Hey folks, Harry here... Father Geek is asleep in the other room and can't work with Macs... they are alien material to him... So I'm taking over as the Foreign editor this time out. Great stuff here... SNATCH and CHOPPER and CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON... 3 damn fine films... The fantastic Jim Sheridan's next... Guillermo Del Toro shooting BLADE 2 in Prague! Oh yeah baby. My ol stomping grounds... hehehehe... And the run down of the official nominees by each country for cosideration for the Academy's BEST FOREIGN FILM... now... CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON will also be having a BEST PICTURE campaign... as Sony is that confident in the film... and rightfully so... Here's EURO...
EURO AICN
And here we are for another Euro AICN weekly news... Edgard here with a lot from everywhere... As always Ozymandias brought us a selection of news from the green and bier land (still Oz, sorry to break the news but Belgian beer is the best)... he also sent us reviews of - surprise - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (we like to drive our American friends crazy with that film... now you understand how it feels to wait for months before getting a film) and Chopper. And I personally saw Snatch which I reviewed also (well... it's kind of review... it's more the expression of my happy feelings about it). And on top of that news from all over Europe... weird and funny from France and Portugal, less fun from Germany or Kosovo.... Hopefully there's a bit for everyone here.... Let's start with this list taken on Screendaily.com : The following is the full list of 46 films submitted to the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for consideration for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar to be presented during the Academy Award ceremony on March 25.
COUNTRY FILM (DIRECTOR)
Algeria Little Senegal (Rachid Bouchareb)
Argentina Felicidades (Emilio Bender)
Austria The Stranger (Gotz Spielmann)
Belgium Everybody Famous (Dominique Deruddere)
Brazil Me You Them (Andrucha Waddington)
Bulgaria Letter To America (Iglika Triffonova)
Canada Maelstrom (Denis Villeneuve)
Chile Coronation (Silvio Caiozzi)
China Breaking The Silence (Sun Zhou)
Croatia Marshal Tito’s Spirit (Vinko Bresan)
Czech Republic Divided We Fall (Jan Hrebejk)
Denmark A Place Nearby (Kaspar Rostrup)
Ecuador Dreams From The Middle Of The World (Carlos Naranjo Estrella)
Finland Seven Songs From The Tundra (Anastasia Lapsui & Markku Lehmuskallio)
France The Taste Of Others (Agnes Jaoui)
Georgia 27 Missing Kisses (Nana Djordjadze)
Germany No Place To Go (Oscar Roehler)
Greece Peppermint (Costas Kapakas)
Hong Kong In The Mood For Love (Wong Kar-Wai)
Hungary Glamour (Frigyes Godros)
Iceland Angels Of The Universe (Fridrik Thor Fridriksson)
India Hey! Ram (Kamal Haasan)
Iran A Time For Drunken Horses (Bahman Ghobadi)
Israel Time Of Favor (Joseph Cedar)
Italy The Hundred Steps (Marco Tullio Giodana)
Japan When The Rain Lifts (Takashi Koizumi)
Korea Chunhyang (Im Kwon-Taek)
Mexico Love’s A Bitch (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu)
Morocco Ali Zaoua (Nabyl Ayouch)
Nepal Mask Of Desire (Tsering Rhitar Sherpa)
The Netherlands Little Crumb (Maria Peters)
Norway Odd Little Man (Stein Leikanger)
The Philippines Anak (Rory B Quintos)
Poland Life As A Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease (Krzysztof Zanussi)
Portugal Too Late (Jose Nacimento)
Russia His Wife’s Diary (Alexei Uchitel)
Slovak Republic Landscape (Martin Sulik)
Spain You’re The One (Jose Luis Garci)
Sweden Songs From The Second Floor (Roy Andersson)
Switzerland Gripsholm (Xavier Koller)
Taiwan Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee)
Thailand 6ixty Nin9 (Pen-ek Ratanaruang)
Turkey Run For Money (Reha Erdem)
Venezuela Devil Gold (Jose Ramon Novoa)
Vietnam Vertical Ray Of The Sun (Tran Anh Hung)
Yugoslavia Sky Hook (Ljubisa Samardzic)
GERMANY
* From Screendaily : German directors Dominik and Benjamin Reding have been forced to cancel personal appearances with the cast of their skinhead drama, Oi! Warning, after being bombarded with hate emails and death threats. The duo were scheduled to make appearances in the East German towns of Erfurt, Chemnitz, Neubrandenburg and Greifswald, but neither the police nor specially enlisted bodyguards could guarantee their safety. The film opened in Germany in mid-October, but even before its release, the police were called to a preview in a Dresden threatre after violence broke out in the audience between groups of punks and skinheads. In particular, a love scene between a skinhead (played by Sascha Backhaus) and a gay punk (Jens Veith) has angered right-wing skinheads and led to the hate campaign directed at the two directors. According to Benjamin Reding, skinheads in the Eastern half of Germany had not understood that Oi! Warning is an invented story: "They take it deadly serious as if we had shot a documentary". Oi! Warning, which is the second theatrical release from fledgling distribution outfit Nighthawk Pictures, was first shown at Sundance and has since garnered more than a half a dozen awards at international film festivals.
