magnadoodle666

I can see how this movie is well liked by many people. It's definitely different from a Hollywood movie, and a breath of fresh air from "the formula". At the same time, it's not so different as to cause discomfort or incomprehension. Violence is violence everywhere.

If you compare this movie against other great Asian action movie directors, than I think it's not that special. It's well done, but it's ultimately a light movie. A bit like an Asian version of an Hollywood action movie. There are some moments though (the end comes to mind), where the movie does show some signs of self awareness. But overall, it's a fairly straightforward, over the top gangster movie. If that's what you're looking for, you'll be pleased, but don't expect to be blown away by a masterpiece of cinema.

This is not a movie that's easy to understand, yet it easily makes you think. It smells of nostalgia and of things past and fading. The film that the film crew is shooting about survivors to a nuclear holocaust is a parallel to the director's own journey to collect money from his LA producer in order to continue the film. The movie is visually beautiful, full of the magic of black and white photography. It's also a movie that constantly speaks about itself, about the hardships of shooting black and white, and about the need for "a story" which the film itself seems to lack. It tries not to be a film, but to film life. Yet, in the ordinary and particular of everyday life it conveys the eternal and universal.