Burning Paradise
Reviewed by YTSL
What the...?! From reading descriptions
of the plot and a few (other) reviews of director Ringo Lam's only period
piece (that I know of), I had expected to see action all the way through
it. To be sure, there are numerous -- often very well choreographed
(by Chris Lee) -- fight sequences in this 1993 work. Indeed, there
really are times when it feels like the bulk of the movie consists of Fong
Sai Yuk (played here by Willie Chi rather than, say, Jet Li) running around
trying to: Rescue a woman named Tou Tou (portrayed by Carman Lee)
from the evil embrace of a demented villain (Wong Kam-Kong threatens to
steal the show with his extravagant portrayal of Elder Kung; other formidable
figures that the film's heroes have to contend with are John Ching Tung's
Crimson and Lam Chuen's Brooke); and get her, himself, his comrades and
an old teacher out of an amazing trap-filled Red Lotus Temple (the hellish
set is definitely this production's highlight as well as center-piece).
However, there also are the strangest injections
of humor into some surely inappropriate sections of a generally dark feeling
BURNING PARADISE. Two particularly memorable cases in point:
In the midst of a tight battle, someone with a half agonized, half perplexed
expression on his face demands to know "Who squeezed my Dick?"; and as
an injured woman is being lifted to safety from a dangerous place, she
yells at her rescuer -- and the movie's hero -- to "Don't touch my ass"!
Then there are the scenes of bare backs (one female, one male) being scrubbed
by maidens -- as well as others of attempted seduction plus forced sex
(the latter of which is interrupted by the villain of the piece electing
to rip the head off one of his minions) -- in a movie whose scenes largely
take place in a(n admittedly government seized...but still!) Buddhist temple
filled with (enslaved) Shaolin monks...
Even knowing that Tsui Hark is the producer of
BURNING PARADISE did not prepare me for its being so full of assorted bits
and subject to quick mood changes. While the mixing of diverse and
divergent elements works well in some of his offerings (notably "Peking
Opera Blues" and "The Lovers"; two films which he directed as well as produced),
my sense is that it is often too awkwardly and inappropriately rendered
here. Consequently, characters come across as too inconsistent in
nature -- it does not help that a few of them are not what they first appear
to be or turn out to have mixed loyalties whose reason for being are not
well explained -- and proceedings can feel downright schizophrenic.
There's the matter too of my feeling that greater care ought to have been
taken to ensure that such as Fong Sai Yuk's sword would look less like
a large piece of cardboard...
Still, this is not to say that BURNING PARADISE
is not capable of entertaining and enthralling. If the (potential)
viewer is willing to forgive the film's having such faults as those detailed
above, and particularly if (s)he is enough of an action junkie, it does
have enough novel and spectacular elements -- again, as befits a Tsui Hark
production -- to offer up a rather impressive show. This, after all,
is a work whose main villain does not only seem to be a crazed and frustrated
artist but is one whose red paint gets its hue from human blood and who
near magically utilizes all colors of paints -- along with paper and paintbrushes
-- as dangerous weapons against one of the famous Ten Tigers of Kwantung
(Hung Hei-Kwun is portrayed by Yang Sheng) as well as the legendary Fong
Sai Yuk. While he is not Asia the Invincible, Elder Kung is at least
colorful enough to bring to mind -- and evoke comparisons with -- the character
masterfully essayed by Brigitte Lin in "Swordsman II" and "The East is
Red" (And lest it not be apparent: Yes, this ought to be taken as
quite the compliment indeed!).
My rating for the film: 7.0
Reviewed by Brian
Genocide comes to kung fu film. This incredibly
desolate and disturbing film seems to point an arrow at the darkness and
obsession within man. Red Lotus Temple is the heart of darkness and it
is lorded over by a maniacal madman - part Kurtz, part Lear and part Pol
Pot. Driven by his own demons he has created a world around him from which
there is no escape - not even for him. Into this shadowy and claustrophobic
world are brought the remnants of the Shaolin Temple - the rest already
exterminated - hanging from tree branches, dry bones left in the desert
sun - proud men now degraded to slave labor. Led by Fong Sai Yuk, rebellion,
heroism and sacrifice is inevitable.
Tsui Hark and Ringo Lam create a mesmerizing,
tense and incredibly imaginative rendering of this world. It combines Tsui's
spectacular imagery with Ringo's bleak and violent outlook and it sucks
you in like a recurring nightmare - all closed in - constricted - death
literally ready to snuff you out at any moment. It is simply brilliant
movie making.
The sets and construction of The Red Lotus Temple
is a delight - intricate - with twists, turns, traps and pitfalls everywhere.
It is as much a character in the film as anyone. Though Elder Kung (Wong
Kam-kong) clearly overshadows the rest of the cast with a demonic charismatic
performance, the martial arts scenes with Willie Chi, Yang Sheng and Lam
Chuen are fabulously choreographed full of astonishing acrobatics and the
clanging of weapons. There are moments in this film that had me holding
my breath or gasping in surprise and amazement.
My rating for this film: 8.0