So Close
Music: Nothing in Particular
Book: Several academic texts, dont think you would want to know what they are. (References for the MAS essay competition thing)
It’s amazing how a morning fitness session and a 2-hour talk/drink down at Far East Square does wonders for mind, body and soul.
Elsewhere, put Shu Qi, Zhao Wei and Karen Mok together in a fast-paced thriller, with an unexpectedly incredible plot, and you’ve got one of those irresistible formulas that I myself cannot resist. So Close is one of those Chinese movies that deserves watching.
It’s interesting because I know most of you wouldn’t. Such shows very frequently draw flak and tempt ignorance from many people, in particular smartass people who don’t think much of “just another thriller”, or stupid English elitists who wouldn’t bother catching a Chinese movie. Or rather, don’t bother catching a Chinese movie based in a modern day setting—because I expect even English-speaking people would have caught things like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Hero. If you haven’t watched those (or other great Chinese films) I reserve comment. Admittedly, I caught it only by chance when my mum turned the tv on, and when I caught a glimpse of Shu Qi’s incredibly pretty face. Yes, this is one of the few times I will ever offer my opinion on the physical. She’s gorgeous.
But I prefer Karen Mok, actually. Her overall looks are inferior but her acting was good, really good. Directing was impressive. Let me go check who the fellow is. Cory Yuen. Yup, one name I will take note of from now. I can’t really elaborate it in words but Chinese shows have that kind of directing treatment that somehow makes the film look constantly fresh, constantly alluring, constantly different from Western-made films. Of course, I do admit there is a bias to that because by far no western female artistes have made me go wow the way those three Chinese actresses in the film made me, both in terms of looks and acting.
For most people I think the biggest turn-off would be the apparent plot of the movie. Just take a look at its synopsis and you’ll know why. I guess there is always the tendency to think such action thrillers are all hype and nothing much else. You’ve got to watch it before you’ll say to yourself, hey the hype is justified- AND this isn’t some no-brainer show. I was very, very touched when Shu Qi died; it was unexpected, and two-thirds of the show was spent building up on her. That wasn’t the differentiating factor though, because in all sorts of thrillers such twists are common enough, even if they do manage to *shock* you. What makes it go a class higher, for me, was the way cop and bandit went hand in hand later on. Yeayea, some of you might sigh. You might want to erase this sort of mindset. Yeayea was the thing I thought when I read the back cover of Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code; at the end of it all I could’ve sworn they were amongst the best books I would recommend. They’re more intellectual than you think, both the books and Chinese shows like this.
Besides the emotionally captivating and intellectually stimulating parts of the well-built plot there’s still this certain element X they have that western films don’t, at least based on my limited experience. I’ll refer you back to another Chinese film I caught in the middle of this year. Um forgot the title though, it wasn’t anything big. But there was this part where some highly-trained, machine-like assassins were running from the police. They got themselves into another bad-guys hideout in a run-down tenement, the sort you most commonly see in HK, the bad-guys being conventional bank robbers. Both groups got into an innocent family’s unit. They sat together and had a Chinese-style dinner while the cops encircled the building. They talked, they made merry, totally cool bout things. After an ingenious middle plot of escaping from legions of highly-trained troopers some of them died. The chief of the assassin group died. The chief of the robbers’ group decided to complete his newly made friend’s last task of assassinating someone. He goes. He gets caught. I think he got shot in the end. Might not sound impressive down here, but seriously if you’ve watched it you’ll feel a very strong impact when both of the main bad guys died. At the end of the show it hit me hard—the show had made me, quite subtly, connect with the baddies more than the good guys. They were the polite ones, they didn’t harm anybody, they were loyal to each other; the very fact that they died in the end served as a very poignant thinking point of who were the bad guys after all, and who were the ones who deserved the happy ending—and why.
It’s this sort of X element, coupled with good directing and actors that adds critical flavour to a *normal* thriller plot. The Western ones, whilst arguably more flamboyant, lack the very X element that transcends conventional emotional themes in the story.
Plus, the likes of Shu Qi, Zhao Wei and Karen Mok are refreshing changes from the likes of Brad Pitt, Hugh Grant and Renee Zellweger don’t you think.
Book: Several academic texts, dont think you would want to know what they are. (References for the MAS essay competition thing)
It’s amazing how a morning fitness session and a 2-hour talk/drink down at Far East Square does wonders for mind, body and soul.
