The Assassin

This new release from StudiocanalUK is from renowned auteur, Hou Hsiao-Hsien's, his first feature film released in UK for eight years. The Taiwanese director was awarded the Palme D'Or in Cannes last May for Best Director for this picture.

The Assassin is based on a 9th century legend about a woman who had to kill her cousin, a man she was promised to in order to bring peace to a warring region, Weibo, in medieval China. Does she sacrifice the man she loves or break from the ways of tradition synonymous with the righteous assassins.

The film stars Shu Qi as the eponymous Assassin, Yinniang, who is instructed by her master to kill the reigning ruler Tian Ji'an, played by the brooding Chang Chen.

The film is very much the work of a director working on his vision of cinema, embracing the changing tide of production and incorporating his influences heavily into the narrative.

Shu Qi is Yinniang, the Assassin

The plot is explained in the film's black and white prologue a la Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol.1 setting up the vengeance mission between master and pupil, and showing her unique skill set which is a match for any man.

Following this the full colour spectrum is on display and at Hsiao-Hsien's disposal with pin point period detail incorporating exquisite costumes to the accurate production design bringing a sense of scale to proceedings.

The film evokes the heritage of Asian cinema and the rich tradition of the Wuxia (Martail arts) film, from Ang Lee's genre bending Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon for the latter harking back to the work of Yasijurō Ozu (Tokyo Story) for the former, there is a stillness reminiscent of his Ozu's finest family dramas with not a wasted movement within the frame.

As the camera moves in landscapes, nature is very much at the forefront as we hear the whistle of the wind and the creak of the forest when our actors fall silent.  This at times feels very deliberate in tonal shift from a political revenge drama to a more meditative film that may have been a result of an edit - the plot becomes second to the lush photography on display.

'Your skills are matchless. But your mind is hostage to human sentiments'

This does a disservice to the martial arts which at times is out of the blue, in stark contrast to the stillness before it, perhaps that is the point to wake us up suddenly and that the work of an assassin is both sudden and swift.

The evocative use of a repeating drumbeat helps build up moments of tension and is in keeping with the predominantly brilliant use of sound design in the film.

While the film may meander at times, there is nevertheless enough for the eyes to savour although perhaps the rapturous reception the film received in Cannes last year has waned since.

The Assassin is on limited release from Friday 22nd January from StudiocanalUK
Out on DVD/Blu-ray on Monday 23rd May from StudiocanalUK

My thanks to EmFoundation PR for my seat at the preview screening for an honest review.

Here, Then (Mao Mao, 2012)

Here, Then finally gets a UK release this month thanks to world cinema distributor Second Run. An almost impenetrable study of the disenfranchisement of youth, Here, Then is a film in the tradition of Mao's compatriots Jia Zhanghe and other purveyors of slow cinema - which rewards patience and an analytical appreciation of cinema. 

In a remote Chinese village lies a lost generation of youngsters, each patiently waiting for their fate to roll around the corner and send them in the right direction, yet they are eternally disillusioned.

Mao uses long takes thanks to the cinematography of Liu Ai Guo weaving these seemingly unrelated narrative strands into one sparse realm of alienation. Detached from both the action and the characters on screen, Mao Mao continues a recent trend in Chinese cinema of creating films which deftly enter the oblique ponderous space of our subconscious, allowing us to consider each action as we attempt to delve into the roots of this character's anxieties. 

This is most apparent when the director chooses to portray a rape scene in all of its gory glory.  From the outset the young female is resistant to the attack, yet slowly she gives in and the man has his way with her - yet why is this scene shown other than it being an example of the ugliness of these young people and the coldness of their actions.

Perhaps Mao is attempting to make a statement on the disillusionment of this lost generation and the current state of ennui within the large youth population of China.  All we learn is how empty these character's lives are and how little they have going for them.

That may sound dispiriting, yet Mao shoots with a real confidence and slight touch that is both chilling and professional.

