Category: Movie Reviews

By Joe Bendel. Yakuzas do not sing, but they should be able to tell jokes. However, theme songs are a handy way to ensure undercover cops always remember their principles. I mean obviously, right? These are about the only rules that apply during The Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji, Takashi Miike’s manic adaptation of the hit manga series, which screened as a co-programmed selection of the 2014 Japan Cuts and New York Asian Film Festival.

Reiji Kikukawa is the lowest scoring patrolmen to somehow graduate from the police academy. Basically, he is an idiot, so who would suspect him of being a deep cover narc? After trying to bust a pervy city councilman, Kikukawa is summarily fired and then wink-wink rehired to infiltrate the feared Sukiya-kai clan. Kikukawa’s ultimate target is the elusive boss Shuho Todoroki, but for reasons that would not make sense to explain, the #2, Masaya Hiura (a.k.a. Crazy Papillion) quickly takes Kikukawa under his wing.

Kikukawa also takes a shine to Hiura because of the yakuza’s unyielding stand against drug trafficking. Unfortunately, someone within the organization is not so principled. Kikukawa soon feels rather confused and abandoned. Much to his frustration, being a gangster also complicates his awkward attempts to put the moves on his cute former colleague, Junna Wakagi.

Periodically, Kikukawa experiences flashbacks of his superior officers singing “The Mole Song,” which is a crime in itself. However, that sort of shameless lunacy is right in Miike’s power alley. Mole Song makes the original Police Academy look like a Noel Coward drawing room comedy. No gag is too slapsticky and no humiliation is too unlikely to inflict on Kikukawa.

Yet, he keeps plugging away, because Mole Song also has heart. You have to hand it to Toma Ikuta’s Kikukawa—there is nothing he will not do for a laugh—starting with being strapped naked spread eagle to the hood of a speeding car. Literally, that is where Miike starts. Kenta Kurokawa and Itsei Nekozawa also make quite a strong impression as feline-themed yakuza assassins, who look like CATS chorus members on crystal meth.

Riisa Naka does her level best to provide some grounding as the decent Wakagi, but she is fighting a losing battle. However, Shinichi Tsutsumi (who also plays a bonkers yakuza in Sion Sono’s Why Don’t You Play in Hell?) largely steals the show as the indomitably hardnosed Miura.

Miike seems to be having a ball trying out nutty ideas throughout Mole Song and the fun is contagious. Frankly, it is rather impressive how many of the bits successfully land. Recommended for those who want to see a madcap cartoon with live people, Mole Song: Undercover Agent Reiji screened yesterday at the Japan Society, as the opening film of this year’s Japan Cuts: the New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Film, co-presented by NYAFF.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on July 11th, 2014 at 11:28am.

By Joe Bendel. Despite an innate laissez-faire attitude towards government, Hong Kong has always trusted its police. That is why there was such profound disappointment when the cops broke up recent pro-democracy demonstrations, as per their instructions from above. That might seem ironic for those raised on a steady diet of Johnnie To-John Woo rogue cop thrillers, but the general populace has always been willing to forgive a little corner-cutting to bring down the baddest baddies. However, Inspector Liu Ming-chit will take off-the-books justice to a whole new level of recklessness in Alan Yuen’s Firestorm 3D, which screened during the 2014 New York Asian Film Festival.

Fronting as an art dealer, Mainland armed robber Cao Nan and his gang have been running circles around the police in general and the by-the-book Inspector Liu in particular. They enjoy a challenge and don’t give a toss how many bystanders are killed in the process. When Liu’s old high school judo partner To Shing-bong is released from prison, he rejoins Cao Nan’s outfit, while pretending to keep on the straight and narrow for the benefit of his loyal girlfriend, Law Yin-bing.

