kennelco film diary

(1988) dir Wong Kar-wai
viewed: 09/03/08

Back in the early 1990′s I got into Hong Kong film, which was a great time to get into it, a true heydey of cinema, a modern studio-system packed with directoral, writing, producing talent and a cavalcade of genuine movie stars.  This era in Hong Kong actually seemed to have started in the early 1980′s and was certainly petered out by the end of the 1990′s, but it left behind an excellent catalogue of great films and established talent that still continue to develop and evolve, not just within Hong Kong, but in world cinema.  And its influence continues to pervade.

That said, director Wong Kar-wai never really fit into the system exactly.  His films typically walked a different line from many of those contemporaries, seeming more influenced by the French New Wave in aesthetics, far less concerned with constructing linear narratives, and ultimately shooting for aesthetic, developing mood and tone, visually and emotionally, while lingering extensively on love and the longing and lonely.

I’ve seen almost all of Wong Kar-wai’s films, some more extensively than others with few exceptions.  As Tears Go By, for some reason, is one that I had never gotten around to seeing.  His first film, it is actually much more akin to the films and genre staples in Hong Kong of its period.  Starring Andy Lau and Jackie Cheung and the ever-beautiful Maggie Cheung, the story follows Lau, a pretty cool-as-a-cucumber lower tier criminal who is only starting to realize that his life hasn’t amounted to anything.  Jackie Cheung, his out-of-control wannabe sidekick, is bringing him down, full of pride, but helplessly small potatoes.  And when Lau meets Maggie Cheung, a good girl from outside of Hong Kong, he begins to understand what life could be for him.  Of course, things don’t necessarily turn out well.

It’s easy to see some early flashes of Wong Kar-wai’s style here, using popular music (a Canto-Pop version of “Take My Breath Away” and the title of the film which seems to have been taken from a Rolling Stones song), interesting visuals and compositions that are more arty than standard production fare, and a tale of love and longing.  But the film is much more a traditional Hong Kong crime film with its romantic leanings, the brotherhood of Jackie Cheung and Lau, the romanticized sensibility of “being a hero for one day”, the thug life portrayed.  While by his next film, Days of Being Wild (1990), Wong Kar-Wai will have come much more into his own, this film is a solid, successful picture on its own merits, more conventional than one expects from Wong Kar-wai, but quite a stand-out on its own.

It’s interesting to look at because Wong Kar-wai has seemingly developed into a creative rut of sorts as I noted when I wrote about his most recent film, My Blueberry Nights (2007).  And while his latest new feature film, a re-make of Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai seems to have a later release date than when I last looked, I am excited to see that he is re-releasing Ashes of Time (1994), one of my favorite of his films, a restored version.  That is cool news indeed.

(2008) dir. Andrew Fleming
viewed: 09/02/08 at CineArts @ the Empire Theater, SF, CA

Since seeing The Foot Fist Way (2008) earlier this year, I’ve found myself actually enjoying comedies for a rare exception in my life.  Tempted by trailers and reviews, I went and saw Pineapple Express (2008) and Tropic Thunder (2008) in the theater and actually found myself laughing a craving more comedy. 

Mostly, I think comedies are terrible.  Because most are.  Anything with Will Farrell, for instance, is pretty much guranteed to suck.  And while Judd Apatow has cast his shadow across a ton of Hollywood comedies, with occasional success, it’s been unusual for me to be laughing, to be drawn to comedies, to actually pay the full ticket price for such fare.

And, to be honest, while still in this humorous bent, I found myself laughing at the trailers for Hamlet 2, in which the very funny English actor/comedian Steve Coogan gets to revel in the role of the most talentless drama teacher in the world, in the high school in Tuscon, AZ.  The trailer showed many great asides and lines, puchy gags, and promising moments in which the film’s ultimate climax of a stage performance of “Rock Me Sexy Jesus”. 

Well, we all know the cliche that the best moments from many a film are all revealed in the trailer.  In this case, the trailer editor had more sense than the pacing of the regular film, notching up the level of humor in the punchlines with punchier pacing.

The thing about this film, which is co-written by Pam Brady, a writer who has both South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999) and Team America: World Police (2004) to her writing credentials, is that it’s got some very funny lines and some pretty funny moments.  It’s executed poorly in the hands of co-writer and director Andrew Fleming.  And the film goes for the outrageous and the lampoon, but then also wants the sentiment of the success of the losers and the students to translate emotionally as well.  In many ways, this film would have been better to have been ruthlessly irreverant.  Didn’t she learn anything from Matt Stone and Trey Parker?

The musical pieces have their flair, but lack the potency of the moments in the South Park film.  I doubt that either “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” or “Raped in the Face” will be up for an Oscar this year like when “Blame Canada” made it.

Overall, it’s a shame.  Moments, gags, much hilarity is deflated in the timing and production.  Gosh knows that Coogan brought his A game to this film.  And Catherine Keener actually has the best scene in the film, getting drunk on margaritas and telling Coogan who has been sober for 7 years that he should take up drinking again.  There is also this solid running gag in which Coogan obsesses over the most banal and rotten films as the apexes of art, including his hilarious gushing over getting to meet Elizabeth Shue, who gamely plays along, though doesn’t get insulted for her lack of talent nearly enough.

