somewhat overstated Chinese title of Sky-Shattering Meeting Between Dragon and Tiger. While not exactly sky-shattering, the film was shot in several countries (the Netherlands, France, and Thailand) and features some fine combat scenes choreographed by Chris Lee. Russell Wong and Steven Vincent star as Bobby and Danny Chow, triad gangsters who hope to expand their business outside of Amsterdam's Chinatown area. Their Uncle Chi (Ku Feng) is against the idea, but is soon murdered by part of an international triumvirate including Vietnamese thug Phong (William Ho), Italian mafioso Scalia (Billy Drago), and Turkish crimelord Amead (Cahit Olmez). Bobby and Danny then head to Thailand to secure a source for opium, only to be tracked by Bobby's girlfriend, Anne (Lisa Schrage), who is in reality an undercover agent hoping to bring their activities to an end. Yu makes a brief cameo appearance, while Alex Man and Andy Lau appear in the Hong Kong version of the film, along with Shing Fui-on and Carina Lau in extended flashbacks to Bobby and Danny's childhood. The Asian version runs 104 minutes, while the English one runs 98 but also includes footage not found in the Asian cut.(Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide)

THE BRAVE ARCHER

2007-02-07T01:33:00.000-08:00

THE BRAVE ARCHER

Shaw Brothers 1978

Directed by Chang Cheh

Fu Sheng

Tien Niu

Ku Feng

Kuo Chui

Danny Lee

Wang Lung Wei

Jin Yong's historical novel The Eagle Shooting Heroes has been adapted into countless Asian television series as well as several films including Ashes of Time and this lengthy and involved Shaw Brothers effort directed by prolific Hong Kong filmmaker Chang Cheh. During the Sung dynasty, a young man named Kuo Ching (Alexander Fu Sheng) is raised and trained by a group of kung fu experts following his father's murder. One day, Ching sees one of his instructors murdered by the Skeleton Claw move, in which the killer straightens his fingers, making them rigid enough to penetrate both flesh and bone. Ching defeats the assassin, then encounters a titled noblewoman named Yung-er (Tien Niu) who is disguised as a pauper. They are subsequently taught by Hung, the Nine-Fingered Beggar (Ku Feng), who can smash a tree into splinters with a single chop of his hand. Ching gains still more knowledge from the master Cho (Phillip Kwok) which prepares him for the three tests he must face and overcome in order to win Yung-er's hand in marriage.

The all-star cast includes Danny Lee, Dick Wei, Johnny Wang but most viewers will want to watch for the energetic star turn by Alexander Fu Sheng, whose international stardom was just starting to peak when, ominously, he moved into a house once owned by the late Bruce Lee and known for its negative feng shui. Shortly thereafter, Fu Sheng died tragically young when he crashed into a cement wall in a vehicle driven by his younger brother. This film remains one of Fu Sheng's best-known efforts, and led to three sequels.

