NEVER GIVE UP

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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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)