I first watched this film several years before writing this review. I was already familiar with Hong Kong, but superficially. Neither John WooOr Corey YuenOr Sammo Hung, no other iconic directors have yet been combed from cover to cover, let alone Ringo Lame I didn't hear anything at all. I was just looking for a movie with Jerry Trimble starring, also called "Full contact", and accidentally turned on a Hong Kong station wagon instead of an American fighting game.
I must say, I appreciated the non-triviality of the picture. Ungainly Chow Yun Fat Although he looked awkward in comparison with the Asian action heroes I was already familiar with, he sparkled with remarkable charisma. The action was neither Western clumsiness nor Eastern pretentiousness. But most of all I remember the atmosphere, which I have never encountered anywhere before. Half the episodes take place in the background twilight. Years later, it was revealed that Ringo had compiled Won Kar Wai's filming style. They say that Wong Kar Wai himself borrowed the technology from his older comrade Patrick Tam. But in general, it doesn’t matter who came up with the idea of refraction of light, the only important thing is that it is brilliant. Lightly touching a dark space with light creates a feeling that I would call "cool comfort". The serene thrill with which the director infects the viewer. On the one hand, I am a supporter of the permanent search for fresh ideas, but on the other, I would like such filming to become a permanent companion to phlegmatic cinema.
For all its charming atypicality, I did not like the film. Then from time to time I looked at Lam’s other paintings, becoming more and more convinced that he was mediocrity. No, seriously, you still need to be able to make a movie that sad. But now we are not talking about a barrel of ointment in Ringo’s career, but about a spoonful of honey. When Lam died, I decided to rewatch that same action movie that I couldn’t digest, but left a “lamp” memory of raindrops on the blade of a balisong. As a result, the film was easy and enjoyable, like a summer bike ride. The question arose: this is a great action movie, why didn’t the trick work at the time? And that’s why I didn’t lie down because there was time its – another. Like most Russian-speaking viewers, I grew up watching American action films, which left a number of cliches in our unconscious that insistently demand constant self-return. And if moderately exotic "Evil for Good" or "Hard Boiled" at least partially satisfied this need through familiar clichés, then "Full contact" Already from the first minutes it causes confusion with its deliberate originality.
In short, this is a good film, but you shouldn't rush to watch it. Like its brother in citizenship and era, the film "Banquet", "Full contact" - a movie for a gourmet who has burned through a hundred good Hong Kong films and two hundred bad ones. Watch it right after action movies like "Roadside Diner" - just like stuffing scrambled eggs and bacon into your mouth before you can swallow a piece of chocolate cake.
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Tags: Full contact, Ringo Lam, Frankie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat, Anthony Vaughn
Tags: Full contact, Ringo Lam, Frankie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat, Anthony Vaughn
I'm ready to apologize. Corey Yuen has a brilliant and absolutely amazing “Savior of Souls”. But it’s strange that the sequel, in its own direction, is something outside the universe.
I see no point in arguing further. I have no arguments against such a radical point of view, but I believe that every person has the right to watch what he likes. But to compare “trash”, despite the highly artistic fight choreography called “No retreat and no surrender” 1 and 2 (well, what about the third film, the staging of the fights there is no worse) with the simply brilliant “Mad Investigator”, “Blind Detective” , “Patrolmen” or “Heroes Don’t Die”, and to call the latter mediocre is beyond my understanding of modern cinema.
In my opinion, without claiming to be true, there are directors who create cinema, form the laws of the genre, or create the genres themselves. If we talk about Hong Kong-Chinese cinema, then this, offhand, without touching on the whole era of “Show Brothers” with Chang Che and many others, without any doubt there will be Tsui Hark, John Woo, Chin Xiao Tung, Ringo Lam, Johnny To, Zhang Yimou, Chiang Kaige, and, oddly enough, the great, Wong Jing. Koryu Yuen, I bow to him as a stuntman and “action” director. In terms of creating standards for staging “action”, it is just as great. As a director, he's pretty average.
I didn't even know that Ringo Lamb had died. An entire era in “action” cinema has passed. As for the film, for all his charisma, Chow Yun Fat recedes into the background compared to the simply infernal Simon Yam and Anthony Wong. Well, the movie is a classic. Lam's contribution to the development of not only Asian, but also modern action cinema cannot be overestimated. Still, this is a director of a slightly different level, and comparing him with Corey Yuen and even Jackie Chan is incorrect. It's like Scorsese and Antoine Fuqua, for example.
Dmitriy,
I agree that Lam is a director of another level. What is Fuqua, in my opinion, was not given the opportunity to reach the level of skill of Corey Yuen.
NapoleonDinamitte,
Why is Corey Yuen so great, specifically as a director? A director, stuntman and partly an actor of the highest level. His services to the development of the martial arts genre cannot be underestimated. But in my opinion he is a rather average director.
Dmitriy,
Objectively: Corey at one time changed the vector of film development in Hong Kong from the dominance of rural action films to the hegemony of urban ones (along with the same Jackie with his “Police Story”).