THE AVENGING EAGLE

2007-02-07T00:32:00.000-08:00

THE AVENGING EAGLE

Shaw Brothers 1978

Directed by Sun Chung

Produced by Mona Fong

Screenplay by I Kuang

Ti Lung

Fu Sheng

Ku Feng

Shih Szu

Chi Ming Sing (Ti Lung) was kidnapped as a child by the master of Iron Boat Clan, Hung Yu Tse (Ku Feng), and forced to learn Kung Fu with other abducted children. Hung Yu Tse broke their will through torture and transformed the reluctant recruits into blood-thirsty martial arts warriors, called the 13 Eagles. The corrupt father figure of the 13 Eagles would send his brain-washed warriors to rob and/or kill his enemies. On one such raid against a worthy rival clan, Chi Ming Sing is mortally wounded and left for dead by his Eagle brothers. The rival Clan leader’s daughter takes an interest in Chi Ming Sing and nurses him back to health. Her affections and the peaceful disposition of her family convince him that there is more to life than raping and pillaging. Chi Ming Sing realizes how evil Hung Yu Tse truly is and returns to the palace of the Iron Boat Clan hoping to get close enough to kill his former leader. Upon returning, Hung Yu Tse suspects something is amiss with Chi Ming Sing, and orders him to kill a pregnant woman in cold blood to prove his loyalty. To keep up his charade, Chi Ming Sing is forced to carry out the evil deed to cast off suspicion. Chi Ming Sing is determined to do what it takes to eliminate Hung Yu Tse but it won’t be easy because his Eagle brothers protect their master. That’s when Chi Ming Sing meets Tso Yi Fan (Fu Sheng), another driven man who wants to destroy the Iron Boat Clan. The two men forge a respect and friendship for one another even though Tso Yi Fan is obviously hiding some deep skeletons in his closet. When Hung Yu Tse learns that Chi Ming Sing has regained his mindset, he orders the other 12 Eagles to hunt down and destroy their former comrade. Chi Ming Sing and Tso Yi Fan are two amazing warriors who must pit their skills in combat against the 12 Eagles and their evil master.

AVENGING EAGLE is Sun Chung’s best film. His style is very similar to the Godfather of Kung Fu, in many respects, only with more experimental techniques and less reliance on the power zoom. As the career of Chang Cheh winded down during the initial Venoms run, Sun Chung showed great promise and was poised to become Cheh’s sucessor. Unfortunately, the end of the era we call Old School (in 1984-85) pretty much put the brakes on his career. Sun Chung masterfully controls the flashback sequences as this film is presented non-chronologically. He also manipulates the action sequences with flair, and never makes the mistake of allowing the fights to overshadow the story or performances. Though he deserves the praise, the guy is only human and AVENGING EAGLE has two major weak spots: the haphazard editing and the experimental tracking shots. Chung employs lots of kinetic camera movement which foreshadows the spinning digital manipulation seen in THE MATRIX fights. Only Chung’s is all analog and blurry, serving no purpose except to increase the cheese level. Screenwriter I Kuang creates another story with depth, emotion, intrigue, and plenty of surprises. Sun Chung realizes Kuang script and insures AVENGING EAGLE is balanced and energetic.

When Fu Sheng’s identity in the film is revealed, it adds an unexpected twist to the plot structure. Something that Ku Feng quickly utilizes to his advantage in the finale. Speaking of Feng, he is awesome here—contorting his face and using body language to bring his character to life. Besides being a real cold bastard to the people who oppose him, Feng is equally caring to those in his regime. He displays the expressions and emotions of a true surrogate father. And when Ti Lung betrays his trust, there is a look of disappointment that only a true father would exhibit. So disturbed is Feng that he orders his 12 remaining ‘sons’ to hunt down and kill Ti Lung. He unwittingly sends his minions to their in their doom, because Ti Lung swings a mean set of triple-irons, and Fu Sheng employs razor-sharp blades that slash their opponents to bits. Ku Feng’s no slouch though, and has his own set of steel Eagle claws which he uses on our heroes. Ti Lung gives a superb performance as a man trying to atone for his sins. He wants to destroy the Iron Boat Clan by removing the problem at the source. He must get close enough to Ku Feng without being suspected or seen by others. So he has to bide his time and wait for the right opportunity. He also has to make sacrifices and obey the one he hates the most. I won’t reveal Alexander Fu Sheng’s motivation in the film because that would ruin it for a lot of viewers. Yet Fu Sheng really steals a lot of thunder from Ti Lung. When he uses those blades of his, it’s hard not to be impressed. Wang Lung Wei, Eddie Ko, and Dick Wei portray the evil Eagle brothers.