KOSOVO
* A year after the war, life tries to find its way in Kosovo and slowly culture is also appearing again. Shot in Albania and Kosovo, directed by Agim Sopi, THE AUTUMN OF THE ROSES tells the story of Béni, an albanian kosovar refugee living in Germany, who joins the UCK, the army of liberation of Kosovo. During the fights, Tina, his girlfriend, is raped while her family is killed. Humiliated she decides to kill herself.... Since the suppression of autonomy of the Kosovo province (decision taken by Slobodan Milosevic in 1989), THE AUTUMN OF THE ROSES is the first "Kosovar" film in 10 years. To make this happen, Agim Sopi, the director, had to sell his own appartment to get the money as neither the European Commission or ONU would help. Let's wish to Agim that his movie will get the chance to cross the borders...
FRANCE
* This is a weird project... You could think that usually only Hollywood tries to adapt its TV shows into blockbusters... Well now France is trying this also, but - that's the scary part - with a cult British serie : ABSLUTELY FABULOUS !!! The scary part being that the humour of this show is really British and I wonder how it can be adapted succesfully to French culture... but again we have here some great talents for comedy (LE PERE NOEL EST UNE ORDURE being one of the best French comedy ever, very very badly remade in the US as MIXED NUTS), so it's allowed to hope... Gabriel Aghion (director of the sympathetic PEDALE DOUCE) will direct. Nathalie Baye and Josiane Balasko will replace Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders in the starring roles. Marie Gillain, Vincent Elbaz and (!!) Chantal Goya ("famous" French singer for kids... well... at least she was famous in the 70's/80's until she ruined her career in a live TV reality show... one of the best moments of French television). Shooting will start this week... The movie might be released at the end of 2001. And let's hope they manage to stay faithful to the spirit of the serie...
THE NETHERLANDS
* From Screendaily, some news on the next Rotterdam Film Festival (with - surprise - the Ang Lee movie being presented... is there one festival that didn't show that film ??). We would like to remind our fellow Dutch AICN readers that if you go there, please send us your reports !! : Clara Law’s The Goddess Of 1967 and Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon are amongst the titles confirmed for next year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam (January 24 - February 4, 2001). Also in the line-up are Christian Petzold’s German drama Die Innere Sicherheit, Zhang Ke Jia’s Venice International Film Festival title Platform, Claude Mourieras’ French drama Tout va bien, on s’en va and Daniel Burman’s comedy drama Esperando Al Mesias, from Argentina. Roy Andersson, director of Swedish best foreign-language Oscar entry Songs From The Second Floor, will have his work showcased in the festival’s so-called Film-maker In Focus section. Andersson’s credits include features such as World Of Glory and A Swedish Love Story, along with shorts, a documentary and 300 commercials. Rotterdam will also run a sidebar entitled On The Waterfront, as a salute to the city's status as European Cultural Capital in 2001 and its world famous port. Alongside the Elia Kazan classic and Werner Fassbinder's Querelle, the sidebar will also feature new titles such as Sharunas Bartas' Freedom and Braden King and Laura Moya’s Dutch Harbor.In addition, the festival has commissioned ten film-makers to produce a digital video diary in a port of their choice with backing from the Rotterdam Film Fund. Participants include Michael Pilz and Gabrielle Hochleitner, Mahamat Saleh Haroun, Jem Cohen, Nathalie Alonso Casale, Garin Nugroho, Lou Ye, Chris Petit, Jon Jost and Laura Waddington.
PORTUGAL
* Funny story : Directed by Joao César Monteiro, BIANCA DE NEVE (Snow-White) could very well be the first film shot in Black and... Black !! At least, it's a first in Portugal where it started a polemic. Actually the movie is a combination of black frames, sometimes mute (!), dubbed by a voice over (actually 5 different voices) telling a text from the Swiss writer Robert Walser. And it lasts 75 minutes. Andy Warhol would have liked it. But the Portuguese Institute for Cinema (ICAM) is not happy about the money it gave to that film and has already asked to cut by half the 750.000 Euro subvention. Meanwhile a private radio has already shown interest about airing the film... Where are we going if radio stations start diffusing films now ??
