88 Wing Chun

So I have been feeling a little down and out of sorts these last couple of weeks. Nothing especially wrong, probably just the onset of those winter blues. So the opportunity comes along to watch a film with my best friend, and I am so glad we chose this. Smiles all round, and suddenly life seems a little rosier.

“Wing Chun” is a glorious little fantasy comedy kung-fu movie. Whilst

some of the characters in it are historical, this is NOT in any way a bio-pic (although I think it is based awfully loosely on real events). The criminally underused (on this blog anyway) Michelle Yeoh plays the titular character – a Kung Fu Master who gets involved in all kinds of shenanigans in her local village with some bandits, along with the re-emergence of a childhood sweetheart (Donnie Yen).

The film is funny and light and breezy. There are crazy fight scenes, pantomime level farce, a somewhat surreal ending - all those things that make 1990's Hong Kong Cinema such a delight.

Directed by Woo-ping Yeun (a regular here at Things Fall Apart), the film moves forward with pace, mixing up the outstanding action with no little character development and a huge sense of fun. Yes, some of the humour is a little juvenile (and some translates as a little distasteful), but it avoids ever outstaying it's welcome. Even a character such as King-Tan Yuen's Abacus Fong would normally grate due to too much screen time, but here it just uses her a suitable comic foil for the somewhat more serious Wing Chun. We even get a small cameo by Pei-pei Cheng, which actually could do with being a little longer (Actually, thinking about this a little more, both Michelle and Pei-Pei were both originally dancers rather than trained martial artists – so this makes the relationship of master and pupil even more relevant).

Yeoh is a total star, she has an ability not just to be strong and bad-ass, but also she can portray a sensitive and vulnerable side.  You see the hurt in her face when she realises her childhood sweetheart has mistaken another girl for her, and you sense what she has given up as a woman to continue on her life journey.

If anything, the film is maybe a little too short, the film ends needing just a little more than the short ending it gets, but nothing is ever truly perfect.

There is another film to be made here though – a more realistic (or at least accurate) bio-pic telling the tale of this woman – for without her, you would have had no Ip Man, and onwards maybe no Bruce Lee.

I would actually think this is a good film to choose if embarking on this era of Hong King Cinema – the comedy is multi-cultural, and the action is high-concept.  Highly Recommended.

Email Finally

As promised a long time ago, I have finally gotten an email address for the the site. So if you like what you see, or even if you don't, if you have some recommendations, or just want to send me some abuse, you can now contact Things fall apart at:

ThingFallApart@hotmail.co.uk.

Which is nice. As long as I remember to log in and check it :)

Also I finally remembered to go post something for Halloween over at the other blog.

I have some treats in store over the next month or so - I have half written a review of the best film I have seen in ages, another week of posts dedicated to one individual and hopefully something more akin to an essay than a review.

That keep you all interested?

Way Better Than Expected–Republic of Korea 1%

Not for the first time, I have embarked on watching a film with very low expectations, and have ended up rather pleasantly surprised.  Reading the various reviews and indeed the sales blurb, I was expecting something awful, akin to the Demi Moore vehicle “G.I. Jane”.  It also had the dreaded tag of Korean Comedy which also made me shudder.

However, it turns out the film has been a little misrepresented.  The

basic gist is that a young female NCO (Lee Ah-I) wants to join the elite Special Forces division of the Korean Army (the best of the best – hence the 1% in the rather unwieldy title).  Of course she is the first female to do so, and is taken in rather begrudgingly.  And yes, she has to fight the misogyny inherent in the armed forces, along with a somewhat more personal battle with another NCO.

Sounds awful and hackneyed doesn't it?  But it actually rises well above the premise outlined.  It really does not spend too much time on the gender issues (although I have read some arguments that suggest it should have done), and actually spends time looking at other issues: the differences in attitude between the short term conscripts and the career soldiers; the weight of duty; the demands on the senior ranking soldiers; family.

Lee Ah-I is a total winner.  She is charming and, within the confines of a film universe, entirely convincing.  Yes, I know she is possibly physically unlikely to pull off some of the feats of endurance on display, but she portrays a character with depth, purpose and drive.

On the other hand, it suffers from most of the characters being very thinly drawn – I could not really tell the difference between most of the ordinary soldiers.  In fact Ah-I aside, only two other characters are given any depth whatsoever.

I have to admit, a few minutes in my heart sunk, as we had an extended shot of Ah-I in a revealing exercise outfit, displaying her athletic figure in a somewhat “sexy” manner. Now don’t get me wrong, she looked good, but I was afraid the film was going to fall into some kind of semi-raunchy sex comedy.  Happily, this single scene turned out to be an aberration.  In fact, the film is hardly a comedy at all.  Yes, there are some amusing scenes in it, but it felt much more like a standard drama.

