Yuen Woo-Ping Received The Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award (NYAFF 2019)

Yuen Woo-Ping at The 18th New York Asian Film Festival

Last night, the New York Asian Film Festival was in full swing featuring an award ceremony for the legendary Hong Kong action choreographer and director Yuen Woo-Ping.  If you are follower of Unseen Films then I'm sure he needs no introduction, but if you just happened to be tuning in, the man directed Jackie Chan in his first two movies, Snake In The Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master.  Yuen went on to make movies with Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen, Yuen Biao, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh.  Many years later, American audiences would know him for his work in the Matrix movies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Kill Bill.  Back in the day when Mr. C and I collected kung fu VHS tapes on our trips to NYC, if Yuen Woo-Ping's name was mentioned somewhere on the box, we knew that the action scenes were going to be off the hook!  Yuen was awarded The Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award at the Walter Reade Theater in Lincoln Center.  Yuen graciously accepted the heavy award which he lifted in the air proudly as you can see in the photo above.  He also said a few words which you can see in a video below.

left to right: Samuel Jamier (Executive Director of NYAFF), Yuen Woo-Ping and Joanne Chu (Director of the Hong Kong Economic And Trade Office in New York)

The award ceremony was followed by a screening of Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy.  The movie is an excellent spinoff to the Ip Man series which features Max Zhang back in the role of Master Z.  After his defeat to Ip Man, Master Z looks to live a quiet life running a small grocery store and taking care of his son.  Drug dealing gangsters put an end to the peaceful life for Master Z and sure enough, it's back to kicking and punching in the Hong Kong streets. I wasn't aware of the stellar cast in the movie but there is Tony Jaa who plays the mysterious Sadi the warrior, David Bautista as a restaurant owner and Michelle Yeoh as the leader of an organized crime gang.  The action in the movie is some of the best in recent years especially a sequence above the streets and among the neon signs.  I highly recommend the film to fans of the genre and you best believe I'll be seeing it again soon and hopefully in a movie theater packed with kung fu movie fans.  Yuen Woo-Ping came back after the movie for a Q&A moderated by Samuel Jamier of NYAFF.

If you are interested in seeing more of Yuen Woo-Ping's movies at NYAFF, then check out THE MIRACLE FIGHTERS on Tuesday July 2, 9:00 PM at The Walter Reade Theater and IRON MONKEY on Wednesday July 3, 10:00 PM at The Walter Reade Theater.

mondocurry corner: Violator @ New York Asian Film Festival 2015

VIOLATOR, a thoroughly creepy and craftily executed low budget film coming to us from the Philippines, could belong to a gradually growing group of films that mix elements of crime suspense and the occult. It’s an affecting combination, taken on as far back as The First Power, and going on to include the likes of Seven (at least in its early act) and Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s Kyua (Cure). In the context of such reality-based proceedings between cops and robbers, the eeriness of the supernatural feels like it has that much more potential to bleed into the real world, and thus hits a lot closer to home.

The main plot is a simple and not unfamiliar one: A group of cops, under the lead of an out of shape and near retirement chief, cross ethical boundaries under shaky notion of justice, and are brought to face the error of their ways in their encounter with an inscrutable and possibly possessed young man who lands all too conveniently in their custody. All the while, a catastrophic storm rages outside the police station they are holed up in, leaving them nothing to do but confront their aggression toward one another as well as some toxic inner demons, prodded on by the stranger in their midst.  While this commonly tread does not make this a stand out film, the singular way in which the story is told and other atmospheric effects absolutely does.

New director, Dodo Dayao, who presents Violator as only his first feature, has a knack for drawing on his surroundings to set a grim mood. In one of the film’s initial scenes, a Manila skyline of gray, crumbling buildings is awe-inspiring even as it evokes a strong sense of melancholy. The rainstorm holding the cops in place is rendered in such a way it feels all encompassing.   

