I'm what you'd call a devout Shaw Brothers fanatic. With that bias in mind, Killer Constable (Lightning Kung Fu) is an interesting diversion from your standard Shaw fare being made at the time. As others have stated before me, the "Kung Fu" in the US video re-title is a bit misleading as there is little to no actual kung fu in the film. Instead we're treated to a lot of swordplay. Not the kind of swordplay you'd expect to see in one of Chu Yuan's jiang hu epics, but a more gritty, rough-and-tumble style of fighting that almost seems out of place in a Shaw Brothers film (much of the action courtesy of a Japanese choreographer whose name escapes me). Shaw veteran Chen Kuan Tai (Boxer From Shantung, Crippled Avengers) plays the constable of the title, Ling Tien Ying, who is ordered to hunt down the men responsible for robbing the imperial treasury of 2 million taels of gold. To make matters interesting, he's given only 10 days to do it. Tien Ying is pretty damn ruthless. An anti-hero if there ever was one, but it's a testament to both Chen Kuan Tai as an actor and Kuei Chih Hung's skill a director that we still care what happens to this man and sympathize with him even after he's done some very questionable things. Speaking of director Kuei Chi Hung, he does a great job of instilling a strong sense of atmosphere and maintaining it throughout the picture. Also, anyone familiar with John Woo's The Killer will immediately recognize a couple of scenes that were clearly used/lifted for Woo's film nearly 10 years later. In fact it's so obvious that I'm surprised I've never read anyone commenting on it before. Perhaps it's due to this films lack of availability? Whatever the case, I'd be interested to hear Woo's take on it. Not to give too much away, but the scenes in question involve a blind girl and two antagonists at each other's throat in the same room, ready to kill one another. Both men play along in lying to the blind girl about the one man's identity and what his intentions really are. Sound familiar at all?
Reviews
2 Reviews
Lost in Translation
(2003)
Well acted, personal film with a lot of heart
18 October 2003
Very personal film with fine performances from the two leads. Bill Murray is perfectly sublte (more subdued than you're probably used to seeing him) and with just the right amount of classic Murray quips in all the right places. Ms.Johansson is the ultimate mature-past-her-years New Yorker chick, and it's her most appealing character to date. Direction by Mrs.Coppola is assured and extremely confident given that this is only her second feature (I've yet to see The Virgin Suicides, but have just reserved a copy after seeing this). Fine filmmaking must run in the family blood.
Didn't notice who the DP was but all the shots of Japan were beautiful. Even what might normally be seen as a drab, ordinary interiors such as a narrow hallway or a hotel room somehow seem more interesting, even pretty to look at here. Perhaps that's just the spell of Tokyo.
Ultimately Lost In Translation is a simple, bittersweet story of two strangers who meet briefly at pivotal points in their lives. Without hearing much about it beforehand, I was quickly able to get lost in the deliberate, measured pace of the film. One of the things I found so enjoyable was how Mrs. Coppola often let the language of film do the talking rather than the characters. There is more said here between these two in shared, knowing glances than in spoken word. So while I couldn't hear a word Murray was whispering to Johansson at the end of the film, not a word was "lost".
Didn't notice who the DP was but all the shots of Japan were beautiful. Even what might normally be seen as a drab, ordinary interiors such as a narrow hallway or a hotel room somehow seem more interesting, even pretty to look at here. Perhaps that's just the spell of Tokyo.
Ultimately Lost In Translation is a simple, bittersweet story of two strangers who meet briefly at pivotal points in their lives. Without hearing much about it beforehand, I was quickly able to get lost in the deliberate, measured pace of the film. One of the things I found so enjoyable was how Mrs. Coppola often let the language of film do the talking rather than the characters. There is more said here between these two in shared, knowing glances than in spoken word. So while I couldn't hear a word Murray was whispering to Johansson at the end of the film, not a word was "lost".
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