Nate Hood on the epic masterpiece RRR (2022)

 

After years of Hollywood franchise glut—of reboots and remakes, spin-off miniseries and bloated two-part finales—watching S. S. Rajamouli’s Telugu-language epic RRR is like taking that first breath of outside air after being cooped up all day in an office building with no air conditioning. It’s like taking a long, cool sip of ice water after days in the desert with nothing to drink but lukewarm Diet Coke. It’s like being reminded for the first time since you were a child amazed by the moving pictures on the television that movies can truly do anything, say anything, and be anything. It’s not just the most triumphant, crowd-pleasing blockbuster in years, it’s the best, most exhilarating action movie from any country since George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).

The film centers on two real-life Indian revolutionaries who fought against the British Empire in the early twentieth century. The first, Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan), led guerilla campaigns in southeast India on behalf of indigenous tribal communities after the colonial government restricted their movement and livelihoods. He successfully dodged British manhunts for two years before being captured and killed. The second, Komaram Bheem (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.), helped lead a revolution against Britain’s puppet leaders in south-central India. After being killed by policemen in 1940, he was deified by his tribe and remains a symbol of armed rebellion to this day.

In truth, Raju and Bheem—despite being revolutionary contemporaries—never met. But after reading about them, Rajamouli envisioned a world where the two not only crossed paths but became close friends and allies. RRR, then, is the product of this fantasy. It’s about as historically accurate as a movie about the American Civil War where George Washington and Benjamin Franklin sail to England, shoot their way through Buckingham Palace, and defeat King George III in hand-to-hand combat. But RRR’s rejection of historical reality is its greatest strength. By ignoring what actually happened, Rajamouli dreams of what could have happened. Filtered through the maximalist bombast of Indian cinema, the results are nothing less than pure cinematic mythmaking.

Rajamouli recasts Raju as a quisling police officer working for the British government. Determined to climb the ranks of the British Raj, Raju devotes his life to the tyrannical British Governor Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson), doing his bidding even when it involves persecuting and terrorizing his fellow countrymen. Raju soon finds himself on the trail of Bheem, recast by Rajamouli as the guardian protector of the indigenous Gond people. After Governor Scott’s cruel wife Catherine (Alison Doody) kidnaps one of their young girls to become her personal songbird, Bheem sets out on a mission of vengeance to rescue her and punish her British captors. However, in a twist worthy of Shakespeare, a case of mistaken identity leads to Raju and Bheem becoming best friends after working together to rescue a drowning boy. As Bheem gets closer and closer to locating the kidnapped girl, so too does Raju get closer and closer to uncovering the legendary protector of the Gond people, not realizing until too late that it’s his new companion. What happens when best friends become worst enemies? And, perhaps more importantly, is there more to Raju than originally meets the eye?

Like many Indian films, RRR is over three hours, but it whizzes by faster than most hour-long episodes of television. Rajamouli breathlessly skips from one gob smacking set piece and action scene to the next with nary a wasted breath. Key to Rajamouli’s method is a refreshing lack of self-awareness—there isn’t a hint of irony or sarcasm anywhere in this film. Whereas in recent years American blockbusters have developed the cancer of self-deprecating self-awareness—how many times have we heard Marvel superheroes making fun of each other’s names?—Rajamouli grabs his audience by the throat and throttles them with emotion and spectacle like an overly caffeinated child. Montages of Raju and Bheem happily riding horses together play as a musical narrator ponders the future of their friendship. Young boys swear oaths of vengeance over the bodies of their slain mentors. Grown bare-chested men shout, scream, sing—and yes—dance their emotions to the heavens. More than once the action is interrupted by musical numbers including the show-stopping “Naatu Naatu” sequence where Raju and Bheem challenge a group of British officers at a party to a dance off. Watching this film in the theater marks the only time in my movie-going life that I’ve witnessed an audience joyously clap along with the music onscreen.

RRR has shot up to the top of my list of the best films of 2022 and will almost certainly end up one day in my top five favorite films of the entire decade. But there is one thing about it that gives me pause: in creating a new mythology surrounding the Indian Revolution, Rajamouli has rewritten it as one led, executed, and won by the country’s Hindus with no contributions from the millions of Muslims who also called India home. One hopes that such revisionism was unintentional, but deliberate or not it represents a recent worrying trend of Hindu nationalism in modern India. Stoked by their populist right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, anti-Muslim (and anti-Christian) sentiment has recently exploded throughout the sub-continent. One can only hope that in future years this superb entertainment won’t be looked upon as a portent of political atrocities.

Stay At Home Fest Bonus Film THE TEN GLADIATORS (1963)

First of three films featuring the 10 Gladiators who end up kicking ass and taking names. It's one of the more enjoyable sword and sandal films

Stay at Home Festival Bonus Film: The Battle of Neretva (1969)

I reviewed THE BATTLE OF NERVETA in 2012.  (My review is here) It is a big huge monstrous production mad by the Yugoslavian government to celebrate a great WW2 victory. It stars Yul Brenner and Franco Nero and others. It was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

It is a film the likes of which could only have been made in Yugoslavia during the time of Tito when the star obsessed leader allowed film companies access to the military. Tito was so in love with the movies that he allowed companies to do crazy things, say blow up a real bridge for the hell of it.  He did so for this film - and ruins of the bride are still sitting the the ravine where they landed acting as a WTF tourist attraction.