The film may come off as a bit more of an exercise in creating terror than a fully flushed out vision, as a lot of pieces are presented without ostensibly fitting them together. That is not to say ideas are not clear in Dayao‘s mind, but their presentation is esoteric to say the least.

Still, letting the ideas simmer can lead to the extraction of some heady takeaways. For instance, the cops being sequestered in headquarters atop a hill from which they are safe from damage, but unable to escape to a better place seems representative of their being trapped within a construct of their own mortal devising.

The confrontation between the antagonizing figure and the chief is also a curious one, in which the established authority figure is faced not with the morality of his ways, as would be expected, but also the shortsightedness of them, as if his lack of achievement is as damning a thing as any wrongdoing.

Along the way, there is a clear preoccupation with cults, and a culture embedded with a pervasive belief in the spirit world. Even as the captain casts skepticism on the notion of something supernatural afflicting their prisoner, they are clearly open to the possibility.

Even if the message is not always clear, Dayao‘s adeptness at creating foreboding chills is. From the maniacal characteristics of the film’s main agitator to freaky found footage scenes of cult activity with an arresting shift in sound quality, he holds an obvious dedication to pushing the conventional boundaries of his craft. And then there joyful moments of sheer cinematic transgression to behold: As one part of the viewer’s brain works on teasing out possible themes, another is simply torn wide open by scenes like one in which disciples of an unrevealed master, scurry across a mountainous landscape, their bodies engulfed in flames. From the oddly placed credits to the strange narrative jumps, there is so much here suggestive of a filmmaker who wants to challenge his audience, or at least put a fresh coat of paint on a too often mundane genre.

This is exactly the sort of obscure international filmmaking that the New York Asian Film Festival has persisted in exhuming for the adventurous New York City filmgoers’ yearly ritual worship, even as it has risen from the humble grounds of the West Village’s IFC Theater to its now esteemed home of Lincoln Center, and in this its 14^th year its added base of the SVA Theater in Chelsea.

VIOLATOR will be screened at theWalter Reade Theater on Wednesday, July 8. Visit the Subway Cinema website for details and tickets.

mondocurry corner: TOKYO TRIBE @ New York Asian Film Festival 2015

 Tokyo Tribe is nothing short of a sensory overload futuristic hip hop wonderland theme park attraction. Never mind the fact that your seats aren’t moving. Cinematic agitator number 1 Sono Siono navigates the way through the post-apocalyptic landscape of Inoue Santa’s manga sparing no attention to incredibly lavish detail. Incredibly the music by which the tale is told never stops, except for an occasional moment here or there. Even Riki Takeuchi, longtime actor who has played many a yakuza heavy, delivers his dialogue by way of stuttering rancorous rhymes as the film's main antagonist.

The story is as simple as it is old: gangs spread throughout a feudalistic modern Tokyo are suddenly under threat of a kingpin, Buppa, and his plan to sow seeds of dissension among them, when a force of divine intervention, embodied by a deadly kick wielding femme fatale Erika,carries the message that uniting and fighting against the most powerful forces at the top could lead to a brighter future than taking one another out.

It is an exercise in opulence on the same level as Baz Luhrmann’s take on The Great Gatsby, even as it shows an impoverished Tokyo cityscape overrun by crime, and especially inside the lavish headquarters of overlord Buppa. The visuals are as varied in their influences and reference points as they are absorbing. A walk through a brothel in the city’s red light district reveals corridors lined by endlessly repeating patterns of pink and red balloons, like something straight out of a Yayoi Kusama exhibition.   Then, there are moments of weird excess, like the room belonging to Buppa‘s son, populated by naked human statues. Did someone order armored tanks rumbling through the city? Check. There is a seemingly limitless roll out of visual treats.

The last time I was this excited by set piece after set piece throughout a single movie was while watching the Japanese film Helter Skelter, screened during a previous New York Asian Film Festival. In fact at that time, I suggested how wonderful it would be for Sono and that film’s photographer turned director Mika Ninagawa to direct a film together. The fantasy still stands. It’s surely no coincidence, though, that the director of photography credited for both films, as well Sabu’s stark but visually arresting Miss Zombie, is Daisuke Soma, making his a name to pay attention to.