Coogan is great.  Some moments are great.  Some will like this better than I did.

This may, however, have shut down my funny bone for a while.

(2007) dir. Franck Khalfoun
viewed: 09/01/08

Produced by Alexandre Aja of High Tension (2003) and the remake of The Hills Have Eyes (2005) “fame”, P2 is probably the worst-named film in an eon.  P2 is in reference to the underground parking level at which the violence and action of abduction happens in this weak thriller.  It’s not that when I saw the trailers for it that I thought, “Wow, got to queue that one up,” but rather “Man, that looks lame.”  So, why did I queue it to watch?  Well, the answer is that I needed something different, something easy, less brain-taxing and contemporary to watch amidst the classics and foreign flicks that have piled up in my Netflix queue.  Not necessarily looking for a breath of fresh air, rather than something to clear the palette.

It’s pretty lame.  “Starring” Rachel Nichols as the victimized executive who chose to leave work too late one Christmas Eve and Wes Bentley as the psychopathic parking attendent who loves her, kidnaps her, tortures her, and tries to feed her turkey.  Bentley is a hack, but the script is lame as shit, too.  We are given no sense of his character other than he’s just a lonely psycho with a taser and lots of video cameras and a penchant for Nichols’ boobage.  I mention Nichols’ breasts simply because they almost become a character in the film, so prominently do they bulge from her dress.

The whole movie is lacking motivation.  It’s not that it’s poorly made overall, but the whole concept is less than partially baked.  I mean, was someone walking in a parking garage late at night thinking, “Wouldn’t it be spooky if…?”  but neve really got further than that.  Man tortures woman.  He’s crazy.  She wants to get away.  Blood is spilled.  Eyes are gouged.

Palette is cleared.  Next!

(1968) dir. Kenji Misumi
viewed: 08/31/08

I started this year with a couple of themes for the year, samurai films and John Waters films.  I kicked off the samurai cycle with Kihachi Okamoto’s The Sword of Doom (1966) and Kill! (1968), and while I have seen a handful of others, it’s not been the impressive array of films that I had anticipated watching.

In the case of Samaritan Zatoichi, I had the unusual circumstance of Netflix accidentally sending me a different film than the little sleeve had indicated.  I had been planning on Takeshi Kitano’s re-make/re-imagining of the Zatoichi character, The Blind Swordman: Zatoichi (2003).  Instead, I ended up with the 19th film in a series of some 26 films about the Zatoichi character, a blind swordsman who is apparently one of the most popular recurring characters in the samurai genre.

Of course, if there is a series of films or something, I’ll tend to try to see them in order, so this is not exactly where I would have started with this series.  But fate decided the queue for me.

It’s hard to totally know how this film ranks among the series.  In fact, just to get this far in my knowledge, it took a small amount of web research.

Taken within the samurai films that I have seen thusfar, Zatoichi is considerably less austere.  Blind and bumbling, he falls into a small river clumsily and flails in the opening scene.  Played with great character by Shintarô Katsu, Zatoichi seems not only blind but perhaps also mentally-challenged.  Apparently, this goes along with the meaning of his moniker, which indicates his blindness, which according to my reading was looked down upon in Japan in the time depicted, in which mental retardation and perversity were also projected upon the blind.

This all fits with the way that Zatoichi leads his life.  He roams the countryside, mostly appearing to others as a buffoonish masseur.  However, inside his cane is actually a sword of unique make, and when push comes to shove, with his unusual style of positioning his body and holding his weapon, he is a serious ass-kicker.

The story of Samaritan Zatoichi is that he is tricked into slaying a drunken reprobate who owes on a loan he has taken out (a hit that he understood to be justified when he took the job.)  His swordwork leaves the victim’s beautiful sister a lost and lonely soul, having come back just too late with the money to repay the loan.  She is sought after by the villainous clans of swordsmen, none of whom seem to have much in the way of honor.  Zatoichi follows the woman to repent for his guilt at having slain her brother and ends up protecting her from the numerous baddies.

Much comedy takes place in the stances of Zatoichi, who while bumbling and hunched, quickly shows the samurai that he is not wisely approached when he’s got his sword/cane in his hands.  Ridiculed, he is the noble ronin who plays the fool, hiding his skills behind the facade of inneptitude and blindness.  Like the Lone Wolf character of Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972) who is hampered by trotting around with his baby, Zatoichi seems less potent than he is.

From what I’ve read, the genre in its swordfighting and violent conflicts arose post-WWII, with heroes who are humble with their talents, those who do not brag are the ones who should be watched out for.  Zatoichi does seem uniquely humorous, which is perhaps quite a contrast to the noble, vengeance-filled idealists who show much less of their softer sides, grim-faced and tough.

I’ll definitely explore some more of the Zatoichi films, both the original series but also with Kitano’s newer take on the character.  I have renewed my commitment here.  More samurai films to come!