Reviews

I attended the Midnight Madness screening of Martyrs at the 33rd Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

The first hour and a bit of Martyrs was quite effective in delivering unsettling imagery and sounds. Elements of child abuse is something that is certainly unnerving so it's subtext in the film added to the creepiness factor. the gore had it's place; it wasn't presented just for the sake of gore in of itself. Special makeup effects artist Benoît Lestang who passed away several weeks ago (as noted by director Pascal Laugier during the Q/A session after the screening) did a remarkable job to showing the brutal effects of violent physical injuries. The audience reaction is typical MM stuff: audible gasps, rolls of nervous laughter, loud and appreciative applause to truly gruesome scenes and other good stuff.

The last thirty minutes of the film held the audience in almost complete silence. The lack of any crowd reaction, aside from the revelation of what happened to Anna in her final stage, was due to the harrowing endurance test they and Anna (played by Morjana Alaoui) went through. The film turned from a highly engaging gore flick into a sad and rather depressing reflection of human suffering.

I had a strong reaction to the film that lead me to appreciate it on its dramatic and production levels. The filmmakers and actresses obviously had a lot of trust among themselves to deliver this film. after the screening Pascal Laugier, Morjana Alaoui and Mylène Jamanoï went up onstage to answer questions from MM programme director Colin Geddes and several members of the audience. Pascal fielded most of the questions while Morjana and Mylène nervously chimed in with their responses (mainly because neither of them speak English natively nor are they accustomed being infront of such a massive crowd of people). The Q/A session did get a bit awkward because some killjoy decided to challenge Pascal on why he made Martyrs. As to the context in which Martyrs was first conceived, Pascal mentioned he is going through deeply personal issues which (unsurprisingly) translated themselves, quite graphically, into Martyrs.

I'm pretty sure Martyrs is too intense for the general public so don't expect a wide theatrical release of the film. I could go on much further but that would necessitate revealing plot points and specific scenes.

In 2003 martial arts fans were treated with the deadly art of Thai martial arts in Ong Bak. A year later Banlieue 13 gave us a glimpse of an urban freestyle sport that originated from France. In what appears to be, in some respects, an appropriation of Hong Kong action in many of today's films one may ask: Is Hong Kong action cinema no longer at the forefront of bone-shattering goodness? Any such fears are given the smack-down courtesy of Wilson Yip's SHA PO LANG (SPL), an utterly brutal take on the 'good cop versus bad gangster' premise starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung and Jing Wu all of whom credit legendary Yuen Woo Ping for a lot of what they know. Simon Yam rounds out the principal cast members.

SPL is a dark, unforgiving action thriller that begins with detective Chan (Yam) recovering from a deadly strike ordered by crime boss Po (Hung). Frustrated at the number of failed attempts to capture Po over the years, Chan eventually gives up and looks forward to retirement. Tension is introduced to the ranks when his replacement, Ma (Yen) a highly disciplined but violent martial arts expert joins the already troubled precinct. Truth and justice is given a twist when one of Po's henchmen kills Chan's undercover operative.

SPL continues to unfold in a series of bloody confrontations as each member of Chan's team is brutally murdered by Po's right-hand man Jack (Wu). SPL is highlighted by some of most intense action sequences ever put to film in recent years. Wilson Yip wisely gave Donnie Yen free reign to choreograph all of the martial arts sequences of SPL. Without ever resorting to excessive edits, the brawl between Donnie Yen and Jing Wu was incredible and downright ferocious! The speed at which these guys were hammering each other with their mad fighting skills had the audience whooping and hollering from the beginning and up until the disemboweling end. Remember kiddies: a 40 centimeter knife is not a toy and neither is a metal baton! And no one will ever forget that it was SPL who gave us the first ever on screen showdown between Donnie Yen and Sammo Hung; this was an absolute blast! We're talking about pure Hong Kong action from the late 1970s, early 1980s! Sammo Hung is fat and 53 years old but he can still beat the crap out of anyone! And remember that knife I mentioned? Well consider this ... one throw, one deflection, one take, no CG, no wires, just pure Sammo!

After the screening, director Wilson Yip and stars Sammo Hung and Jing Wu addressed the audience for a 20 minute QA session. Sammo was his jovial self, as always, and quite enjoyed his moment in the spotlight. Sammo provided insightful and often funny answers. And unlike Jackie Chan, Sammo confirmed that he will in fact continue in the martial arts genre of film for many years to come.

Okay people, remember the name: JING WU. He's primed and ready to become next in line after Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan as the premiere Hong Kong action cinema star. You folks will be hearing a lot more about JING WU for many years to come.

So, if you want to see Hong Kong cinema reaffirm its domination in the realm of combat cinema crank up your Dolby 5.1 audio system to 11 and go check out SHA PO LANG (SPL).

Only from Steven Chow do we get a martial arts / comedy with references to Shaw Brother films from the 70s, Bruce Lee, Ray Harryhausen, Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, Matrix Reloaded and Spider-Man. The film is Kung Fu Hustle which had its world premiere at the 29th Toronto International Film Festival. The film opens in Japan on January 15, 2005 and will unspool in other countries thereafter.

The film centers around the exploits of a wannabe tough guy (Chow) who unwittingly gets involved in a conflict between the notorious Axe Gang and residents of a housing project. That's pretty much all the plot detail you need as the film is stuffed with wacky bits of slapstick humour and martial arts loosely choreography by Sammo Hung, Yuen Woo Ping and CG artisans.

I'll be the first to admit that I just do not "get" Steven Chow's brand of comedy. I did watch Shaolin Soccer for what seems like several years ago and found it to be just okay. The good news is that I enjoyed Kung Fu Hustle abit more but not by much. The audience around my friends and I, however, truly and absolutely loved the film. I sat there and perhaps chuckled a few times but found myself thinking about the magnificence that is the HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS which I saw a few days ago.

Despite my cool reception to Kung Fu Hustle, I have no doubt this film will be an enormous box-office smash in many parts of Asia. If you love Steven Chow films then Kung Fu Hustle will have you grinning well after the final credits scroll past the screen.