I know you have probably never heard of the film, which is understandable since once Yugoslavia broke up all the films the country produced effectively were made orphans. (An explanation in my review here) so hundreds of film are being lost through neglect.

Over the years  THE BATTLE OF NERVETA drifted fell into the hands of all sorts of people who released all sorts of versions of the film with widely varying run times, the longest of which allegedly had a run time of three hours. (An explanation in my review here)

In looking for something else I discovered the film on You Tube. Actually I discovered two different cuts one running 20 minutes shorter than the other



The above version runs two hours and twenty four minutes and is subtitled in English. I'm guessing this is the version you'll be watching




The version above is for those of you who want as complete a version as possible. It runs two hours and forty six minutes however there are no English subtitles. It is in Italian.

I'm not going to lie and say this film is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It is over long pure propaganda but it has some of the greatest battle scenes you'll ever see. If you love movies you owe it to yourself to see this film at least once.

THE FORTRESS (2017) Fantasia 2018

It was a lot like a Korean Valley Forge when King Injo retreated to the Namhansanseong mountain fortress during the winter of 1636, but it did not end so well for the Joseon Kingdom. They were indeed times that tried men souls, but they were made exponentially worse by the corruption and arrogant sense of entitlement held by senior members of the royal court. At least that is the revisionist perspective offered by Hwang Dong-hyuk’s The Fortress (trailer here), which plays at Fantasia today and August 2nd

History has not been kind to King Injo, for good reason. Even during the early days of the encampment, Kim Sang-hun finds himself cleaning up resentments caused by the court’s stingy, high-handed behavior. Morale will only continue to plummet as hunger and record low temperatures take its toll on the beleaguered troops.

Strategically, Kim is diametrically opposed to the peace overtures reluctantly advocated by Choi Myung-kil, a senior official who has few friends at court, yet still enjoys the King’s confidence. Nevertheless, the two foes often find themselves allied together, arguing for better conditions for the King’s soldiers, over their colleagues’ petty objections. Having seen the enemy camp, Choi knows they are badly outnumbered. News of the impending arrival of Nurhaci, the Qing Khan himself further raises the stakes. However, Kim’s desperate plan to save the kingdom has a puncher’s chance of working, but he will only trust Seo Nal-soi, a common-born blacksmith pressed into army service, as his messenger.

It is hard to believe this gritty, downbeat adaptation of Kim Hoon’s historical novel came from Hwang, the man who brought the world the Miss Granny franchise. This is a cynically class-conscious film that explicitly argues the dithering king and his nonproductive court of leeches only have themselves to blame for their spectacular humiliation. Yet, apparently, there is a robust domestic market for such sentiments, because The Fortress set new attendance records for the Chuseok (“Korean Thanksgiving”) holiday.

It is also a bit surprising to find international action superstar Lee Byung-hun playing the peacenik Choi. However, he is certainly an intriguing character, who is resigned to his anticipated infamy, if it secures the King’s survival. Lee projects the necessary graveness and gravity, but he still can’t compete with the steely gravitas of Kim Yoon-seok’s Kim Sang-hun, looking at least ten years older than the thesp really is—and they are a hard ten years.

Hwang stages some impressive battle scenes that viewers have to admire, even though he telegraphs the bitter end from the earliest stages. As result, Fortress has the vibe of high classical tragedy, with every short-sighted decision bringing King Injo closer to his downfall. The atmosphere of stately woe is further enhanced by the score penned by the legendary Ryuichi Sakamoto (The Revenant, The Last Emperor, etc.). It is an impressive film in nearly every respect, but the maddening inevitability of it all will have viewer pulling out their hair, which is probably exactly what Hwang was going for. Recommended for fans of historical epics.

Nate Hood takes on SEKIGAHARA (2017) NYAFF 2018

Masato Harada’s Sekigahara is a film that stands before you and dares you to follow its story. Much like with Harada’s last film The Emperor in August (2015) which explored the Machiavellian schemings in the buildup to a pivotal moment in Japanese history—in this case Imperial Japan’s surrender to the Allied forces in World War Two—Sekigahara examines the background, motives, and double-crossings of the people involved with one of the country’s most important battles. Fought on October 21, 1600 in the wake of the power vacuum left by the death of daimyō Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the eponymous battle resulted in the consolidation of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s rule over a freshly unified Japan, establishing a shogunate that lasted for over 250 years. Perhaps not since the 1185 Battle of Dan-no-ura which established Japan’s first shōgun had a single military engagement done so much to sculpt the nation’s history.

