Movie Monday!
Just two movies this week. Tony Leung in one (Infernal Affairs, the inspiration for The Departed), and Javier Bardem in the other (The Sea Inside, based on a true story). Both were really good:
Infernal Affairs: 4 stars. The first thing to say about this movie is that if you rent it becuase you want to see the sexy lady with the gun on the DVD cover, you will be disappointed. She is not in this movie. The second thing is that this is the movie that inspired Scorsese's The Departed. I still haven't seen that one, though. I really liked this movie. The first ten minutes set it up - a cop goes undercover in a Hong Kong gang (aka triad) and a young gang member goes undercover by joining the police. Hijinks ensue! Not really, of course. In some ways, it's a standard cops and robbers kind of movie, but part of what makes it entertaining is the unfamiliar faces. Aside from Tony Leung (who is amazing in this as he is in everything), I didn't know the others although Andy Lau is evidently a huge pop star in Hong Kong. It's action-packed, tense, funny, and also has a few really cheesy scenes where Leung's character interacts with two women - an old girlfriend and a psychologist - over which a cheesy love song plays. Maybe it's a trait of Chinese cops & robbers type movies, to have a love song interlude? At any rate, I recommend this - it's a treat. But those cheesy scenes kept it at four stars. (Cantonese)
The Sea Inside. 5 stars. Wow, Bardem is impressive. I had only seen him in No Country for Old Men. This performance really blew me away. He communicated so much, really with just his voice and his eyes, since the character is a quadriplegic, fighting for the right to end his life. It was a riveting story. I liked the effect of the flying scenes, showing how his mind took him to the sea, and the way they interspersed his dreams with reality. The woman who played his first advisor was so earnest and matter of fact in her desire to help him; the lawyer was less selflessly motivated, but no less desirous of helping him (or of him), and the third woman, Rosa, was completely believable in her feelings and reactions to him. As were the actors playing his family. That's the beauty of not knowing the actors -- you can really believe them. Highly recommend this movie, as much for the performances as for its sensitive portrayal of the questions involved in one's right to die. (Spanish)
Infernal Affairs: 4 stars. The first thing to say about this movie is that if you rent it becuase you want to see the sexy lady with the gun on the DVD cover, you will be disappointed. She is not in this movie. The second thing is that this is the movie that inspired Scorsese's The Departed. I still haven't seen that one, though. I really liked this movie. The first ten minutes set it up - a cop goes undercover in a Hong Kong gang (aka triad) and a young gang member goes undercover by joining the police. Hijinks ensue! Not really, of course. In some ways, it's a standard cops and robbers kind of movie, but part of what makes it entertaining is the unfamiliar faces. Aside from Tony Leung (who is amazing in this as he is in everything), I didn't know the others although Andy Lau is evidently a huge pop star in Hong Kong. It's action-packed, tense, funny, and also has a few really cheesy scenes where Leung's character interacts with two women - an old girlfriend and a psychologist - over which a cheesy love song plays. Maybe it's a trait of Chinese cops & robbers type movies, to have a love song interlude? At any rate, I recommend this - it's a treat. But those cheesy scenes kept it at four stars. (Cantonese)
The Sea Inside. 5 stars. Wow, Bardem is impressive. I had only seen him in No Country for Old Men. This performance really blew me away. He communicated so much, really with just his voice and his eyes, since the character is a quadriplegic, fighting for the right to end his life. It was a riveting story. I liked the effect of the flying scenes, showing how his mind took him to the sea, and the way they interspersed his dreams with reality. The woman who played his first advisor was so earnest and matter of fact in her desire to help him; the lawyer was less selflessly motivated, but no less desirous of helping him (or of him), and the third woman, Rosa, was completely believable in her feelings and reactions to him. As were the actors playing his family. That's the beauty of not knowing the actors -- you can really believe them. Highly recommend this movie, as much for the performances as for its sensitive portrayal of the questions involved in one's right to die. (Spanish)