Here, Then is out now on DVD from Second Run DVD

Adrift in Tokyo

Leading a lazy life, Fumiya has been a university student for 8 years and owes money to loan sharks. 

One day, a man named Fukuhara comes to collect the loan, which Fumiya cannot pay. So Fukuhara 

makes a proposition: He will cancel the debt as long as Fumiya agrees to walk with him across Tokyo 

to the police station of Kasumigaseki, where he intends to turn himself in for a crime he deeply regrets. 

Not having much choice, Fumiya accepts the deal.
 

Thus begins their journey which will lead them to various unusual
encounters, most of all with themselves. Based on the original novel by
Naoki Prize winner Yoshinaga Fujita comes a fascinating, humorous and wildly
clever film.

The film directed by Miki Satoshi cleverly blends the offbeat humour and wild premise together to 

create a wonderful somnabulist world in which these two men find themselves in.  Indebted to the 

Linklater double-bill of Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2005) - here is an opportunity to 

watch two fine actors showcase both their comedy and dramatic chops.

Jo Odagiri plays Fumiya as a loveable rogue who is slowly becoming a man-child, someone who 

cannot leave the happiness of college as he has found his place in life at that instance. Tomokazu 

Miura plays the older, debt collector - Fukuharu - with a bit of sterness yet you know from the 

outset that a heart of gold will slowly appear to us and Fumiya.

Whilst the scenes between the two leads are expertly handled and played, the people they 

meet on their long journey unfortunately do not receive the same tenderness from the director. 

Too many of the oddballs and characters are depicted as one-dimensional, this may not be 

helped by the premise as they are only fleeting glances of any one character, yet no cameo can 

be deemed memorable.

Like most things in life however, you will indelibly find something worthwhile on this journey, 

much like the protagonists do.

Adrift in Tokyo is out now on DVD from Third Window Films

Poetry

Lee Chang-Dong is hardly the first filmmaker to send a protagonist on a journey of discovery that changes their perception of the world, but no one’s ever put a sixtysomething granny in the early stages of Alzheimer’s through an adult-education poetry class as a way of crafting a social statement about a self-absorbed patriarchy’s paucity of human insight.

We watch and learn – about South Korea certainly, but about ourselves too – though this never becomes a duty, since Lee’s is a filmmaker with a conscience, who deploys it in an astringent challenge to our assumptions rather than sentimental pandering.

Lee is esteemed at home and on the festival circuit (he’s a regular in competition at Cannes), but this is the first of his five features to secure UK theatrical distribution. It’s fair to say that the subject-matter, encompassing poetry, dementia, sexual abuse and suicide, is likely to be a hard sell, but the quality of the film is such that it simply demands an airing.

Here the elderly Mija reacts to news of her irreversible Alzheimer’s by signing up for a poetry class,so  why even enter an arena that’s about shaping enhanced perceptions through the skilled command of language? In essence, that’s the puzzle which drives the story forward, as the viewer tries to make connections between poetry and the unfolding dilemma whereby the old lady is happens upon some blood money, and the other narrative string involving a rape.

Leading lady Yun Jung-Hee, a Korean screen legend who emerged from 16 years of retirement to provide the latest in a series of truly remarkable female performances in Lee’s filmography, proves uncannily adept at showing how Mija’s meek exterior hides a stern interior that can challenge the male dominated environment she comes upon.

The film is a companion to Bong Joon-Ho’s Mother (where the social observation stems from the matriarch’s determination to deny her slow-witted son’s guilt in a murder case), whereas that story took on the conventions of a crime thriller and procedural detective genre, here Lee is more of a naturalistic director who makes you think you have stumbled upon a real life conversation.

The results are powerful, and not just in the way we come to sense how Mija’s misadventures with the local poetry group that is frequently hijacked by men egotistically parading their would-be sensitivity – effectively dovetail with the rape storyline by highlighting the male sense of entitlement seemingly running through every layer of Korean society.