To try and consolidate everything that led up to it would have been a preposterous undertaking for a decently lengthed miniseries. To try and cram it all into a two-and-a-half hour epic is almost preposterously arrogant. Still, great filmmakers have made essential films about specific battles before—but these were almost always worm’s-eye views of said engagements from the perspectives of the soldiers and low-ranking officers involved. But Sekigahara hovers above all the power players, mainly the wily and megalomaniacal Ieyasu (Koji Yakusho) on one side and the principled Ishida Mitsunari (Jun’ichi Okada), supporter of Hideyoshi’s son Hideyori, on the other. But there are myriad other minor lords and generals, ladies in waiting, Buddhist monks, and the occasional ninja adversary and/or love interest. Good luck keeping them all straight.

One assumes that Japanese audiences intimately familiar with their own history would have an easier time following it, but the film’s uneven storytelling makes one second guess even that. The film’s erratic time skips, mile-a-minute narrative cross-cutting, and outright refusal to properly establish many of the main and supporting characters gives one the impression of a rushed production. One could argue that this was intentional as Harada’s narrator is a World War Two-era historian struggling to piece together the truth about that fateful battle. But that seems like a cop-out.

There are many fine elements to Sekigahara—the acting is superb, many of the battle sequences are well choreographed, and this is perhaps the first time I’ve seen any Japanese film respectfully acknowledge the contributions of immigrant Korean soldiers in pre-modern Japanese warfare. But at two-and-a-half hours it’s too long and too inchoate for anyone other than history professors.

Rating: 5/10

River Road (2014) New York Asian Film Festival 2015

Two young boys with issues (both feel the other is loved more by their parents) head home during a school holiday...oh did I mention that their parents are nomadic herders who live way out in the country and the pair have to make the trip alone on camel back (and figure out where they might be?)

This is a small scale epic (the visuals are amazing on a big screen) that is all about the environment. Every thing about this film is geared to get the message about the ecological disaster facing China out. From the disappearing water, the disappearing grass, shifting population and the pollution are all pushed front and center. There is always some indication of the damage we are doing to the environment- largely it's the disappearance of water- no one seems to have any. Additionally all of the characters are not so much characters but allegorical constructs (the dying mother being a stand in for the dying China) and much of the dialog is declarative statements and not the way kids speak to each other.

Surprisingly something about the film over comes all of the messages. By the time we get to the end of the film and the boys are forced to confront the world that isn't the one that they remember we are somehow moved. While I would have liked the film to have been less overt in it's message, I have to give everyone connected to this film bonus points for moving the audiences emotions.

Worth a look especially if you can see this on a big screen.

Gangs of Wasseypur opens Friday-it's one of the greatest crime films you'll ever see

Opening Friday is The Gangs of Wassepeur and you have to go see it.

You do. You really do.

Trust me you do.

The easiest way to describe it as one of the greatest gangster films ever made. I’m very seriously about that, it is one of the greatest achievements in film you’ll ever see. No it’s not perfect, it’s five and half hours, covers 60 years of time and rambles all over the place but the overall effect is to leave you exhilarated and exhausted and wanting more.

I’ve seen the film a couple of time now and it floors me every time.

Here’s the review we ran when the film played Sundance back in 2013:

Epic, and I do mean epic, decades spanning tale of crime, revenge and struggles for control. This is a film that in it's way and complexity kind of dwarfs most other crime sagas and manages to stand alone among an elite group of similar crime films say The Godfather Saga, Once Upon a Time in America and maybe one or two others.

Beginning in the now with a group of men shooting up a house and "killing" everyone inside the film flashes back to before the Partition of India and Pakistan when England gave the countries Independence. Salid Khan impersonates a well known train robber. Thrown out of Wasseypur with his wife he takes a job in a mine. Once the partition comes and mines fall into private hands Khan is hired to help Ramadhir Singh get his mine up and running and to maintain control. However Singh fears Khan and has him killed. This sparks a sixty year battle between the families as Khan's son vows revenge, becoming a big time criminal in the process and setting the families on to a bloody path of destruction.

Running just under five and a half hours, the two films that tell the entire story are simply amazing.

For most people who think of Bollywood films as being huge bloated stories with the occasional big dance number this film is going to be a surprise. Yes, there are songs but they move the story along acting as an additional narrator. There are no big dance numbers only life on the street, the homes and jails. The music is incidental.

The violence when it comes is realistic and uncomfortable. people die badly, blood flows. Only toward the very end does the film slip, momentarily into a slightly unrealistic moment where the blood is a tad too red, but it's for effect. Until then, and even after, you feel each stab, each gun shot, each smash with a rock, and it's jarring.

The film isn't perfect, some of the shifts in tone can be a bit jarring, and for me the second half is a bit too talky when compared to the first. Then again I was watching the second half of the film sometime around 2AM on New Years Eve so I was getting a bit sleepy- and yet I pushed through because I had to see how it all came out.