CZECH REPUBLIC
* Prague, the very beautiful and warm (not by weather, but by the people) Czech capital, will soon get very busy with filmmakers... 3 films at least should be shot there in the next months. Guillermo del Toro will direct there a part of the much awaited BLADE 2 : BLOOD HUNT. But other films like HART'S WAR (with Bruce Willis) or THE BOURNE IDENTITY (with Matt Damon), or TV films like ABC's ANNE FRANK, will also be shot in Prague. All this should bring more than 30 millions $ to the Czech city...
IRELAND
* Dublin’s Ardmore Studios is to host the biggest production to ever shoot in Ireland – Spyglass Entertainment’s $80m sci-fi actioner Reign Of Fire – which is set to star Matthew McConaughey and Christian Bale. Rob Bowman, whose credits include The X Files movie, is lined up to direct the film, about mankind’s attempt to fight a brood of fire-breathing dragons. Three stages at Ardmore Studios have been booked for the production and set construction begins at the end of November. Principal photography will commence in February and is scheduled to wrap in June. Spyglass is understood to have chosen Ireland over the UK as a location after its positive experience shooting The Count Of Monte Cristo at Ardmore Studios. The big-budget thriller wrapped mid-November after a few weeks of location work in Malta. Monte Cristo’s Irish art director, Mark Geraghty, said of that production: "The Americans can’t believe we’re building what we’re building for the budget that we have. They can’t believe the speed and what they call ‘the lack of people’. You get the job done with less people and in less time." However, Ireland’s Section 481 tax break also makes the country a desirable location, along with the current weakness of the Irish pound. Ireland’s currency is tied to the Euro and has weakened steadily against the dollar during the past 12 months. (Source : Screendaily)
OZYMANDIAS CORNER
* A small but deadly worker ant I have in the industry here posted this for me this week about a new Irish flick from the daughter of Jim Sheridan (In The Name Of The Father, My Left Foot etc.):
hello mr Ozymandias, sir.
anyhoo, formalities aside, just thought I'd mention I've had a gander at a couple of FX shots for a film called DISCO PIGS, which Kirstin Sheridan (Jim Sheridan's daughter) is directing. havent actually seen the film yet. anyhoo I saw a sequence of shots similar to the Massive Attack Teardrop video, i.e. baby in womb. Advance hype-O-matic type of thing. Film delivery date is Christmas, that Chick from Felicias journey is in it, complete with, what appears to be from the couple of clips I've actually seen a rather stagy "oirish" accent. hopefully it wont suck, I dont know. I suppose I'll keep you posted, or something, if you give a shit. Why are Irish films NEVER shot anamorphic?
needless to say I wish to remain anonymous, so umm, call me Mr_ant.
* The Foyle International Film Festival has just wrapped up "north of the border!" as we say down here...... Bronagh Corr, the programmer, was in touch.....
Dear All,
The Winners at 13th The Foyle Film Festival 2000 LIM Awards are
Best Irish Short went to BUSKERS directed by Ian Power
Best International Short went to LOSING TOUCH directed by Sarah Gavron (UK)
Best Animation went to THE TALE OF THE RAT WHO WROTE (UK/Ire) directed by Billy O'Brien
and Finally Best Film went to ROOM TO RENT directed by Khaled El Hagar (UIP)
Special mention must also be made to an Out of Competiton Screening, which was very well received at FFF that is 'Adrian Walsh: Master of The Universe' by Shimmy Marcus. (I AGREE!!!! REVIEWED BY ME ON AICN AT - OZ!)
The results of the competiton winners are currently posted on the festival web-site FoyleFilmFestival.Com
* I should emphasise for our non-Irish readers (and even some of our actual Irish readers I imagine!) that Conan writes a bit like Joyce in Finnegan's Wake..... Having said that he was at the charity premiere of Peter Sheridan's version of Brendan Behan's Bortal Boy the other night and he most definitely didn't like what he saw.........
