Mad Detective

Mad Detective is yet another terrific crime drama from the production house of Johnny To, this time directed by Wai-Ka Fai, who also teamed with him on Running on Karma, which starred Andy Lau in a muscle outfit, which was mildly disturbing. This is also an odd film, but the madness lies in its main character, Bun, played by Lau Ching-Wan, a police inspector who has the unusual ability to see the inner self or spirit of people. This paranormal power has made him a famed detective on the level of Sherlock Holmes, but his deductive ability comes not from logic but from raw emotion. He has to reenact a crime to feel it in the first person, and from there he can put together the pieces of the puzzle to solve a case. It also makes him crazy. He loses his wife -- also an investigator, but recreates her in his mind as a companion. He also loses his job when, during the departure of his long time boss, he offers his ear to him as a retirement present.

A year later, a cop comes to Bun in need of help. Ho Ka-On (Andy On), is involved in a case where a fellow cop has gone missing for many months. However, in a couple of recent crimes, a gun was used and analyzing the bullets, it was found that it belonged to the missing cop. Ho has been on this case for a long time, and is running out of leads. Bun, after arguing with his imaginary spouse, agrees to help. He finds that there were two different people who used the same gun, one being the cop's ex partner and an Indian criminal who was still at large. Bun intuits that the ex partner is the murderer, and after meeting him finds that he is a sick yet complex character, having seven different inner selves. But Bun's involvement in the case makes him more and more unstable -- while working with Ho, who is simulating the burying of the cop's body in a park, Bun steals Ho's badge and gun. He bursts into the local police office where the ex partner works, and rifles through his desk and locker. Bun believes that the ex partner had murdered the cop and had his gun stolen by the Indian crook, and has been after him ever since, to get his gun back. The gun he is currently using is the murdered cop's, and he switched the serial numbers on the computer. Ho doesn't learn any of this until very late in the game. He starts to lose faith in Bun, believing that Bun is stark raving mad, and is scared that this could end up badly for him and his career. After talking to Bun, Ho tries one last time to believe him, and arrests the ex partner, but since his gun's serial number matches the owner, now the ex partner, Ho comes to the conclusion that he made a terrible mistake. The ex partner is let go, and instead of filing charges, tells Ho that they are both after the same thing, to solve the crime and put the Indian behind bars. They head off together in search for the Indian, and on a tip, they find him in a building. Bun has followed them, still trying to convince Ho through the cell phone that the ex partner is the killer. There is a four way standoff in the warehouse, and the ex partner kills the Indian, who stated before he died that it has the ex partner who had killed the cop. Ho shoots Bun, thinking that Bun has lost it completely, and Bun kills the ex partner. But Ho realizes that Bun was right all along, and as Bun dies concocts a scheme to prove his story true and end the case.

Blind Mountain

A selected film for the 2007 Cannes Film festival, Blind Mountain is a disturbing look at a form of marriage in China. A young college graduate is looking for a job, and after several months with no results, is desperate to find work to help support her parents. She befriends a young woman who has a lead on work that would take them to the countryside for several months. But upon arriving at a remote farming village in the mountains, she is drugged and her ID papers and wallet are stolen. She wakes up, alone and in a house where the people there claim that they bought her to be the wife of their son. Horrified, she tries to escape, but everyone -- the family and the villagers, conspire to keep her there, and there is only one way in or out of the town. After a mini hunger strike, refusing to participate with her new family, she is raped by the son, who needs help from his friends to consumate the marriage. She accepts her situation only to be able to move about the town, and meets other young women who have also been abducted. Some have accepted their fate, having born several children; in one case, a woman was crippled to prevent from escaping. She befriends the village teacher, who benefited from only having a high school education, and also wants to leave the village. They have an affair, and plan an escape, but it becomes clear that he was using her sexually, making promises to leave but never doing so. Their affair is discovered, and he is exiled from the village. The young woman sends letters to her family, but they are intercepted and destroyed. She escapes twice, but is captured both times -- once on the mountain road, and the second right out of a bus in a large town many miles away. At no time anyone comes to help her from being abducted. Finally, she becomes pregnant and has the child, a son. If it was to be a daughter, the baby would have been drowned, like another child whose body was discovered in the nearby river. She makes friends with one of the children, who arranges to mail one of her letters. This time it goes through, and her father appears several moths later, with a police escort. But they meet such resistance from the villagers that the officials have to go back to the town to get reinforcements, and the father stays with his daughter. The family tries to steal her away again before the police come back, but while beating up the father, the young woman has had enough, and kills the husband with a knife.

