The Burden of Suffering: Comparing La Femme Nikita (1990) and The Villainess (2017) [Editorial]

Disclaimer: The following editorial is filled with spoilers of both movies. Read it only if you have seen the films.

     Don’t forget… There are two things that have no limit: femininity and the means of taking advantage of it.~ La Femme Nikita

     Let me show you… what you made me into.~ The Villainess

Every self-respecting moviegoer is most probably aware of the fact that strong heroines have been present on the silver screen for decades, not several years. The 1970s as well as the 1980s gave us a whole slew of tough and badass female characters, from the West as well as from the East. Interestingly, European Cinema never quite engaged into “Girls with Guns” craze, and perhaps its only worthwhile interjection into the matter is Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita from 1990.
     The young and confident director was at the top of his game in the 1980s, effectively changing the face of French cinema which was suffused with art-house style and theatricality at that time. By emphasising the visuals and style rather than proper narrative (see Cinema du look movement), Besson created such modern classics as Subway (1985), The Big Blue (1988), and, of course, La Femme Nikita (1990).

     Somewhat forgotten today, the movie about a young woman turned spy became an important cultural phenomenon. If you ask anybody today about “Nikita”, they will most certainly associate the title with one of the American TV shows or even a John Badham movie. Indeed, Besson gave Europeans their own “girl with a gun” but she was immediately snatched by Hollywood and incorporated into the American mainstream. Nevertheless, the archetypal figure of a non-conforming woman forced to serve the state, and who tries to find happiness, proved to be pervasive in culture. While Hollywood was busy with the remakes, Hong Kong already made their own version of Nikita in 1991. Black Cat with Jade Leung ticks all the major plot points from the original film while also adding tropes of an exploitation flick and underlining the anti-authority message (Black Cat is actually controlled by the CIA via microchip).
     Yet, the incarnations of Nikita with Bridget Fonda, Jade Leung, Peta Wilson, and Maggie Q, do not mark the end of fascination with this character. A 2017 South Korean production The Villainess was openly advertised as a movie inspired by La Femme Nikita; however, I believe that the movie is not so much a remake but a companion piece to Nikita.

     The fans have spotted references to Kill Bill (2003), The Raid (2011), and Hardcore Henry (2015), but director Jung Byung-gil acknowledged that The Villainess is first and foremost an homage to La Femme Nikita. Having watched the two movies back-to-back, I was surprised by the fact that The Villainess does not simply retell the events of Nikita but also comments on them and builds on the character of the original heroine.
     Firstly, let’s take a closer look at La Femme Nikita: The movie starts with a bunch of hoodlums who rob a pharmacy. It turns out that our soon-to-be heroine is a drug addict who is on such an acid trip that she actually shots a police officer point blank in the head. Nikita is rightfully sentenced in the court of law, and two men approach her in a cell with an injection. Nikita breaks down because she is convinced that she is about to be euthanized. Actually, she’s only sedated and wakes up in a white room where she is greeted by a man called Bob. He explicitly tells her that the government fakes the deaths of worthless criminals and turns them into spies. Evidently, Nikita is very reluctant about the whole concept and tries to break away, but Bob eventually manages to mould her into a professional agent. Nikita is given a new identity and she is allowed to lead a normal life, on condition that she will always perform secret assignments.

     According to researcher Jeanne Deslandes, La Femme Nikita is a film about going back to the state of normality. We see the main heroine as a social wreck at the very beginning, but she is salvaged by Bob (a representative of the French secret police, we could say) who offers her a second chance in life. Ironically, Nikita gets more than she bargains for. That is to say, whenever something pleasant happens to her, bad things immediately strike as well. For instance, on her 23rd birthday, Bob takes Nikita to a restaurant only to give her a gun and target details. In addition, when Nikita spends a honeymoon with her beloved husband Marco, she is ordered to take down yet another target. In consequence, the heroine is unable to have a happy life because of the very same authorities who gave her a fresh start. When a mission concerning economic espionage goes terribly wrong (not out of Nikita’s fault), she is completely burnt out and, with the blessing of her husband, she runs away (hopefully, trying to regain her normality).

