September 22, 2005
INTIAL D
Initial D is a popular Japanese manga about a reluctant racing genius named Takumi and his outdated 86. It was turned into a popular Japanese anime which was pretty close to a direct translation of the manga. And therefore, someone thought it might make a good movie, strangely enough, these people weren’t Japanese.
This year it seems very popular to be Chinese but play Japanese (see: MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA). And some big HK filmmakers got the bug. This was not the first time for director Andrew Lau (STORMRIDERS, INFERNAL AFFAIRS) -- he had attempted to remake TEKKEN a few years back to disastrous results. But he was not deterred by INITIAL D -- which treaded familiar territory, as he had tackled car racing with great style in LEGEND OF SPEED.
Starring as Takumi, the blankest character I’ve ever encountered in any comic or book, is Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou. He may never have acted before, but from the photos I’ve seen, he’s a professional at looking blank. Filing out the slate as the guys he raced against are hot, young Hong Kong stars Edison Chen and Shawn Yue and the ever-cool Jordan Chan.
Rounding out the cast is the ever-awesome Anthony Wong as Takumi’s ever-intoxicated dad, Bunta. And an actual Japanese actress, Anne Suzuki (RETURNER) plays the love interest.
The movie did great in Hong Kong, better than all the Hollywood summer blockbusters -- a feat which got it write ups on Variety and the Hollywood Reporter. The film drew in large audiences with it’s car racing for boys and hot guys for girls.
So how is it? It’s decidedly alright. They don’t stick to the manga directly but try to incorporate the important moments. I think Andrew Lau’s best quality is the feel and pace of his films. You feel like your enjoying yourself and then it’s over.
The driving sequences are pretty good. They really bring the images from the comic to life. And despite being technical, the scenes are great fun and never run on long enough to get bored. Watching the cars drift is a joy. I’ve read the manga and seen the anime but never seen a real car pull off these stunts.
There was some criticism of Jay Chou’s performance but I thought he was fine. Although Anthony Wong, who is one of Hong Kong’s best actors in the first place, really showed up the younglings.
In all, I find myself not having all that much to say about this movie because it was so digestible. I don’t remember much, but I remember enjoying myself. I’d watch it again.
The film is currently available for import in DVD and VCD form. Check out your local Chinatown, specialty store or internet retailer.
TRUTH OR DARE: 6TH FLOOR REAR FLAT
Thanks to a MovieLink Labor Day Sale, I actually paid to download movies. And I found a couple of seemingly crappy Hong Kong films that I was interested in and didn’t want to buy to watch (as most fans of Hong Kong films know, you have to actually buy things you want to watch. In some cases you can see them in a theater or rent, but that’s not the norm). So I checked out 6TH FLOOR REAR FLAT. It’s a Hong Kong B-Movie made for 20-somethings starring 20-somethings. Most of the actors are up-and-coming. I only knew two of them -- Karena Lam and Candy Lo.
What this movie amounts to is the Hong Kong REALITY BITES. Six 20-somethings live in one apartment and love to play Truth or Dare with their friends. Well, they get dared to make their dreams come true in a year or eat shit. So, they all spend the rest of the movie attempting to achieve their goals leading up to the night they move out and find out whether they did it or have to eat shit (the old landlord’s at that).
They are the usual slacker suspects: a writer, a scammer, a psychic, a musician, a gay guy (or is he?) and a nerd. And they have various goals: publish a book, go to Paris with one you love, hurt someone who hurt you. I think you can probably guess more or less how the film is. I think it was worth the $1 I paid for it. But I’d only recommend it if your interested in 20-somethings finding themselves.
This was actually one of those movies though, where there are so many scenes of the group of friends having fun that I started to resent them. I don’t have that much fun. I don’t have friends over every night. I miss being more carefree but alas, responsibility...
As for paying for downloaded movies, I really expected them to be higher quality. I imagine they don’t want you to have to download absolutely huge file. But I would have downloaded a bigger file for a bigger movie. I think downloaded movies still have a way to go.
I was impressed by MovieLink’s foreign selection. It had such weird films. It certainly isn’t a huge selection but it’s eclectic.
Leslie Cheung Remembered
Two weekends ago I attended one of the many events all over the world (or so the brochure tells me) celebrating Leslie Cheung’s birthday. In case you didn’t read my last column, Leslie Cheung was a great actor from Hong Kong who killed himself a couple years ago. He was also a big pop star and openly gay in a generally homophobic society. The event I went to was in Los Angeles at USC (which was a trip because I hadn’t been back to my alma mater in some time). They were selling all kinds of great memorabilia for Leslie’s favorite charity. They showed OKINAWA RENDEZVOUS and FAREWELL, MY CONCUBINE.
I only went to see OKINAWA RENDEZVOUS because I had just covered FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE that week in my column. OKINAWA RENDEZVOUS is essentially a fluff piece, great for late summer. It stars pop diva Faye Wong, funny man Tony Leung Ka-fai and petite little Gigi Lai. It’s a cute comedy of errors with an exotic locale.
Law Wan Dat (Tony Leung Ka-fai) is a low level cop from Hong Kong on vacation in Okinawa with his girlfriend Sandy (Gigi Lai), who he immediately forgets about when he meets Jenny (Faye Wong). Jenny has stolen her boyfriend Ken’s (Masaya Kato) money and is hiding out. Jimmy (Leslie Cheung) was supposed to receive that money and while he waits for Jimmy to get it back, he also takes an interest in Jenny (of course, not knowing she has his money). Wackiness most certainly ensues.
It’s certainly not the masterpiece that FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE is (which was certainly the more popular film of the event), but it was fun fluff and I enjoyed myself. A great counter to the massive downer that is FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE.
The event was really well put together and I certainly suggest that if you live in a major city, or a city with a large Asian population, check and see if they are holding an event on Leslie’s birthday next year. Or of course, remember him in your own way.
Foreign Films and You
Next week in San Diego is an Asian Film Festival. I’ve never been before so I don’t know how good their festival is, but they’re showing at least two very good films from last year -- A WORLD WITHOUT THEIVES and ONE NIGHT IN MONGKOK. If you live in a city with a large Asian population, it’s always good to keep an eye out for these festivals. It’s a great opportunity to see films that can be hard to find.
A couple weeks ago I mentioned KAMIKAZE GIRLS and how I didn’t know who was releasing it. Well some nice people e-mailed me and told me it was VIZ -- which I did once know, but had totally forgotten. It’s currently out in LA and NY and is expanding. I’m going to try to catch it soon myself.
The recent Venice film festival was opened by Tsui Hark’s SEVEN SWORDS and closed with Peter Chan’s PERHAPS LOVE. I expect both films to get some sort of release in the US. SEVEN SWORDS, a kung fu epic, didn’t always get the best reviews. Critics were kinder to PERHAPS LOVE -- a musical, seemingly in the vein of MOULIN ROUGE.
DEAR WENDY is being released this week. It’s written by Lars Von Trier and directed by Thomas Vinterberg. It’s about American kids in a small town and guns. Personally, I’m boycotting all preachy Lars Von Trier films about small town America until the man actually visits America.
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