Review Of THE ASSEMBLY: RELEASED 7th MARCH

THE ASSEMBLY

Feng Xiaogang seems to be turning out very impressive pictures at the moment. His last one The Banquet was a loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet and impressed both critics and audiences all around the world. For this project he chose an entirely different time period and subject matter: The Chinese Civil War.

The Assembly tells the story of Gu Zidi (played magnificently by Hanyu Zhang) and the 9^th Company of whom he is the Captain The story kicks off in northeast China in the winter of 1948, during the civil war between the Nationalist KMT and Communist PLA. In a small, ruined town under gray, snow-laden skies, Capt. Gu Zidi and his Ninth Company soldiers distinguish themselves in street combat with a KMT unit. But so enraged is Gu at the loss of his political officer that he shoots a KMT soldier in cold blood after the latter and his men have surrendered. Gu gets a token sentence of a few days' imprisonment, during which he meets fellow prisoner Wang Jincun (Yuan Wenkang), a political officer who's awaiting a possible death sentence for cowardice. When old guerrilla buddy Liu Zeshui (Hu Jun) orders Gu to take the Ninth Company on a special mission, Gu asks to take Wang along with him as the new political officer of the Company.. After valiant fighting by the ill-equipped, tiny Ninth Company against huge KMT forces a couple soldiers claim they've heard the assembly bugle call and argue for retreat. Gu says he's heard no such thing, and the Ninth fights to the last man -- Gu. Here story moves forward two months to when Gu is recovering in a PLA hospital, unable to prove his identity in the Civil War chaos. Three years later, in North Korea, he's fighting the Americans and South Koreans during another civil war, when he saves the life of Er Dou (Deng Chao), who has stepped on a mine. Rest of the film is largely set in 1955, in peacetime China by the Wen River, where a retirement home is being built for army veterans. Now obsessed with recovering his own honor and his comrades' missing bodies, Gu sets out on a mad personal mission against official bureaucracy, helped by Er Dou and Wang's young widow, Sun Guiqin (Tang Yan).

Although The Assembly brings nothing new to the well worn war genre, it is undeniably a powerful film. Unusually enough, the film does not really begin to gather momentum until almost an hour in: Gu Zidi’s journey after the end of the war bringing forth the necessary emotional weight. In fact one could easily say that the war scenes that largely make up the first part are some of the film’s weaker points: shaky-cam shot, Saving Private Ryan style fight scenes that serve only to propel the plot forward. But once Gu Zidi finds himself compelled to honor his dead comrades, the script gets stronger with much help from a towering performance by Hanyu Zhang. His portrayal of Gu Zidi is magnificent : watching him transform from battle-hardened soldier to obsessed war veteran is an exciting and amazing joy. What’s more, his camaraderie with others whom he fought shoulder to shoulder help to enrich the emotional core of the film immensely; by the end of the two hours, one truly gets a sense of the identity, of the core of this man.

The supporting cast are no slouches either, even though they are never given enough chance to shine. Most of the cast perform their duties admirably whilst special mention must go to Deng Chao who bring Er Doue alive even though his character does not appear on the screne until the second half of the film.

The film itself looks gorgeous, especially in the second half when the grey battlefield leave their places to more of China’s beautiful natural scenery. Although most of the battle scenes are shot with the techniques accepted as standard, the rest of the film is full of more serene, static shots, with the camera following the character without disturbing them. There is a sense of space, as each shot shows us the endless, boundless country going on behind the current action. Music is also suitably bombastic with emotional scenes heighted by cues of majestic tunes.

What is wonderful about seeing a film like The Assembly though is its’ infinite humanity. What motivates Gu Zidi, Er Dou and Sun Guigin, the central trio of the film, are their desire to honour their fallen or their desire to help a friend: although each of them may suffer, they never complain. Even near the end when a last minute emotional tiwst seems to turn everything upside down, Gu Zidi does not lose his humanity for more than a minute: his brief speech at his commanding officer’s grave is full of human emotions and illustrates his compassionate heart at its’ best.

I can heartily recommend The Assembly to anyone who wants to see a different kind of war film: set in an unusal period and without the usual maudling emotional blackmail designed to make the crowds weep. The Assembly is the real deal: a humanitarian tale of determination that leaves a mark long after the credits have run.

MIIKE'S 'RYU GA GOTOKU' AVAILABLE ON ENGLISH DVD

Takashi Miike had a good year in 2007, with three major releases - Sukiyaki Western Django, Crows 0 and Like A Dragon -Like A Dragon is due out next week on Korean DVD with English subtitles. Based on the Playstation 2 game of the same name, this is a colorful, Miike-style adaptation with lots of violence, lots of fighting and some fantastic set design. Watch the trailer and decide for yourself:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sqnpSPcM5Kc

SLIT- MOUTHED WOMAN SEQUEL ALL READY TO ROLL OUT!