As much fun as Tokyo Tribe is, Sono’s usual knack for gleefully convoluting seemingly simple tales of revenge and longing by weaving together characters’ personal stories and incredulous coincidences is not on display here. After a solid 2 hours spent in this world, I couldn’t tell you much of a difference between a saru or a nerimuthfucka or a Shinjuku Hand, or the plethora of other gangs populating the neon-tinged terrain, save for the uniform-like apparel making them not unlike the characters straight out of The Warriors. Even as Kai, the oft name checked leader of the Saru gang, battles against the nihilistic Merra, whose shades, bling, buff physique, and shock of blonde hair merges Terminator era Schwarzenneger with current pro wrestling hero Kazuchika Okada, there is not much distinguishing him from the rest of the movie’s extensive cast. It’s nice to see that women still play aggressive and imposing roles in this latest if Sono’s celluloid visions, as is very much the case with Erika, even if their characters are not very nuanced.

While the concept of storytelling through song still earns novelty points, and is impressive in its execution, it doesn’t make the story all that much more intriguing. There is a lot of repetition and posturing that doesn't move the narrative forward. Or sideways or backwards. Still the constant refrains of ‘Tokyo  Tribe, never ever die’ and ‘Nerimothafuckahhh’  amidst the other retorts become battle cries that are lodged in your brain instantly.  This isn’t an altogether haphazard use of sonic repetition either, a tool that Sono has wrought in all of his films.  Yet, the brief appearance of refrains from classical scores and bursts of frenzied jazz drumming familiar from his other films stand out, becoming instantly more compelling than the somewhat generic hip hop production.

Structurally the film is not unlike the director’s much acclaimed and also recently created Why Don’t You Play In Hell, despite that film’s far greater complexity and sense of personal importance. There is a slowly building buzz of activity among various players in different locales that eventually explodes into a large scale grand guignol battle extraordinaire. One can imagine the execution on one of the film’s battle scenes being a dry run of what would be attempted in the other. Those on the look out for call-backs will even find a similar, albeit short lived reference to Bruce Lee worship. The pay off is a dizzying mix of spattering blood and flashing neon that is awesome to behold, a reminder that Hollywood has nothing on the wildest imaginations in the independent cinema, when they are let loose.

My friend Mark insisted I mention the fact that Japanese pro wrestler Yoshihiro Takayama is in the movie with his distinctive long blonde hair, as one of Buppa’s soldiers, and that alone is reason to check out the movie.

For those New Yorkers who prefer their fireworks indoors on a screen to in the open air, and set to hip-hop rather than ‘America The Beautiful,’ The New York Asian Film Festival is showing TOKYO TRIBE at 10 pm on July 4 at the Walter Reade theater of Lincoln Center. It also plays a week later on July 11 at NYAFF’s new part time headquarters, the SVA Theater. Visit the Subway Cinema website for details and tickets.

mondocurry corner: Solomon’s Perjury 1: Suspicion & Solomon's Perjury 2: Judgment @ New York Asian Film Festival 2015

The most striking aspect of Solomon’s Perjury, a two part suspense story of near epic proportions from Japan presented at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival, is the grave seriousness with which its mostly adolescent cast of characters is presented. You’ll find no catchy pop anthems, catch phrases, or cool posturing here. The adaptation of a series of novels penned by renowned mystery writer Miyuki Miyabe is presented with an elegantly moody classical score and cinematography that imbues settings with a somber mood, capturing the grave expression of characters with a lingering patience. Indeed the opening scenes in which we find an adult Ryoko recounting the day when she and a classmate came across the snow covered corpse of a classmate, Kashiwagi, in front of their school building are positively downbeat.

