香港國際電影節網上筆記連線

A many-splendored thing 8 (電影”臥虎”, “天行者”及”給他們一個機會” )

April 12th, 2007 Mad Dog

談及電影”臥虎”

Watching the unexpectedly solid Wo Hu (2006). Wong Jing is widely known as the great vulgarian of Hong Kong cinema; nothing is too lowbrow to be tossed into his movies. I like some of his work, but I worried when the opening credits of a serious picture like this listed Wong as producer. Despite my concerns, this turned out to be a strong cops-and-triads pic. The presence of Eric Tsang, Francis Ng, and Jordan Chan helps a great deal, and Marco Mak’s direction is efficient enough. The real strength is the script, with a plot that is unusually taut for a Hong Kong movie…

電影”天行者”

Seeing James Yuen’s curious Heavenly Mission (2006)…
One of many crime movies screened in the Panorama section of the festival, this is neither the worst nor the best. The plot proceeds spasmodically, and our mysterious protagonist seems a little too passive. Nice to see Ti Lung again, though, playing an aging and pacific triad boss. Nice also to see for once Thailand treated not as hell but rather as purgatory…

電影”給他們一個機會”

Enjoying in an old-fashioned way Herman Yau’s Give Them a Chance (2003): The notion of a movie about how HK teenagers become breakdancing stars didn’t seem promising, but it turns out to be a sweet piece of work. Yau has always had sympathy for grassroots life here, and he makes his ensemble plausible and sympathetic.

At a time when most HK directors seem wall-eyed for the Mainland box-office, here is a movie that is utterly local. It even has two English titles, Give Them a Chance and Give Me a Chance, just going to show that it wasn’t made for us Anglos. Actually, though, it speaks to anybody…

還有與Athena Tsui去購物, 和Raymond Phathanavirangoon吃晚飯, 去了看舞獅…

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作者: David Bordwell
刊於: David Bordwell’s website on cinema: Observations on film art and Film Art

Entry Filed under: 2007, 場內場外, 焦點導演：邱禮濤, 香港電影面面觀2006-2007