Asian Drama

This is the story of a chief inspector in the anti-narcotics unit who holds true to his beliefs as a police officer. He puts everything on the line to crack down on drugs and bring drug traffickers to justice. How will our hero resolve this “bursting point” crisis?

(Source: thefilmcatalogue.com)

Among the steady stream of new Chinese movies opening in America, “A Beautiful Life” stands out — rather than an overstuffed, jingoistic historical tale or martial-arts blowout, it’s a contemporary romantic melodrama with a plaintive pop soundtrack that might call to mind “Terms of Endearment,” “The Other Sister” or, most strongly, a Nora Ephron comedy minus most of the laughs. (There’s also a bit of “Memento” thrown in.) It’s no great shakes, but a substantial number of American moviegoers — soft-hearted, slightly masochistic and largely abandoned by Hollywood — would like it if they found their way to it. The first hour, especially, is charming, before the balance shifts from romance to melodrama to, in the final minutes, the kind of maudlin crescendo that Asian audiences are accustomed to. The director, Andrew Lau, gives further proof of his versatility, having already shown that he can make very good gangster movies (“Infernal Affairs”) and so-so kung-fu epics (“Legend of the Fist,” which opened in the United States last month). He practices heroic restraint and delicacy, given the five main characters he’s been handed: one’s blind, one’s autistic, one’s mute, one has early-onset dementia and one’s a healthy, bitter drunk. Mr. Lau is helped by his charismatic stars, Shu Qi and Liu Ye, both of whom are very appealing within the narrow range set for them. Mr. Liu plays an upright cop who’s slowly losing his memory and leaves himself notes to remind him of his daily tasks; Ms. Shu has the Holly Golightly role as a real estate agent trying to strike it rich in Beijing so that she can support her parasitic Hong Kong family. (One not very convincing theme of the film is Beijing incorruptibility versus Hong Kong decadence.) She’s a bit forced and shrill in her drunk scenes, but otherwise she underplays adroitly and flashes some sly humor.

Badges Of Fury, a crime thriller featuring one hell of a martial arts trio with Jet Li (needs no introduction), Collin Chou (The Matrix Reloaded, Flashpoint) and Wu Jing (SPL / Kill Zone) in the lead roles. When a spate of eerie murders erupts across HK two troublemaking cops are assigned to the case. Young maverick WANG and grizzled vet HUANG who is fed up with his reckless younger partner always landing them in hot water. Reaching a dead end after discovering all the victims were former boyfriends of aspiring starlet LIU, the detectives must play a deadly game. One of them must go undercover as Liu’s lover to lure the killer out. Li, Chou and Wu are three of the finest screen fighters in the world and with Kung Fu Hustle and Crouching Tiger vet Po Chu Chui in the producer’s chair here’s betting they’re put to good use.