     Now proceeding to The Villainess: The movie has a similar structure and premise of Nikita, but the main character is quite different. Sook Hee is arrested and subsequently turned into a spy by the Korean secret police not because she is a lowlife, but because of her extraordinary abilities. At the very beginning, we see her slashing her way through hordes of expendable baddies and surviving the bombastic ordeal simply because she’s driven by the desire to avenge the death of her father. In a series of flashbacks, it is revealed that Sook Hee’s father was killed because of a stolen diamond. His friend betrayed him but the real killer remains unidentified. Sook Hee was sold to human traffickers, but she was unexpectedly saved by a professional hitman. Cue to present day, Sook Hee is trained by the authorities and given the identity of Chae Yeon Soo. Together with her little daughter, she moves into an apartment and eventually marries a goofy but kind neighbour, Jung Hyun Soo. In the course of her assignments, she comes face to face once again with the hitman who saved her years ago.
     I admit that it is a fool’s errand to correctly summarise The Villainess from beginning to the end because there are tons of subplots happening in this movie. Nevertheless, here are the interesting contextual parallels between the two films:

     For example, Nikita and Sook Hee (amazing Anne Parillaud and Kim Ok Bin, respectively) are so feisty and spirited that they unsuccessfully attempt to escape the containment facility. This is of course a mutual plot point, but each character also sheds their old identity in a unique way. On the one hand, Bob takes away Nikita’s hoodlum clothing as if to symbolically distance her from the old days of being reckless. On the other hand, Sook Hee undergoes a plastic surgery and receives the new name of Chae Yeon Soo and a vocation: an actress. Both tricks seem to work as the heroines proceed with their training.

     Additionally, the mentor figures are also quite interesting (brilliantly played by Tcheky Karyo and Kim Seo Hyung, respectively). Bob is very friendly towards Nikita and he even pretends to be an uncle in front of her husband. Nevertheless, the most appropriate way to describe Bob is to call him a demon, simply because he owns Nikita’s soul. After Nikita’s attempt to free herself from his grasp, Bob’s smile towards the end of the film is more than unnerving. In turn, Kwon Sook in The Villainess performs exactly the same function (Sook Hee/Chae Yeon Soo is an investment that needs to follow orders), though she never becomes a friend.

     Furthermore, it is also intriguing how the characters of husbands (wonderful Jean-Hugues Anglade and Sung Joon, respectively) were handled. Marco in Nikita is a perfect Mr Nice Guy (quiet, caring, understanding). Although he seems to be oblivious to Nikita’s activities, it is revealed at the end that he figured it all out. As for Jung Hyun Soo in The Villainess, he is a government officer who genuinely falls for Chae Yeon Soo. Even though Jung dies while protecting her daughter, I think that Marco’s character has a stronger impact on the story. He is an average guy on whom the viewers can fall back (the bathroom scene is so powerful just because of his presence), whereas the presence of Jung Hyun Soo serves to elicit a melodramatic effect (boosting Chae Yeon Soo’s need for vendetta).

     Speaking about melodrama, The Villainess attempts to emotionally invest the viewer into the story with the usage of overt plot twists and stunning action set pieces. The plot twists about a lover who turned out to be the killer of Hee’s father makes the film venture into the territory of Luc Besson's other popular film, Leon (1994), but does not quite manage to bring the story of an assassin good at heart together with that of a female spy.

