crosbie_max Reviews

Last Life in the Universe (2003)

A South East Asian Beauty!!

[8/10 · 20 December 2004]

This the first film I've seen by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and without a doubt its one of the most accomplished and satisfying I've seen all year.

Two polar opposite characters - a quiet and meticulous Japanese librarian with a shady past and designs on ending his life (Asano Tadanobu) and a feisty, straight-talking thai female escort (Sinitta Boonyasak) - have one thing in common and not much else it seems. They are both utterly lonely, albeit for different reasons - she is recently bereaved of her sister, he for a reason never fully disclosed is distanced from the world, an introverted outsider with no good reason to go on. Thrown together by a sequence of events (chance or fate?) they take solace from each others presence. From this, lets face it, not original germ grows an enchanting, touching and idiosyncratic movie.One that's not concerned with characterisation, an intricate plot or histrionic's but with how two troubled, contradictory people growcloser and in the process rediscover a reason for being, for going on in the universe. Due to the language barrier (they flit from talking Thai, Japanese and English to understand one another) they may not have meaningful discourse, but here the meaning is hidden behind the formalities, the pedestrian, the everyday.

I'm not going to launch into an extended essay or spew to many superlatives but believe me when I say its a strange delight. Assured, amusing and touching, this multi-lingual film is replete with a dry wit, a surreal element that leaves a lot to interpretation and a deft ability to prick the emotions. There are laudable performances from the two central characters, and a third from Christopher Doyle's shifting oblique camera-work and composition. And despite its clear East Asian cinematic influences (in tone it reminds me of Kitano's Dolls - the lingering pace and melancholy signature theme music– and it features a yakuza based subplot) Last Life evokes modern day Thailand in all its chaotic ramshackle splendour brilliantly.

House of Flying Daggers (2004)

I don't need another Hero

[7/10 · 14 November 2004]

Well I've just caught the DVD and have to say I'm ambivalent. Yes, I enjoyed it as a whole - the sublime imagery and kinetic action sequences swept me along, and the sheer visual audacity of Zhang Yimou has to be marveled at - but its many flaws chewed away at me and a weak denouement finally left me underwhelmed. I think, much like Hero, House of Flying Daggers is going to divide the critics and audience alike. Time will tell!

Paradoxically, part of what the film excels at may be its bane when it comes to release in the West. As a faithful wuxia genre film it really does succeed very well – it exploits its magical potential whilst exposing its dramatic limitations. Like many before it, it excels at astounding action sequences but suffers from weak plot and characterisation.

For one, it really pushes the gravity defying, superhuman feats that the genre revels in to heady new heights – fantastic swordplay; an absurdly fun 'Echo Game' where Lau throws beans off drums and the blind dancing Zyi bangs the corresponding drums with her shirt sleeves; daggers that curl round shields, shift direction, seemingly endowed with the intent of their owners. These are all lovely fantastical elements that fit nicely into the wuxia tradition and which many will enjoy (as is the exquisite bamboo forest scene which, in homage to King Hu's A Touch of Zen, sees men bounding gracefully over the tree tops – my scene of the movie). It's also pleasing to see a female playing the leading action role, as was common in the genres Hong Kong heyday in the 60's and 70's.

However it also is replete with some of the misgivings that I have found in many, if by no means all of the genres offerings. The love story plot between the characters which forms the crux of the movie is two-dimensional – on all sides its contrived, unconvincing and ultimately fails to win us over. I never once felt convinced that any love could or does flow between any of the involved parties (partly the acting) and as this superseded the political aspect of the story early on, only to swamp it completely at the end, the film loses out. Another is a weak script too reliant on worn corny colloquialisms and proverbial confusion-esquire ramblings ('I told you I'm a carefree wind!'). This breed of dialogue will to many moviegoers, Chinese included I'm sure, just seem laughable, trite and of a bygone era (of course old-fashioned is precisely what it is – wuxia's roots lie very much in ancient Chinese mythology, storytelling and it has never aspired to be high drama!).

These kinds of flaws are not fatal to a films enjoyment of course, on the contrary many wuxia, especially the Shaw Brothers variety, are pretty hollow in terms of script and plot. However this often, along with the fake scenery found in SB's films, all adds to the camp entertainment value and heightens anticipation for the action - in many a wuxia movie the lack of a compelling love affair or a creaky script can be forgiven at the end when the climatic showdown between the films good and evil elements materialises. But in HOFD it never does! Unfortunately, the expected grand finale – so often marked by an almighty battle, the clamor of a hundred swords vying for supremacy, liberal torrents of bright red blood, the disposal of an evil tyrant and his henchmen by the righteous upholders of rough justice – never arrives. We never even get a hint to suggest what drives the characters, or which side may hold the moral high ground in their struggle for supremacy in the martial world. Instead a rather insipid, unconvincing love triangle story bleeds itself to death, it snows a bit and sayonara! Yes, the sheer potency of the images presented to us has been forceful and impressive; yes, the action is stupendous and awe-inspiring; yes, the music is evocative if not overly portentous. But is that enough!? It promises so much and delivers so little!

The story given us in HOFD didn't hold me into the films realm. And if a film can't do that, grip me to some greater or lesser degree, then its tough to suspend disbelief – a necessary precondition for watching wuxia films, perhaps more so than for any other genre! What this boils down to is a barely believable story within a mythical world that the audience must believe in to enjoy – a weak, overblown Wuxia film that leaves you cold. Having said that, much of the action eclipses that done before in the genre.

I'm left questioning whether this will make the same waves in Western markets that Hero did. My gut instinct is that it won't – the same holes seem to be apparent and I'm not sure the critics and audiences will opt in the same numbers for style and panache over any real discernible substance. Many I know were enthralled by Hero's visual flair and brazen action but walked away with nothing (figuratively speaking) and that's the case for me here! As a fan of Zhang Yimou's earlier more restrained, pensive work I'm left pining for something more cerebral and emotive (and Gong Li!), or a wuxia film with some real heroes worth cheering for.