Oz, did ya see that Borstal Bollocks the other night at the mar ya world prem... it was brutal, boy, brutal altogether... 'borstal???, twas like a young gents finishing school full of naughty cheeky chappies up to all kinds of jolly japes... it was obviously made for a tanner and whatever money they had they didn't even spend it on extras... getting a yank in to play BB was plain stupid... as for the aptly named Yorkie, he should wrap it up and retire, he was the sixties/seventies equivalent of Hugh Grant and that schtick dont age so well... after the Mammy and this load of shite they should rename their company hells kitties - everything they do is so sweet and inoffensive...yet another Boring Scannan (telling our own stories) film for the punters to ignore...
Conan Drumm
L8r,
Ozymandias.
Ain't It Cool News - Ireland/UK Office,
Penthouse Suite,
Ozymandias Towers,
Dublin,
Ireland.
Mail me @ THIS LOCATION NOW DAMMIT
***************************************************************
REVIEWS
Ozymandias here still... Here it is - the first review from the first ever Dublin Euro AICN geek day out! Santa, Phil Connors, myself and a few other civillians who would prefer to remain nameless checked out the much vaunted CTHD.....
* CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
REVIEW BY SANTA
I’VE NEVER SEEN ANY OF ANG LEE’S FILMS before, but on the strength of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON I guess I’d better check ‘em out. That said, almost everyone I went to see the screening of the latest Chow-Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh medieval-super-hero-warrior-martial-arts-historical-epic-thing with assures me that each one - SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, THE ICE STORM and RIDE WITH THE DEVIL etc. could have been directed by a completely different person.
And each of those people were all unanimous in their praise (well, Oz seemed was a wee bit reserved… but maybe that’s just his way, holding it all in for a SEARINGLY ACCURATE review…!) for CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (henceforth to be referred to as CTHD). That it could well be the best film of the year. That it was a shoo-in for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars. That it might even get a Best Picture Nomination (doubtful, in my opinion). That it is the greatest martial arts film, in the world… EVER! (I’ll reserve judgement until AVALON and WINDTALKERS) That it was the people’s favourite at Cannes… well, Cannes gave DANCER IN THE DARK the Palme D’Or, and while it was an interesting and memorable film, I don’t think it really deserved the honour.
But it would be churlish not to tell you how I ran around like a child on Christmas morning after seeing CTHD… it reminded me of the first time I saw HARD BOILED… the next day I was breathlessly telling all my friends about this revolutionary action film I had come across - something they HAD to see with all due haste. Naturally enough, they returned the next day complaining of the "Heap of Shite" they had soiled their video players with. This was Ireland 1994, remember? These were people whose idea of action began with Jean-Claude and ended with Seagal. They had never seen anything like it, and because it was new and subtitled and didn’t have a single recognisable face they DID NOT LIKE IT.
I worry that some people might react to the more typically Hong Kong elements of CTHD the same way. Most people in the English-speaking world haven’t seen ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA etc. and will react to the Wire-Fu antics with bemused puzzlement or downright ridicule. For those of you who can suspend your disbelief for a moment, you’re going to have the breath ripped right out of you. I’ve heard tell that directors who’ve cut their teeth on years of Drama or Comedy or whatever - that these are the people who end up creating the most astonishing action-sequences… I don’t know how true this is in Ang Lee’s case, or how much we should lay credit to fight co-ordinator Woo-Ping Yuen.
Regardless. They’re amazing. End of story.
But the reason this has a BIG chance of achieving a massive audience is that it has pushed all the right buttons in relation to the story. People are going to care whether Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh will ever get a single moment of happiness. People are going to feel for the star-crossed romance of brigand Chen Chang and governor’s daughter Zhang Zi-Yi. And people are going to have a lump in their throats in the last five minutes.
It’s not without it’s faults… minor quibbles on my part. Maybe a little more sounds of impact during the fight sequences. Maybe more of the past between Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh… well, more of them would have been nice, period. And halfway through the film, we slide into a LONG extended flashback that threatens to drag a little. But as I said, all minor quibbles.
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON is like a waking dream; this weird hybrid between high melodrama and ass-kicking action. Like the characters in it, it floats through your head, leaving you ready to see it again…
Which can’t be a bad thing, can it?
(One last note - young Zhang Zi-Yi could well be destined for greatness if this film does even half as well as it deserves to. She’s a young actress - only been in one other film I can find - but she’s a heartbreaker, and an amazingly agile one at that.)
* CHOPPER
REVIEW BY OZYMANDIAS
Chopper is another great reason (as if I needed another one!) to love Aussie cinema. In it, Eric Bana is astonishing real life famous psycho criminal and best selling author Mark “Chopper” Read (and no, you’re right, he doesn’t get the nickname from his love of the strangely shaped bikes of the early 1980’s) with the story taking a semi-documentary style look at his rise to fame in prison, release back into the real world, return to prison and the self promoting legend that has made him one of
the most successful modern authors in the land of Oz.