Liu is a cool, frosty cat, but the dead bodies start to push him towards the edge of legality. When a shocking atrocity hits home, the Inspector finally takes a running leap into the dark side. Of course, that leads to complications, culminating in a massively explosive shootout right smack in the middle of Hong Kong’s financial district that would even leave Michael Bay dazed and exhausted.

Even though there is no sex or nudity and little foul language to speak of, Firestorm is all about sheer excess. Whether it is the amped up action sequences, the over-the-top 3D effects, or the shameless emotional manipulation, writer-director Yuen has no patience for half measures. The last half hour or so is simply a jaw-dropper of an action set piece, spectacularly choreographed by Chin Kar-lok.

If you have a problem with entire city blocks blowing up than Firestorm is not for you. Nevertheless, Andy Lau’s work proves there really is such a thing as an action performance. He broods so hard you can see the steam coming out of his ears, elevating Liu to the level of classical tragedy. On the flip side, Hu Jun is magnetically steely as the uncannily unruffled Cao Nan.

Yao Chen manages to scratch a few decent scenes as the thankless Law, which is saying something, considering how testosterone-driven the film is. Unfortunately, second-lead Gordon Lam’s macho slow burn as To suffers in comparison with Lau and Hu. However, the film is peppered with terrific supporting turns, including Michael Wong hamming it up as Liu’s boss and young Jacqueline Chan demolishing viewers’ heartstrings as his disadvantaged god-daughter.

There is no room for subtlety or hand-wringing in Firestorm. It is simply too busy firing RPGs into crowded city streets. Given the magnitude of it all, you wouldn’t think this is Yuen’s first solo turn in the director’s chair, but the screenwriter comes strong and lays it down with authority. Recommended for action fans who like a movie to shake them by the lapels, Firestorm screened this week at the Walter Reade Theater, as part of this year’s NYAFF.

LFM GRADE: A-

Posted on July 11th, 2014 at 11:26am.

By Joe Bendel. How does this sound to you? “Sure, there were human rights abuses in Hitler’s Germany, but they produced some really entertaining propaganda films.” Absolutely unacceptable, right? Yet, Australian filmmaker Anna Broinowski essentially makes the equivalent argument for North Korea, except she never really acknowledges the Kim dynasty’s appalling oppression of its own people. Instead, she happily heads to the DPRK for pointers on how to make an anti-fracking propaganda film in Aim High in Creation, which screens during the 2014 New York Asian Film Festival.

According to Frontline, it is estimated that one out every one hundred North Koreans is a political prisoner. In that Orwellian state, it is not just perceived thought criminals who are purged, but also two generations of their families, in both directions. Apparently, Broinowski has no real problem with what she euphemistically calls North Korea’s “closed society,” but “fracking” generates no end of moral indignation.

After assembling her annoying hipster cast, Broinowski jets off to North Korea to get tips from the propaganda masters. She sees all the monumental sites, hanging on her minders’ every word. Not once does she challenge anything said to her, passively accepting their charges of American war crimes. She also readily agrees her native Australia is a country of drunks.

Perhaps the idea was to simply record the state of affairs in North Korea and let the surreal images speak for themselves. However, that approach still requires Broinowski to ask the blindingly obvious questions, to cue the resulting dissembling. That never happens. Instead, she obsequiously sucks up to the propaganda filmmakers, like a star-struck teenager.

Yes, it takes courage to speak truth to the apparatus of control in a “closed society.” Few will ever live up to the gold standard set by Mads Brügger in Red Chapel, but those filmmakers fortunate enough to gain access to the rogue state have to at least try. If Broinowski lost her nerve when faced with the regime’s everyday pervasiveness, she should have scrapped the film and preserved her dignity. Instead, her brown-nosing is just embarrassing.

At times, Broinowski’s own images contradict her words, as when she claims there are no advertisements to be seen in North Korean. We can see this is patently false. Pyongyang is covered in propaganda posters and murals, which are indeed advertisements selling blind obedience to the state. She simply finds their aesthetic consistency pleasing, which is what happens when the state exercises absolute control over all means of expression.

