My Week 5/04 - 5/10
All About Ah-Long - 1989 - Johnnie To
I love Johnnie To but I have not seen much of his earlier work. The first thing that stands out is no Milky Way credit. The production company, run by To and longtime collaborator Ka-Fai Wai, has become synonymous with great action films from post John Woo Hong Kong. All About Ah-Long is a family melodrama about a man, Chow Yun Fat as the titular Ah-Long, his son Porky, and the boy's long lost mother Sylvia who has been living in the U.S..
Ah-Long and Porky are getting by, living in a small dingy flat with Ah-Long working as truck driver for a construction company. One day, through plot magic, Porky is picked to be in a clothing commercial, being directed by Sylvia, while at a bike park with Ah-Long's friend Dragon. Sylvia finds out that Ah-Long is Porky's father and then finds out she is his mother (her mother told her the child had died, then she left for the U.S. so she did not know Porky was alive). Sylvia starts spending time with Porky, Ah-Long wants to get the family back together, but Sylvia wants to take Porky with her back to the states. Lots of yelling and tears later we get an ending that, while hinted at several times throughout the film, feels like it is out of nowhere.
Chow Yun Fat is great but I do not think he can be any other way. The other performances hold up just fine but are nothing special. The cinematography is straightforward but gets the job done. In fact everything element of the film, outside Chow's performance, is solid but not more.
Saturday Nigh Fever - 1977 - John Badham
As the old proverb goes "Everybody's working for the weekend". Great music, interesting camera work, and lots of casual bigotry.
The Defender - 1994 - Corey Yuen
In Hong Kong a beautiful young school teacher is the only surviving witness to a murder so her rich boyfriend hires the best bodyguard in Beijing to protect her. Jet Li is one of the most beautiful people to watch on screen, he puts the artist in martial artist, so to speak. This movie is worth it for the climactic fight scene alone. The politics at play here are interesting as well. There are lines about human rights being respected in Hong Kong while the last shot of the movie is a heroic Jet Li in front of a giant, waving Chinese flag. Of all the pre-handover Hong Kong productions I have seen, this is the only one that manages to have both pro Hong Kong and pro Mainland elements.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle - 1973 - Peter Yates
A small time hood facing a prison sentence tries to snitch his way out. Robert Mitchum bring a gravity to the role of Eddie. He is gruff and beaten down by the criminal life and now he is staring down a stretch that he just can't do. It feels like an authentic look at a life of crime.
Best of the Week: All About Ah-Long - 1989 - Johnnie To
I love Johnnie To but I have not seen much of his earlier work. The first thing that stands out is no Milky Way credit. The production company, run by To and longtime collaborator Ka-Fai Wai, has become synonymous with great action films from post John Woo Hong Kong. All About Ah-Long is a family melodrama about a man, Chow Yun Fat as the titular Ah-Long, his son Porky, and the boy's long lost mother Sylvia who has been living in the U.S..
Ah-Long and Porky are getting by, living in a small dingy flat with Ah-Long working as truck driver for a construction company. One day, through plot magic, Porky is picked to be in a clothing commercial, being directed by Sylvia, while at a bike park with Ah-Long's friend Dragon. Sylvia finds out that Ah-Long is Porky's father and then finds out she is his mother (her mother told her the child had died, then she left for the U.S. so she did not know Porky was alive). Sylvia starts spending time with Porky, Ah-Long wants to get the family back together, but Sylvia wants to take Porky with her back to the states. Lots of yelling and tears later we get an ending that, while hinted at several times throughout the film, feels like it is out of nowhere.
Chow Yun Fat is great but I do not think he can be any other way. The other performances hold up just fine but are nothing special. The cinematography is straightforward but gets the job done. In fact everything element of the film, outside Chow's performance, is solid but not more.
Saturday Nigh Fever - 1977 - John Badham
As the old proverb goes "Everybody's working for the weekend". Great music, interesting camera work, and lots of casual bigotry.
The Defender - 1994 - Corey Yuen
In Hong Kong a beautiful young school teacher is the only surviving witness to a murder so her rich boyfriend hires the best bodyguard in Beijing to protect her. Jet Li is one of the most beautiful people to watch on screen, he puts the artist in martial artist, so to speak. This movie is worth it for the climactic fight scene alone. The politics at play here are interesting as well. There are lines about human rights being respected in Hong Kong while the last shot of the movie is a heroic Jet Li in front of a giant, waving Chinese flag. Of all the pre-handover Hong Kong productions I have seen, this is the only one that manages to have both pro Hong Kong and pro Mainland elements.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle - 1973 - Peter Yates
A small time hood facing a prison sentence tries to snitch his way out. Robert Mitchum bring a gravity to the role of Eddie. He is gruff and beaten down by the criminal life and now he is staring down a stretch that he just can't do. It feels like an authentic look at a life of crime.
Best of the Week: All About Ah-Long - 1989 - Johnnie To
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