In Chopper the storytelling is stylish and tight, the visuals all shot in various dull neon shades of dank green, orange and red and, in Aussie comedian Eric Bana, the movie has a broad, intense, funny, scary charismatic, convincing lead actor capable of bringing the legend to life. Yes, it is graphically violent in places and not for the faint of heart so beware if you were planning to bring your Granny along. Having said that, if you’re the type of person who socialises with your Granny I advise that you seek professional help as soon as possible.
Chopper is the second debut feature from a pop video director out in Dublin this week (McG’s Charlie’s Angels being the other) and both hit the mark in their own way. Both are very funny, brash, stylish and violent (granted in completely different ways) but if you are in any way adventurous then a trip to the Irish Film Centre this weekend to see a great big Chopper will be by far the more memorable one.
Ozymandias.
* SNATCH
REVIEW BY EDGARD
For this review, I will use the Harry's way : first, talk about the context of my viewing, then I will write about the movie itself. You see the last two weeks have been really busy for me, for my work. Luckily my work requires I travel once in a while, and the last two weeks were only that : travel and meetings... To Belgium for 3 days, then Italy for a week, a quick stop at home (just the time to see BLAIR WITCH 2 and to find out it sucked... my worst movie of 2000 so far), then 3 more days in Monaco... As much as I like to travel for work, I have to say that I was quite happy on Friday to get home... My girlfriend being away, it was my first week-end in the last 4 weeks to be here by myself, free to do whatever I wanted, free of meetings, free of any obligations... So my goal for the week-end was to have fun... and catch a few movies... My first one was CHARLIE ANGEL'S which was... well really fun... a movie that doesn't take itself seriously, a movie that just makes you forget about anything else but Cameron's ass (I understand Harry's obsession now), and a movie that proves hopefully that fun and action can still work together... As always when I enjoy a film, as soon as I leave the theatre I just want to see another film... it's like when you eat a candy you love, you must take another one... As it was raining in Paris anyway and I had no plans before the evening, I went to see SNATCH (see I finally get to the film).
I was not in a rush to see the film as the trailer shown here was not that great... Also I had read a lot in different British mag that SNATCH was not that different of Guy Ritchie's first film... but so what ? Actually SNATCH is the funniest and fastest movie I saw in a long long time... I could not help but think of PULP FICTION... but funnier and faster... Why do I insist it's fast ? Well because once the movie starts, Guy Ritchie really doesn't stop once... he takes you (grabs you would be more accurate) for a rollercoaster ride... from one character to another... keep your arms inside the vehicle and hang on... Like CHARLIE ANGEL'S, SNATCH is made for the pleasure... pure pleasure... these two films are not made for the same public (SNATCH can be violent and really not politically correct - if such a term still exists - ... which makes it way better of course) but they have the same goal : to make you have a great time, to make you forget the rest, to make you thank the gods of cinema, to make you wait for the DVD.... Mission accomplished... As I said before, I of course like SNATCH better because it's more adult oriented, and because I love this British style (some scenes reminded me of TRAINSPOTTING). The dialogues especially are really funny.... my best quote goes to Vinnie Jones when he faces the 3 black guys (those who saw it will not what I mean and no, I won't spoil it for the rest... you must hear it yourself). Why the producers of GONE IN 60 SECONDS made Vinnie Jones mute in their movie is beyond me... this guy should always get dialogues like in SNATCH... The rest of the cast is also wonderful : I don't know much the names of all the British actors but they're all great anyway... So are Brad Pitt, Dennis Farina and Benicio Del Toro (we don't see him enough). And the squeaky dog ! At first I was worried to get lost as it's quite impossible to remember the names of the characters as they're so many and the names are so weird (Boris the Blade, Bullet Tooth Tony, One-Punch Mickey), but Ritchie manages to make things clear quickly. He's definitely a brillant director and I already look forward for his next film (and let's hope that he doesn't soften his style like Danny Boyle did). And as the story... well let's face it, it's just an excuse here to put all these actors together... just a gimmick to make them run after each other... if you want to know it's quite easy : a big diamond, a lot of different gangsters after it and boxing games... that's it (you can add the squeaky dog to that also).
