Genre:
Action/Thriller Director: Johnny To Starring: Anthony Wong, Francis Ng, Nick
Cheung, Richie Jen, Josie Ho, Simon Yam, Roy Cheung, Lam Suet,
Lam Ka Tung RunTime: 1 hr 48 mins Released By: Shaw Rating: M18 (Some violence & sexual scenes) Official website:http://www.exiledthemovie.com/
Opening Day: 19 October 2006
Synopsis:
The time is 1998. The setting is Macau. Every living soul
jumps at every chance to make quick money before the Portuguese
colony ushers in a new era under the Chinese rule. For the
jaded hit men, they wonder where this journey will end. Against
this background of fin-de-siècle malaise come two hit
men from Hong Kong sent to take out a renegade member trying
to turn over a new leaf with his wife and newborn baby. They
soon find themselves in the throes of a dilemma when two of
their former associates also show up, intent on thwarting
them at every cost.
Movie
Review:
What an interesting double bill this would be with “The
Departed”. As opposed to that film’s approach
of visceral, unflinching violence, Johnnie To brings a sophisticated
chic to battles in his newest thriller, “Exiled”.
To is fast becoming the most dependable Asian director in
this genre today, after coming off a string of acclaimed hits
with the complex and purposeful Election films. This could
seem a return to a style that first garnered him critical
attention and gifted him the nickname of Hong Kong’s
“Sergio Leone”.
With
the handover to China looming just a year away, reverberations
are being felt throughout the Macau underworld. There’s
a strong need for scores to be settled and feasting eyes of
the mobs from the nearby territories are directed at the southern
island. With this political realignment as a backdrop, To
urges an intrinsic race against time as old friends and old
enemies take their places in order to topple impending gangland
regimes and secure their final paydays. Like démodé
dinosaurs trapped in a world of lawlessness, friends sharing
the same childhood are pitted against each other, silently
contemplating their options in midst of divided loyalties
as the clock ticks down.
These
steely-eyed men, with determined and hardened exteriors each
hide a sentimentality that does not go unnoticed. The film
does not make any apologies for their line of work, nor does
it give excuses or consolations for the acts they’ve
committed. But you don’t need to like them in order
to root for them. Their reticent features and certain resignation
to the twilight of their era are telling enough of their fates.
Indeed
To’s films have a distinct style about them that is
closely reminiscent of the classic Westerns. And what To consistently
does well is to elevate his gangster films into that genre,
infusing various tropes of powerful, silent scenes that resound
so much more than pertinent patter ever could and especially
harping back to the honour that the film’s main men
live and die by. With the cacophony of chaos, the symphony
of the score and the solemnest of silence, To pays tribute
to the power of sound in his movie. His gun battles are so
highly stylised and removed from reality that one can’t
help but be spellbound by the graceful velocity of his camera’s
movement and the visual gambits undertaken. There’s
strong symbolism engraved to his shots as plot devices and
early introductions seem to foreshadow events and there’s
a strong authenticity with the refreshing Euro-Asian Macau
territories with To’s use of Portuguese music and the
decadence of its setting.
Reassembling
the principle cast of one of his biggest hits, “The
Mission”, To has designs on the already established
camaraderie that his actors enjoy. And that very solidarity
is crucial to pull off the most intense moments in “Exiled”,
especially the masterclass opening scenes of reunion. As this
is not a sequel or prequel to “The Mission”, its
different characters pull off the dry comedy and ensemble
stunts admirably and it slowly becomes the core of the film’s
accentuated sentiments.
Movie Rating:
(Johnnie
To’s imposing style is on full force here, unrelenting
excitement from the get-go that culminates in a tour de force
finale)