To be honest I need to see the film again. I need to see it and take some notes and really write the film up. When I saw the film on New Years I simply was watching the film for pleasure. The idea was to start the film and then pick it up in the morning, I wasn't planning on falling into it and ending up being up until 4AM hoping to see how it all ended. I need to see the film again when I can really make all of the connections and see everything that is happening.

I should also mention that this is based on true stories, with various incidents woven together to make a one long story

If you're at Sundance you owe it to yourself to try and see the film (though be warned it is five hours twenty something minutes long before intermissions) If you're not at Sundance do make an effort to see it when it plays near you- and I'm guessing this will play near many of you.

I’m telling you about the film now so you’ll plan to see it-it’s over five and a half hours long so you just can’t wander in randomly.

Trust me go see the film it will be one of the best film going experiences you’ll have all year.

For tickets and more information (including word on director Q&As go to the Film Society of Lincoln Center Webpage.

Tiger of the Seven Seas (1962)

When the Tiger of the Seven Seas decides to retire, his ship is up for grabs. While many people want it, its won by the Tiger's daughter, Consuelo, who bests the man she secretly loves. When the Tiger is killed later that night, Consuelo's love is framed. However before he can be hanged the men of Don Indigo attack the pirates. Its all a plot, hatched by the Don's evil wife, to find out where Tiger's vast treasure is. What follows is a grand game as loyalties are tested and everyone tries to find out who has the loot.

Epic pirate adventure is a great deal of fun. Exactly the sort of European film that played endlessly in the late night hours for decades on free TV until cable over took everything and we ended up with hundreds of movie channels- none of which run films such as this any more.

For my money this is a kind of perfect entertainment. Its a film with few pretensions beyond telling a good story and being entertaining this film manages to create a wonderful place of comfort. Watching it we don't have to think. We don't have to worry about if the good guys are going to win or if the bad guys are, we know that with certainty, everything will be okay in the end . The highest praise is that the film is a kind of cinematic comfort food.

Highly recommended for anyone tired of big over blown Hollywood productions

A few words on Pharaoh (aka Faraon) (1965) Martin Scorsese Presents the Masterpieces of Polish Cinema

This is one of those films that makes you wonder how this film ended up off the radar at least as far as the US is concerned. This is a visually amazing film dealing with complex issues by great characters. Its a kick in the ass film that washes over you and makes you go WOW.

The film is the story of Ramses XIII in the days before his father dies on through his ascending the throne. We watch a he leads his troops on mock maneuvers and then begins to learn the way of governing. We also watch as he orbits around a young Jewish girl whom he found wandering in the desert.

This is an amazing film.

Visually the film seems to kick the asses of many of the American epics to the curb. Who would think that the expanse of the desert would be so compelling to look at. Equally compelling are the sets, many of which are actual locations. We don't get fancy shots of grand locations that are meant to show off movie magic, instead we get a sense of real places where people live and breath.  For the first time I had a sense of what it may have been like back two thousand years ago. To be certain the shots are almost too carefully composed to be fully natural but at the same time they have the feel of what a great photographer might have snapped during real events.

I love the complexity of the plotting. The film manages to be both a compelling story of a young man trying to make his way in the world before being thrust into being a leader, and carefully modulated discussion of the dynamics of leadership, what it takes to govern and the relationship between the weak and powerful. Yes the film is based on a novel but it feels as though the complexities of the book have managed to be transferred to the screen. Wonderfully the film doesn't feel dumbed down in anyway, even to the point that the opening war games sequence, which I've read doesn't appear in the book, beautifully sets up the discussion of the use of power by leaders. (The image of the hanged man haunts me still)

There is much to say about this film, but at the moment I'm not capable, nor willing. Seeing the film for the first time really knocked my socks off and the over riding reaction was simply to go WOW a great deal. I need to see the film again, and I need to see it BIG, which is why I' reserving any full review until after I see this film again on the big screen at Lincoln Center when it plays this weekend.

This is a film that truly can be considered a masterpiece. The first truly great film I've seen in 2014.

The film plays tomorrow and Sunday. Details and tickets can be found here. If you have any love of cinema  and want to see something that you haven't seen before and really need to see on a big screen this is the film. It will knock your socks off.

7 Vows (1956) Three features in serial form

A word of explanation at the start. Back in September I picked up the 7 Vows after seeing the trailer for the films at Kurotokagi Gumi. There was something about them that I thought looked neat so I ordered copies. When they came I put on the first film, fell into it and immediately watched the second film and then aimed for the third.  Sadly there was a problem with the disc, and it had to be replaced. By the time it arrived I was wading into the New York Film Festival and didn't have time to return to the series.

Then a few days before Thanksgiving I pulled out the DVDs and zipped through the first two films again before putting on the third film. Watching the films I realized that I could follow what was going on but the details of names and such were lost on me. There simply was too many characters and I was too long away from the films. Looking at my notes when I first saw the film I quickly realized that they kind of didn't mean a great deal to me... This left me with a problem. I could wait to go back through the films at regular speed and write up the films as detailed as I first intended or I could wing it and just write it up as best I could.... I have decided to wing it.

