2016 ‘樹大招風’ Directed by Frank Hui, Jevons Au Man-Kit …
The film is set in Hong Kong before its handover to China in 1997, when the city’s booming economy inadvertently attracts three infamous criminals from Mainland China to cross the border and make their fortune in Hong Kong. Although unknown to one another, their notoriety has bred the rumor that the triumvirate will join forces to stage a shocking heist together, so much so that the criminals themselves get wind of it and are tempted to do just that.
Richie Ren Jordan Chan Gordon Lam Ka-Tung Lam Suet Lau Ga-Yung To Yin-Gor Zhang Kai Le Zi-Long Philip Keung Thimjapo Chattida Aoi Ma Kam Loi-Kwan Huang Kai-Sen Jimmy Wong Wa-Wo Ben Yuen Tommy Wong Kwong-Leung Belinda Yan Law Chi-Sing Ho Ka-Wah Hui Bing-Hang Li Ying-Tao Leung Kin-Ping Elliot Ngok Stephen Au Vincent Wan Yeung-Ming Chiu Chi-Shing Lee Man-Biu Frankie Ng Xiong Xin-Xin
A Johnnie To produced triptych about a trio of gangsters in the approaching days of the 1997 holdover and dealing in their own quiet desperate way with their irrelevance in face of the new order. Each story is handled by a different director (Frank Hui, Jevons Au and Vicky Wong) but edited together in a way that suggests To’s earlier Life Without Principle. It seems like every 10 year anniversary of the holdover brings new batch of movies haunted by it (2006-2007 batch included Milkyway’s own Hooked on You), this one can be a bit muddled on spots but the anxiety is real and carries the film along.
Only example I can think of in a crime film when a character ingests too much coke and it's the soft drink.
Trivisa is the latest product of Johnnie To’s Milkyway Image studio (at least, until his new film opens here on June 24th). Directed by the young trio of Jevons Au, Vicky Wong and Frank Hui, it’s a crime story set on the eve of Hong Kong’s handover to Mainland China in 1997. A trio of arch-criminals, the so-called “Kings of Thieves” try to make ends meet in the increasingly troublesome last days of the British imperium. Lam Ka-tung tries to keep a low-profile, going after small jewelry store scores, Richie Jen transitions from firearm-heavy bank robbery to business-like smuggling operations, sneaking electronics into the PRC with the full complicity of the local government (and necessitating a series of humiliating meetings…
Berlinale 2016 #12: Johnnie To's Milkyway Productions, which took this project under its wings, presents an intertwined tale of the portraits of three legendary gangsters from Hong Kong. A film that combines the efforts of three debutante directors. The time and place is just moments before the handover in 1997 in HK itself and in Ghuangzhou, China, where they try to set up a new business in trading luxury goods illegally. The cinematography is done quite well and you'll find some Hk styled pathos and humour, too - as well as some blood shedded heroically. This is not an unforgettable film, but a solid effort that knows very well how to entertain.
three fallen kings as twilight falls on their world. like to's three the curtain falls just as we expect the climax, and realize we weren't watching that kind of film after all. lovingly obsessed with procedure, language, manners, and a sort of formalized/falsely-convivial dialogue; none of the shoot-outs are half as interesting as the obsessive exchange of vases. as always lam suet gets the best laugh.
The future of post-Johnnie To cinema in Hong Kong has gotten off to a promising start with his proteges already showing a grasp of the master's technical expertise and sound fundamentals. While the three individual stories don't fully represent the tension surrounding the island's handover to the mainland, each director's take on the changing criminal environment is intriguing though not as fully realized as previous To films. In short, this is a lighter, shallower version of classic Hong Kong crime fare but one that is still an enjoyable watch.
Gordon Lam has been a go-to secondary for legendary director Johnnie To, and when Lam finally gets his big break as a leading man... To is pretty much the only filmmaker in Hong Kong who isn't directing this. If the film's big selling point isn't To's producing credit, then it will probably be this thing's being a collaborative project so monumental that its even about monumental collaborative projects between China and Hong Kong, and among three major mobsters. It is 1997, and if China is willing take Hong Kong back, then maybe these gangsters can get over their differences to mount a hyper-ambitious robbery. This is a fictional biopic about Cheung Tze-keung, Kwai Ping-hung and Yip Kai Foon, so I…
Considering that Johnnie To produced this, it's not surprising that this film feels like a huge love letter to Johnnie To gangster films like Exiled. Still, considering that his latest output has been a bit off center, a film like Trivisa comes as a throwback breath of fresh air. Instead of the big spectacle that China has been craving, this one goes for the subtle and the intentionally slow build and it works splendidly. The casting is perfection and the tone/atmosphere works to craft a film that's all about the weight of power instead of the flash of it. Fair warning though, this is NOT an action movie and instead grinds itself into the dramatic thriller genre, so keep that in mind before seeing it. Well worth the watch though.
A Johnnie To produced crime thriller backdropped by the few months prior to the 1997 handover, it focuses on three Hong Kong criminals who decide to unite forces to pull off one last heist. The three main actors give accomplished performances, portraying a sense of loss which they attempt to overcome in spite of their self-awareness of futility. The rampant corruption of the Chinese government, and the absent British highlight the fear and loathing of impending Chinese rule. It's shot by three different directors, although from the seamless editing, I could not tell if that was differentiated temporally or by character-focus.
While the film is successful in relaying broader anxieties of Hong Kong society regarding Chinese rule, the anti-Chinese sentiment…
Better HK handover movies of late, plus they're anthology flicks?! And I like Jordan Chan again, this time for more than comedic reasons. Weird to see, exciting
In my recent review of Snatch, I said how much I love when several seperate stories culminate into one near the end. That's with the caveat that those stories and the melding are done right. Trivisa left something out of this formula: the action. It progresses slowly because most of the story is told through dialogue, and at first it can be hard to follow because you don't quite know who's who yet but the only place where events are really happening is in the dialogue. It's hard to get into, but eventually you know the players and can piece together their stories. But it isn't until over halfway through that any action takes place, and the action isn't nearly…
One of those rare, muddled, directed by three people kinda Milkyway film. Has some pretty good bits but just didn't come together for me.
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