Into the Abyss - Kudo Eiichi's Eleven Samurai

The Eleven Samurai is one of the great samurai films. No question about it. Having watched it, I am amazed that I have never seen this appear on video tape in the U.S., much less on dvd until now. Other than a mention in the year by year film listings in Alain Silver's excellent book The Samurai Film, he does not include this of any other Kudo Eiichi film in his discussions. What gives? This is right up there with Gosha Hideo's Goyokin and Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai.

It is the early 19th century in Japan. Nariatsu, a high ranking official and son of the former Shogun, is engaged in an animal hunt. In his reckless pursuit of the game, he crosses borders to a neighboring fief and kills a peasant who happens to be in his way. The lord of that fief also happens to be nearby, and witnessing the incident, calls him out on his ruthlessness. Nariastu kills him as well. This murder is covered up by the government, and blame is placed on the dead lord and his fief is slated for disbandment, to be incorporated by the shogun. The dead lord's samurai will not accept this fate. Reckless attempts are made against Nariastu, who frequents a local brothel. A semi organized attempt by a group of samurai is thwarted by the dead lord's chamberlain, who through a contrived sentencing of his own men to commit seppoku, is looking for recruits himself. Ten men and one woman are brought together, later, a ronin joins them, and they bide their time until the time to strike is ripe. Plots and counterplots are hatched by both sides, as all are trying to gain the upper hand of the situation. Nariatsu's chamberlain conceives a devious plan to transport Nariatsu back to his own fief using horses instead of the slower moving entourage; also, he works with the shogun's official to convince the dead lord's chamberlain that the shogun is favoring their side in the matter, and that Nariatsu is punished. All this does is halts a well planned ambush in the forest by the samurai. Once the chamberlain discovers that he was deceived, he mortally wounds himself, then rushes back to his men to tell them of the deception. Furious, they rush after Nariatsu in the pouring rain, attempting to cut them off at the river, which if they cross, Nariatsu would be safe. Nariatsu, in his final act of arrogance, refuses to cross in the downpour, electing to stay at a house nearby an let the storm pass. This gives the samurai enough time to reach them, cut the boats free from the shore, and attack the group. A furious battle ensues, and all are killed. Nariatsu is slain fleeing from a riverside shack, crying out to his men for help. The lone survivor is the ronin, who cuts Nariastu's head off and walks away.

This is a gritty, no nonsense film that is filled with tension and intrigue, climaxing in one of the great battle scenes in cinema, lasting almost 30 minutes. The actors are superb -- Natsuyagi Isao, Otomo Ryutaro, Satomi Kotaro, Nishimura Ko, Okawa Keiko, Sato Kei, Miyazono Junko, Nambara Koji are all familiar faces in 60's samurai cinema. Again, the black and white film adds greatly to the dreaded atmosphere of a corrupt world that is in its last dying days. Like in his other film, The Great Killing, Eiichi keeps a quick pace, a documentary like camera style, but Eleven Samurai goes further in the planning and build up of scenes -- first the botched assassination attempt in the brothel, and again in the forest. Not even Kurosawa could have bettered the handling of these very suspenseful moments. Eiichi is also clearly a master of the fight scene. The climactic fight near the river is well staged; the pouring rain, the men fighting in the mud, the amazingly graphic suicide of several of the avenging samurai stage by loading themselves with explosive powder, and throwing themselves into the fire, killing them and several other men. Again, Eiichi's films are a revelation, and hopefully these films will gain greater attention in the States. Go to your trusted internet store for Japanese films and buy this. It's a classic!

Rediscovered Classic - Kudo Eiichi's The Great Killing

A belated happy New Year! It's been a while, I know. It's not like I have stopped watching films, it's just that there haven't been ones that have compelled me to write about it in my blog. And, with very few exceptions, the current crop of Asian films (from my narrow point of view, renting and buying what has come out on dvd) hasn't been that great. I am annoyed by the current trend that certain Korean companies have done to the translations on the dvds. For instance, Secret Sunshine, a South Korean award winning film, has the worst English translations of all time -- instead of having someone translate, they used Babelfish instead. For those who don't know, click on the link. Japan hasn't put anything out lately that isn't anime or fantasy/sci fi/horror related, and even then it's not up to their usual standards. Hong Kong is still cranking out comedies and gangster dramas, and an action film once in a while, but with few exceptions (Fruit Chan, Johnny To, and Wong Kar Wai in particular) it isn't like it was before the Handover. Which leads me to this film, an oldie from the 1960's that had me riveted to the tube the moment I popped it into my dvd player.

