Change Your Image
fraisselaurent
Reviews
Mou gaan dou (2002)
See it
Just two words : See it
Definitely one of the best movies i've ever seen. It can be seen and enjoyed on different levels, depending on your cultural or intellectual dispositions.
This movie is as the same time a witty cop/villain movie, a human character study and a philosophical (even religious) tale.
The movie never judges any of the characters. Nor does it ever impose anything on you. the back-story is subtly told and can be easily missed if you don't understand or guess the allusions, though the yin-yang characters are pretty obvious. But even this is toned down by the shabby looks and violent behavior of the "good guy" vs the neat looking, polite and efficient "bad guy".
I'm afraid my European background made me miss some points, but i love this film so much that i watched it many times (something i rarely do). The icing on the cake is that even when you know the whole plot, you still appreciate watching it again, and even can discover things you have overlooked on previous viewings...
One word about the actors... Tony Leung, Andy Lau, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Edison Chen, Shawn Yue, Sammi Cheng, Kelly Chen, Chapman To, Lam Katung, Elva Hsiao (not to mention Francis Ng, Leon Lai, Carina Lau, Daoming Chen in IA II & III) What a cast !!
All of them know how to play (well, maybe not Edison Chen...) and they play well.
A special mention to Tony Leung and Anthony Wong. There is no doubt the movie wouldn't be that strong with any other at their place, and the crucial middle movie scene wouldn't have that emotional impact on the viewer.
Those two guys carry the whole movie on their shoulders, they're not playing cops, they're human beings, with their contradictory emotions, their mistakes, their somewhat unfulfilled lives unraveling before us. Andy Lau, though great throughout the movie, cannot compete with them. But i have to admit that the third episode it fully his.
So just see it, but see it with eyes and mind open.
The Departed (2006)
senility contest between Nicholson and Scorcese
What a boring piece of ...
This is the movie Scorcese shouldn't have made. He is just ranting around, doing what he has already done thousands of times before, but this time without and style or talent.
You might like this one if you're not familiar with his previous work, or if you hadn't watched Infernal Affairs before... but if you did, i'm afraid you cannot find anything to save this unnecessary remake.
The worst thing is that Scorcese completely misses the point of the original movie. It even looks like he didn't understand it. Important parts are strangely removed while unnecessary long, boring and ridiculous scenes are added. And the scenes you can find in the original are just soullessly duplicated here.
None of the actors are on par with their HK counterparts, but it may not be only their fault. Where IA displays subtle characters, The Departed has only gross caricatures to offer...
I think the only good thing in this movie is that people unaccustomed to HK cinema may want to know what the original looks like, and thus discover great actors, especially Leung Chiuwai and Wong Chausang, and a brisk, neat and efficient movie.
One last thing : Nicholson is definitely a buffoon
The Twilight Zone: The Thirty-Fathom Grave (1963)
deja-vu
As the story slowly (very slowly...) unfolded, i had an vague impression of deja-vu. strange, the fourth season has never been aired in France, so it couldn't be one of those episodes i saw long ago...
After some important element of the plot was revealed, i knew why i had this feeling.
The writing of the story is accredited to Rod Serling, but i think it should be better to only acknowledge him the screenplay writing. The story in itself can be read in a short story untitled "The eyes of the dead", written in 1927 by Irish politician, writer and teacher Daniel Corkery (1878–1964).
I've been a huge fan of Serling's work until today. Now i wonder how many of his stories have been similarly "borrowed".