Subjectively: it just seems to me that Corey has no equal in the field of efficiency. He made six good films, including:
1) The standard comedy-action film “On Line.” The film raised the genre bar, which no one has yet managed to meet. Although his style did not compile only the lazy.
2) Reference fighting game of a motivational nature “Don’t retreat and don’t give up.”
3) Masterpiece police thriller “Evil for Good”.
4) Just easy-to-understand action films “NeotNeSdav 2”, “Carrier” and “Dead or Alive”.
Only Corey managed to make three action films that I, a meticulous viewer, want to watch regularly. That's why I consider him the best of the best.
NapoleonDinamitte,
The vector you are talking about was set by Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan, and Corey Yuen became, albeit one of the brightest, but their followers. Ringo Lam, along with the same Kirk Wong and the early Johnny To, practically created the genre of the urban crime thriller, which we now see in the form of “Cold Wars”, “Proteges”, “Brothers” and others. Lamb is a classic. Corey Yuen is a talented craftsman as well as a director. As a stunt coordinator and choreographer, he is one of the best.
Dmitriy,
For me, though, Corey is an exemplary action director. And Ringo, Johnny and Kirk are mediocrities. But Ringo had a bright spot in his career - “Full Contact”, To and Vaughn had a ringing emptiness, nothing interesting.
No offense, but I suspect that you are very superficially familiar with Lamb’s works, because even Tarantino acknowledges the influence of his “fiery” trilogy “City on Fire,” “Prison Inferno” and “School on Fire” on his work. Well, Johnny To, in my opinion, today is generally the most brilliant and original director in the whole world. But I don’t argue who likes what.
Dmitriy,
>No offense, but I suspect that you are very superficially familiar with Lam’s works
Repressive position: “Don’t you like Yurka Shatunov? You just didn’t see him.” I watched “School”, and “Prison”, and “City”. Regarding the first two, I’ll say that if I want to wince, I’ll turn on the perestroika smut. All the late Soviet intellectuals knew how to stir up dirt better than the greedy capitalists. But I'm not a masochist, so why?
Regarding “City” - a separate conversation. Both Komm and Khokhlov agree that at one time John Woo and Ringo Lam were a kind of Batman and Joker. But I don’t think so: there’s also opposition for me, “United Russia” versus “KPRF”.
Woo is either a good action movie with strong drama (“Bright Future”, “Bullet in the Head”), or a good action movie with weak drama (“The Hitman”, “Hard Boiled”), or a film that fails in almost all aspects, but blows the roof action (“Bright Future 2”, “Just Heroes”, “Born a Thief”).
Lam (as an action director) is an action movie in which everything is bad: the plot is static, the characters are inexpressive, the dialogue is dull, the action is hacky, the atmosphere is dull. Well, he’s just a creative impotent, there’s no other way to put it. When I watched “Full Contact”, I could not believe that the film was actually made by the “genius” who spat out “City on Fire”, “Undeclared War”, “Combat Alert”, “Sky on Fire” and other slag. Apparently, once in a lifetime even a legless person will jump.
>even Tarantino admits his influence on his work
You, I see, are an idolater, since you write “even” in front of this person of universal adoration, and even think that the fact that Quentin compiled Ringo’s films is a sane argument in defense of Lam.
I think Tarantino is many times more talented than Lam, but this is a compliment in the category of “Moscow has exactly four more airports than Kursk.” The man knows how to come up with cool ideas, bright characters, knows a lot about dialogue, but every time he stumbles over a drawn-out plot, and the film goes down the drain. Only “Death Proof” did he manage to put the finishing touches on. If Lam is a mediocrity, then Tarantino is a craftsman. If only he had a good screenwriter to pair with, his films will not be worth the price. In the meantime, there is something to eat, people are eating it.
I will answer in your style. Just so you know, this Tarantino of yours knows “In Performance” frame by frame. Checkmate? For you, maybe yes, but for me it’s just an interesting fact.
>Johnny To, in my opinion, is today and generally the most brilliant and original director in the whole world
And in my opinion, he is a true symbol of Hong Kong in the second half of the 90s and 00s: he made depressing, meaningless and merciless films.
About Johnny To - this is a shot on the spot. Are “Need You”, “Love on a Diet”, “Wu Yen”, “Justice in My Foot” and “The Spirit of Christmas” and “The Sparrow” depressing and drawn-out films?
Dmitriy,
I was talking about Johnnie To's action films.
“Big Deal”, “Barefoot”, “The Departed”, “Time is Running Out”, “Casino Raiders 2” - a meaningless and mercilessly necessary movie?
Dmitriy,
“The Big Deal,” don’t touch it, is a film by Andrew Kam. Yes, To is listed as one of the three directors, but it is obvious that if he had had his boring hand, the film would not have turned out as great.
I missed “Raiders”, I should watch it.
The rest of the films are dull.
The moody “Barefoot” was choreographed by Corey Yuen.
NapoleonDinamitte,
Mediocrity is a strong word. I think no one would consider mediocrities and emptiness to be classics.