     Nevertheless, The Villainess is an extension of Nikita. What I mean by this is the fact that we get to know everything about Chae Yeon Soo through extensive flashbacks, whereas we know nothing about Nikita (apart from that she was named after a song). Nikita might as well have had exactly the same painful past as Chae Yeon Soo, but it did not haunt her afterwards. The most important bit about the two heroines are their attempts to regain normality. In the case of Nikita, she runs away because she has enough of killing (in fact, her last mission failed because another hitman wanted to solve everything with brute force). In the case of Chae Yeon Soo, she loses her husband and a child simply because she could not leave the past behind. As a result, she becomes an indestructible angel of vengeance (similar to the character played by Meiko Kaji in Lady Snowblood) in the epic finale. After killing the man who ruined her entire life, she turns into an antithesis of herself, she loses her normality (the state that Nikita wants to avoid). Chae Yeon Soo’s malevolent smile at the very end marks her transformation into the villainess…

     All things considered, The Villainess serves not so much as a remake but a companion piece to Nikita, showing what could happen to the archetypal lost woman if she had not run away. Evidently, both movies are about fallen heroines with guns who only wanted to lead a happy life. Actually, I am surprised that we have not been given proper sequels to these films. Perhaps it is best to leave the two heroines as they are.
     I very much recommend watching both movies. I personally like La Femme Nikita a tiny bit better, because it manages to achieve more with its subtlety. I hope that this extensive editorial was not an exhaustive read. I simply wanted to provide food for thought for viewers who also enjoy girls with guns flicks. Please share your thoughts in the comments. My thanks go to Seonsaeng from MyDramaList who kindly read the article and provided his feedback before the publication.
Sources: They Programmed Her to Kill: Black Cat, a Hong Kong remake of Nikita (2002) by Jeanne Deslandes * (Young) Sisters in Arms.Youthification and Femininization in Contemporary Action and Sci-Fi TV Series by Elisa Giomi * THE VILLAINESS Interview: Director Jung Byung-gil on the Stunts and Stars

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Inland Sea (2018) [Documentary Review]

Inland Sea; or, The Inheritance of Loss
     You know I catch fish, so a cat bit my trouser! He probably smelled some fish here. So he bit it.

Release Info

Directed by: Kazuhiro Soda Original Title: 港町

Language: Japanese Runtime: 122 min

Inland Sea (original title: Minatomachi) is a 2018 production which was shot, edited, and directed by Kazuhiro Soda. The movie is not so much a conventional documentary (with narration and statistics) but rather an “observational film” (as stated in the opening credits) which focuses on the town of Ushimado, a place free from metropolitan hustle and bustle, with traditional architecture, rich history, and its friendly inhabitants who share their stories in front of a camera. This is a film about a quiet town that is on the verge of fading away in the era of globalism.

Obviously, I had to check out this documentary when I saw the “Calmy Stunning. Quietly heartbreaking.” recommendation from director Boon Joon-ho. Inland Sea marks my first encounter with Kazuhiro Soda and his style of filmmaking. It is immediately striking that the director does not force anything on the subject matter of his project (he follows his own “ten commandments”). He just walks around Ushimado with a camera and records the everyday activities of the townspeople and their testimonies. In addition, there is something soothing and remarkably poetic in the fact that the film is (almost) entirely black and white. In this way, it resembles a dusty family album.

Inland Sea undeniably provides an intimate look into the unknown side of Japanese society. Topical problems, such as diminishing fishing industry, negative natural increase of the population, and the migration of the youth to cities, are never uttered but they are clearly visible on film. We see them reflected in the hardships of an 86-year-old fisherman Murata Waichiro, daily deliveries of Koso-san (the owner of a fish shop), and candid confessions of a lively obaachan Kumiko Komiyama (featured on the official poster).

Interestingly, Soda manages to seamlessly transfer from one person to another. For instance, we see Wai-chan selling his catch on the market where Koso-san also makes her shopping. From Koso we go to a mother and son who buy ingredients to feed (two!) families of stray cats. Afterwards, Soda follows a passer-by to a cemetery. Eventually, the final (and the longest) section of the film is devoted to Kumiko who becomes a self-proclaimed tour guide, rapidly showing the most interesting places of Ushimado and recounting her life at the same time.

After seeing the documentary, I completely understand Boon Joon-ho’s seal of approval. Inland Sea is a record of a town, a remnant of pre-consumerist Japan, which is slowly dying out. With his natural style of filmmaking, Kazuhiro Soda managed to capture the slice-of-life drama better than Shohei Imamura and Yoji Yamada in their cinematic masterpieces. This observational film grabs you by the heart and does not let go.