Great value seems to be placed on Broinowski’s “just folks” interactions with her propaganda colleagues, as if the audience will be shocked when they do not immediately throw the thumb screws on her, while singing the Internationale, but of course they are carefully crafting their image. These are propagandists, after all.

Not surprisingly, the resulting anti-fracking propaganda short is utterly unwatchable. However, if enough people see it, The Gardener should secure the safe and profitable production of coal seam gas for many generations to come, which is exactly the legacy Aim High deserves. To return to the original question, National Socialism boasted a stable of world renowned filmmakers that included Leni Riefenstahl and the now discredited Viet Harlan. Arguably, one could learn something from their work, whereas their North Korean counterparts are literally following the Great Leader’s formula.

Either Aim High represents a massive editing room meltdown, or it is a profound failure to document the reality of one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. In any event, it is not worthy of your ticket dollars, especially when there are so many great films still to come at this year’s NYAFF, including the bizarrely heartbreaking Miss Zombie and the deeply moving Great Passage. Both are highly recommended, but Aim High in Creation is definitely not. It screened yesterday (7/10).

LFM GRADE: D-

Posted on July 11th, 2014 at 11:25am.

By Joe Bendel. Evidently, the Chinese legal system is not overly concerned with potential conflicts of interest. For instance, nobody objects to a hotshot state’s attorney prosecuting the daughter of his longtime nemesis, even though she is also the beloved pupil of his art teacher wife. His integrity may very well be above reproach, but the defense attorney will possibly cut a few ethical corners that would be spoilery to address in detail. However, it is safe to say the media-frenzy trial is never headed exactly where the opposing counsels assume in Fei Xing’s Silent Witness, which screened during the 2014 New York Asian Film Festival.

About the only cases Tong Tao has lost were his white collar prosecutions of slippery financier Lin Tai. Despite his history with her father, Lin Mengmeng still knows him as “Uncle,” but the evidence that she murdered her father’s pop idol fiancée is so overwhelming, he must prosecute her anyway. Indeed, it is all so open-and-shut that her defense attorney Zhou Li passively sits on her hands, apparently resigned to defeat, until she suddenly obliterates a key prosecution witness. It seems to be more of a game-ender than a game-changer, but there are several more stunning revelations coming down the pike.

Given the title, one might assume somebody out there saw something important. However, Silent Witness is rather more complicated than that. It is a direct descendant of Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution, but it clearly depends on the “flexibility” of the Chinese legal system to revise charges on the fly. A case like this would have probably taken decades to unfold in American courts, but it feels like Fei’s characters wrap it up in about a week.

Regardless, the series of shoes he drops are invariably clever. Yet, there is real drama at the heart of the picture. Considering his work in Silent Witness, viewers are strongly advised not to play poker with Sun Honglei. Even though we can tell his Lin Tai is nursing a secret, he still successfully pulls the rug completely out from under the audiences feet. It is a wickedly subtle slow build that completely upends viewers’ responses.

Yu Nan and HK superstar Aaron Kwok nicely anchor the film as the legal eagles navigating the schemes within schemes. Deng Jiajia is also quite compelling as the emotionally stunted Mengmeng. In a smaller but critical role, Zhao Lixin perfectly sells the first reversal as the unreliable witness, Sun Wei. In fact, Silent Witness boasts an unusually deep bench of intriguing supporting players, such as NYAFF special guest Zishuo Ding, who brings verve and energy to the film as Zhou’s associate, Meizi.

Silent Witness presents a nifty series of twists and turns that take on real emotional stakes thanks to the fine work of Sun and the accomplished below-the-titles ensemble. It is such an effective thriller, it would not be surprising if Hollywood started sniffing around the remake rights. Highly recommended for fans of courtroom dramas, Silent Witness screened this week as part of this year’s NYAFF.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on July 9th, 2014 at 12:02am.