While SNATCH will certainly don't get the "cult" status of a TRAINSPOTTING, while many will complain that Guy Ritchie is not taking any risk by serving us a LOCK,STOCK... 2, you would be stupid to miss the fun... This is pure candy ... fast, fun and furious... What should you be picky ? Movie is all about forgetting about the rest...
Edgard
I DISAGREE
This week, once again Ethan will "disagree"... but on that one I will agree with him (if you follow). I also like CRYING FREEMAN... a cool - and faithful I think - adaptation of a manga. My only problem with that film was the use of the female voiceover to tell the story... I never thought it was necessary... but that's me. Let's just say that Christophe Gans' next film is the much awaited BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLVES (should be released in France on January 31st... we will certainly keep you informed on that one). And I will add that it's a pity that Mark Dacascos never made it to the big list, he shows here the same talent Brandon Lee had in THE CROW.... But let's hear from Ethan now...
* CRYING FREEMAN
CRYING FREEMAN is one of those movies that remain in shadows. This one ended up being obscure because of its casting. It starred Mark Dacascos with Mako, Julie Condra and Tcheky Karyo backing him up. This typical blend of A supporting talent and B leads convinced people that CRYING FREEMAN was another action exploitation flick that tried to win promotion from B to A list. Those projects usually have to be avoided since they feature softened A aestetics in B enviroment.
CRYING FREEMAN is an exception. It is a great video actioner that will prove to be a cult classic very soon. Its director Christophe Gans is also an up-and-coming force so I guess you should check his feature-lenght debut. Gans sharpened his teeth in Brian Yuzna-produced omnibus NECRONOMICON, based on H.P. Lovecraft`s work. Like most of Yuzna`s endeavors this project failed since its ambition surpassed the budget. Gans` episode was the best one in the mix.
CRYING FREEMAN has a typical script, slightly overdone by melodramatic voiceover and talks about honour that are derived from Hong Kong bloodshed cinema. All these elements lack the authentic punch. Even though, CRYING FREEMAN plays out nicely thanks to Gans` direction. Gans is a well-known fan of HK mind-bending cinema. He even wrote some great articles on the topic. In CRYING FREEMAN he does the `white director in HK mytholgy` routine. And he is great. Kudos to pioneer Robert Clouse (ENTER THE DRAGON, THE GAME OF DEATH, BLACK BELT JONES)but this guy really digs the Hong Kong cinema. Gans` approach isn`t too innovative. He simply synthesizes top HK techiniques and fits them into CRYING FREEMAN`s limited budget. Thus this movie shows off stylish slo-mo gunplay, Dacascos performing heroics with knives and swords along with some classy B-movie nudity.
Gans` movie lacks gore and HK grit. Hong Kong actioners are stylish and gritty as well. Their heroes are battle-scarred and their guns blaze and their shots result in carnage. CRYING FREEMAN is based on a manga comic book so it has more of a neon fettish Japanese feel to it. Even though, manga doesn`t mean no gore. It may look soft yet CRYING FREEMAN is quite tough for all the crap Hollywood gives us.
Dacascos is a hammy actor but Gans uses him well and he always supports him with either action or details or characters that fill the gaps in his acting skill. In 1993 Fox produced Sheldon Lettich`s ONLY THE STRONG. That movie was set to be Dacascos` ticket to mainstream. Such move was badly timed since Van Damme did HARD TARGET during the same season. This is why Dacascos failed and ended up in the cruel world of direct-to-video with Thomas Ian Griffith who tried his New Line break EXCESSIVE FORCE at the same time. So, like Griffith, Dacascos is the victim of the Van Damme era. By seeing CRYING FREEMAN you uncover the world of quality that rarely emerges in the `direct-to-video` production.
I must congratulate Christophe Gans on his courage to tackle such a popular manga mythology with such limited resources. I can`t wait to see Gans` upcoming werewolf project `Brotherhood of the Wolf` starring Vincent Kassell and Monica Bellucci. If you want another look at Crying Freeman fable check Clarence Fok Yiu Leung`s DRAGONS FROM RUSSIA.
Most people who saw CRYING FREEMAN agree that it is a fine picture. So this review is aimed at the community that hates this movie without seeing it, only because it starred Dacascos and got produced by Yuzna and Samuel Hadida. Free your mind and enter the filthy world of `direct-to-video`!!!
Ethan
Well that's it for this week folks... have a good movie week... actually have a good week period (don't need to see movies to have good times after all... thank god for that)... don't forget that Euro AICN would like to hear from you if you have news or reviews to share... send everything to the Paris Euro AICN offices at OUR SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ATOP THE EIFFEL TOWER!!!
