Guys, I’m contemplating buying the backlog of Johnnie To’s works.
I have not seen anything of his, barring Fulltime Killer and that was co directed…maybe?
Is he worth it?
I remember some reviews based on his films here at Twitch but I’m wondering if this label of ‘Mr Cool’ and ‘The best thing since John Woo ate a muffin and said…yum’.
What do you guys think?
Is there one film in particular I should check?
Agree on Election. One of the best movies I’ve seen in years.
There is NOTHING wrong with that movie, which is rare. And if you really feel invested in the main characters and would like to see how it all continues, you have Election 2 to look forward to. While many people think Election 2 to be inferior to its prequel, the truth is it’s still VERY good, and so different in tone that the two are hard to compare.
Exiled is a different beast alltogether: that movie is just unbelievably cool. How cool? Cool enough to have been be made by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, back in the sixties.
It leans more towards the style-over-content way of filmmaking than Election does, but I don’t mind that when it is done this well. The first gunfight and the scenes which follow immediately afterwards are unfiltered cinematic bliss.
Still have to see Sparrow (sitting high in my to-see pile) but my opinion of Johnnie To, based on the two movies mentioned above (three if you count Election 2), is that he is one of the best directors in the world working today.
Johnnie To is one of those directors that really frustrates me. His films are technically brilliant and full of style, but are oftentimes uneven in execution and content. That being said, when he’s on, he’s ON.
Both Election and Exiled are fantastic films, as others have said. You really can’t go wrong with them, and they certainly hold up to the John Woo comparisons. Some of his older films, such as The Heroic Trio and The Mission (which is sort of a spiritual precursor to Exiled) are also a lot of fun, for different reasons.
But, on the other end of spectrum, stay away from films like Throwdown, PTU, and Running Out of Time 2. Those films are just wildly uneven, at best, and I found them pretty disappointing—especially PTU, which almost made me forswear his films altogether.
Picked up Exiled for £5 this afternoon so I’m in the same boat that’s going to encourage you to dig in.Ditto on PTU mind you, I punted it right after the end credits rolled.
I really like PTU. I like Throwdown. I’m on the fence about Running on Karma. Exiled was one of the most thrilling theatrical experiences I’ve had in recent years as well. I love Election, but I love Election 2 even more. Sparrow was a completely different vibe, but still a great film.
However…damn.
Just bought Election 1 and 2, Exiled, Sparrow and…PTU.
Ptu’s basic concept of a lost gun sounded great and Simon Yam is the best.
Ah well, not too expensive so hopefully I won’t cry myself to sleep.
Should see them soon, any other To flicks to recommend?
Mad Detective?
Guys [and Girls]....I seem to have been infected by Moron Cancer.
Either that, or it just wasn’t my thing.
I watched Election the other night and while I thought the acting was stellar, the direction very nice and the score great…the whole package was..dull?!
I’m not doing a review…because I’m kinda confused.
What I’m stuck on is this; as a film, it didn’t even try to give you any character moments, it didn’t tell you anything about why these men where motivated into doing things. Simon Yam’s character…why was he so revered? We never saw any flashback or anything to inform us of his ability…his whole screen time seemed to be chewed up by a sleepingshemp.
Was this the point?
Was Mr To trying to let us fill in the blanks on all his cast or is it just a slightly more in-depth BBC documentary on the Triad?
Highly detailed…yes. Moving and thought provoking..no.
Should I have expected something different or does my copy of Election 2 hold all the answers?
Guys [and Girls]....I seem to have been infected by Moron Cancer.
Either that, or it just wasn’t my thing.
I watched Election the other night and while I thought the acting was stellar, the direction very nice and the score great…the whole package was..dull?!
I’m not doing a review…because I’m kinda confused.
What I’m stuck on is this; as a film, it didn’t even try to give you any character moments, it didn’t tell you anything about why these men where motivated into doing things. Simon Yam’s character…why was he so revered? We never saw any flashback or anything to inform us of his ability…his whole screen time seemed to be chewed up by a sleepingshemp.
Was this the point?
Was Mr To trying to let us fill in the blanks on all his cast or is it just a slightly more in-depth BBC documentary on the Triad?
Highly detailed…yes. Moving and thought provoking..no.
Should I have expected something different or does my copy of Election 2 hold all the answers?
Hmmm…
You’re not alone, I’m still baffled by all the praise heaped on To here. I’ve enjoyed a few of his films, and intensely disliked others. The ones I liked the least are PTU, Election and Breaking News. Sparrow and Mad Detective are small films that I could either take or leave. Running on Karma was silly, but I couldn’t help but enjoy it. But of the films I’ve seen so far, Exiled is by a long shot To’s best achievement—stylish and very, very cool. Still, whether you love him or hate him, there is no denying the man knows his way around a camera, he always manages to get great performances from his cast of regulars, he’s always trying to do something fresh, and he’s prolific as hell. It’s also obvious he loves what he’s doing.
Was Mr To trying to let us fill in the blanks on all his cast or is it just a slightly more in-depth BBC documentary on the Triad?
That BBC comment would be the highest form of praise I could bestow on this movie! I didn’t miss the character moments or flashbacks, in fact I love the way how you have to rebuild the network of connections in your mind based on what you (don’t) know, picking your own preferred side in the conflict.
And the end, of which I’d like to reveal as little as possible, left me totally devastated, because it brought my rickety structure of “bad guys vs. slightly less bad guys” down.
Brad - December 7, 2008, 5:33pm
...or does my copy of Election 2 hold all the answers?
Election 2 will not solve the problems you had with Election, but Election probably will have taken away the biggest complaint you might have had about Election 2. Everyone in the sequel has a KNOWN past now, you know who the true vipers are, and as a result the movie has a completely different dynamic.
It’s probably my fault anyway..I hype myself up for films and then get ground into a buttery paste when the film just doesn’t live up.
I think going into it…I was expecting a better ‘Infernal Affairs’.
This weekend I had the occasion to rewatch Sparrow and Mad Detective, movies that I previously thought were wildly overrated—and my impression now is that BOTH ARE FINE FILMS. I think one of the things that initially put me off about Mad Detective was what I considered to be a needlessly gimmicky premise (the suspect’s seven personalities), but on second viewing, I saw how expertly To handled material that could easily become cumbersome in lesser hands, and I realized I had underestimated both the film and the director.
I would also point out To’s excellent choice of music, his expressive use of color, the superb backlit shots in both films, and exciting camera angles and editing that are always at the service of the story. In addition, Exiled, Mad Detective and Sparrow all display an assurance and technical resourcefulness that is not apparent in his earlier work.
As far as ‘hype’ goes, I don’t think I can be accused of puffery just because I happened to prefer one out of the seven or so films that I’d seen by a director whom I’d formerly grossly underrated.
