World Movies' Martial Arts Marathon!
30 hours of Asian Action
from Sunday 26 January 8:30pm
Preview by Alison Jobling |
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The last three films don't really fit any categorisation, so I'll
resist the urge to pigeonhole and take them singly. To maximise confusion,
though, I'll cover them alphabetically, rather than the order in which
they're screened. Keeps you on your toes, eh?
City Hunter is directed by Wong Jing, and it shows. Wong
is famous for low-budget, low-brow, low comedy, with plenty of breast gags
and every joke accompanied by a humorous "boiing!" sound so we
don't miss it. But once you get accustomed to the astonishing amount of
cleavage, and the mugging at the camera, it's quite a fun film. Jackie
Chan risks life and limb but manages to flirt with all of Joey Wong,
Chingamy Yau, and some Japanese (I think) athletic girlie, while Leon Lai
provides extra eye candy for the women, and Eric Kot and his sidekick give
the comic relief (not an easy task, when the whole film is comedy). As an
extra treat, we get a far-too-brief vision of Ken Lo And His Amazing Legs.
I don't believe anyone can do what he does without surgical assistance.
Man, oh man.
The Conman doesn't have any wire fu or stunt fu, but it
does contain a lot of gambling. Lots. And a sting operation, some snoggage,
and Andy Lau trying to pretend that spray-on silver hair makes him
convincingly old. Sorry, Andy, but not so: he's lean and mean and a
gamblin' machine, who manages to acquire an acolyte in the form of Nick
Cheung, and enchant said acolyte's sister, in the form of Athena Chu. One
of the finest love scenes in Hong Kong filmdom may not impress the average
action fan, but I thought it was fun, as was the appearance of several
hard men from the eighties as triad guys.
The Duel also stars Andy Lau and Nick Cheung, as well as
Ekin Cheng, Vicki Zhao, Elvis Tsui, and Patrick Tam, plus a host of
cameos. It's a wuxia fantasy free-for-all, with funky costumes, fine
actors, and good locations (you can't outdo the Forbidden City). These
actors romp through the film poking fun at all sorts of genre conventions,
and apparently enjoying themselves enormously. Don't expect a serious
swordplay drama: this one camps it up more than Rocky Horror (well,
nearly. I didn't spot any fishnet stockings). A load of fun, and if you
don't like the story or the action choreography, there's always the eye
candy: plenty for everyone, whatever your preferences. Plus enough brocade
silk to stretch from here to Hong Kong and back again.
World Movies Martial Arts Marathon:
