Once A Gangster (includes trailer)
May 31st 2010 13:31
Talk about a film that’s gotten absolutely no attention – Once A Gangster was released last week in theatres and is nowhere to be found on Orble or Rotten Tomatoes. I find it unusual that this directorial effort from the co-creator/writer of Infernal Affairs trilogy, Confessions Of Pain and The Departed has been left out in the cold, but perhaps it is for the best. I’ve had very few experiences like this however, where my viewing expectations have been shattered and then pissed on. Once A Gangster represents a true and utter failure from one of Hong Kong’s shining film writers, Felix Chong, who’s clearly been smoking crack to come up with a film this bad.
I’ve seen some bad films in my time, but this really takes the cake, and in comparison to other Asian films, which I usually am a sucker for, it leaves sub-par efforts like Johnnie To’s recent disappointment Vengeance and the ridiculous The Bride With White Hair 2 looking like Citizen Kane. Okay then, let’s get this over with. Actor Jordan Chan plays a character named Roast Pork, he is a chef who has grown up surrounded by crime lords and the good will of crime boss Sparrow (Ekin Chang) has set him up in his own restaurant. Word starts to get around that there is an opening for a new crime boss and much mayhem ensues and Sparrow gets behind Roast Pork in this bid for new power. The fact that just writing this review is painful for me, I’ll get my facts straight – this is MEANT to be funny. A film that satirises the all too familiar genre of Asian cinema with farcical comedy.
The film begins with more subtle laughs and some really bizarre visual flourishes which resemble a magic mushroom trip. The first half an hour has some fairly successful jokes inserted into to scenes that are badly executed and frankly, quite dumb. I did get the feeling while watching that some of the smarter humour in the film was lost through subtitles, plenty of people around me were laughing at things that clearly were going over the head of my western world breeding. The film continued to mildly entertain me but eventually went from mildly watch-able to worse and worse. This was clearly written by a man who was, after the great work that he had done, absolutely bored out of his mind with and sick of this genre.
The one highlight of the film is an interesting kind of parody on the establishing scenes of Infernal Affairs. It’s not great but it’s definitely a comment of some kind on the land mark trilogy. The film plays out these parodies Naked Gun style, which never feels funny or bad, but merely just makes you scratch your head. However, just when you were barely managing to tolerate this whacked out, slapstick modern curio of a film, it goes and commits cinematic suicide by introducing a female character so annoying, so grating and head-ache inducing that it makes you want to kill her off with your bear hands or just simply leave the theatre (like I did eventually). I’m not a 100% sure which of the two actresses it was, so I won’t say any names, but you’ll know who I’m talking about if you have the urge to brave this steaming pile of crap.
Eventually, you lose all interest in the film as all of it’s increasing farce drowns in the film’s woeful execution of each joke. The whole thing is really intolerable and completely bungled in it’s direction and acting. It’s a horrible smear on the name of a writer who did great things for Hong Kong’s film industry. One of the worst film’s I’ve ever seen.
Truly horrible.
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
i did have this one bookmarked to check out on DVD. Now I may just wait because there are so many other Asian entries that i still need to see.
Fun review to read.
Comment by Deni
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
John Woo going back to his roots is an amazing thing. If you haven't seen it, the only problem with it is that sometimes the subtitles go by a bit too fast but it's definitely worth a look.
Cheers,
Deni
Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
what country are you based in? Here in Australia they've butchered the Red Cliff, you can still get the four hour version but you have to buy it for an astronomically high amount of money. It's a pity that the truncated one is the more widely seen one.
I intend on seeing the Red Cliff, full version soon, as for the only 'good' Asian film I think you may not have looked into everything. South Korea almost always has something new and exciting coming out, one that's high on my list to see is Bong Joon-Ho's 'Mother', which I'm not sure when I'll be able to see , which is a pity because I could have seen it at last year's Cannes Film Fest and I missed it.
there are also others I want to see which I cant recall this very second.
Anyway - I actually get depressed just thinking about how bad Once A Gangster was. A horrible waste of my time.
Thanks for writing.
Comment by Deni
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
I'm an American living as an Expat here in Taiwan - I'm originally from New York City. I saw the full versions of Red Cliff, part 1 and 2. I'm actually a screenwriter - nothing has been produced yet but I've been shopping my work around...I've had a few Managers from LA. request my work. The whole process is a drag - as you might already know - being a filmmaker yourself.
Cheers,
Deni
Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
Comment by ShaunK
Screen Adventure
I know what you meant. I meant recently too.
a writer hey, cool! You're preaching to the choir Deni - the whole process is a dream that get's dragged out into a nightmare the bloody meetings and then the waiting afterwards, it's currently the bane of my existence. It feels like you're constantly in a state of 'so close yet so far'