Recommendations
I highly recommend Inland Sea to anyone who wants to experience the peaceful microcosm of a Japanese town. You will not be disappointed. My thanks go to TriCoast Studios for sharing the screener. They released the film under their Rock Salt Releasing label. In addition, make sure to check out the film’s official fan page. Also, see the trailer below:

Overall score: 10/10

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Battle Royale (2000) [Film Review]

Battle Royale; or, The Ultimate Survival Programme

     Life is a game. So fight for survival...and find out if you're worth it.

Battle Royale is the movie that needs no introduction. Based on a novel by Koshun Takami and directed by veteran filmmaker Kinji Fukasaku, the film made its way to the silver screen on December 16, 2000 and it took the popular culture by the storm. Apart from a sequel, there was also a manga adaptation and tie-in books. In addition, lots of video games, visual novels, and anime used the phrase “battle royale” as an umbrella term to describe the new genre (the last man standing challenges). The harrowing story about 42 students forced to fight each other to the death is a modern morality tale that criticises authoritarian regimes and degradation of our society
Release Info

Directed by: Kinji Fukasaku Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto
Language: Japanese Original Title: バトル・ロワイアル Runtime: 110 min

 

Synopsis

Due to economic recession, Japan has fallen into chaos. As a result, many of the youngsters rebelled against authorities. In order to discipline the unruly youth, the government has passed the Battle Royale Act. Each year, one grade 9 class is selected at random and sent on a remote island. They are given instructions, survival gear, and weapons. They are ordered to kill each other. Any sort of rebellion will be punished by death. Any escape attempt will also be punished by death. The only winner of the game is the one student left alive after the time period of three days. This is the story of Class 3-B and their teacher, Kitano (Takeshi Kitano).

 

The Last Class

Probably, every enthusiast of Japanese cinema has heard about Battle Royale. I was absolutely stunned when I saw this movie for the first time, roughly a decade ago. Of course, this is a top-class action survival horror, but I believe that its shock value was not emphasised merely to satisfy the vanity of some less-than-normal viewers. I believe that the violence of Battle Royale is not meaningless. In fact, it serves to make a point.

 

Kinji Fukasaku signed on to direct the picture because the story reminded him about his own experiences during World War II. Koshun Takami explained in the afterword of the 2009 edition of the novel, that the story is about fear and betrayal (He got an inspiration for the novel after having a hallucinatory dream). In my opinion, Battle Royale is an outcry about how broken our world is. Evidently, we do not kill students for sport, but maniacs do commit horrible crimes and ordinary people are constantly betrayed by authority figures (politicians, parents, teachers). Not all of the students participating in the game are bad by default: some were made crazy, some act out of fear, and some refuse to participate in this madness (but still, all of their actions are monitored by Kitano and the military). The students of Class 3-B reflect different kinds of people and different approaches to life (all within the grasp of mighty government).

 

Thought-provoking script and gruesome action set pieces are not the only advantages of Battle Royale. Powerful visuals are accompanied by a magnificent music score composed by Masamichi Amano. Apart from the usage of classical music, I particularly liked Amano’s “Winner of Sorrow” track.

 

From the making of featurette, one can clearly see that Kinji Fukasaku, while directing on the set, was like a warrior on a battlefield. Getting each shot right was extremely important to him. In addition, it is striking that in his time off, Fukasaku would drink beer and drive Skyline R32 like a totally laid back guy.

Teenagers playing high school kids approached the matter very seriously, even though some of their roles were small. Nevertheless, the chaos of the motion picture was not reflected on the set. Everyone was in good spirits and ready to work, but the boys and the girls tended to stay away from each other. Takeshi Kitano himself seemed very timid during the shooting, but the director managed to bring the badass out of him we all know and love. Interestingly, Kitano drew by himself the famous painting which is featured at the end of the movie and in the sequel.