This leads me to the core issue I have with the film, something which is oddly both a strength and a weakness.  What film actually lacks is depth. Somewhat  ironically, what seems missing that Korean element of melodrama – there is a background story, and whilst it plays a part in dénouement, it is hardly explored.  Also there it to my eyes a shortcoming in the film’s storytelling – things jump from A to C, forgetting to show B except in Later exposition. Maybe a set-piece too many had bloated the running time forcing some shortcuts. Some things should have been allowed to breathe.

But this also works in the films favour.  We get hints of things – one solder’s crush on Ah-I, the main villain’s family issues, the link between Ah-I’s father and her commanding officer.  And the film rarely dwells, which does allow it to move forward and stop getting bogged down.

You may notice in the previous two paragraphs, I have contradicted myself.  And this is my problem with the film.  I really enjoyed it, despite my incoming reservations.  Yet somehow, it felt as if the was an even better film hiding in here.  And that is why, i think it gets a recommended, but does not get a number on the Things Fall Apart List.

You may also notice there are no IMDB links, for some reason this film has yet to make it in there – but to make up for that – here is a trailer.

K-Drama - My Name is Kim Sam-Soon/My Lovely Sam-Soon

A pleasant few weeks have been spent watching My Name is Kim Sam-soon, the major success of the 2005 Korean drama output. You will find it discussed under both the titles above - but they are the same show.

Kim Sam-Soon (Kim Sun-Ah) is the titular Kim Sam-soon, a 30

something, slightly overweight pastry chef. We meet her as she catches her current boyfriend cheating on her. The story progresses and she encounters a rather arrogant (but awfully handsome) restaurateur Hyun Jin-heon (Bin Hyun). They embark on a rather fractious relationship which becomes more complicated by his loan of a large amount of money (to protect her family home) to pretend to be his girlfriend (and thereby stop his domineering Mother's matchmaking attempts). Jin-Heon is also a rather troubled individual, having never gotten over his previous girlfriend Yoo Hee-jin (Jung Ryu-won) who left him suddenly after a car accident in which he was not only injured, but killed his Brother and Sister-in-Law. Of course, the ex-girlfriend returns, but both Sam-soon and Jin-heon realise that they a actually really in love with each other.

Well I read the synopsis above and realise that not only have I not really covered all the twists and turns, but frankly it sounds like every other Korean Drama. Strong female lead, impossibly handsome young men, domineering mothers, very sick Korean girl, people incapable of expressing their love for each other, et al. The thing is, this one is a little special for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, Kim Sun-ah is wonderful. She isn't a classic beauty (although not ugly either), and yes she is more cuddly than sylph-like. She has a foul mouth, and lets people know what she thinks. That's right - she's normal. Quite often sour-mouthed and grumpy, she although sometimes just lights up the screen with her smile and wit. It really is a winning performance.

Secondly, the show shows great restraint. Sam-soon is an excellent pastry Chef, but we never really have it forced upon us that this is the case - we never go back to the past to see how she got this way. There are a number of fantasy moments (dreams, talks with her dead father, small riffs on other movies) but they are used sparsely, therefore heightening their effect.

The comedy is well done, even when there are jokes that obviously I am not going to fully understand (e.g. Sam-soon is desperate to change her name, I think because it means 'third daughter', and a large part of the show is wound around the conceit of her trying to change it, I am sure it would mean more to native Koreans). It sometimes fails a little when Hyun Bin is called to show some emotion, but I am not sure if that is his fault as an actor, or the nature of his character.

On the down side, there are a couple of B-plots to do with some secondary characters that start halfway through the shows 16 episode run that never really get to any kind of conclusion, which is a shame. It also suffers from my common complain with K-Drama - 16 episodes is maybe a touch too many, and the show loses a little steam around episode 9 for three or four episodes. And the final episode seems to lack a final payoff, but upon reflection, this is maybe a good thing, it makes it a little more realistic. There is also a sudden onset and diagnosis of an illness to Hee-jin in one episode, that is just not medically correct - it would be something that happened over weeks and months not 2 day, but hey, this is TV right?). I have to be honest, and I found some of the music a little annoying too, but maybe I watched too many episodes too close together.

The first episode is not necessarily representative of the series as a whole (just like the last K-Drama I covered her, Prosecutor Princess), so if I have sparked your interest, try and give it about 3 episodes before casting judgement. But I thought it was great, and therefore...Highly Recommended

87 The Housemaid (1960)

Wow.

It turns out there are Korean films made before 1985. And this one is magnificent.

