End of the month -- Asian Flair

The line between documentaries and fiction is blurred sometimes and no more so than in the first two movies.

1) In This World (2002 movie directed by Michael Winterbottom): Rating 8/10

It starts off like a documentary, then switches to fiction mode and when it ends, you realize the story was based on true events. And the amazing cinematography, with appropriate close-ups makes you feel like you are a traveler in the film. The story is simple enough: a street smart boy agrees to lead another fellow Afghan refugee from Peshawar to London. Along the way, they cross into Iran (with some difficulty) and from there have to make it into Turkey, then catch the boat to Italy and then to London. But the journey is difficult and comes with its share of problems. Not much dialogue and that is appropriate, the visual images speak for themselves. Sometimes the editing feels off but I didn’t care – I was completely absorbed in this movie. A very good effort.

2) Mountain Patrol (original title, Kekexili, directed by Chuan Lu): Rating 9.5/10

WOW! Another movie based on a true story – the film shows the efforts of the Tibetan mountain patrol setup to prevent poaching of the endangered Tibetan Antelope. The poachers love hunting this animal because of the expensive price that the fur fetches. But the Tibetans want to protect the animal before it becomes extinct. The movie is from the point of view of a Chinese journalist who tags along with the patrol in search of the poachers. Visually this movie is beautiful. And the screenplay is very good as well. Once again, I was caught up in the movie. The patrol’s life is not easy and this movie captures the hardships in the lonely desolate stretch of land.

3) Les Fils Du Vent (Son of the Wind, directed by Julien Seri): Rating 4/10

I had such high hopes of this movie but was let down quite a bit. The movie starts off in Bangkok with an attempted high storey robbery. The two robbers don’t finish the job because the girl (with her brother being the other robber) changes her mind. But that missed chance puts them in trouble with the Yakuza. The scene switches to London with a game of high speed building jumping and chasing the ball (sorry I don’t know if there is a name for this game). The stunts are amazing, with the muscular athletes leaping off buildings with ease. They next travel to Bangkok where they help run a local gym. However, they run into problems with the local gang and indirectly with the Yakuza. Not much for plot but a lot of jumping up and down metal beams and some neat kicks. However, watching someone jumping up and down gets tiring after say 20 minutes or so. Especially if the jerky camera work gives you a headache. And the dragged out fight sequence in the end is pointless and has no place in the story. A missed chance to make a great movie here.