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CHINESE FILM NOIR

Today's Takeshi Kaneshiro film was

Duo luo tian shi / Fallen Angels (1995)

in which two "couples" run along parallel plots until the very end when they merge.

The results are a bit confusing because we do not know they are separate stories until we do. In the meantime the mind tries to patch the two together to no avail.

This peculiar mental twist is compounded by each story line itself in which there are many vignettes rather than scenes. Flashes. A bit like a comic strip.

The action itself is zany. What we are seeing is shown straight on and not presented as funny. It just is so.

Then there is the production which is in Hong Kong and modern with a touch of martial arts in some gun play that occurs. It is very hand held with lots of blur and neon lights. Traffic swimming by. Gritty locations.

Look.

It is a stew and a pleasant one if you are willing to sit back and let the film be what it is.

Kaneshiro is the "hero" of one story line. He is a mute who takes over closed shops for the night and invites customers into "his" places of business. See? A bit unconventional.

The other story line is led by a professional killer (Leon Lai ) and his partner who books his work.

While I was watching it my mind produced my old days of night life in Boston. The up-late till closing running around. The street life. The slightly disreputable aura of the whole thing.

I am not sure that there is a day shot in this entire film. All night. scenes. All neon lights. Great. Evocative if you ever lived anything near this life.

I will give this a 4 out of Netflix5 as I know there are some things that I missed. I would like to check those out sometime.

Labels: films