The Stunt Woman

Rating:
Summary: A good movie, but not what you'd expect
Review: Anne Hui, the director of this film, is that rare bird, a Hong Kong art house director, and this is reflected in Ah Kam. While it has it's shares of stunts (one of which landed Michelle Yeoh in the hospital with a serious back injury) it's emphasis lies elsewhere, and anyone picking up this film because it's Hong Kong cinema might be a little disappoineted because it's definately not standard HK fare but more like a fictional behind the scenes quasi-documentary about the Hong Kong Film industry. It's a film that's more interesting than exciting, and is probably best suited for international film buffs and people who are interested in the genre's real life machinations. And of course it has Michelle Yeoh and Sammo Hung in atypical dramatic roles that they both play very well. Among other things, it nicely illustrates the influence of the Triads (Chinese mafia) in the film industry (and everything else), plus the bare bones production budgets HK films work under compared to the lavish budgets Hollywood takes for granted (and how much more HK stuntmen and actors earn their pay than their Hollywood counterparts). It also makes an interesting commentary on gender within the HK film industry, and how it changes from the culturally conservative mainstream Cantonese culture. So, worth watching for it's informational value as well as some pretty good actions sequences.

Rating:
Summary: A good movie, but not what you'd expect
Review: Anne Hui, the director of this film, is that rare bird, a Hong Kong art house director, and this is reflected in Ah Kam. While it has it's shares of stunts (one of which landed Michelle Yeoh in the hospital with a serious back injury) it's emphasis lies elsewhere, and anyone picking up this film because it's Hong Kong cinema might be a little disappoineted because it's definately not standard HK fare but more like a fictional behind the scenes quasi-documentary about the Hong Kong Film industry. It's a film that's more interesting than exciting, and is probably best suited for international film buffs and people who are interested in the genre's real life machinations. And of course it has Michelle Yeoh and Sammo Hung in atypical dramatic roles that they both play very well. Among other things, it nicely illustrates the influence of the Triads (Chinese mafia) in the film industry (and everything else), plus the bare bones production budgets HK films work under compared to the lavish budgets Hollywood takes for granted (and how much more HK stuntmen and actors earn their pay than their Hollywood counterparts). It also makes an interesting commentary on gender within the HK film industry, and how it changes from the culturally conservative mainstream Cantonese culture. So, worth watching for it's informational value as well as some pretty good actions sequences.