My all-time favourite movie from Hong Kong is "Fallen Angels". I am in love with that movie. Filmed only at night, the neon-lit photography and dreamy pop soundtrack captures the vibe and the romance that those big Asian cities have for me. There is a playfulness to all the characters and the way the plot progresses, that I find extremely beautiful and magnetic.
Few films come close to capturing that same feeling that Fallen Angels evokes for me, and I've seen a few films that almost feel like cheap knockoffs (Johnnie To's own "Fulltime Killer" comes to mind). However, one film that does come close, while very much being its own unique thing, is Johnnie To's "Throw Down".
A crime movie where all the gangsters appear to be in an apathetic trance. A martial arts movie with only one fight move - the "throw down". A romance with no relationships or hint of sexuality. An obscure tribute to Akira Kurosawa. A musical? Throw Down is completely unclassifiable, and definitely one of To's most original movies.
Like Fallen Angels, the film captures Hong Kong in an atmospheric, almost mythical fashion. The neon-lit streets, the smoke-filled arcades and nightclubs. The characters are charmingly nonchalant, and the film is playfully paced, with attention not on telling any kind of a story, but just having fun with its characters.
Cherrie Ying is beautiful and magnetic here. Louis Koo and Tony Ka Fai Leung are hilarious in the way they seem to be sleepwalking through the movie, spaced out from reality. The film is full of odd, humorous, and playfully charming scenes. There is a surreal bar brawl (once again involving only "throw downs"), where all the sound is cut out except a Japanese Kabuki-theatre-type song being performed on the stage.
My favourite sequence is a most unconventional chase scene in which a lot of cash is dropped on the street. The music makes the film. Here, the score reminds me of some of Joe Hisaishi's best work with Takeshi Kitano. The soundtrack is phenomenal. The film, which I viewed in its new 4K restoration on blu-ray, is an exceptional work of audio-visual art.
Of around 20 Johnnie To films that I've seen, Throw Down is easily in my top 3, after the masterful absurdist police procedural "Mad Detective" and the insanely stylized actioner "Exiled". Highly recommended to fans of creative Asian cinema.
Few films come close to capturing that same feeling that Fallen Angels evokes for me, and I've seen a few films that almost feel like cheap knockoffs (Johnnie To's own "Fulltime Killer" comes to mind). However, one film that does come close, while very much being its own unique thing, is Johnnie To's "Throw Down".
A crime movie where all the gangsters appear to be in an apathetic trance. A martial arts movie with only one fight move - the "throw down". A romance with no relationships or hint of sexuality. An obscure tribute to Akira Kurosawa. A musical? Throw Down is completely unclassifiable, and definitely one of To's most original movies.
Like Fallen Angels, the film captures Hong Kong in an atmospheric, almost mythical fashion. The neon-lit streets, the smoke-filled arcades and nightclubs. The characters are charmingly nonchalant, and the film is playfully paced, with attention not on telling any kind of a story, but just having fun with its characters.
Cherrie Ying is beautiful and magnetic here. Louis Koo and Tony Ka Fai Leung are hilarious in the way they seem to be sleepwalking through the movie, spaced out from reality. The film is full of odd, humorous, and playfully charming scenes. There is a surreal bar brawl (once again involving only "throw downs"), where all the sound is cut out except a Japanese Kabuki-theatre-type song being performed on the stage.
My favourite sequence is a most unconventional chase scene in which a lot of cash is dropped on the street. The music makes the film. Here, the score reminds me of some of Joe Hisaishi's best work with Takeshi Kitano. The soundtrack is phenomenal. The film, which I viewed in its new 4K restoration on blu-ray, is an exceptional work of audio-visual art.
Of around 20 Johnnie To films that I've seen, Throw Down is easily in my top 3, after the masterful absurdist police procedural "Mad Detective" and the insanely stylized actioner "Exiled". Highly recommended to fans of creative Asian cinema.