Kei (Simon Yam), Bo (Lam Ka Tung), Sak (Law Wing Cheong) and Mac (Kenneth Cheung) are a team of pickpockets in Hong Kong. They're not the kind of hardened squinting criminals one usually meets in the films I watch; they're rather modern and urban variations on the charming rogue archetype, getting by through dexterity and wit instead of violence.
If you ignore the bickering of people who spend way too much time with one another, the quartet leads a rather charmed life. Their carefreeness ends when a mysterious woman (Kelly Lin) "accidentally" encounters each of them, leaving the sort of impression one usually expresses through rather idiotic grinning.
Cynical people could think she is setting the gang up for some sort of trap. And she is, in a way, but not in the way you would expect.
To say more about the plot would be a cruel thing to do, so I'll just leave it at that.
Don't get me wrong: I may be very much in love with the films of Johnnie To, but I would never steep so low as to say he is unable to make a bad movie; perhaps even two. This is definitely not one of those, though. In fact, I'd call it one of To's best films, leading to the logical conclusion that Sparrow is one of the best films I know.
Sparrow is a comedy, at least if your definition of comedy does include films that are not made to make you laugh out loud, but rather to make you smile with joy, perhaps even a little glee; films that have a lightness in touch and outlook without ignoring the existence of darkness, instead letting the hoary old cliché about there being no light without darkness and so on and so on look downright deep.
Sparrow really does work some magic on the most cynical of hearts (mine) and it looks oh so very easy how it does this.
There's a sense of rhythm to every gliding movement of the camera and every step of the actors that - combined with the brilliant score by Fred Avril & Xavier Jamaux (who are also responsible for the soundtrack of To's Mad Detective) - nearly turns the film into a musical.
I expected Yam to suddenly break into song or slowly start to dance in more than one scene and could never shake the feeling that the film itself wanted to transform into a musical (or a bird) any minute now. A French musical to be more specific; a French musical made by a former Nouvelle Vague director to be even more specific. Or what the film calls a sparrow.
The acting is of course great. You should know most faces from many other of To's films, an ensemble of actors most directors should be jealous of.
Does the film have any flaws? I am honestly not sure. As an experience it left me kind of drunk, kind of exhilarated, both no states of mind useful for the search for errors, flaws, mistakes, pimples or rashes.
And you know what? I don't know many better things to say about a work of art than "I don't care if it has flaws.". It's a little like with people you love.
Posts
9 comments:
I'd heard good things about this and I'd been meaning to watch it at some point. Maybe I should move it up my list a bit. I've been watching a lot of action and horror, this would probably make a nice change of pace.
You should, it's really rather brilliant. For some reason, To was working on the film for three years - it only shows in all the best ways.
I was initially a little wary of the film, but it's too good to stay skeptic about it for very long.
I often avoid watching things that get a lot of praise because they just wind up disappointing me. We have pretty similar tastes though, and it's not like Sparrow has gotten any amount of hype here in the US.
I'm actually shocked at how few people over here even know about Red Cliff.
On another note, this should make a good counterpoint to South Korea's Open City, which I just finished watching. It's another pickpocket gang tale, but it definitely didn't go in the same direction. It's rather... stabby.
I often ignore the over-hyped things, too, especially when the praise mostly comes from Cannes and Berlin, but I try to keep up with Johnnie To.
Woo's American films really drove away lots of his fanbase. It's not undeserved, but still a shame. (I'm the kind of person who even holds out hope for Tobe Hooper making a good film again. ;))
Open City sounds interesting. I'll have to keep it in mind.
I liked Open City. It's not great, but it's a stylish, melodramatic flick with some nice fights.
I don't think I've ever seen this concept of "OMG, we need to put together a task force to take down this dangerous group of violent pickpockets that are stealing millions of won!!" before, so that was a little hard to take seriously. Then again, one of the pickpockets was pretty damn good at knifing people, and entirely too happy about doing so.
Do Asian countries really have a problem with high-profile pickpocket gangs? This concept is new to me. Pickpockets around here are usually people who target drunks. They're not really raking in the cash at an alarming rate, getting ready to retire.
Hm, I never heard of anyone getting rich by being a pickpocket either. The Sparrow gang doesn't look like they'll be getting rich any time soon. But they aren't knifing anyone - perhaps that's the main source of income for the rich pickpockets of the world.
I finally got around to watching this a while back. The final sequence is great; it's like visual/audio poetry.
I finally got around to watching this a while back. The final sequence is great; it's like visual/audio poetry.
As well as the beginning.
Post a Comment