Blood Brothers (2007)
Directed by Alexi Tan
Written by Alexi Tan
Starring Daniel Wu, Tony Yang, Ye Liu
Release Date August 23rd, 2007
Published November 15th, 2007
John Woo will return to directing for the first time in nearly four years later this year. For now, Woo seems to be reveling in his elder statesman of Asian filmmaking status. His influence is all over the new Alexi Tan action flick Three Brothers. The story of three guys from a small village who move to 1930's Shanghai and find themselves in the world of crime features some very John Woo-esque visuals, though without Woo's taste for hyperkinetic editing.
Fung (Daniel Wu) Hu (Tony Yang) and Kang (Ye Liu) have grown up together in a tiny fishing village just far enough removed from the big city of Shanghai that they are able to dream of what the city is like without the intrusion of harsh realities. Hu and Kang are brothers who accepted Fung as their brother at a very young age.
Kang is clearly the leader of this little crew and when he decides to go to Shanghai, with dreams of becoming a waiter in a fancy restaurant, it is with little disagreement that Hu and Fung follow him. Once in Shanghai Hu and Fung take jobs as rickshaw drivers while Kang manages his dream and becomes a waiter at the paradise club.
The club is a mob front for Boss Hong (Honglei Sung). With his top enforcer Mark (Chen Chang), Boss Hong runs Shanghai's elicit weapons biz. Behind the boss's back, Mark is making time with Lulu (Qi Shiu), the woman Boss Hong has turned into Shanghai's top cabaret performer. She wants to run away with Mark but is more practical than Mark who thinks he can kill the boss and get away clean.
These five people intersect in ways that will divide and combine in the most unexpected ways. Director Alexi Tang starts off slow, spending more time dazzling the eyes with striking visuals and unique music cues, lot's of classical music, very western influenced, before plunging deep into these characters and the tragic ways in which their lives cross.
The visual style of Three Brothers will be what garners the most attention for the film. Director Alexi Tang is a former production still photographer who takes his eye for static scenery and applies it beautifully to moving pictures. The crisp, clean visuals of Three Brothers gives a clear eyed view of all of the moral, ethical and other such issues faced by these compelling characters.
It is fair to say that the fate of some characters are easily predicted. If you don't already know the fate of Boss Hong you've likely not seen many movies. Also, Hu being the little brother has a fate that becomes clear very early on. His character development has a number of clues and tips that lead the way quite obviously to his fate but he nevertheless remains compelling.
Chen Chang is the actor who stands out in a terrific cast. Playing a mob hitman gives him a badass air from the beginning but his development as a tragic, tortured hero is arguably the most compelling arc of the whole film. Chang is stunning in the films final shoot out with the lines "That is a killer?" and "This is my fate" delivered with a flat, unironic monotone that gives the words an extra, unexpected punch.
Three Brothers develops slowly and will have many audiences squirming through the first 30 minutes or so. However, once the brothers are in Shanghai and into the world of crime, the transition becomes a concentric circle of ever evolving tragedy mixed with stylish violence and compelling imagery.
Stepping from the shadows of producer John Woo, director Alexi Tang delivers an western influenced gangster epic that pays homage to Woo but is without a doubt it's own movie.
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