USA, 2004
Director: Clint Eastwood
Score: ***** Year’s 10 Best

It is made clear from the start that MILLION DOLLAR BABY is not a film about boxing. Nor is it about boxers.  As Morgan Freeman’s narration tells the audience at the beginning, boxing is about respect. But just as soon as the viewer is to draw the conclusion that director Clint Eastwood is about to offer a lesson about respect in his new film, the narrator startles the viewer by adding that no one knows what respect is all about. Within the first few minutes of the film, Eastwood slyly tells us the whole purpose of his film – how the main character, though respected by all others, is to learn one more important lesson himself, one that will take the viewer through a powerful and emotional wrenching 2 hours of film. 

Eastwood himself plays Frankie Dunn, a has-been boxer and trainer who cannot live with the guilt of what had happened in the past.  He is tricked then reluctantly trains a girl, Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank in an even better performance than BOYS DON’T CRY) in the sport. In Eastwood’s film, everybody has issues, from Frankie’s best friend and gym manager Eddie (Morgan Freeman) to his priest (Brian F. O’Byrne) down even to the nobody Danger Barch (Jay Baruchel) who frequents the gym. That is actually the secret of what makes the film so compelling. Every character is a real human being. Eastwood’s camera also captures the feelings of Maggie’s opponents through effective facial close-ups.

MILLION DOLLAR BABY works on different levels. For example, the true remorse felt by Frankie rubs off on the audience not through Eastwood’s acting but through his direction (the way the light lifts from his face to display a certain blackness). The sub-plots are interesting enough - the skinny naïve Danger getting his beating; Maggie’s hillbilly family and Eddie’s problems – and these not only keep the film moving but blend effectively into the main plot. Credit goes to Paul Haggis’ exceptional script, adapted from ex-boxer and trainer, Jerry Boyd’s book ROPE BURNS: STORIES FROM THE CORNER. Little metaphors used and bouts of humor enhance the film’s pleasures.

Everyone enjoys violence; the narration goes on at one point.  he film has its share of (necessary) violence.  The scene in which Maggie asks her trainer, Frankie to fix her broken nose so that she will not spew up blood so that she has just enough time to win a bout is graphic enough. Much can be read between the lines as well. Frankie’s decision not to arrange brutal opponents for her reveals his deeper feelings.
MILLION DOLLAR BABY is Eastwood’s 25th film and among his best along with UNFORGIVEN, MYSTIC RIVER, PLAY MISTY FOR ME and my favorite HONKYTONK MAN.  It has spirit, fight and bite – like a good fighter. From spaghetti western nobody to actor, director and composer (he did the music for this one), Eastwood has matured to become one of the master filmmakers. I can clearly say that I look forward to an Eastwood film every year.  And if MILLION DOLLAR BABY is about respect, Clint Eastwood surely knows all about it – as he has gained it slowly but surely over the years. MILLION DOLLAR BABY gets my vote as the best American film of 2004.

Review by Gilbert Seah.

France, 2004
Director: Cedric Kahn
Score: ****

FEUX ROUGES (RED LIGHTS) has been described as an edge-of-the-seat thriller in the tradition of Claude Chabrol and Alfred Hitchcock. Though elements of suspense and anticipation are present, writer/director Cedric Kahn’s (L’ENNUI and ROBERTO SUCCO – two excellent films hardly seen in North America) latest offering, based on the novel by Georges Simenon, is actually the dramatic story of a married couple Antoine (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) and Helene (Carole Bouquet) on a road trip from Paris to the south. RED LIGHTS refer to the stops a couple or individual has to make in order to reach a desired destination. The film begins appropriately with overhead shots of buildings, a playground and other structures in Paris with people shown as miniscule unimportant objects in the background. Kahn then cuts to protagonist Antoine, centering his story on one of many human beings existing today.

FEUX ROUGES bears quite a resemblance in tone to Roberto Rossellini’s magical VIAGGIO IN ITALIA (VOYAGE TO ITALY) where bickering couple Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders renew their romantic tenderness in a film in which nothing happens. But quite a lot transpires in FEUX ROUGES. Kahn rolls the action as fast as the way Antoine drives on the highway. From the start, Antoine is to meet his wife at 5 p.m. for the drive to pick up their kids from summer camp. She is late. Agitated, he has a beer at the local bar waiting. This leads to more drinks.  On their drive, conversation and arguments hit the roof. Traffic is horrid. He keeps stopping for whiskeys.  During his last stop, Helene warns that she won’t be around if he takes another drink. When he returns to the car, she is gone, leaving a note that she has taken the train. This is just the beginning of a series of events that escalates to a certain madness that is believable enough.

Performances, particularly from Darroussin (also to be seen in A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT) are excellent. Both he and the beautiful Bouquet make the perfect dysfunctional pair. But it is basically Darroussin’s film as he capably draws the viewer into his troubles and despair. From the moment the trouble starts, from his observation of the photograph of his happy kids and his wife – his presence is noticeably missing – to his desperation at his inability to hunt down his wife, Darroussin captures the strength, vulnerability and anguish of his character.  The viewer wants to both despise and love him. Bouquet, in contrast, has little to say but look like a siren. She is blonde, beautiful and frail like the typical Hitchcock heroine… until she is finally pushed past her limit, resulting in her screaming with her hands up to her face. This scene is enough to rally the spectator to cheer for her for putting up with so much of her husband’s nonsense. 

