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srgilliem73
Reviews
Chung Hing sam lam (1994)
A beautiful film...
I had previously seen Wong Kar Wai's two most recent full-length films (In The Mood For Love and 2046) and enjoyed them greatly. I just recently purchased the rest of his catalogue and have been viewing them in chronological order. Tonight I watched Chungking Express.
This film, like all of his films, deals with isolation, loss, and missed connections. It contains two separate stories which, on the surface, are not related. The first story I found to be intriguing though not really so inspiring. The second (which comprises the bulk of the film) was simply amazing! WKW really has a way of placing you into the emotions of his characters! His is an extremely voyeuristic style to film-making. As the story progressed I started to feel uncomfortable as a result of one of the characters' behavior. Then the discomfort gave way to exuberance and I was smiling and even laughing along with this character. I began to sympathize and (god forbid!) even condone what was happening. When the character's game came to an end (as it had to do) I was scared for her but was relieved when her victim(?) also sympathized and condoned her behavior. Then, the story took a turn and it broke my heart in a most profound way. WKW's stories always break my heart, but this one REALLY HURT in a more personal way! I'm not really sure why. But after all the sadness and pain, this story turned around and put the pieces back together!
Beware! This is not a film for mainstream junkies! If you enjoy challenging and thought-provoking movies, then this is a definite must-see! If you have primarily subsisted on a diet of mainstream Hollywood fare but are curious to see the treasures that are possible with daring film-making, then this movie is an excellent gateway drug!
Joshuu sasori: Kemono-beya (1973)
Great capper to an excellent trilogy
I have been looking forward to the release of this DVD (and it's follow-up {Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701's Grudge Song}) for some time. I very much enjoyed the first two movies of this series. After just watching this film, I would have to say that this is probably my favorite of the three.
All three of these movies were directed by Shunya Ito. What is great about them, though, is that, even though they all feature the same lead character (wonderfully played by Meiko Kaji), they are each vastly different from the others.
The first movie (Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion) is more or less a typical Women In Prison movie. But the character of Scorpion is very intriguing - very reminiscent of the anti-heroes of many spaghetti westerns. And the director often used some very interesting and unusual visual approaches to the material.
The second movie (Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41) is a real tour-de-force. Not so much a WIP movie as the bulk of the film has Scorpion and six other escaped inmates on the lam.
This movie (Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable) is the third in the series and the last one directed by Shunya Ito. This one plays out as much more of a crime drama. Once again, our heroine is on the run. But this time out, she has managed to maintain a certain amount of normalcy in her life (relatively speaking anyway). She gets a job, she finds a place to live, she makes a friend on the outside. But, of course, everything has to unravel eventually. FPS: Beast Stable has a more straight-forward story that is told at a more leisurely pace than its predecessors. But I found it to be engaging from beginning to end. And don't worry: there is still plenty of depravity to go around in this movie! But I think these movies transcend most exploitation films because the more disturbing elements are played in a straighter tone rather than being used exclusively for in-your-face shock value. Yes, there were definitely moments in this movie where I cringed mightily. But I didn't feel that they detracted from the value of the story (well, maybe a time or two). One thing I have greatly enjoyed about these films is the continued build-up of Scorpion's mythos. With this entry character development is used much more extensively than in the previous two. We get to see that she is much more than just a stone-hearted vengeful badass!
As I mentioned earlier in this review, a fourth movie followed. It also features Meiko Kaji as Scorpion but had a different director. Without giving anything away I want to mention that FPS: Beast Stable ends in such a way as to make a sequel completely unnecessary. The fourth film is still quite good but it seems to play as a superfluous footnote to a mind-blowing trilogy.
I would highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in out-of-the-ordinary films. FPS: Beast Stable can be enjoyed as a stand-alone piece (as can the first two movies) but I would also recommend watching the others first if you have not already done so.