16 發光的城市 A R O U N D T O W N FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010 • TIMES

FILM REVIEW OTHER RELEASES Compiled BY Martin Williams

Confucius 孔子: 決戰春秋  Photos courtesy of Warner Bros Casting Hong Kong’s enduringly charismatic Chow Yun-fat (周潤發) as the most famous Chinese thinker of all was bound to divide Chinese- speaking audiences, though gave him and his colleagues a boost by kicking Avatar out of theaters to make room for them. In , What tangled webs they weave however, the market rules and the toothy one will have to stand on his own two feet. Purists might ask why a film about a philosopher would place Niu Chen-zer’s second feature views gangland violence in 1980s Wanhua through rose-tinted glasses so much emphasis on battle scenes worthy of a biopic of Sun Tzu (孫子); romantics will mourn By Ho Yi the apparent excision of love scenes between 周迅 Staff Reporter Chow and Zhou Xun ( ) to satisfy neo-neo- Confucianists in Beijing and elsewhere. Still, as an action- director Hu Mei (胡玫) seems to have delivered a Billed loaded gangster respectful and respectable production that might flick, ’s (鈕承澤) Monga attract a modern international audience to the (艋舺) stars some of Taiwan’s timeless Analects. brightest young things, Monga including Ethan Ruan (阮經天) 艋舺 and (趙又廷). With a stellar cast and DIRECTED BY: entertaining storyline that Doze Niu (鈕承澤) weaves together action and drama, the film should do well STARRING: with younger audience members Ethan Ruan (阮經天) as Monk, who like to view the underworld Mark Chao (趙又廷) as Mosquito, through rose-tinted glasses. Rhydian Vaughan (鳳小岳) as 錦衣衛 Set in 1980s Bangka, Zhilong, Ma Ru-long (馬如龍) 14 Blades otherwise known as Manka, as Geta, Ke Jia-yan (柯佳嬿) as Donnie Yen (甄子丹) headlines in another actioner an old Taipei borough that is Xiaoning, Jason Wang (王識賢) bound to increase his already considerable fan now part of the city’s Wanhua as Wenqian base. He plays the head of the titular Praetorian District (萬華), the movie opens Guard-like bodyguard unit to the Chinese with transfer student Mosquito RUNNING TIME: emperor. Lots of combat in this one, and its (Chao) doing battle with school 140 MINUTES traditional settings are bound to impress those bullies. The following day, a who love their fisticuffs and weapon-bearing on high school gang comprised Language: In Mandarin exotic-looking sets. of Hoklo-speakers approaches and Taiwanese with Chinese Mosquito and recruits him. subtitles Zhilong (Rhydian Vaughan), whose father Geta (Ma Ru-long) TAIWAN RELEASE: is a well-respected underworld TODAY kingpin, leads the gang of five. Fellow gang member Monk (Ruan), however, is the most ruthless. Together they skip palpable — it is more a paean class and spend their days to times gone than a pure getting into street fights, going gangster flick. Friendship, the From Paris With Love clubbing and wooing girls. innocence of youth and loyalty With their carefree take precedence over scheming In recent years, for every Old Dogs John Travolta innocence, the gang members and plotting, and the violence comes up with a movie like From Paris With seem invincible, until one is rendered lyrically rather than Love. In this one he’s a scary-looking CIA agent night a spot of street justice realistically. The opening street who takes no nonsense from his prey, or from accidentally leads to murder. fight, which involves more than his apprentice-of-sorts, a Paris-based diplomatic Meanwhile, a gang of 100 extras, is played out like a assistant (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, from Bend It Mainlanders from another area ballet set against the score com- Like Beckham) who has higher aspirations. Lots attempts to muscle in on the posed by Sandee Chen (陳珊妮). of the crew on this one worked on the Liam action in Bangka by befriending Unlike Niu’s semi- Neeson action feature Taken. Wenqian (Jason Wang, 王識賢) autobiographical feature debut a member of a rival gang. The What On Earth Have I Done outsiders conspire to take out Wrong?! (情非得已之生存之道), Bangka’s gang bosses, including Monga’s scale and structure Zhilong’s father, and approach require storytelling skills that the Monk to undertake the slayings, director has yet to master. The who obliges. narrative is uneven and frequently Mosquito uncovers Monk’s plagued with dull dialogue. betrayal, and the scene is set Tensions mostly dissolve as the for a bloody showdown. characters’ conflicting emotions Niu said he wanted to craft come across as more constructed Phantom Pain a uniquely Taiwanese gangster than heartfelt. The title is more intriguing than the set-up: A terrible flick. Visually, the director One exception is Monk, who accident leaves a German cyclist permanently has achieved his goal as the is secretly in love with Zhilong, disabled — but also gives him the chance to show characters in the film look like played by British-Taiwanese that he has true grit. You’ve heard this story before, archetypal taike (台客) with actor Vaughan. Ruan injects his but star Til Schweiger has a large number of their floral print shirts, bell- role with layers of emotion that admirers and, hey, everyone has to see an against- bottoms and flip-flops. elicit sympathy for a man torn all-odds sporting redemption epic at some point. It’s The movie’s romanticism is between love and revenge. also based on a true story, which helps. FILM REVIEW ‘Confucius’ struggles against ‘Avatar’