The Great Killing is a story about a revolt against the Edo government for the increase of taxes on the farmers, which only favors the wealthy and powerful. Rumors of the imminent uprising reach the government, and orders go out to arrest all those suspected of being involved. Samurai, merchants, and even an official are arrested. One newlywed samurai, not involved in the plot, becomes involved when a friend staggers into his home and begs him for asylum. Unfortunately, he was followed, and chaos ensues as the soldiers chase and arrest the samurai, and the friend and the samurai's wife are killed. While under arrest, the samurai meets with the suspected official, who is being pressured to confess. But neither he nor any of the other suspects reveal anything, some going so far as to commit suicide. This puts pressure on the government, because of the lack of any evidence of a plot. Also, religious festivals are upcoming, and the arrested official also happens to be head of coordinating the ceremonies. It would be bad if these important traditions were canceled, so the man in charge of the government investigation has only five days to find the truth. The samurai and the official are released. The samurai meets up with a mysterious young woman who steers him away from instant vengeance to a house where her uncle is helping those to overthrow the government. Among the motley crew are a drunken gambler, and a man who is posing as a monk and hiding at the local monastery to avoid being arrested. The samurai and the young woman sleep together, as more of a promise to fight for a righteous cause rather than lovemaking. The monk, however is nuts. The desire for vengeance burns right through him, and he rapes the young woman when she comes to find him. This incident causes her to question her reasons and methods for fighting, and she tells the samurai that while she will no longer sacrifice or demean herself for her cause, she wants to do right in the world, and he understands. The group concocts a plan where in order for the revolt to be successful, the chancellor must die. To get him, they find that on the day he is to leave the castle, they set up natural roadblocks which direct his entourage through the local red light district, and there they will ambush the chancellor. The big day arrives, and the group heads out, but the monk strays behind, and tries to rape the woman again, but she fights him off this time, and infuriated, he strangles her and runs after the group. They buy horses from the local farmers, and the samurai rides them towards the entourage, blocking their exit, so they are forced into the district. A great battle ensues, and all of the rebels are killed. The chancellor thinks his side has won, but an official who sees the samurai's dead body and the broken sword in his hand decides to take up where he had left off, and kills the chancellor. The head official, realizing that his personal quest for more power is over, and that their current government is now on the verge of collapse, goes insane.

A samurai film of the highest order, The Great Killing combines sensibilities of many of the contemporary Japanese directors, Misumi, Gosha, Kurosawa, and Kobayashi, without emualting any of them. A few things stand out in this film: one is the documentary like camera work, as in the scene where the arrested men are awaiting their fate, and in the fantastic battle scene at the end, where the camera is so close to the action it actually bumps against some of the protagonists, and is spayed with blood and water. Another is the low point of view, which is similar to what one sees in Ozu's films, but the purpose here is more menacing and claustrophobic. Kudo Eiichi was a journeyman director who in the 50's did a few Hibari Misora films, and established connections as he started to rise through the ranks and got better material to work with. This film, 13 Assassins and the 11 Samurai are considered his masterworks, and went into television in the 70's. He is best known for directing the popular Sonny Chiba tv series Shadow Warriors. The Great Killing is an excellent genre film that does not fall into stereotypes, but depicts a world of unrest, populated by people who, good or bad, are facing the abyss. Highest recommendation!

Madcap Action Adventure - High Risk

Sometimes you can stumble across a good film in the cheap pile at the store or online. For a dollar I picked up High Risk, not just because of the price, and the stars (James Coburn, James Brolin, Clevon Little, Ernest Borgnine, Anthony Quinn, Lindsay Wagner!), but the high recommendations that I got from friends who share my eccentric tastes in films. The opening credits immediately establishes the plot -- four guys get together for a seemingly innocent weekend of fishing and hunting, when in fact they are heading down to Columbia for an improbable heist of five million dollars from a local drug lord. James Brolin is the leader of the bunch, tired of the years of hard work for little pay, and dreams of a big pay off. His partners in crime - Clevon Little (yes, from Blazing Saddles), Bruce Davison and Chick Venerra. Ernest Borgnine is the arms dealer who provides them with a small arsenel to defend themselves, and they hook up with a charter plane run by two ex hippy vets who fly them down to Columbia. They parachute down, and gathering their things, they proceed to the drug lord's headquarters. They break in, steal the money right from drug lord James Coburn, and take off. The resulting gunfight and chase splits the group into two - Little and Venerra are captured by the local police, and tossed in a filthy local town jail, where they make friends with another American, Lindsay Wagner. Little and Venerra convince a couple of locals to bust them out of jail, and they take off in their underwear - their clothes were used as the rope to pull off the bars. Wagner follows. They escape on a bus, and head off towards their arranged meeting place, with their share of the money. Brolin and Davison have a harder time. They run into local bandits, headed by Anthony Quinn, who take their money, beat them up and threaten to kill them. They escape, taking some weapons, and Brolin convinces his partner to go after them to get the money. In the middle of the night they attack, killing a couple of the bandits and making off with the money. They all reunite at a waterfall, near the place where the airplane will come to pick them up. Quinn and the bandits are not to be deterred, for they are in hot pursuit, and wound two of the Americans, but Brolin fends them off long enough for them to get a head start. They reach the plane, but it is an old rusty hulk. The bandits seemingly have them cornered, but Coburn and his cartel manage to disrupt things when they show up, and the resulting shootout thins both enemy parties. During this time, the cavalry finally shows up, in the form of the American plane and the two ex vets launching into Vietnam mode, as they lay waste to the cartel and the bandits with bombs and heavy machine gun fire. The Americans jump on board, injured, scared, with one extra passenger (Wagner), and five million richer. The end.