But FEUX ROUGES is Kahn’s film. In L’ENNUI, Kahn traced again the troubles of a most unlikely couple – the stalking artist and his uninterested model. ROBERTO SUCCO is an intimate study of an Italian criminal on the run.  FEUX ROUGES blends both themes as there is a runaway convict on the loose (Vincent Deniard). Kahn’s ability to extract the most of his actors and the film’s varied pacing, from this actors shouting obscenities in one scene to soothing classical music heard in the next, work well. The film is also coupled with genuine bouts of suspense and wry humor. The necklace left behind in the car much later in the film indicates something nasty is amiss.  The necklace was not in the car when Antoine first found the wife’s note. As for humor, Antoine’s reminiscing of his family troubles to the hitch-hiker, though captivating enough to the viewer, results in his falling into a deep sleep.  The film’s best scene has Antoine make a series of telephone calls. Though this full 10-minute segment might appear tedious in writing, it is arguably the most crucial and exciting part of the film - quite a feat for both actor Darroussin and director Kahn.

I have viewed FEUX ROUGES twice – the first time in London in October. Kahn’s film still works marvelously, holding the viewer’s interest from start to finish on second viewing. FEUX ROUGES is not to be missed!

Review by Gilbert Seah.

China/HK 2003
Director: Zhang Yimou
Score: ***

HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, oddly enough, gets a Christmas distribution just a few months after HERO’s release, though HERO was made in 2002.  Both films were directed by China’s master director Zhang Yimou.  Zhang is no stranger to the Chinese period piece having made RED SORGHUM, RAISE THE RED LANTERN and JU DOU.  FLYING DAGGERS is his second venture into the martial-arts/swordsmanship territory. 

The HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS is the underground alliance that steals from the rich and distributes to the poor, earning the admiration of the people. Naturally the government is upset and dispatches two deputies Leo (Andy Lau of the recent INFERNAL AFFAITS) and Jin (Takeshi Kansehiro of Wong Kar-wei’s CHUNG KING EXPRESS) to kill its new leader. The suspect is the new dancer, Mei (Ziyi Zhang) of the local brothel, the Peony Pavilion. Leo is to capture and Jin to free her and thus gain her trust. But as it turns out, both men fall for her and FLYING DAGGERS eventually evolves into a passionate romance.

Viewers expecting a swords epic in the vein of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON or even Tarantino’s KILL BILL VOL. 1 will surely be disappointed. FLYING DAGGERS is not an action flick but a worthy tribute to the genre of the swordsmanship film. Like HERO, the film boasts plenty of well executed Wuxia action sequences by Tony Ching. Most are filmed with glorious colour (cinematography is by Zhao Xiaoding who worked as cameraman in HERO) with the actors decked in elaborate costumes (by award winning costume designer Emi Wada who also did HERO and many of Peter Greenaway’s films). Except for the climatic last fighting sequence where there is some genuine excitement, most (sequences) are done for viewers to admire. Director Yimou must surely be influenced after filming the documentary on Beijing Opera a few years back. Action and excitement are replaced here by movement and grace. The fight scenes are done mostly in slow motion, from extreme attention to detail to broad spectacle like the blood that drips down from the blade of a dagger to the thousands of darts flying through the air, all courtesy of CGI effects. The camerawork is excellent as well, evident in the Peony Pavilion scene, where the camera tracks dancer Mei, then switches to a variation of jump cuts before centering on her dance. The bamboo forest fight where the battle is executed both on the ground and on the bamboo makes a worthy variation.  The three principal actors are as handsome as the film’s cinematography. Zhang Ziyi’s dance during the echo game is exquisitely performed. Her dance background shows. 

Like HERO, FLYING DAGGERS bears identical flaws. Both films share a weak narrative. This is odd as Zhang’s early and best films always shared both a strong narrative and a solid female protagonist. The transition from action to romance is again uneven. The unquestioning loyalty of the Flying Daggers’ members is never fully explained nor the love scenes convincing. In sword epics, baring shoulders constitute nudity. This does not somehow work by today’s movie standards. Zhang Ziyi always looks perfect before or after a fight with full make-up and lipstick. But at least, Zhang does not get preachy as he did at the end of HERO. 

Once again, viewers will either be amazed or disappointed depending on their expectations. But whatever outcome, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS is still an astounding feast to the eyes and establishes Zhang Yimou as a director to produce the most beautiful of films. 

Review by Gilbert Seah.

There’s still lotsa life left in the BLADE franchise, judging from the high-octane, full-throttle third installment that is BLADE: TRINITY, opening today to get the jump on OCEAN’S TWELVE (which I can’t wait to see, but unfortunately will have to wait to see, given my schedule).

After joining with vampires to fight other vampires as he did in BLADE II, there’s really nothing else for the Marvel Comics vampire slayer to do but fight Dracula himself. And that’s exactly what happens after the old guy resembling a demon clad in metallic armor is reawakened from a looong sleep by a fanged clad by a very scary Parker Posey.

