Comments on: Fallen Angels. http://blogs.elsweb.org/serena/2007/04/27/fallen-angels/ "Not the fuzzy end of the lollipop." Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:50:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Jim http://blogs.elsweb.org/serena/2007/04/27/fallen-angels/#comment-299 Jim Sat, 28 Apr 2007 18:48:08 +0000 http://blogs.elsweb.org/serena/2007/04/27/fallen-angels/#comment-299 Agreed, this is a remarkable film. I personally like the more over-the-top Chinese gangster film's like <em>Hard Boiled</em>. John Woo really invented (well, not really) the two-handed pistol approach in high-action scenes, and <em>Hard Boiled</em> is just so far over the top that it is not only compelling but really a gas. One criticism I find with Wong Kar-wai is he takes himself a bit too seriously, He is obviously reframing Woo's stuff (like Hard Boiled and The Killer), who has re-framed many before him. However, Kar-wai seems to be trying to create a Hong Kong/Tarantino mashup given the "independent feel and young, disaffected gun crazed couple." Frankly, I find this a bit ironic because so much of Tarantino's work is directly lifted from Hong Kong, Kar-wai's "tracking him back" so soon after his explosion almost seems like filmic opportunism. This is proven even more so by his following film, <em>In the Mood for Love</em>, which was just a bad, "Sony Classics" style European art film - kinda pretty and an absolute mess narratively. So there's a round-about criticism of a pretty powerful film. Like the Anarchy Player, by the way ;) Agreed, this is a remarkable film. I personally like the more over-the-top Chinese gangster film’s like Hard Boiled. John Woo really invented (well, not really) the two-handed pistol approach in high-action scenes, and Hard Boiled is just so far over the top that it is not only compelling but really a gas. One criticism I find with Wong Kar-wai is he takes himself a bit too seriously, He is obviously reframing Woo’s stuff (like Hard Boiled and The Killer), who has re-framed many before him. However, Kar-wai seems to be trying to create a Hong Kong/Tarantino mashup given the “independent feel and young, disaffected gun crazed couple.” Frankly, I find this a bit ironic because so much of Tarantino’s work is directly lifted from Hong Kong, Kar-wai’s “tracking him back” so soon after his explosion almost seems like filmic opportunism. This is proven even more so by his following film, In the Mood for Love, which was just a bad, “Sony Classics” style European art film - kinda pretty and an absolute mess narratively.

So there’s a round-about criticism of a pretty powerful film. Like the Anarchy Player, by the way ;)

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