As you read this understand that the the first two films end on big cliffhangers and that the film is awash in characters, both good and bad, making this a kind of samurai/action soap opera. My lack of details is the result of there being too many to relate and not being able to decipher my several month old notes.

The 7 Vows is a three part epic from Japan. A weird mix of genres the film is a truly spectacular film from Toei. I know very little about the film itself other than it can be had on the US collectors market either as three separate films or in a 3 film package. I’m not sure how the film was originally released since two of the three films end on cliffhangers. Each film runs just over an hour.( If you know anything about the film or films let me know)

Part 1-Black Narcissus Chapter
Things start when Goro a young man who is traveling by horse cart on his way to try  and find his father. He is stopped by a group of armed men. They are from Ongo a bandit on the order of Genghis Khan who wants speak with him. Acting first as a friend, he is in fact trying to get a ring he thinks Goro has in his possession. It seems Goro is the heir to a destroyed kingdom, one that Ongo‘s grandfather had betrayed. While the kingdom fell the treasure went missing and the ring is the key to finding it. When Goro is discovered not to have the ring he’s tossed into the slave pit .. where he finds his father and love with the lovely Sara. An escape is in the offing but Ongo won’t give up so easily the film ends with a siege of the castle where Sara’s brother is the ruler. Additionally in Japan, where the ring had been secreted and there are additional friends to the fallen kingdom, a bad samurai is plotting to take over the country...


Part 2- The Slave Boat Episode
Having been captured at the end of the Part 1, Goro, his father and friends are made galley slaves and forced to row Japan. Once there Ongo contacts the rebellious samurai and makes a pact to help him seize control of Japan in exchange for help finding the treasure and the ring.  Still held prisoner Goro and his friends are forced to do hard labor. When Goro becomes the object of a royal ladies affections he uses it to his advantage to plot every ones escape.


Part 3- Victorious Chapter
Having escaped the exploding island the the various friends are now branded outlaws. On the run they must try to clear their name and take back the treasure and their kingdom.

This is a really good action epic. On some level by the time the films reach the third part the film has kind of become less broad epic and more a standard samurai soap opera (villain Ongo kind of disappears for much of the final third), but it still has action aplenty. Battle scenes often tend toward being large scale affairs, with what appears to be armies battling on all sides. The outdoor sequences are similarly big  with several sequences filled out if not with thousands, at least hundreds.

As I said I know nothing about the background of these films since until I stumbled upon the trailer for them I had never seen anything from them. I would suspect that they are a kind of long form movie serial aimed at older kids (the open song is performed by children) though it does have one character meeting his end via harikari which I'm guessing is why the films may never have played the US (that would not have gone over well in Peoria).

I really like the films a great deal. Its decidedly different than most American films from the period, not to mention even Japanese films, at least those that I'm familiar with. There is  a much more literary style  to the films even though they play like action packed soap operas.  Honestly it's times like when I stumble upon films like this that remind me of why I started Unseen Films.

If you have the inclination track the films down and give them a whirl.

A brief review of The King and the Clown (2005)

The story of two performers who, after getting in trouble in the country, head for Seoul. They  hook up with a local Seoul theatrical troop and meet success lampooning the king. When they are brought before an official who wants to execute them, they plead their case and ask to play before the king. They insist that they will make the king laugh...They do, and in the process find that they have entered a minefield as the mandate to entertain the king also puts them into the middle of court intrigue and sends shock waves through their everyone's personal lives.

This really good drama is not what I expected. I was expecting something a tad more humorous than what a got. Yes the film is funny, but this is a a mix of genres, comedy, drama, political intrigue and romance that will touch the heart and the head. As the film and the destiny of the two actors played out I found I was touched by their fates. At the same time it raised many things I'm still pondering, such as how we are tied to our parents, the place of political satire in a dictatorship, and any number of questions concerning the heart.

I'm sorry if that sounds a bit conflicted, but this is the sort of film that hits you from all angles making it difficult to instantly process what you've just seen. Sitting at home watching the film on an import DVD, I found that I need to just sit and reflect about the film and the characters, I wanted to just sit and let the credits role while I pondered it all and collected myself. Sadly I was interrupted by my dad who came in and wanted to catch the end of the Met game. I gave up the TV and then scooted off to try and piece it all together in a post. What I could piece together is what you're reading.

Honestly I should have rearranged my schedule and went to the Korean Cultural Service screening Tuesday night. Part of it is that I could have sat and pondered this great film before being forcibly moved to the next thing. Another part of it is because this is a great spectacle. Seriously this is a great looking film with lots of wonderful sets and costumes, not only on those in the court of the King but also on the performers who provide a catalog of various theatrical motifs to put on their plays (circus,masks, puppets).

I really like this film a great deal. Its a film that has moved me. You really should make the effort to see it. While I don't think it's going to be on my best of the year list,  I do suspect that it's going to be one that hangs with me for a while, as well as one I revisit.

