DVD OF THE WEEK

MAD DETECTIVE ****
Dir: Johnny To
Starring: Lau Ching Wan, Andy On, Lam Ka Tung

Stepping aside from the mainstream for a week, I thought we'd spend this column looking at some of the impressive Asian films to emerge on DVD recently. 'Asian”. I know, that's a crass word to describe cinema that stretches across so many diverse countries, but, what the hell, that's what unites this week's movies.
And my Pick Of The Week is this strange and really rather wonderful police thriller from Johnny To, who has become virtually a one-man cinema industry in Hong Kong. To's early films were commercial actioners but in the past decade he has been involved with increasingly individual and interesting projects.
Mad Detective centres on Detective Bun, who possibly is mad (at least his colleagues think so) since he has the strange ability to literally see people's inner personalities. At first this appears to be a gimmick, and is certainly initially confusing, since we often see characters through his eyes (meaning many parts are played by two – or more - different actors). But you quickly get used to that and, added to the striking cinematography is an increasingly involving plot which, while the tension is ramped up so is your attachment to this haunted, driven detective.
Winner of several awards and the largest grossing film at the Hong Kong box office in 2007, Mad Detective is a fine entry into the cinema of Johnny To, before going on to more straightforward Triad outings such as the Election films.

Prolific Japanese provocateur Takashi Miike returns (he normally makes around three films a year!) with Crows Episode 0 (***), a rather straighter proposition that his usual fare (try Sukiyaki Western Django or Ichi The Killer to experience the full range of his 'eccentricity”). Based on a manga of the same name it follows the pupils in an ultra-violent high school, each vying to become 'top dog”. It's high school as yakuza battle, stylishly shot and only occasionally lurching into the kind of surreal silliness for which Miike is best known.

Hong Kong film Exodus (***) starts with one of the most striking scenes of the year, reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick both in the master's eye for unique detail, and in the elegant symmetrical composition and slowly retreating camera (conjuring the opening of Clockwork Orange) complete with classical music on the soundtrack. It shows a group of men, dressed in swim suits, flippers and masks, beating up another man in what looks like it could be the corridor of a police station. Ignoring its opening, the film then tells the story of a detective who hears from a suspect about a conspiracy by women to kill all men. For reasons later revealed he believes this and the film is a cleverly shot, well constructed absurdist drama, all made in a completely deadpan fashion.

Big Man Japan (***) is completely bizarre, the sort of film you used to see at Incredibly Strange Film Festivals. It takes the form (mainly) of a mock documentary about Japan's latest in a line of giant crime fighting heroes. The absolutely deadpan interviews are carried out between battles with various 'baddies” (Smelly Baddie, Stretchy Baddie et al) which get more outrageous and silly as the film goes on. This is frequently hilarious and I suspect would be even more so to those familiar with the many Japanese cultural references. One for those who rejoice in the weird and wonderful.

Mongol (****) I watched assuming that it would be Chinese. But it's not. Silly me, this is actually a Russian film, but, given the subject matter and the presence of a Japanese actor in the lead role, we'll include it here. And it really is good. It charts the early life of the man who later became the great Genghis Khan, and is a fascinating look at a ruggedly different culture. Things open with a nine year old Temudjin being taken to chose his wife (there is a surprising and tender love story running through the film) and closes as he stands poised to unite the Mongol tribes for what will become the creation of the biggest empire the world has ever seen. In between he is enslaved, and faces the many challenges that prove him as an extraordinary leader. With ravishing landscapes and a fascinating story to tell, this is, obviously, highly recommended.