The tale goes on to tell of the aftermath of the body’s discovery, which belonged to a high achieving student who was highly regarded by the bulk of his peers, pulling numerous characters with their own personal strife and agendas into its wake.  The principal and police’s ruling of it as a suicide does not sit well with the student body, particularly Ryoko, who leans on her detective father to investigate further. The appearance of an anonymous note alleging the witnessing of foul play further complicates the case. But the accusations lying within are also far from infallible. Losing faith with the resolutions reached by adults, the classmates of Kashiwagi, along with a suddenly appearing figure from his past, decide to stage a mock trial with judge, attorneys and an audience of students, parents, and teachers alike. Yes it’s far-fetched and a bit surreal to behold, but the commitment to the premise by all hands on deck makes it work.

It took a significant amount of planning and attention to detail to connect the many disparate aspects of the mystery together, and link them each to one of a bevy of social problems facing current day Japan, particularly its youth: themes of bullying, social ostracism, mental disorders, overindulgent parents, abusive relationships are all woven into the narrative’s tapestry. It can’t help but come off as a bit contrived at times. One also feels this during some of the numerous dialogues between characters, which are often prone to consisting of moralistic diatribes. The at times artificial tones are often made up for, though, by the film’s grand ambitions.

Truly the story shares the same weighty tones as Battle Royale when it comes to presenting the strife and spirited resistance of its teen protagonists, even in this more down to earth scenario. Yet, where Kinji Fukasaku’s modern classic doled out virtue and folly in equal measure, Solomon is characterized most by positivity, in which the pursuit of truth and genuine justice is the norm among its teen students. There is an infectiousness about the film’s stubborn optimism that propels the film forward, achieving a familiar feeling after a while, and able to turn cynicism into hopefulness.

As many film adaptations of literary works are wont to do, part 1 of Solomon suffers a bit from too many details being put into play. While the beginning feels tightly wound around a handful of key characters, the story spreads to involve numerous others with pacing that sometimes leaves some aspects of the story cold for too long before returning to them. Part 2, however, benefits from launching right into the pivotal action: the setting up of and proceeding of the trial that unlocks the difficult truths behind the incident in question.

While presented as two films, I think it best to refer to them as parts because Solomon is essentially one movie split into two, probably due to its extensive length. While the first part does feel a bit more unwieldy due to the challenging task of setting up so many plot elements, part 2 is equally long. Here it is worth noting the story’s tendency to indulge in melodrama, a good deal of it occurring, not surprisingly, in the film’s final act.  It is, again, a tradeoff of possible heavy-handedness and admirable aspirations. There is a sense that director Izuru Narushima wants to extend the scope of Miyabe’s novel and bring about cathartic healing by confronting and tearing the band aid off these widely faced social ills. I cannot help but applaud the effort.

A performances by Mizuki Itagaki as Kanbara, the stranger from the deceased student‘s past is worthy of the term ‘break out,’ as he passionately navigates a path of demanding accountability for the behavior of his peers from on high while carrying his own heavy burden. It's a commanding performance that can easily be likened to that of a Kenichi Matsumoto, who first wowed viewers as L in the Deathnote movies. Ryoko Fujino, playing the student who found the body, appears here in her first major onscreen role and delivers a more subtle but very impressive turn. Her often wide eyed and inquisitive expression is quietly and determinedly piercing, as if seeking out truth from everyone she encounters.

The New York Asian Film Festival presents this present day pop culture artifact from across the ocean, as only the do. Curiously the films are not presented back to back, perhaps allowing audience members to gather their thoughts before taking on its conclusion. It seems important to watch both to really feel the weight of the story, but part 2 is essential for seeing how the tale is resolved.

Solomon’s Perjury Part 1: Suspicion is being screened on Sunday, July 5 at the Walter Reade Theater, while ‘Part 2: Judgment will be shown Friday, July 10 at the SVA Theater. Plan accordingly. Visit the Subway Cinema website for more information and tickets.