'A Slit-Mouthed Woman' or 'Carved' as it was known in the USA was a middling, weak , Japanese horror film from 2007. However it must have made enough to please someone somewhere because a sequel is already completed in Japan and gearing up for a release in March.
The story this time around will apparently deal with the origins of the slit-mouthed ghost woman. Rin Asuka will be taking the lead as Mayumi, the high school girl whose face is left disfigured after some unnecessarily close contact with acid.
All the signs point out to an even morre middling,weak sequel so let's just wait and see!

'CHOCOLATE' TRAILER - WATCH AND WEEP

Thai action flick 'Chocolate' released in Thailand on Valentine's Day (14th February for those souls who don't know) looks amazing. I can't say anymore because trying to explain how I feel watching the high-kicking, table-sliding antics of heroine Jeejah. I am stunned. I wanna see this so very much right now. (In the meantime do enjoy the trailer)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4lTbFcHWJEo


Ps. Tony Jaa - Jeejah get married - have children - can you IMAGINE?

PERIOD FILMS GALORE! RED CLIFF!AN EMPRESS AND THE WARRIORS!

First: Trailer for John Woo new, expensive, problematic and intriguing epic Red Cliff is up: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Rbx9oPfFNFs

And next a trailer for Donnie Yen's upcoming period epic, An Empress and The Warriors: http://youtube.com/watch?v=I_H2mCqMuo4

And finally a sneak peek at Thai action extravaganza that is sweeping Thailand at this very moment: Chocolate - Tony Jaa has serious competition: (Well it is made by the same people after all - what did I expect?) Trailer:http://youtube.com/watch?v=j4gGDVFfB4s&feature=related

Until tomorrow!

REJOICE,REJOICE,REJOICE ALL AROUND - CHANK WOOK PARK HAS A NEW LADY FOR HIS FILM!

Finally - after a long to and fro, Chan Wook Park has apparently chosen the leading lady for his new film 'EVIL LIVE'. And the star is to be....drum-roll here, clash of cymbals, james stewart running through:

KIM Ok-Bin.

Chan Wook Park had a lot of trouble because of the amount of nudity required for the role: apparently it is almost as explicit as the recent Ang Lee sexathon 'Lust,Caution'. (i'm being unfair here, Lust Caution was not that explicit; only very inventive in its' explicitness!)

Now go on and shoot the damn film!

Mourn For The Passing Of Kon Ichikawa

One of the greatest humanitarian directors ever to grace the lands, Kon Ichikawa sadly passed away yesterday. For those who have never seen his work, he can easily be classed alongside Ozu or Kurosawa. Following is a brief biography of the (sadly-gone) great man!

Kon Ichikawa has been influenced by artists as diverse as Walt Disney and Jean Renoir, and his films cover a wide spectrum of moods, from the comic to the overwhelmingly ironic and even the perverse. Ichikawa began his career as a cartoonist, and this influence is apparent in his skillful use of the widescreen, and in the strong, angular patterns seen in many of his compositions. He has directed Pu-san (1953), a popular film based on Junichi Yokoyama's "Mr. Pu" comic strip. At various points in his career Ichikawa has shown that he is capable of appealing to a popular audience without compromising his artistry. A great visual stylist and perfectionist, Ichikawa excels at screen adaptations of literary masterpieces, including Soseki Natsume's Kokoro (1955), Yukio Mishima's Enjo (1958), Junichirô Tanizaki's Kagi (1959) and Wagahai wa neko de aru (1975) and Toson Shimazaki's Hakai (1962). He has also remade film classics, such as Yutaka Abe's Ashi ni sawatta onna (1926) (Ichikawa's version: 1952) and Teinosuke Kinugasa's Yukinojo henge (1935) (Ichikawa's version: 1963), transposing them to contemporary settings.

The West was first introduced to Ichikawa when his Biruma no tategoto (1956) won the San Giorgio Prize at the 1956 Venice Film Festival. His epic documentary Tôkyô orimpikku (1965) (released the following year) and Taiheiyo hitori-botchi (1963) explore, with dignity and imagination, the limits of human endurance. He has also worked in the thriller genre, with Ana (1957), Inugamike no ichizoku (1976) and Gokumon-to (1977). Ichikawa tends to present strongly etched, complex characters: the stuttering acolyte who desires to preserve the "purity" of the Golden Pavilion (ENJO); the elderly husband who resorts to injections and voyeurism in order to remain sexually active (KAGI); the member of a pariah class who tries to deny his identity and to "pass" in regular society (HAKAI). More recently, Eiga joyu (1987) is a tribute to the fiercely independent Japanese actress Kinuyo Tanaka, who starred in many of Kenji Mizoguchi's films and was herself a director in later life. On the lighter side, Ichikawa's characters also include a 19th-century cat; a good-hearted, hapless teacher; and a baby who narrates how the world looks from his vantage point. He is especially adept at mixing comedy and tragedy within the same story. Until 1965, Ichikawa's close collaborator was his wife, screenwriter Natto Wada, with whom he produced most of his finest films.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Daniel Yates