This is playing Tuesday. Do yourself a favor head down to the Tribeca cinemas and see this.

John Woo's Red Cliff- The full two part five hour version

This week I'm doing films that played this years New York Asian Film Festival. I'm beginning the week by continuing with the theme of this past weekend, namely two films released separately but really should be seen together since they form one bigger film greater film together.

First up is John Woo's Red Cliff, which was released in theaters at the end of last year, but in a severely cut down single film. The NYAFF did a special marathon screening during the Fourth of July Holiday Weekend which was a chance to see the film on a big screen after seeing a couple of times on the small one (I've had it on DVD since it was released as an import)

This film got an Honorable Mention at this Years NYAFF. Actually what happened was the audience voting was incredibly high in favor of the film but the votes were discounted because it already has had a US theaterical and DVD release.

I'm going to try and be brief in discussing Red Cliff. I could discuss the film in endless detail, but I don't want to give too much away since this is full of wonderful treats and you should be allowed to find them on your own. (besides you don't want to listen to me drone on about this film. Nobody want to hear me really go on about the film)

After a decades long stay in Hollywood, director John Woo returned to China to make a film in his homeland for the first time in many years. It was to be an adaption of part of a Chinese classic tale, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms and would concern the battle of Red Cliff. The plan was to film a huge epic film and then cut it down for international release. Woo brought in the best people he could and he was even going to reunite with Chow Yun Fat. Chow for what ever reason walked away and went to do the misfire epic Confucius. The cast was shuffled slightly and the film went into a long period of production. The first half of the film was released in the summer of 2008 and was a huge hit. The second half was released in the Winter and was also a hit.

The film was eventually picked up by Magnolia for US release, however what they released was the shortened International release. When the film was finally released on DVD the film was made available for both the Theatrical cut and the full two part film (which they released as both separate parts and as a special edition of the parts together)

If you've only seen the US theatrical cut I pity you. You've seen a cut of the film that effectively removed half of the full film. The way to see the film is as the massive two part five hour version that was the way the film was originally screened in Asia and which was released in the United States and else where as "The International Cut" on DVD.

The real International Cut is the short version. This short version reduced the first film to about an hour of screen time and the second film to about an hour and fifteen minutes. (weirdly I read in one place where Woo said he kind of liked the short version better. If that's true I would argue that he's gone mad)

I'm not going to get into an argument about which version is better or why. I did that in a couple of places already with the result that I don't think that whom ever maintains the NYAFF website likes me much. This entry is about the full two part version so you can guess where I fall on that argument.

The short version of the plot has the Prime Minister of the Emperor of China using his power to consolidate all of the smaller kingdoms under the power of the Emperor. The idea is that there should only be the Emperor. What the minister didn't tell the Emperor was that once he wipes out all the smaller kingdoms he was going to get rid of Emperor and crown himself in that post.

Unfortunately the kingdoms are not going without a fight and when only three kingdoms remain they form an alliance and prepare for an attack which they know is coming at the fortress at Red Cliff. Part one of the film takes us up to the point where the two armies are about to square off. The second part of the film, is eventually, the land and sea battle.

Okay, let me not put too fine a point on it, in my humble opinion the two part Red Cliff, is, despite its flaws, one of the greatest films ever made. Rarely has any film ever had the ability to be both a small scale human story and an epic armies crashing tale. Its comparable only two other multi part epics Sergei Bondarchuck's War and Peace and Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings.

I love this film and I was handing off import copies from the time the first film came out on import DVD until the film was finally released here in the US. (I've since picked up the US release and I steer everyone to that)

I know some people don't like this sprawling, rambling epic in its five hour form. They argue that there are too many characters, too much talk (there is a great deal of philosophy) and too many subplots with the result it takes its time between battle scenes. Actually the only arguments I've heard for the short version is that its faster to the action, however what people don't realize is there are huge cuts in the battle scenes as well. * I don't understand why anyone would want to just cut to the fights since the dialog and philosophy add so much emotional resonance to the battle sequences.

I love the long version. I love the philosophy. I love the characters. I love that it takes time to get to know everyone so that many of the token characters of the first half shine in the second. I love that Woo has taken the time to create a real place on film that is inhabited by real people. Everyone, even in the small roles seems to have a real personality. There are these wonderful small moments, such as the speech at the funeral pyres in the second half, that manage to say so much more that just the crashing or armies.(The speech is gone from the short version)

What I love is that Woo has created all of these interpersonal relationships that really pay off in the end. I could wax poetic about the relationship of the three leads but their relationship stand in what ever version of the film you see and are ultimately much too obvious a point of discussion. Rather I want to talk about the small moments that break your heart during the final battle. Actually I want to talk about this one relationship, removed from the short version, that is a masterpiece of screen coupling.