This time, however, Blade has to be extra careful, as he’’s wanted for murder, having been set up by Posey’s
gang, tricking him into killing a human who was merely disguised as a vampire. But he has some serious help
this time – and I don’t mean from that limping hippie Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) – in the form of a group calling itself “the Nightstalkers.” They’’re led by wisecracking Hannibal King (a bulked-up but still VAN WILDER-ish Ryan Reynolds) and Whistler’s long-lost daughter Abby, who slings arrows as precise at hitting their targets as her pants are tight.

Interestingly, Blade seems like a supporting player to these two, which shouldn’t be a surprise, given New Line’s talk at spinning them off into a NIGHTSTALKERS movie. I’d welcome it. Reynolds is good for some comic relief (if obvious at times), though it’s Biel that kicks the most ***censored***. But what’s with her liking to listen to an iPod as she goes into battle? Wouldn’t that impair her senses? And how the hell do her earphones stay in? Mine fall out just pushing a lawnmower.

TRINITY marks the directorial debut of David S. Goyer, screenwriter of all three BLADE films, and his comfort with the material is evident. You jump right into the action – disintegrating bodies and all – and it rarely lets up. This is pulp cinema, pure and simple, and makes no apologies for it. Nor does it have to when Goyer lets Blade just be fun again, given Guillermo del Toro’s too-sober and overlong BLADE II.

Review by Rod Lott.

France, 2004
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Score: *****Year’s 10 Best

If Christmas be the season of hope, joy and good cheer then UN LONG DIMANCHE DE FIANCAILLES (A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT) must surely be the perfect movie for Christmastide.  Based on the acclaimed French novel by Sabastien Japrisot, the film concerns a young woman’s quest to find her fiancé, feared dead during World War 1.  ENGAGEMENT once again brings together AMELIE’s Audrey Tatou and her director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet. If anyone can remember how sweet that film was, then one would know what to expect for ENGAGEMENT.

The basic premise of the movie is that if fiancé Manech (Gaspard Ulleil from BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF and the recent SUMMER THINGS not released here) was dead, Mathilde (Audrey Tatou) would surely know.  Manech is one of five wounded soldiers court-martialed and posted to no-man’s land between the French and German armies to die.  But whenever Mathilde receives some news which could mean that her lover is gone, she has the faith, hope and cheerful nature to go on searching for more.  She hires a private investigator (the excellent Jean-Pieere Darroussin also in the currently FEUX ROUGES playing this Christmas), who charges a miniscule sum.  Would anyone ever think of benefiting from ones desperate search for ones lost love?

Japrisot’s novels (others being ONE DEADLY SUMMER, THE SLEEPING CAR MURDER) translate very well to the screen.  For one, the sub-plots involving the other 4 condemned solders serve relevant ties to the main story.  Jenuet and Guillaume Maurant, who adapted the novel, are smart enough to recognize what works and what doesn’t.  Mathilde’s love is contrasted with a Sicilian’s, by the name of Tina Lombardi (Marion Cotillard) whose own lover was shot in no-man’s land.  Tina takes revenge (shades here of Francois Truffaut’s THE BRIDE WORE BLACK) by making it her quest to murder those responsible one by one.

The sub plots in the story do not fall in chronological order.  When the viewer first witnesses Tina’s gruesome murder (by chandelier) of the Colonel (as in a few other scenes), the viewer is unclear what is happening till more is revealed later on in the film.  The technique works well as more satisfaction is derived from putting pieces of a puzzle together than in a story told in a straight forward fashion. 

ENGAGEMENT boasts several of Jeunet’s regulars besides actors Tatou and Dominique Pinon (DELICATSSEN).  His casting director, director of photography, scriptwriter and editor all worked in his other films.  And it shows as all departments score full marks.  Most of the war scenes are shot in the pale yellow of faded old photographs.  The trenches the soldiers have dug in look professionally wretched.  But Jeunet takes risks in inserting some graphic and violent scenes (falling glass piercing a body; bodies blown to bits by bombs) not seen in his other works, contrasting the innocence of first love.  Jeunet’s weird sense of humour is again abundant (the cracking of walnuts by a mechanical hand; the postman deliberately destroying the gravel every time he delivers some news) as his contagious sentiment and romanticism.  The most effective scene is Mathilde’s aunt crying in a car at one point as she is so sorry she did not have the faith Mathilde has.

ENGAGEMENT is the first Jeunet film that boasts a solid story line.  Like many of Jeunet’s other films particularly DELICATESSEN, THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN and even the Hollywood ALIEN IV - RESURRECTION, fantastic visuals are created out of musty surroundings (here the war trenches look handsomely realistic), human characterizations evolve out of monstrosities and nightmarish illusions develop into hopes and dreams come true.  Jeunet is clearly a master at making feel-good films and though Christmas is never once displayed in his film, the sentiment and feeling of the joyous spirit is very much alive.  Only the French can make a feel good antiwar movie.  ENGAGEMENT opens in Toronto on December 17th.

Review by Gilbert Seah.