A Better Tomorrow (1986) [Film Review]

A Better Tomorrow; or, Friends will be Friends

     You should quit. Your brother doesn't know what you have been doing. Still remember? You two played cop & thief when you were kids. He almost lost, but he still wanted to be a cop. I don't want you to play the same game again.

My re-discovery of Asian crime drama classics continues, this time with John Woo’s unforgettable A Better Tomorrow, starring Ti Lung, Chow Yun-fat, and Leslie Cheung. A bloody epic about friendship, brotherhood, and moral integrity which paved the way for a whole genre of triad movies.

Release Info

Directed by: John Woo Starring: Ti Lung, Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung

Language: Cantonese Original Title: 英雄本色 Runtime: 95 min

Synopsis

Sun Tse-Ho (Ti Lung) is a trusted triad member who deals with distributing counterfeit dollars. His loyal helper and best friend is Mark (Chow Yun-fat) who is a cool-hand shooter. On the other hand, there is Kit (Leslie Cheung), Ho’s younger brother who joined the police academy and intends to become an officer. Ho supports his brother’s career choice, but does not reveal to him his real line of business. Ho decides that he will make a one more distributing deal in Taiwan and then leave the Triad for good. He travels there with a new guy called Shing (Waise Lee); however, all hell breaks loose and Ho is betrayed. In order to allow Shing to escape he turns himself over to the Taiwanese police. Three years later, Ho gets out of prison and he is determined to start a new life. He comes back to Hong Kong only to find that Kit (now a police inspector) does not want to speak to him and that Mark is a crippled beggar. Shing became the new leader of the Triad and he offers Ho reinstatement in the organisation. Ho refuses, yet he quickly realises that his brother is in danger.

 

True Colours of a Hero

First off, I have to say that this John Woo at his best. I know that I’m just a foreigner who is excited upon seeing a movie that is already a cult classic in Asia, but A Better Tomorrow is so damn good. Undeniably way better than any movie Woo did during his Hollywood years. This film has the story, the stakes, the weight, the action, and the payoff. It is a beautiful, and highly romanticised, ode to male friendship which rises above the label of being just a standard “shoot’em up thriller”.

 

Well, what did I really like about this movie? Two things definitely stand out and these are the following: the screenplay and cinematography. Woo proves that he is a master of his craft with every scene that is so overloaded with aesthetics (see for example the opening sequence or Mark’s memorable restaurant assault) that they could be used for vaporwave MVs. In fact, with some soundtrack changes, A Better Tomorrow would make a great City Pop movie.

 

Even though the movie’s running time is 95 minutes, the story does not run at a rapid pace as we are allowed to get to know the main characters. The conflict of brothers, the cop vs. the thief, is perhaps the most disheartening one as we see Kit determined to prove his worth in the force by taking down the syndicate and Ho trying to live a straight path while being branded as the black sheep by his younger brother. In between them, there’s Mark- suave, almost a chivalric-like (Woo said something along these lines in an interview) avenger, who becomes Ho’s brother by friendship. These kinds of complicated relations and the tragic finale in which Ho struggles not to lose both of his brothers constitute the ultimate onscreen bromance.

 

With regard to performances, all of the main actors are unforgettable in their roles. Waise Lee effortlessly plays the villain, yet he does a much better job with similar material in Bullet in the Head. Emily Chu plays Kit’s girlfriend, Jackie, but her role is quite limited. In addition, even though Ti Lung and Leslie Cheung were very well known at the time of making the movie, Chow Yun-fat was mainly recognisable from his work on television. The portrayal of Mark became a breakthrough performance for him, although he was not the main lead. The success of A Better Tomorrow ensured Chow Yun-fat a continuous cooperation with John Woo (with The Killer (1989), Once a Thief (1991), Hard Boiled (1992)) as well as with other directors in Hong Kong and beyond. Chow Yun-fat gave life to Mark Lee, but it was Mark Lee who launched Chow Yun-fat.

 

Recommendations

If you are new to John Woo, I suggest skipping his Hollywood follies like Hard Target (1993), Face/Off (1997), or M:I-2 (2000) and try to discover the man at his roots. A Better Tomorrow is a great movie (and time) to start with. As I said earlier, it is a wonderful story about brotherhood and plain decency with gunfights and explosions in close foreground. People need more movies like this nowadays, especially when we are flooded with ideologically-driven blockbusters every month. We need modern knights with dark glasses, long coats, and pistols who take a stand in defence of their friends rather than to make a political statement. With A Better Tomorrow, as Ho and Kit are walking together handcuffed, I’m hoping for a real better tomorrow for modern cinema.