The New York Asian Film Festival & Japan Cuts Carve Out a Crucial Cross Section of Cinema PART 2

Continuing a look at the magnificent film selection programmed by The New York Asian Film Festival and Japan Cuts that will be shown at The Japan Society this weekend...

Friday , July  11

After THE SNOW WHITE MURDER CASE, a mystery from director Yoshihiro Nakamura whose extraordinary reputation (FISH STORY, GOLDEN SLUMBERS) will have to speak for itself as I haven’t seen it, MARUYA, THE MIDDLE SCHOOLER is set to turn up into down and left into right with its logic destroying blast of wild imagination. At the outset a voiceover narrator defines a fantasist as someone who cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, which is not only an apt description of adolescent Maruya but for the very film itself. After the 7 year old shares flights of fancy that see his parents and little sister as a highly trained band of US secret agents and then a brood of hideous alien invaders, a flash forward finds the 14 year old Maruya obsessed with visions of a more sexual nature. He imagines a company of topless women circling around him in a mock exotic dance and is constantly obsessed with the unattainable goal of touching his tongue to his penis. This describes the first ten minutes and things only get more spectacular.

Throughout MARUYA are spot on pop cultural references proving director/writer Kudo Kankuro to have a keen insight into the genre landscape. His screenplay resume is extensive, going back to 2002’s PING PONG, and including Miike’s ZEBRA MAN movies plus this year’s fellow festival entry, satirical comedy (also helmed by Miike) REIJI. There is a hilarious riff on Korean soap operas and intense dramas, with the assistance of Ik June Yang (director and star of BREATHLESS!!) who shows up as a Korean soap star that fixes appliances for Maruya’s infatuated mother. It is one instance of real life becoming the stuff of fiction, even taking on the genre’s characteristics, so much so that the actual world of the MARUYA’S characters becomes as difficult to fathom if not more so than Maruya’s mental manifestations.

As both writer and director of MARUYA, Kudo seems to have found his true voice and strong sense of purpose, getting at the nature of why some indulge in fantasies to such a large degree and the reasons why escapes to fantasy can be critical to the human spirit as an alternative to succumbing to darkness.

Saturday, July 12

Here lies a mammoth day for indespensible films, anchored by THE GREAT PASSAGE and THE DEVIL’S PATH, both immaculately conceived narratives on individuals gripped by obsessions to achieve a goal, though the former dwells in the light, the latter in extreme darkness.

THE GREAT PASSAGE begins in 1995, marking a time when digital media still remained somewhere off in the horizon. The extremely introverted Majime is brought on to help edit a dictionary. It is a position of daunting proportions undesirable to most, but one that suits the linguistics major uncannily. As Majime joins the diligent team of word analysts, a grand purpose is laid out before him: to not only assemble a dictionary, but a living one taking in modern usages and the creation of slang expressions by younger generations. This, according to the veteran anchor of the group  Matsumoto, would create a connection between people across a vast sea of language. 

In fact the story unfolds with this very process being undergone on a different level: Majime, so challenged when it comes to relating to people, comes to learn about himself and connect with more confident and brash colleague Nishioka, whose early interactions exemplify an inability for people to connect.

The film could have focused on Majime as he overcomes his ineptitudes to forge personal relationships, and ended up being a delightfully comic romp. But it wouldn’t have ben great. We move through time instead, finding a more grown Majime and his colleagues weathering the lack of popular support their undertaking has and the vastness of what is involved in completing their task correctly. The soundtrack gives lends a sense of wonder and grace, often not unlike the scores of a Miyazaki anime, with just enough electrically charged oomph to underscore the film’s few stormier moments.

The movie itself, like the tremendous undertaking of its protagonists, is a labor of minute detail. When a discussion of refining the pages so that turning them is more pleasing  to the touch, it is clear that the setting is not merely a function of the story. THE GREAT PASSAGE expresses a genuine yearning for a time when tactile media was still a significant part of our lives.