The plot ain't Shakespeare, nor is it Alister MacLean. It's a no nonsense, non stop action film that doesn't pause for believable story, it just runs with what it has and asks the viewer to enjoy the ride. I found it to be a fun, ninety minute diversion that satisfied my need for a little humor, a lot of action, and nothing to try my grey matter. There should be more films made like this today, but everybody is too busy attempting to make masterpieces or epic films. This was an independently made film made around 1980, with name actors and a decent budget. Recommended!

More Kurosawa!

An early Christmas special from Criterion, through their Eclipse line. A collection of five films by Akira Kurosawa from 1946 to 56, appearing briefly on video in the 90's, but making their first US dvd appearances here. They are: I Live in Fear, The Idiot, No Regrets for Our Youth, One Wonderful Sunday, and Scandal. I have seen all of these films, and all are highly recommended, especially I Live in Fear and The Idiot, one of my favorite Kurosawa films (also his most atypical film, a bit swarmy for some but it pushed all the right buttons for me). No word on a release date, but with the Saura box set already released this week, I bet they will try to get this out before Christmas. Regardless, a mandatory purchase.

Korean Period Horror - The Evil Twin

A young woman awakes from a ten year long coma. Her last memory was of drowning with her sister in the nearby river. Her reawakening provokes rumor and fear among her friends and the villagers, as strange things begin to occur. Finally, one by one, people once close to her start to die.....

The Evil Twin is an anomaly in the contemporary horror scene -- a historical period piece that relies on suspense and the terror that is imagined, not necessarily seen. Thanks to a stronger than average storyline, which falls under a classic film noir suspense tale of lost identity, Evil Twin fuses that with the doppleganger twin that is so common in asian horror, to create something different. Park Shin-Hye plays So-Yeon, the heroine who reawakens to a world much older and different than she last remembered. Her displacement becomes an effective way to show the unfolding of events that follow, as layers for truth are revealed, about her friends, her family, and finally, herself. Hyo-Jin is her twin sister in the tale, and while at first she seems like another long haired demon girl a la the Ring, she is mostly in the background until the end, and when she does appear, she is genuinely creepy. No shock music or backward motion special effects, just atmosphere and silence, which deliver a real onimous feel to her presence. Yang Geum-Seok plays So-Yeon's mother, a woman with a guilt in her heart about a choice she had to make in the past. So-Yeon and Hyo-Jin were the classic good girl/bad girl, not necessarily good/evil, but one gaining more favor than the other - So-Yeon is promised to be married, a favor not gained by Hyo-Jin (this being at a very young age, as was the custom). That conflict affects how her friends treat her, because, and this is a key point, everyone thinks So-Yeon is her sister, because of the bracelet belonging to her sister was found on her wrist when she was rescued. The visuals are excellent, although the dvd transfer I saw the blacks came out as deep blues in certain key moments, and I don't know if that was when they added some special effects or if it was just a bad transfer. The entire film has an old-school feel, and reading other reviews of this film, I see that it is indeed a throwback to the ghost story films of the 60's in South Korea. It also reminds be of the Val Lewton films of the 40's, though there are a couple of brief grisly moments. The ending too reminds me of another film, the Japanese version of Dark Water, with the mother having to make the decision that she thought she should have made years ago, a choice as to which daughter she should save from drowning. The moment is touching and powerful, as is this above average horror film, which once again proves that a good story is more effective than cheap shocks to thrill the viewer. Recommended.