by Oscar O’Sullivan

Monday – Police Story

Sometimes the most difficult films to discuss are the most self-evidently brilliant. What can I say about the film that isn’t obvious just from looking at it? Directed by and starring Jackie Chan, Police Story is far from your average cop procedural. From the very first scenes it lets you know what kind of a ride you’re in for, as an army of officers shoot it out with crooks in a sting operation gone spectacularly wrong. Jackie (which is conveniently also the name of his character in the English dub) ducks and weaves through a shanty town while exchanging fire with thugs, then demolishes those same buildings in a mad downhill car chase before running after and hanging precariously from the side of a hijacked bus. Everything done here is fully practical and exactly as dangerous as it looks – and the film is only just getting started. Assigned to protect a key witness in the case to put the crooks away for good, Jackie has to keep her safe from hordes of martial artist hitmen, often at the cost of his dignity. One of the great joys of Jackie Chan as an action star is that he’s never afraid to look foolish, whether it be in the Buster Keaton style slapstick of certain stunts, or the social humiliation he deals with in-between fight scenes. Officer Chan may be able to drop kick a baddie through a windshield and leap a twelve-foot fence with ease, but he can’t seem to hang onto girlfriend Maggie Cheung, who keeps catching him in unfortunate-looking situations. He also struggles to keep face at his job, fumbling evidence in public court and getting tricked by a dirty frame-up. It’s not a complex story but it is propulsive and wonderfully funny, a complement to the incredible action rather than an excuse for it. Everything builds to riveting climax in a shopping mall where Jackie goes hand to hand with dozens of goons, pulling out every trick and stunt in the book to end on a dazzling high note that matches the stupendous opening. There’s a tangible sense of pride from Jackie and his team in having achieved something this action-packed, to the point that the credits run over behind-the-scenes footage and outtakes, including life-threatening injuries – all worth it to deliver one of best action comedies you’ll ever see. A film I’m already looking forward to revisiting in the future. 9/10.

Thursday – Horizon: An American Saga – Part 1

I was away on a little holiday last week so didn’t get any movies watched (aside from a couple of late night half-watches on the hotel room TV), so when I got back to Cork and realised that it was the last possible day I could see Horizon in the cinema, I knew I had to rush out – after all, I didn’t spend the last two months obsessively watching Westerns for nothing. I’ve already reviewed Horizon on it’s own, which you can read here. 8/10.

Saturday – Boxcar Bertha

Scorsese’s first Hollywood picture is proof that everybody has to start somewhere. Even if his talent and passion for the craft are still apparent at this early stage, what’s lacking is a passion for the story. Boxcar Bertha is a cheap exploitation film, one of many ‘true-story’ knock-offs of the mega-hit Bonnie and Clyde. The young Scorsese jumped at the chance to direct his first budgeted feature, but it’s not the kind of story he wanted to tell. The title character is a young woman wandering the American South who falls in with a pack of leftist crooks who take their union pride a little too far by robbing from the rich to support their fellow workers. The gang gets into all the usual escapades (prison breaks, train heists, gala stickups) until of course they push their luck too far with a railway baron. It’s a standard story with thinly-sketched characters, rarely displaying any kind of interiority as they are buffeted from one set-piece to the next. Despite being the title character, Bertha herself suffers from this especially, defined by no desire other than to be with her man. If it was at least enjoyable as a feminist power fantasy it would be worthwhile, but it winds up meandering off the beaten path and saying nothing. There are some visual flourishes to keep your eyes on it, with the ending especially feeling like a shot in the arm after the film threatens to fizzle out. Worth watching only because of who directed it. 4/10.

Sunday – Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival and Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman

The Zatoichi films do tend to stick very closely to formula, with the same handful of stock plotlines being told and retold with varying degrees of originality. Often what sets individual entries above the crowd isn’t the story, but the visuals – and Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival is among the best for this reason. The sixth and final entry directed by Kenji Misumi, he brings all of his usual tricks to bear – high-contrast lighting, dense frames, and one of his favourite techniques, cutting away to close-ups of things that Zatoichi is hearing. It’s surprising that films about a blind man don’t make use of sound in more creative ways, so this entry taking time to highlight how Zatoichi perceives the world around him is a nice touch. The plot is also more original than the norm – a blind Yakuza super-boss fears that Zatoichi is too independent and dangerous, so he concocts a series of elaborate schemes to lure our hero to his death. Zatoichi, of course, is well able to hold his own – be it fighting off an ambush in the bath or changing the heart of the femme fatale sent to lead him to his doom. All the while he’s pursued by a wandering samurai who believes Zatoichi slept with his deceased wife. While this secondary villain may seem like an unnecessary tangent to an already complex plot, he’s played by Tatsuya Nakadai, and so brings an incredible aura to what would otherwise be a forgettable role. Nakadai is essentially reprising his performance from The Sword of Doom as a psychotic samurai just barely keeping his violent urges in check, dead-eyed and physically trembling from the strain of holding himself back. When he does burst into action he’s a deliciously dynamic fighter, moving in rapid bursts and holding exaggerated poses without tipping over into silliness. Zatoichi himself is at his most playful here, a rapscallion who is basically untouchable and knows it, only sobering up and locking in at the climax when lives are in danger and the odds are tipped against him. While early films would have Zatoichi earnestly pursuing his female companions, the series has de-emphasised romance as it goes on, and now he seems almost oblivious to the growing feelings of his companion – when he does realise she’s fallen for him he becomes apologetic, moving on to spare her from throwing her life away yearning for him. This is one of the few examples of consistent character development that has stuck to Zatoichi across the loose continuity of entries – he’s fully accepted that his lot is to be alone. This is a top 5 Zatoichi film easily, and probably the second-best effort from Misumi as a director – no wonder they got him back more than anyone else. 9/10.

With pride must also come the fall – Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman is a disappointingly average entry. This especially smarts because of the unique premise – series star Shintaro Katsu faces off with Hong Kong action hero Jimmy Wang, famous for his own disabled swordsman character. The clash of cultures is used well in the film’s story, with the duelling icons unable to connect across the language barrier, but the action falls short of it’s potential. There are flashes of Hong Kong brilliance, with high-flying leaps and hand-to-hand bouts, but it’s not shot like a kung-fu movie, blunting the choreography somewhat. Also disappointing is that the heroes share very little screentime, not meeting until the end of the first act and being separated very quickly, only reuniting for the inevitable final bout. And this isn’t operating on superhero rules, where a greater threat will unite the heroes in the end – one of these icons has to die, and the outsized presence one has in the story makes the outcome inevitable. Not to say this is a bad film – just one with a lot of potential it fails to fulfil. 6/10.