the country’s youth generation, the US. Moreover, perhaps one- On the eve of its gave it a two on his popular third of its estimated 4,700 cinema release in Taiwan, blog, calling it an entertainment, screens are too antiquated to educational, and business failure. show foreign films, according to the going looks tough “It is a film that could be one industry worker. for ‘Confucius,’ a completely done without,” he wrote. Those few foreign films In its first three weeks in compete with a growing number of movie panned as China, Avatar topped US$100 mil- domestic films — more than 400 in wooden and preachy lion in revenue to become China’s 2008, including those co-produced all-time top-grossing film, or about with foreign companies. Overall, AFP and NY Times News Service US$4.7 million a day. Confucius box-office revenue is soaring. averaged just US$1.8 million a But China’s main studios early two weeks after day in its first three days, Xinhua are all state-owned and some US blockbuster Avatar reported. State film agencies producers complain that the Nwas ordered out of refused to provide figures. government cannot decide some theaters to make way for The previous box-office champ whether movies should serve as homegrown epic Confucius (孔子), — the disaster epic 2012 — grossed market-driven entertainment or the Chinese film is not getting a nearly US$70 million dollars late nationalistic propaganda. warm welcome. last year, state media has said. Above: Chinese actress Zhou Xun plays the Critics say Confucius belongs The movie about the ancient Reports that the 2D version of role of Nan Zi in the movie Confucius. in the latter category. The movie, philosopher’s life starring Chow Avatar was to be pulled late last Left: Hong Kong actor Chow Yun-fat plays produced by Beijing Dadi Century Yun-fat (周潤發) has been savaged month sparked accusations the the role of the title character in Confucius. Ltd, focuses on the later life of by critics and reports suggest box government wanted it pushed aside The film was developed in part with the the philosopher, whose teachings office sales have been sluggish. for Confucius, whose teachings on Chinese government, and is part of an are garnering renewed interest The film is being panned as a harmony and respect for authority initiative to promote the philosophy of in China. The cast was billed as wooden and preachy biography enjoy official favor under the ruling Confucius. photos: EPA star-studded. It opened on 2,500 that sells out by forcing in battle Communist Party after decades of screens in China, a record number. scenes and even a romantic love being suppressed as “feudal.” China allows only 20 foreign Chow, who plays Confucius, interest for the revered thinker. The 3D version of Avatar is company that produced Confucius, “If China wants to politicize listing Web sites. films to be shown in its theaters predicted it would challenge the On the popular movie site expected to continue showing denied that Avatar was pulled for things that’s their business ... It Some Chinese have speculated each year splitting revenue among box-office success of Avatar, Mtime.com, it scored a 3.8 out of through this month as planned, his film about social harmony and has nothing to do with us,” he authorities were nervous about producers, theaters and local produced by 20th Century Fox. 10 in user-submitted reviews, com- state press reports have said. respect for authority — themes said. “But I hope they didn’t do the portrayal in Avatar of a tribe distributors, which the US has But 13,039 Internet users gave pared to 9.4 for Avatar. The Global On Wednesday, Confucius’ that enjoy official favor in China. it because it would not help, but resisting humans chasing them criticized as unfairly protecting Confucius ratings that averaged Times gave it a 4 out of 10, calling producer denied that US “This is not the fact. We shouldn’t hurt Confucius instead.” from their land on a far-off planet, domestic films. 4.4 on a scale of 1 to 10 on it “thoughtless and mind-numbing.” blockbuster Avatar was ordered complicate the matter. A movie is a Meanwhile, theaters in Beijing saying it too closely evoked a Part of the problem could douban.com, a popular Chinese Han Han (韓寒), one of China’s out of some theaters to make way movie and we are simply shooting a and across China continue to wave of unrest in China linked be that although it is building entertainment Web site. About most popular writers who is for the homegrown film. touching story about Confucius,” he show the 2D version of Avatar, to land disputes that has made theaters rapidly, China still has 95,280 users gave Avatar a rating widely viewed as a key voice of John Shum, head of the film told reporters in Taipei. according to theaters and movie authorities nervous. only a fraction of the number in that averaged 9.1.