Film Reviews: April 2004 Archives

This surprisingly intelligent thriller is set in Hong Kong and revolves around two characters who are both acting as double-agents for rival groups. The rival factions in this case are the Triads and the Police department.

Ming is the spy working in the police department; he feeds information back to Sam the triad boss. On the other side of the coin is Yan, an undercover cop who is actively involved with the Triads and feeds information back to a policeman in the department. Both the characters have similar problems in the fact that they are both living essentially a lie, and that their secret identities are constantly being threatened when, after a tense showdown, the presence of both moles is revealed.

Directed by Wai Keung this film is very well shot and is interesting visually to watch, as well as being an interesting story to follow. What was unexpected about the film was the relative lack of violence and action for a film of this type from Hong Kong. I was prepared for a John Woo type film with over-the-top stunts and wall to wall action. However this film is more interesting for its subtleties and its sympathetic development of the principle characters. Interestingly there are a couple of points in the film where the characters do not act quite as wisely as you think they might given their general tendency to avoid revealing their hand. The film reminded me slightly of “Heat” (by Michael Mann) due to the conflict of interests in the main characters. It also includes female character support to both Ming and Yan (similar again to Heat), which sadly lacks very much development whatsoever.

Overall an involving and thoughtful work, which provides a welcome relief to some of the more brooding films that have been around recently. At 101 minutes, the film flashes by with very few slow moments, another good feature.

**** (out of 5)

What is it with all these 15-certificate films? Considering this film uses the F-word many times and even the C-word once I was surprised at the low rating this movie received. State of the nation I suppose.

Enough ranting about the human condition, let us talk about the film. As any fan of the zombie genre will tell you the title of this British movie is derived from the classic George A. Romero flick “Dawn of the Dead”. A remake of the latter movie is currently on release in the Newmarket area and does have an 18-certificate! The plot of the film is pretty simple, Shaun – our hero, has a crisis in his life, his step-father hates him, he has a dead-end job, still lives with two old mates from college, and his girlfriend has just dumped him. To compound all of this it turns out that due to some unknown reason the population is slowly being transformed into the living-dead, also known as zombies!

When Shaun (played by Simon Pegg who also co-wrote the screenplay) discovers the horror of the zombies he sets about rescuing his Mum and his ex-girlfriend, with a view to getting back together with her. During the film there is much horror and hilarity, hence this film’s touting of being a ROM-ZOM-COM – a romantic-zombie-comedy. Things have come a long way since the first zombie film the 1932 “White Zombie” starring Bela Legosi, but the basic structure of the film is usually the same.

This is a very good film and is very entertaining as well as being truly hilarious. There were however a few slow bits during its 90-minute run length. The cinematography was good and there were some nice touches to the editing during the first part of the film, sadly these didn’t continue when the action took over most of the film. The effects were also quite good considering that the film was not a high budget Hollywood movie, the death of Dylan Moran’s character was appetisingly gruesome! As with many films of this type the ending is usually a let down, how to resolve the seemingly impossible situation carried most of the way through the story plausibly is always difficult. Fortunately for “Shaun of the Dead” the writers decide to stick with a comedic ending, which is essentially the essence of the film.

Regular audiences of comedy programmes of BBC2 and Channel 4 will recognise almost all the actors. With the good talent on offer one can only bemoan the lack of investment in the British film industry which could (and does when the funding does appear) rival the huge machine that is Hollywood.

**** (out of 5)

The greatest problem this film had publicity-wise as far as people I spoke to were concerned was the proximity of its release to “Kill Bill”. It amazed me therefore that the marketers chose to draw attention to “Kill Bill” in publicising the movie. I must state therefore that apart from sword play there is no similarity whatsoever between Zatoichi and the aforementioned (and inferior) Tarantino film.

Zatoichi is already an established film character, with many films giving substance to the film from the outset. For those who do not know Zatoichi is a blind man who travels around under the calm guise as a masseuse, however he is also a fearsome and brilliant swordsman who – despite his obvious challenges – is a match for any other rival.

The film starts with a child being put up, by some adult scoundrels, to steal Zatoichi’s cane. As we soon discover the cane is the sheath for Zatoichi’s sword. Having moved on from this encounter he happens upon a village where the local Ginzo gang is extorting the inhabitants. Obviously he becomes involved, slowly, with dealing with the troubles there. Along the way a Ronin (a masterless Samurai) joins the gang as a bodyguard, and we are introduced to a pair of wandering concubines with deadly intent. This is the plot in essence but the 115-minute film is intensely interesting to watch due to the interaction of the characters and the blistering fighting scenes.

Obviously Takeshi Kitano is a very experienced film director and spares no punches from giving us the full, brutality of close-quarter armed combat, many digital effects are used to provide realistic gore and dismemberment. I found it rather shocking at first expecting a more “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” affair. The sequences border on the astonishing, rather than the unbelievable, in this film and it is better for it. Much better than “Kill Bill” ever was, both films deserving their 18-certificate! Countering this brutality is a considerable amount of humour adding to the depth of the film. No doubt fans of the genre would pick out many homages within the scenes of the picture, however I found the film very enjoyable indeed and will certainly see it again.

One slightly peculiar aspect of the film was the transition to a Bollywood style dance routine towards the end. I’m not quite sure why this was, and it did not seem to fit in with the rest of the style of the film, any ideas? Was it a reference to another Zatoichi movie?

***** (out of 5)