(dvdcult.com)

BORSALINO

2007-02-06T23:23:00.000-08:00

BORSALINO

Adel/Paramount 1970

Directed by Jacques Deray

Produced by Alain Delon

Music by Claude Bolling

Alain Delon

Jean-Paul Belmondo

Michel Bouquet

Catherine Rouvel

Corinne Marchand

Paramount put a reported $2 million into this $3 million pic, produced by one of the stars (Alain Delon) via his own company, Adel. Based on the real gangster milieu of Marseille in the 1930s, pic laces together French lowlife aspects with a more probing look at organized crime in the Hollywood manner via the rise and fall of two young hoodlums. Problem is that pic [from Eugene Saccomano's novel Bandits at Marseilles] is more a vehicle for its stars' personalities than a more cogent insight into French pre-war organized gangsters.

Delon is a secretive, ambitious and cruel type, while Jean-Paul Belmondo is an easygoing, engaging hoodlum who is content with small jobs. They meet when Delon gets out of jail and finds his girl, a prostie, has taken up with somebody else. They join forces, the girl becomes a part of the scheme, and then begins the climb instigated by Delon.

Delon has sharp grace and poise as the handsome, more cultured, facet of the duo, while Belmondo displays his usual ease, good nature but physical deadliness with aplomb.

Others all acquit themselves well, with Corinne Marchand stately as a lawyer's wife, Michel Bouquet ironic and menacing as the lawyer with connections, and Daniel Ivernel excellent as a police inspector who only interferes when the gangsters tread on political toes.

Title refers to the big brimmed felt hats sported by the gangsters of the period manufactured by a reputable Italo firm.

VIOLENT NAPLES

2007-02-06T22:40:00.000-08:00

NAPOLI VIOLENTA

(VIOLENT NAPLES)

Italy 1976

Cast: Maurizio Merli, John Saxon, Barry Sullivan

Directed by Umberto Lenzi

Merli plays Inspector Betti who has been assigned to the crime infested Naples where he brings his police brutality methods with him. At the opening he finds an old enemy of his The Commandante (Barry Sullivan) is around as well as another crime boss Capuono (john Saxon) who plans to do in the big boss Commandante and take over his various protection rackets and other assorted criminal activities. Betti, has no intention of allowing either one to go free much longer.

The film moves along at a brisk pace and is chock full of action and extreme violence that is inherent in this genre. There're bloody shootouts, murdered informants, rape, one helluva chase on motor bikes and one cool setpiece on top of a tram.

Betti's methods ultimately get him into trouble when many undercover officers are killed with one tied to the end of a bowling lane while the Commandante goes for a "strike".

Another striking scene of violence occurs during the tram scene. One of the villains has a female hostage and pushes her head out the window repeatedly bashing her face into the tram on the other side as it passes just before Betti takes him out.

At the finale, Betti uses probably the most unorthodox method imaginable to finally get rid of all the principle villains. Earlier he had turned in his resignation to be placed in his desk should his superior ask for it and Betti, after so many innocent people have been slain, decides to call it quits. As he's leaving he comes to a stop light and sees the little boy he had befriended earlier in the film, now a cripple, trying to cross the street (a trick the kid played at the films opening but was faking it then). Betti tells his friend to take him back to the station.

Director Umberto Lenzi who has directed his fair share of sleaze cinema appears more assured directing these kinds of movies as his direction is very slick compared to other films he has done. He is quite at home doing the action scenes and pulls off some exciting set pieces. He does, however, revel in several instances of extreme violence that was a staple of his films and this genre.

Merli who later appeared in MANNAJA, A MAN CALLED BLADE, is perfect for these kind of roles. Looking a bit like Franco Nero but more adept in the action scenes, he carries a mostly mean and mad look on his face the duration of the film and he's so good at it you can't help but cheer him on each time he nails one of the bad guys. If you've never seen one of these Italian Crime films this is a good place to start.

Merli died in 1989 when he apparently overexerted himself during a tennis match and collapsed. He was 49.

His son Maurizio Matteo Merli has taken up acting and stars in the new Italian cop film COP ON FIRE.