Elsewhere, put Shu Qi, Zhao Wei and Karen Mok together in a fast-paced thriller, with an unexpectedly incredible plot, and you’ve got one of those irresistible formulas that I myself cannot resist. So Close is one of those Chinese movies that deserves watching.
It’s interesting because I know most of you wouldn’t. Such shows very frequently draw flak and tempt ignorance from many people, in particular smartass people who don’t think much of “just another thriller”, or stupid English elitists who wouldn’t bother catching a Chinese movie. Or rather, don’t bother catching a Chinese movie based in a modern day setting—because I expect even English-speaking people would have caught things like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Hero. If you haven’t watched those (or other great Chinese films) I reserve comment. Admittedly, I caught it only by chance when my mum turned the tv on, and when I caught a glimpse of Shu Qi’s incredibly pretty face. Yes, this is one of the few times I will ever offer my opinion on the physical. She’s gorgeous.
But I prefer Karen Mok, actually. Her overall looks are inferior but her acting was good, really good. Directing was impressive. Let me go check who the fellow is. Cory Yuen. Yup, one name I will take note of from now. I can’t really elaborate it in words but Chinese shows have that kind of directing treatment that somehow makes the film look constantly fresh, constantly alluring, constantly different from Western-made films. Of course, I do admit there is a bias to that because by far no western female artistes have made me go wow the way those three Chinese actresses in the film made me, both in terms of looks and acting.
For most people I think the biggest turn-off would be the apparent plot of the movie. Just take a look at its synopsis and you’ll know why. I guess there is always the tendency to think such action thrillers are all hype and nothing much else. You’ve got to watch it before you’ll say to yourself, hey the hype is justified- AND this isn’t some no-brainer show. I was very, very touched when Shu Qi died; it was unexpected, and two-thirds of the show was spent building up on her. That wasn’t the differentiating factor though, because in all sorts of thrillers such twists are common enough, even if they do manage to *shock* you. What makes it go a class higher, for me, was the way cop and bandit went hand in hand later on. Yeayea, some of you might sigh. You might want to erase this sort of mindset. Yeayea was the thing I thought when I read the back cover of Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code; at the end of it all I could’ve sworn they were amongst the best books I would recommend. They’re more intellectual than you think, both the books and Chinese shows like this.
Besides the emotionally captivating and intellectually stimulating parts of the well-built plot there’s still this certain element X they have that western films don’t, at least based on my limited experience. I’ll refer you back to another Chinese film I caught in the middle of this year. Um forgot the title though, it wasn’t anything big. But there was this part where some highly-trained, machine-like assassins were running from the police. They got themselves into another bad-guys hideout in a run-down tenement, the sort you most commonly see in HK, the bad-guys being conventional bank robbers. Both groups got into an innocent family’s unit. They sat together and had a Chinese-style dinner while the cops encircled the building. They talked, they made merry, totally cool bout things. After an ingenious middle plot of escaping from legions of highly-trained troopers some of them died. The chief of the assassin group died. The chief of the robbers’ group decided to complete his newly made friend’s last task of assassinating someone. He goes. He gets caught. I think he got shot in the end. Might not sound impressive down here, but seriously if you’ve watched it you’ll feel a very strong impact when both of the main bad guys died. At the end of the show it hit me hard—the show had made me, quite subtly, connect with the baddies more than the good guys. They were the polite ones, they didn’t harm anybody, they were loyal to each other; the very fact that they died in the end served as a very poignant thinking point of who were the bad guys after all, and who were the ones who deserved the happy ending—and why.
It’s this sort of X element, coupled with good directing and actors that adds critical flavour to a *normal* thriller plot. The Western ones, whilst arguably more flamboyant, lack the very X element that transcends conventional emotional themes in the story.
Plus, the likes of Shu Qi, Zhao Wei and Karen Mok are refreshing changes from the likes of Brad Pitt, Hugh Grant and Renee Zellweger don’t you think.
2 Comments:
I caught 'So Close' on cinema when it came out, and I liked it! Actually I still remember getting mortified over the sexual innuendoes made by Karen Mok - because I don't think that'd happen in Chinese films! Apparently I was wrong, hehe.
Hugh Grant and Renee Zellweger, sounds like a certain Bridget Jones' Diary - I kind of like the lines in the movie, though. ^^
Go watch Seven lah.
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