The sister of one of the characters ends up disguising herself as a man and going into the enemy camp in order to spy. No one catches on and she manages to make the acquaintance of an enemy soldier who becomes her friend. However war spits on friendship and the enemy soldier is killed during the final assault. When the battle is over and the dead are being counted the girl kneels mourning over her fallen friend in a quiet testament to the stupidity of war it breaks your heart (And while I'm mentioning it the final shot of the relationship remains in the short version of Red Cliff, despite the fact that everything that would make the shot mean something has been removed). Its this wonderful moment about the cost of fighting and for a chunk of the film the set up seems so trivial, but in the end its not.

If you like action this film has it. Almost from the start the film has large scale action sequences. Going from the opening twenty minute battle to final hour plus assault this film is full of some of the most amazing battle sequences ever put on film. Truly awe inspiring and magical. And while there is some use of CGI, particularly in the fiery boat battle at the end (it had to be lest they roasted all of China) the film seems surprisingly to have been filmed with real people in real places. To me its so great not to have fake armies fighting fake armies.

And yes the film isn't perfect. It does get a bit too talky at times, there are simply too many characters and too many plots, but at the same time the film being too much makes the film just right. We feel the film bleed off the screen. We really are in these places and we are seeing armies crash. I will gladly suffer through the few flaws because the film manages to get so much right.

I should probably add that women looking for strong female characters should see this film since much of the second half of the film and the success of the good forces's plans hinges on the actions of two women who take it upon themselves to do what no man could. All of the talk in this film and about this film is about the men, but the few women in it hold their own and then then some.(I mean think about how strong the women have to be to stand out among all of the men.)

You need to see this film so DVD is fine. I know outside of Asia your chances of seeing the full two part version on the big screen is small, but if you do get the chance to see it that way do so. The New York Asian Film Festival screened the film this year in all its epic glory and the world was a better place for it.


(*An Aside: What never made sense to me was that some people don't like the talk in this film and just wish it were all action, crucified the film The Three Kingdoms (2008)(aka Resurrection of the Dragon on US DVD), which came out ahead of Red Cliff and used the same source, as being all action and no plot. Clearly you can't win.)

Quiet Flows the Don (1957)

I'm going to continue on a theme and do a mini- marathon of films that are kind of propaganda. Yesterday I posted a review about the founding of the present state in China made by that government. Today I'm going to talk about a huge monster of a film called Quiet Flows the Don. Based upon a novel by Mikhail Sholokohv its a film about the founding of the Soviet State as seen through the eyes of one man and the woman he loves.

I find it interesting that even though the people loved the book that the film was based on, the Soviet government was not too keen on it or the writer and he he had to constantly defend himself and his work to the authorities (the book was originally published in parts). He effectively had to assure them that in the end it will all be okay. Clearly the eventually relented since they made a version of the story in 1930 before they went forward on this version which was released in three parts in 1957.

This is a long film, its almost six hours long. Its a real Russian epic about Grigori Melekhov and the course of his life over the ten years from 1912 to 1922. Dealing with not only his personal life but the life of his town as the First World War, the Soviet Revolution, the civil war that followed and their aftermath impact on everyone living in Russia, and in particular in his Cossack town on the Don River. The story begins as Grigori starts an affair with the married Aksiniya, who's husband is away with the rest of Cossacks. Its an affair that is far from secret and who's fall out will affect everyone for years to come, it is also the center of the story which shifts gears as Grigori tries to find his place in the world, in the Czarist army, in the Red Army and even with the Whites.

Think of this as movie as immersion tank. This is a movie that picks you up and drops you into a particular time and place and keeps you there for its entire running time. Told, at times, through a series of five or ten minute scenes that move the plot along through time this is in episodic tale that doesn't feel as such. Its clear from each scene whats transpired in the interim and there is no need for explanations. Occasionally jumps in time and place are filled in by a title over the establishing shot. The film puts the viewer into the towns, homes and battlefields where the story transpires in a way that few films ever have. Its beautiful to look at with every shot worthy of being hung on the wall. This is a movie for those who want to sit and disappear into some place far away from today's world.

As a technical achievement the film is amazing, it looks great, the acting is wonderful, the music first rate. The movie, for the most part, hooks you and drags you along through its decade long story. Lets face it almost no film has ever tried to tell a story this big with out cutting it up into little pieces and it losing something (Consider that the original release of this film in the west was cut by almost four hours for release). Its amazing to see what the film makers have done.

On the level of entertainment I'm of mixed emotions. On some levels this is very much an epic soap opera, the film is ultimately concerned with who loves whom, who is cheating on whom, and all of the emotions that are so ingrained in human nature. Certainly this is not your typical romance, not only does the film have other things on its mind, but there is also a ten year arc to consider, ten years where the course of a country and the world was forever altered.

And that's part of the problem for me. The film, which is broken into three parts, has almost three different feels and focuses. The first is the romances and its almost a self contained film about the various players trying to find love. The second part of the film concerns the First World War and the halcyon days of the early revolution, here there is a great deal of political discussion and it makes the already slow pace of the film seem even slower. The last part of the film concerns the revolution and the civil war that followed. Here we have a blending of politics and humanity and it makes for odd an odd mix as emotion crashes against propaganda. While I was happy to follow along I was also wondering if the film hadn't lost its way.

