Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Well, looks like there's a gem out there just waiting for astute viewers to ferret it out. MR. BEAKS has become a trusted friend here at AICN. Most recently, he sent us a review of BRIDGET JONES' DIARY, a film he had a great time with. He's found another movie now that's making him flip his lid, and it sounds like he's not alone. I've heard vague rumbles about the film since last year's Sundance, and according to Beaks, Mike D'Angelo just put the movie on his ten best of the year list. I know I've got a major jones to see this thing now. Anyone from Lions Gate out there with news on the film's release pattern?
A wild melding of Hong Kong cinema, Spaghetti Western aesthetic, and the hard-nosed, if fascist, crime dramas of Don Siegel, NOWHERE TO HIDE, from Korean helmer Myung-se Lee, packs in more dizzying style per frame than any film in recent memory, while also managing to be the best meat-and-potatoes action flick since John Woo and Ringo Lam went Hollywood.
An apparent sensation at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, this delirious blast of cinematic verve was inexcusably relegated to also-ran status in the wake of the typical high-altitude-induced raving over some aggressively average indie offering (this year’s winner: GIRLFIGHT.) As a result, NOWHERE TO HIDE is just now receiving its initial release (via Lions Gate) in select markets with less ado than the latest Julia Ormond vehicle (I’m told they’re still made clandestinely in Argentina.)
As with many Asian actioners, the plotting is threadbare, with the protagonist(s) easily distinguishable through over-exaggerated physical characteristics. Ostensibly, the story concerns the pursuit of Chang Sungmin (Sung-kee Ahn,) a murderous crime lord with a seemingly endless number of lackeys to run interference for him, while he remains a step ahead of the authorities. The detectives assigned to the case are Kim (Dong-Kun Jang,) the sensible, impossibly handsome good cop, and Woo (Joong-Hoon Park,) the obligatory, fisticuffs-prone, loose-cannon with a slouched-over gait that gains immediate placement in the pantheon of Classic Bad-Ass Character Traits. Following a murder in broad daylight on the "40 Steps" (a set-piece with a none-too-subtle similarity to Eisenstein,) Sungmin’s capture becomes the number one priority for these overworked homicide detectives, necessitating an obsessive dedication that ensures the ruination of their personal lives.
The telling of a story, however, seems initially to be of little interest to Lee, as he stages a chaotic pre-credit sequence (shot in overexposed B&W) so tricked up with insane stylistic flourishes (my favorite being the sudden morphing of any given shot into an expressionistic freeze-frame) that one feels compelled to cry "Uncle!" One particularly frenzied moment occurs when Woo, attempting to apprehend a key suspect, sets off an absurdly choreographed brawl that veers from graceless grappling to a waltz to a cartoonish free-for-all depicted in silhouette. Fortunately, Lee does calm things down occasionally, allowing for some economic character development and, of course, furthering of the plot before plunging the audience into another hyper-kinetic set piece. What's remarkable, though, is that somehow, as with the best Asian action films, a genuine affection for these hard-bitten detectives takes hold, and the dilemma facing Woo and Kim, that this murder spree can be halted through their efforts alone, attains an unexpected poignancy.
Most refreshing, in this age of MTV/Commercial-inspired filmmaking, Lee shoots many of these sequences in long takes, allowing one to not only appreciate his masterful framing, but to also soak in the vibrant cinematography turned in by Kwang-Seok Jeong and Haeng-Ki Song, which, in the spirit of Lee's penchant for sampling, bears the marked influence of Wong Kar-Wai's collaborations with Christopher Doyle.
By the time the film reaches its rain-drenched, railway finale, Lee has achieved the operatic tone of a Sergio Leone western (the soundtrack even samples the "Death Rattle" from Morricone’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST score.) It’s the final, thrilling moment in a movie filled with visceral charges unlike even the most jaded action film junkie has ever experienced. For a film that borrows from so many disparate sources, it’s a credit to the singularly talented Lee that he has created a true original through synthesis.