Lee proves himself to be an astute and delicate filmmaker who is able to make a film that is both beguiling and yet politically conscious of sexual politics in a very restrained nation.  The film was lauded at Cannes in 2010 and fully deserves this wide release on DVD.

Poetry is released on DVD by Rabbit Publicity on Monday 28th November, who I thank for the check disc.

The Yellow Sea

Starring and directed by the same two behind the success of The Chaser, Kim Yun-seok is reunited with Na Hong-jin for The Yellow Sea, a film that featured as part of the Un Certain Regard in Cannes this year.

The film follows the story of Gu-nam (Ha Jung-woo), a Korean living in Yaniban, China who loses his job after being crushed by gambling debts.  We first meet him losing another game of mah-jong, but he ends up sleeping odd hours and being threatened by debt collectors.  We see him working hard as a cabbie, earning money but he cannot resist the urge of immediate cash of mah-jong.  He loses more money and ends up being beaten up also.

One day he meets a hitman Myun-ga (Yun-seok) and Gu-nam agrees to cross the Yellow sea (by train - allowing for some beautiful landscape photography) to kill a businessman in Seoul, in turn the hitman will help pay off his debt.  Gu-nam also hopes to be reunited with his estranged wife, who left for Seoul in search of work six monts ago and has not contacted him.

Gu-nam tracks down the target and just as he is about to make his move, his target is murdered in front of him and he gets framed for the murder.  Soon the police are on his tail and the man who did the crime is hoping to eliminate both Gu-nam and Myun-ga.

The film is moodily shot and darkly photographed, you get a real sense of the nocturnal air of Seoul - the dinginess, the squalor of the city as Gu-nam attempts to clear his name.  A stranger in his own homeland almost, Gu-nam plays the immigrant rather well, giving him an animalistic quality the role deserves.

Shot enthusiastically and acted impeccably the film fails in its execution only by giving us too much of a good thing; the film has a very simple noir storyline but unfortunately it goes on for nearly 30-40 minutes too long.  It should have a punchy feel, and yet you feel you are being punched too much and if not punched then stabbed.  A lot of the violence takes place clearly for the sake of violence and also because this is a crime movie.

Yet for that fault, the film remains a roller coaster ride with enough action to maintain interest and a chase sequence to rival anything that comes out of Hollywood.

The Yellow Sea is a Bounty Films release in association with Eureka Entertainment Ltd. and will be released in the UK on Friday 21st October.

The Warrior and the Wolf -DVD review

Asian cinema has enjoyed a renaissance of sorts due to the global acclaim of such titles as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of Flying Daggers.

However, for every Hero there are those titles that flatter to deceive, films that mean well but lack the execution to succeed when the endeavour is clear on screen.

Based on a short story by the prolific Japanese writer Yasushi Inoue, The Warrior and the Wolf tells the story of the Han Emperor who sent his army to the far Western border of China.  In order to subdue rebellious tribes, and a land full of wolves, the army would have to endure harsh winters in the Gobi desert. After much bloodshed, Commander Lu and his men give up and begin a retreat.

Trapped by a blizzard, Lu (Joe Odagiri) commandeers a shack and finds a beautiful Harran widow (Maggie Q) who become embroiled a passionate affair.

Whilst the film is shot beautifully in the widescreen along with stunning battle scenes, the film in other areas feels lacklustre.  The affair whilst full of passion, borders on rape as Lu becomes a wolf after much contact with them, as the widow clearly is not enjoying herself.  It leaves an odd feeling in the mouth, and whilst the battle scenes are the only element of redeemable execution, it pales in comparison with recent work of 13 Assassins.

Directed by Tian Zhuangzhuang who had directed The Blue Kite, the expectation must have been high for a film of this calibre, along with the cast assembled, more a chance missed on this occasion.

The Warrior and the Wolf is released Monday 30th May from Universal indi Vision, priced £15.99(DVD) and £19.99 (Blu-Ray)