In fact, there are two versions of Battle Royale available. The theatrical cut runs at 110 minutes and the Special Edition cut which is approximately 10 minutes longer. It features additional scenes that were shot after the original release of the movie, including basketball game flashbacks, Mitsuko Souma’s backstory, and an extended scene between Kitano and Noriko. I personally prefer the theatrical cut because it has better pacing.

 

Speaking about performances, literally everyone gave their best in the movie. Of course performances of the three main leads: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, and Taro Yamamoto will remain unforgettable. I also enjoyed small parts done by (now legendary) Chiaki Kuriyama and Kou Shibasaki. Takeshi Kitano was great as the teacher. Additionally, we cannot forget about Yuko Miyamura (that crazy awesome voice actress) who played the host of the Battle Royale Video Guide!

 

Recommendations

All things considered, Battle Royale is a movie that does not need any remake in this day and age. There is constant talk about it in Hollywood, but I hope that nothing will come to fruition. (Besides, the Americans made a shameless rip-off already!) Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale is a timeless cult film that will certainly continue to inspire new generations of fans of Japanese pop-culture. In the meantime, all of us run, no matter how far, run for all we're worth!

Overall score: 8/10

My Lucky Stars (1985) [Film Review]

My Lucky Stars; or, Winners and Sinners 2.0

    Please do not dry your hands with the fax paper.

Two years after the success of Winners and Sinners (1983), Sammo Hung made a semi-sequel called My Lucky Stars. Written by Eric Tsang, the story follows the adventures of the characters from the previous movie, but their names and relations have been changed a bit. Nevertheless, this sequel is just as enjoyable as the original film. 
Release Info

Directed by: Sammo Hung Starring: Sammo Hung, Sibelle Hu, Jackie Chan, Stanley Fung, Eric Tsang, Richard Ng, Charlie Chin, Yuen Biao
Language: Cantonese Original Title: 福星高照 Runtime: 96 min

 

Synopsis

An undercover cop in Japan called Muscles (Jackie Chan) is infiltrating the Yakuza group. However, while trying to catch a corrupt Hong Kong cop (Lam Ching Ying), his partner, Ricky Fung (Yuen Biao), is kidnapped in the process. Muscles calls headquarters for help and they in turn reach out to Muscles’ childhood friend, Kidstuff (Sammo Hung). Not aware of the full details of the mission, Kidstuff assembles his team of small time crooks Rawhide (Stanley Fung), Herb (Charlie Chin), Sandy (Richard Ng), and Roundhead (Eirc Tsang). They are joined by Inspector Woo (Sibelle Hu) with whom they go to Japan…

 

The Team Returns

Apart from obvious continuity errors that are conveniently left unexplained, My Lucky Stars is a well made continuation in the spirit of Winners and Sinners. The gang is doing the funny shenanigans known from the first film and these are sprinkled with decent action sequences. Interestingly, Sammo Hung’s character takes the role of the leader in this picture. While John Shum is evidently replaced by Eric Tsang, Jackie Chan has a surprisingly major role in the story. His character comes off as a bit of a jerk, but he saves the day in the third act.

 

The action scenes which deserve to be mentioned are Jackie’s wild Mitsubishi chase at the very beginning and the final fight involving all the characters at the end of the film. In addition, all the scenes in which the guys try to seduce Inspector Woo are extremely hilarious.

 

I particularly appreciated that fact that actress/stuntwoman Michiko Nishiwaki has a small supporting part in the film and that she faces off against Sibelle Hu (Girls with Guns for life!). Yuen Biao also shows up (he did the action choreography as in the case of Winners and Sinners), but his character is, unfortunately, absent for the whole second act. Additionally, Bolo Yeung has a funny cameo as an enraged millionaire.

 

Recommendations

If you liked Sammo Hung’s Winners and Sinners, then you will like My Lucky Stars as well. Worth seeing for the cast, humour, and the action. Now, I’m off to check out another entry in the series called Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars…

Overall score 7/10