Overall score: 10/10

The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) [Film Review]

The Good, the Bad, the Weird; or, Once Upon a Time in Korea

     I'll tell you a big secret about that map. You know what it says? “Treasure, Buried, Dig up, Large volumes”. That's what it says on it! It's a treasure map! So you and me can go find it! If there's a treasure, we split it 60-40. Me 60, you 40. How 'bout it? That's how you make a deal, man!

This week I would like to take a look at a cool film which I have recently checked out. I’m embarrassed to say that I hadn’t known what kind of awesome gem I was holding in my hands until the opening sequence rolled in. Let’s talk about Kim Jee Woon’s The Good, the Bad, the Weird from 2008.

Release Info

Directed by: Kim Jee Woon Starring: Song Kang Ho, Jung Woo Sung, Lee Byung Hun

Language: Korean Original Title:좋은 놈, 나쁜 놈, 이상한 놈 Runtime: 136 min

 

Synopsis

Manchuria, year 1939. A professional hitman called Park Chang Yi [the Bad] (Lee Byung Hun) is hired to retrieve a map from a Japanese official travelling by train. However, before he gets his chance to do so after stopping the train, the map has already been stolen from the official by a thief known as Yoon Tae Goo [the Weird] (Song Kang Ho). What is more, Park Do Won [the Good] (Jung Woo Sung), an excellent marksman and a bounty hunter, appears on the scene to hunt down Park Chang Yi. The three men get entangled in a bloody pursuit after the map that allegedly leads to riches buried in the desert by the Qing Dynasty. In addition, it is also sought by the Manchurian bandits and the Japanese Imperial Army. Who will find the treasure and stay alive? Sit back and watch this spaghetti western made in Korea.

For a Fistful of Wons

First of all, I’m amazed that I have not heard anything about this movie for so long. I stumbled across it by complete accident while flicking through Song Kang Ho’s filmography. Then, fortunately, Polish dvd was available within reach. Connect the two and I was in for an experience which could be described as the kick-ass mash-up of Sergio Leone, Mad Max, and Indiana Jones.

From the very first action sequence we get sucked into the action as Song Kang Ho’s character is rushing through the train carriages and the bullets are flying in all directions. The movie relies heavily on the style of spaghetti western, but it is not afraid to stray away from the inspiring genre in order to achieve other means. Rather than ripping off the classic with Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef, it pays homage to its father picture and other movies by blending intense camera work with up-beat music, practical effects, massive shootouts, blood, and explosions.

 

Director Kim Jee Woon created a cult film in every sense of the word; yet, it did not receive the attention it deserved outside of South Korea. My response to this: shame! The Good, the Bad, the Weird is a brilliant roller-coaster of ridiculous fun (and with a great cast!). Additionally, the search for a hidden treasure is a sure-fire premise for an intense adventure.

 

Speaking about the cast, all three main actors shine in their respective roles. Jung Woo Sung is excellent as Clint Eastwood-like cowboy claiming bounty on people who act above the law. Song Kang Ho, on the other hand, is the most memorable as the weird-ish thief/scoundrel with his two pistols and a flight cap with goggles. Jung Woo Sung does an outstanding job with playing a bad guy as he’s mercifully menacing in every scene in which he appears, yet at certain times, he seems to overdo things a bit.

 

Talking about the action in details would consume the space of a whole another review, so I will just limit myself to say that there are lots and lots of gripping moments. The definite icing on the cake is the 11-minute-long (yeah, I counted) chase scene which, in my opinion, is close second to the greatest chase of all time from Mad Max: Fury Road. It is sheer awesomeness and every kid’s dream about living the adventure encapsulated in the impetuous race through the desert. It is a must see!

 

The alternative cut...

As with many international releases of Asian movies, obviously, The Good, the Bad, the Weird had to suffer the butchering as well. Approximately 7 minutes were cut out of the picture. The cuts mainly involve shortened sequences, but the whole ending was changed as well. In the original uncut ending, we see the Weird and the Good survive the standoff, while the international version implies that the three protagonists killed off each other... Why does the distributor have to make everything so downbeat? Anyways, if you don't have the full copy of the film, you can watch the original ending here.