I guess you could say that the concept of the film is similar to the remake I just reviewed. This time we have a more traditional family unit - The Father is a musician (who we see giving music lessons in a paper mill), with his pregnant wife and two young children. At the beginning of the film we see two women that work at the Mill have a crush on the Father, and after one writes a letter professing her love for him, his does the "right" thing and informs the authorities. This leads to a chain of events that leads to the suicide of one of the women, and the other takes the opportunity to introduce another girl from the factory to become the Families live-in Housemaid. A one night stand happens, a pregnancy ensues, and the film continues a decent into a world of infanticide, abortion, suicide and madness.

Unlike the remake, this film is more concerned with the growth of the middle class in 1960's Korea. These people are not super-rich, but they are starting to want things like bigger houses and televisions. The Housemaid herself is obviously a more common sort, and is almost animalistic - watch the way she eyes cigarettes. For me it worked well - this is a film that works on many levels - the societal aspect is not rammed down your throat which I felt the remake did.

The central performance of the film is of course the titular Housemaid - and Lee Eun-shim delivers a performance equal to that of Jeon Do-yeon in the 2010 remodelling. In fact in some ways it is better - her character will by turns elicit pity, empathy, fear, just about all the emotions. Sadly for her, she was never able to get another cinematic role, such was the effect her performance had on the audience.

The film was lost for many years, and there is a restoration available (and as a treat you can see it free and legal here), which for the most part is frankly stunning quality. There are a couple of segments that have not been able to be restored as well, but it does not really affect the enjoyment.

I was surprised how hardcore the events of the film were - especially for 1960 - I can't think of a British or American film that dealt with some of this subject matter so directly. Yes, you see the classic Korean foible of Melodrama in a few scenes, but on the whole, this film is fresh and vibrant. Even the cop-out ending, which I would normally feel critical of, seems to be the right way for the film end - making it an almost Chaucerian morality tale.

In fact, it really opened my eyes - for some reason I expected 1960's Korea to be a little more behind the Western World - but you seriously would not be able to tell much of a difference between 1960's Korea, America or England. So a win in the education department too. And now, Things Fall Apart will have to hunt down some more of director Kim Ki-young's work.

Highest of recommendations.

86 The Housemaid (2010)

A sumptuous remake of one of the most famous pre Hallyu Korean films, this is a classy and cruel tale. Whilst it takes the idea of the original film (which I will also be looking at this week), it turns everything on its head, changing the victims around.

“The Housemaid” tells the story of a young woman (Jeon Do-yeon) who starts working for a very rich couple as a Housemaid/Nanny. The couple have a daughter and have twins on the way. She is aided by a somewhat world weary senior housemaid (Yoon Yeo-jeong). The husband (Lee Jung-jae) eventually works his way in to the young woman's bed. Then she gets pregnant, and things take a turn for the worse - the machinations of the super-rich (including the super-evil Mother) play havoc on the life of the young Housemaid.

Now it is billed as an erotic thriller – but it really is not very erotic at all. Yes, there is a fair bit of nudity, and some awkward and stylised sex scenes (more than most Korean films I have seen), this is not highbrow titillation.

Im Sang-soo is a Director I like - the year started with his impressive "President's Last Bang", and he shows a number of techniques during the film. The first sequence is almost documentary like, the bulk of the film is cold yet gorgeous, and he even finds time to give us a surreal little end piece.

However, the film does struggle in some of the non-visual aspects. It terribly shallow - I think the moral of the tale is little more than “rich people are selfish and bad”. Even when we gain sympathy for (the Father and the little girl) for some of the characters, it is taken away VERY quickly. This might be because of some of the politics behind the film, it looks like the original screenwriter left the project part-way through the production, and even though I am dependant on subtitles, the spoken aspects of the script seem weak, with very little dialogue actually appearing revealing rather than expository. There are interesting scenes, but I never really got inside these peoples heads in any kind of three dimensional way.

Yoon Yeo-jeong as the Older Housekeeper is very good – at first she seems cold and implicit in the actions of the family – until you see that she hates her life of servitude, that obviously she has been compromised by the family (her son has become a Public Prosecutor, and the inference is that the family have assisted in some way). As she sees the way the young housekeeper is treated, she changes, becoming almost motherly. It is subtle, but good.

Most credit will go to Jeon Do-yeon, I know she is a superb actress, and she does not let me down here. But, as with the other characters, I never feel I really know her motivations. We learn so little about her, that it is hard to get any empathy with her situation. I have no idea of her characters age or her past. All I know is that she is poor, her mother is dead and that she has a very good friend.

The music haunted me for days – It was reminding me of another film - and only now I realise it was the non-dialogued scenes in “In The Mood For Love”. I am not sure this is deliberate, but these quiet scenes are actually the best, possibly because of the memories of the other film they invoked.

In the end, this one does get Recommended, as it is a lovely but fundamentally flawed piece of cinema. I don't think you will get any great insight into Korean Society from it, but it is lovely to look at and contains at least two excellent performances. Will it be as feted as the film from which it too its inspiration in 50 years time? Unlikely.