Exiled (Screen Daily Review)

[dleedlee]

possible spoiler warning, in yellow
http://www.screendaily.com/story.asp?st ... 544&r=true

Exiled (Fangzhu)

Dan Fainaru in Venice 06 September 2006 23:00

Dir: Johnnie To. HK. 2006. 100mins.

Less concerned than ever to tell an actual story, and more interested in exploring the possibilities of cinematic language, Johnnie To's latest gang war epic is probably his most eccentric foray yet into the genre. Paying tribute to Westerns of every kind, particularly the spaghetti variety, Exiled sees To briefly leave Hong Kong underworld elections and move to nearby Macau in 1998, just before the island was handed back to China after 400 years of Portuguese rule. The result is an orgy of unchained violence in which a small group of professional hitmen join forces against the rest of the world, with the police looking the other way.

At times both confusing and enigmatic, Exiled stands as much a chance at festivals and on arthouse circuits as it does in midnight multiplex slots, where patrons may better appreciate how To deploys the tools of his trade. The film competed at Venice before appearing at Toronto as a Special Presentation.

Wo (Nick Cheung), a killer fed-up with his career, intends to turn the page and start a new life for himself with his wife Jin (Josie Ho) and their baby. But before he has a chance to settle down he is visited by four of his former associates.

Two of them, Blaze (Anthony Wong) and his partner Fat (Lam Suet), are sent with specific orders from their boss Fay (Simon Yam) to punish Wo for an attempt he made on his life. The other two, Tai (Francis Ng) and Cat (Roy Cheung), staunch believers in principles such as honour and friendship among thieves, are intent on keeping Wo alive, come what may.

After meticulous preparation and set-up, worthy of Sergio Leone, all five pull out their guns, start shooting in all directions - and then as suddenly stop firing, sit down unscathed to dine together and discuss their next move.

From this point they decide to embark on a series of missions together, including the elimination of a local crime boss, Keung (Lam Ka Tung), who is heavily guarded by his own henchmen, and the heist of a tonne of gold bullion, dirty money the police are trying to spirit away before the Chinese take control.

Such assignments naturally provoke more gunfights. The first is staged in a night club, the second in an improvised dispensary; after that the audience will surely lose track, as each battle gradually merges into the next, each bloodier and more violent than its predecessor.

When Wo is seriously injured, his partners whisk him to an illegal clinic to be patched up. Fay's people follow, with the crimelord himself bleeding from the crotch, and the fight picks up again: by the time the magnificent five finally escape there are only four of their number left. As the action intensifies so it becomes increasingly more abstract, leading to an inevitable apocalyptic climax in which all the money is left in the hands of the women.

First and foremost intended as a style exercise through which to flex film-making cinematic muscles, Exiled allows To to excel again in widescreen chiaroscuro compositions. There is almost a mathematical arrangement to the montages in which the tension intensifies with each new cut, until the screen explodes in paroxysms of brutal violence, both aural and visual.

There is also a wicked sense of humour at the unlikeliest moments, such as when a crouching medic chases Fay and dabs at his upper thigh wound while the crime boss is busily exchanging shots with the opposition through an open window

At other times he switches mood suddenly to full blown pathos, like the moment when Wo’s wife Jin, through sheer desperation, points a gun at her own baby.

Initially it would seem futile to try and discern any sense from this fierce bloodshed, but its increasingly unreal nature seems to metaphorically reflect the state of the world we live in, playing out like an ambulatory slaughterhouse that knows no rules and no morals and out of which there is no logical exit (at one point the remaining hitmen toss a coin to decide their next move).

At this point, the individual has to make up his mind whether to continue playing the game as a proxy for others or stand up for himself and what he believes in. The ending, with the horde of unclaimed gold from which none of the killers can profit, evokes memories of such classics as The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre.

To, working through as usual through his own Milkway Images production company, is afforded his usual degree of freedom and uses many actors and technical crew he has employed before, usually more than once. They include expert editor David Richardson, whose imaginative input is essential to To’s work. Cameraman Chang Siu Keung helps the director summon up an apotheosis of mayhem, which often resembles a free improvisation on the given theme – one might as well call it the failure of struggle for survival – that is destined to bawl over all To’s regular fans.

Production companies
Milkway Image

International sales
Media Asia Films

Executive producer
John Chong

Producer
Johnnie To

Screenplay
Yau Nai Hoi
Szeto Kam Yeun
Yip Tin Shing

Cinematography
Cheng Siu Keung

Editor
David Richardson

Production design
Tony Yu

Music
Guy Zerafa

Main cast
Anthony Wong
Francis Ng
Nick Cheung
Josie Ho
Roy Cheung
Simon Yam
Lam Ka Tung
Richie Jen

[Chinoco]

HUH???

Doesn't sound like a sequel to the MISSION at all???