Do I like the film? Yes. I don't love it. I can honestly say that while it is a great achievement (its possibly one the greatest films ever made) I think that its not going to be everyone's cup of tea. There is something the film that seems to be very rooted in the Russian experience, and in particular the experience of those that lived through or were affected by the time period covered in the story. The film is also deliberately paced which many people will take a slow and feel is the kiss of death (especially at five plus hours). I understand that but would argue with out the pacing you wouldn't really feel like you're in the place where the story is happening. And the soap opera nature of the events will also weed out some who want "real" life. I didn't mind it and just let the film do what its going to do.

Is the film worth seeing? Yes, if you're willing to give yourself over to it, perhaps on three nights. The thought of ever sitting down and trying to watch this is a single sitting scares me. I only did it the first time through because I was very sick and knew I wasn't going to leave my bed. It was a nice idea to do because it forced me through the story but at the same time I was overwhelmed. There is simply way too much to take in.

I am haunted by this film. There is something awe inspiring about the film, about the shear scope of the film that has hung with me since I first saw it three years ago (almost to the day). There is something about the humanity that is infused in the film, something about the romance and the people that stays with you and keeps you going even as the political nonsense threatens to make you want to stop watching. As I said above it is arguably one of the great films of all time, even if it strikes me as up and down entertainment.

The best thing I can say about the film is try it. The film is out on video in the US and elsewhere and should be had from Amazon or Netflix or where ever. The Kino DVD is excellent. Its a version of the Ruscico (the official distributor of most films Russian) release with the film on three discs and a fourth disc of extras.

Go with it and give yourself over to it. If you click with it I'm almost certain that for the period its running you'll be in a little Cossack town somewhere along the Don.

(Two things for the record. First the above is an expanded review of the one I posted on LJ and IMDB. Secondly the story was remade yet again by Sergei Bondarchuk, who made the definitive version of War and Peace. His version was hot in the 1990's before his death and then got tied up in legal wrangling for over 12 years.)

Founding a Republic (2009)

I've been debating posting something on this film for a while now. Its not a bad movie by any means, but I'm not sure its the sort of thing would interest most people who aren't interested in Chinese history. This is one of films that has been produced to celebrate the founding of modern China (Bodyguards and Assassins is another). If what I was told at the shop in Chinatown is correct its the official film on the subject produced by the Chinese government. In that light its clear that its a form of propaganda, but unlike many similar films from government its actually a pretty good film.

This is a huge retelling of what happened in China after the Second World War. Its the story of the battle between Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong for control of the country. Despite some glimpse of battle this is a film that dwells mostly on the politics of the struggle. This is a film that stays firmly with the people involved in shaping a nation.

Its a fast paced tale that moves at a lightning speed through events. The speed is such that the film frequently uses titles to say where we are and who is speaking. Its large scale story that plays out like many of the American war films of the 1960's and 70's like The Longest Day, Tora Tora Tora which play things out in a semi-documentary style. Like those films its both good and bad since it tells the huge story with a great deal of clarity, but its bad since the film contains a great deal of emotional distance since we're simply watching events not getting to know the characters. Who are all of these people? You really don't know, unless you already know the history. It kind of helps that the cast is full of many of China's biggest stars (Jackie Chan, Ziyi Zhang,Jet Li, Tony Lung Ka Fai, Andy Lau, Stephen Chow, Donnie Yen, Vivian Wu to name a few) but at the same time many of them are reduced to little more than walk ons.

I like the film, it's kind of like a documentary on the History Channel with recreations but on a scale and with a budget that would be unheard of on TV. I liked that the film kind of puts the events out there and you can go with it from there. Yes the film has a bend toward its own ends but its still an enjoyable film.

On the downside some of what the film showed me was kind of disconnected to reality and was floating about in space and not likely to stick because unless you know the history already, watching the recreation is going to mean little. Its the problem of having too short a running time for too much information. (I highly doubt that this was ever intended on being seen too far outside of China or Chinese communities)

Can you tell I'm mixed? I liked it, I think its good and I had no problem following what was going on but its sometimes emotionally distant to the point that I don't know if I need to ever see it again. Then again the film has hung with me since I saw it and has forced a long internal debate about whether or not to include as an Unseen Film. After a long battle I decided to include it simply because this is exactly the sort of film that I wanted to spotlight when I started this blog. Its something that is atypical, off the beaten path and most importantly its the sort of thing that people would dismiss out of hand if they weren't adventurous or had been told that it was worth trying.

If you want an "Unseen Film" as defined by this blogs mandate this is it.

Worth a look if you stumble across it, especially if you're a fan of the multitude of stars (but its not something you need search out). If nothing else think of this as the very definition of a footnote film or the one film that makes playing 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon with Chinese actors so much more simple.

This film is currently available as an import from places like Yes Asia and Amazon e-sellers.