Chinatown Video releases for November 1999
Weasel Alert: I occasionally do a bit
of work for Chinatown Video.
CHINESE GHOST STORY 2 (1990) Rated M.
108 mins. SBS subs. Rental.
What is it with me and sequels? Beats me, but this second instalment of producer Tsui
Hark and director Ching Siu-tung's groundbreaking series has a
great blend of action, story and laffs. Leslie Cheung reprises his role
as the little tax collector, except that the people in these parts seem to be more
interested in putting him in the soup pot than in paying up like good citizens. Joey
Wong is part of the local resistance movement, but is also the spitting image of Leslie's
ghost lover from the first movie. He assumes that she is the reincarnation of his lost
love, putting her in the tricky situation of falling for a man who loves her because of
someone that she isn't. Pathos! But you'll barely have time for her inner conflict with
all of the flying resistance fighters, evil ersatz buddhist monks, huge slimy undead
creatures and enormous monster worms. Jacky Cheung appears as the
vainglorious demon fighter Autumn, my favourite role of his. The stop-start sequence where
he falls victim to a misfiring mantra is the funniest scene in wuxia movies. Michelle
Reis is in there too as Joey's little sister, and Waise Lee is a
sword-slinging servant of the Emperor who comes to realise that he's been conned by
demons. It's all more fun than I can stand. Goodness is incorruptible! Virtue will always
triumph!
PRISON ON FIRE (1997) Rating TBA. 98
mins. SBS subs. Rental.
Sterling prison drama (natch) by Hong Kong wildman director Ringo Lam.
This film made ear biting fashionable before Mike Tyson came along. Tony
Leung Ka Fai plays a poor nerd who goes berserk when thugs attack his dad's shop;
one of the thugs gets knocked onto the road and killed, and so Tony's off
to prison for manslaughter rap. Inside he is the kind of 90-pound weakling prey that
prison predators live off, but he befriends cool long-termer (Chow Yun Fat),
who takes pity on the guy. A bond is formed, and together they face tough prison triad
gangs, and the hard-as-nails prison officer played by Roy Cheung. Now,
just because Yun Fat is on the scene, do not expect any bullet-spraying
mayhem - the best weapons our boys can lay their hands on inside are rubbish bins and
broken glass. But the action is not the point - the point is a 98 minute exercise in
putting men into stir and watching them go crazy. Recommended. Standout moment is the
touching scene where Yun Fat expounds on his philosophy of life, all
while taking a dump!