THE DEVIL’S PATH presents an entirely different sort of ambition, dividing its time between true crime dramatization and a reporter (Takayuki Yamada) obsessed with uncovering the story while reluctantly dealing with a mentally deteriorating mother and exasperate wife. After a grizzly series of murders, the physically intimidating, rage-prone gangster Sudo is found behind bars, questioned by reporter Fuji (Takayuki Yamada) about the crimes he was convicted for. Sudo is eager to talk, however indirectly, out of a desire to get to an accomplice he felt betrayed by, an impenetrable individual known as “sensei.”

An unflinching dramatization of their crimes unfolds, including acts of insurance fraud, arranged accidents, dismemberment, and torture. It is not for the squeamish.

As usual Yamada brings 100 percent to his role, giving the journalist a countenance of exhaustion at his family troubles that cannot bring down his sense of moral outrage as he confronts the suspects from which he tries to uncover the truth. The sadistic gangster known as “sensei” is brought to chilling reality by Lily Frankie in a shocking performance when considering his usually soft characters, most recently the good-natured goofball of a father in LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON.

Moved by a soundtrack that is filled with scratchy electronic tension, once again calling to mind Fincher and his collaboration with Trent Reznor, and punctuated by moments that are Giallo-esque, this is true crime drama at its most hardboiled.

MISS ZOMBIE is a true surprise of the festival, bringing a new and refreshing take on a genre that has long been stale. From director SABU, whose work I have always associated with hyperkinetic movement, comes a surprisingly yet appropriately slow, drifting picture of quiet dread. Often the only sounds of the film are a ghostly howling wind. The film begins where well-known zombie comedy SHAUN OF THE DEAD ended: The threat of a zombie apocalypse being neutralized, the undead are introduced to the population as dull-witted pets or perhaps slave labor. Yet there is no joking here. SABU’s minimalistic plot finds a family unit, whose members have only somewhat clear relations to one another, receiving a “low level” zombie ordered by the group’s patriarchal figure.  She is viewed with awe and bemusement by her new owners, and then set to work on menial tasks on their property.

SABU turns the genre askew by de-emphasizing the threat to humans and creating a sense of dread out of human vice: senseless cruelty to those different or unknown to us as carried out by children, and unquenchable sexual desire leading to unthinkable acts by the men. It leads to a psychological terror different from the usual fight for basic survival, yet effectively made out to be even more fearsome.

The slow, drifting pace of the film culminates in an unforgettable pulse pounding 20 minute conclusion. Set in monochromatic black and white that is reminiscent of Japanese body horror classic TETSUO: THE IRON MAN as much as the obvious original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, there are sparingly doled out yet wondrous effects in store. The image of a rising sun presented in this stark black and while film stock is stunning.

Add to this lineup, ETERNAL ZERO which Steve had high praise for in his review here and this is a day to consider camping out at The Japan Society.

Sunday, July 13

MONSTERZ is the only film I’ve had a chance to see of those playing on the last day of the inter-festival throwdown. Interesting as a representation of a Japanese take on the superhero genre, and as an adaptation of a South Korean movie (HAUNTERS), this is also probably the most straightforward genre and mainstream film of the festival and helmed by Hideo Nakata who once stirred up the horror genre with THE RING. The South Korean original was itself indebted to the original manga DEATHNOTE, which wrote the book (that pun, totally intended) on ultimate VS showdowns between individuals of seemingly limitless and directly opposing powers. I was ultimately disappointed with the film, finding characters’ dialogue so wooden and superficial as to be difficult to take seriously. The humans interacting with the two main characters are inept beyond explanation. The ultimate message is also murky at best; although there is some compassion for the villain who was conceivably turned into what he is by being born into an unsympathetic world, it doesn’t gel with how things turn out for Shuichi. If you can get past these flaws, it’s worth a look for strong performances by Tatsuya Fujiwara (‘Light’ in the live action adaptation of DEATHNOTE) and Takayuki Yamada as the villain and hero respectively and some inspired chaos involving large numbers of human pawns forming overflowing mobs set to bury Shuichi alive.

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