 

Recommendations

Highly recommended to anyone who wants to feel some action and adventure in the Asian setting. You can freely suspend your disbelief and enjoy the film for its entertainment value. This movie desires more love and recognition than it gets. In other words, The Good, the Bad, the Weird guarantee a well spent Saturday afternoon. It is a well made (Korean) Western indeed.

Overall score: 9/10

Hell in the Pacific (1968) [Film Review]

Hell in the Pacific; or, Man vs. Man

     Enemy personnel and unfriendly natives. A man fighting for survival in a jungle is in no position to maintain prisoners of war. Destroy them if they are captured. Immediately. Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

Today, I would like to discuss an important, yet a bit forgotten, movie from Toshiro Mifune’s filmography. One could say that it is simply a Cast Away all over again, but John Boorman’s Hell in the Pacific is so much more than Robinson Crusoe-scenario. Why? Because its anti-war message hits you in the guts like a baseball bat.
Release Info

Directed by: John Boorman Starring: Lee Marvin, Toshiro Mifune

Language: English, Japanese Runtime: 103 min

 

Synopsis

World War II, Pacific Ocean. After one of the battles, an American pilot (Lee Marvin) crashes near a desert island and reaches its shore with a raft. It turns out that he is not the only inhabitant as the navy captain Kuroda (Toshiro Mifune) also lost his unit. The two soldiers of the opposing sides are trying to fight each other off. One enslaves the other and vice versa. Only a long passage of time and harsh conditions on the island make the two men realise that they need to cooperate in order to get out of this natural hell. Therefore, despite the communication barrier, they join their forces and proceed to building a raft.

 

For a second, I thought you were a Jap.

It took me quite a while in order to watch this movie as I was expecting some depressing preaching about the war and its atrocities. However, the movie was not made by ideological fanatics, but it was a British-Japanese production. What is more, there are only two actors in the entire movie: Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune. What an unexpected duo that works so well together.

 

This was the third Boorman’s feature film and, as he stated in an interview about the movie (which I highly recommend), he really wanted to make a silent picture. Indeed, Hell in the Pacific has very little dialogue as it relies on the actors’ expressions, visuals, and Lalo Schifrin’s haunting music score.

 

The movie’s theme of enemies-to-the-death starts right off the bat as Mifune’s character becomes aware of Lee’s presence on the island. The two soldiers try to annihilate each in the midst of a rainy jungle on a desert island. No dialogue and no voiceover could make this anti-war message so powerful. The island and the Pacific is static, but a man will always fight with the other man because the higher authority told him to do so.

 

Nevertheless, the wilderness of the island (very much a third character in the movie) exposes their personalities and vulnerabilities. Even though they do not understand themselves linguistically, they develop a bond of friendship when trying to escape the island. In other words, with the abandonment of civilisation, they stop perceiving themselves as enemies. Only after suffering the hardships of the ocean, when they reach the “man’s land”, the two friends gradually regress into their positions from beginning of the movie. Civilisation gets in the way again.

What can I say about the performances? This is a two-men show, so both Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune do an extraordinary job with the material they are given. In addition, John Boorman disclosed that the two actors behaved like best buddies on the set, and such a positive chemistry is more than visible on film. Needless to say, Marvin and Mifune were at their peak when the movie was made (in 1967, the year before, Marvin starred in The Dirty Dozen, whereas Mifune in Japan’s Longest Day).

A word about the ending

There are actually two endings of the movie existing. First is the original, theatrical one (forced by the producers in the edit), when the pilot and Kuroda have a falling out and a bomb shell hits their shelter. To me, it is a very abrupt and out of the tone way to end this story. So, they overcame so much hardships and struggles just to die from a freaking bomb?! Nevertheless, an alternate ending was included in some of the home releases (please head here). I think it is a much more suitable but also way sadder ending as the two friends part their ways in bitter resentment.

 

Recommendations

I checked out this movie purely for Mifune, but I was surprised to discover such a hidden gem. If you have not seen it, go ahead and watch it right now. My recommendation goes especially to those who are interested in the WWII conflicts on the Pacific as quite a few motion pictures were made about this topic. However, Hell in the Pacific is not just about the civilisational conflict. Its universal message transcends the confines of the frames in which the story was set. In other words, it all comes down to helping each other out.

Overall Score 10/10