Movie Review: Moonlight In Tokyo
Mar. 3rd, 2006 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alectoperditaMoonlight in Tokyo
Starring: Leon Lai & Chapman To
Language: Available in Cantonese and Mandarin, English subtitles should be on the official VCD/DVD
First Released: 12/2005
When you watch a movie that looks like some strange Chinese cross between Rainman and Deuce Bigolo, you don't expect to shed any non-stupidity related tears. Starring both Leon Lai (one of the preceding Four Heavenly Kings) and Chapman To, I guess I should have known better. Looking at what I know of Leon Lai's acting record, I shouldn't have expected anything too happy. So what happens when you dump a mildly retarded Chinese man in the middle of Tokyo where he gets picked up by a former classmate and pawned off as a Korean gigolo to help said classmate repay his debt to the yakuza?
The film opens with a child narrating the story of the ugly duckling and that's just what our protagonist, Li Zi Jun, is. Jun is a mildly mentally retarded man that lives with his older brother's family. His family is constantly fighting with each other over him because most of them don't want him in the house because of the problem he has caused. In the heat of an argument, the wife of his elder brother declares her intention to divorce. The scenery starts to darken and the slight strains of an orchestra is rising in the background. A ballerina in pure white rushes onto the darkened stage and Jun is enraptured by her dance. This is the beginning of an oddly existential movie.
This movie surprised me as I have never placed much on Leon Lai's acting skills. I can still remember that horror of a strange Sci-Fi film I saw him in as a kid, and let's not even talk about that series he did for TVB (The Legendary Ranger if you wanted to know for reference *gag*). You could say he's like the Keanu Reeves of the Hong Kong entertainment industry. While he is probably the cutest of the Four Kings, Andy Lau has trumphed him in both singing and acting and Jacky Cheung in singing. (Aaron Kwok who?) I do adore how Leon can look so handsome while still sounding like a wayward kid. Or maybe that's just that Keanu Reeve effect... I can't say I'm too familiar with Chapman To (an ATV grad), though he was in Infernal Affairs. However, he did capture the desperate feel of his character.
It is a buddy movie- a story of how two virtual strangers become friends, become brothers, and invariably change each other's lives.
There are genuinely funny or amusing moments in the movie. The idea of turning a retarded man into a hunky "duck" (Cantonese slang for male prostitutes) is a bit sad, but there's potential for some comedy in that situation. Chapman's character starts out by continually asking, "What does this have to do with me?" to training Leon to say his business motto in Japanese, "Excuse me, I am Korean. I can't understand or write Japanese, or speak it. I can only 'do it'." I found the scene where Leon and Chapman are hugging each other in a public bathhouse as the other male patrons looked on kind of cute, especially when Chapman surged to his feet to scream "What are you looking at?" in Japanese.
That's not to say the film isn't dirty either. We are talking about the Japanese sex industry here. There's nothing awesomely too explicit and are, more times than not, the point of a gag.
So how does a movie that has seemingly so little to no point pack such an emotional punch? Sometimes, the movie breaks into some creative dialogue-free and even abstract narrative. The musical scoring does a good job of matching and conveying the feel of the scene, whether it be the surreality of the Swan Lake orchestrated scenes or the hard beat techno that follows them as they rush from one job to the next. Each little plot twist reveals another layer to the characters. There are a lot more layers than you would initially expect. Some heartfelt and unexpected dialogue. This movie has a bit of what most HK films are lacking nowadays, but be prepared for wild shifts in tone. That's the killer part.
"You're my older brother, so why wouldn't I support you when you're in trouble?"
Recommendation
Yes, and be sure to bring some tissues though. It may just be that I went in with rather low expectations, but five out of five. Maybe I'm setting up for disappointment by recommending it, but I'll take the risk.
About BTing this movie
Yes, it's there if you wanna go through Chinese sites and if you can deal without English subtitles.
Links
Official Site
IMDb
Buy the DVD on YesAsia / VCD
Starring: Leon Lai & Chapman To
Language: Available in Cantonese and Mandarin, English subtitles should be on the official VCD/DVD
First Released: 12/2005
When you watch a movie that looks like some strange Chinese cross between Rainman and Deuce Bigolo, you don't expect to shed any non-stupidity related tears. Starring both Leon Lai (one of the preceding Four Heavenly Kings) and Chapman To, I guess I should have known better. Looking at what I know of Leon Lai's acting record, I shouldn't have expected anything too happy. So what happens when you dump a mildly retarded Chinese man in the middle of Tokyo where he gets picked up by a former classmate and pawned off as a Korean gigolo to help said classmate repay his debt to the yakuza?
The film opens with a child narrating the story of the ugly duckling and that's just what our protagonist, Li Zi Jun, is. Jun is a mildly mentally retarded man that lives with his older brother's family. His family is constantly fighting with each other over him because most of them don't want him in the house because of the problem he has caused. In the heat of an argument, the wife of his elder brother declares her intention to divorce. The scenery starts to darken and the slight strains of an orchestra is rising in the background. A ballerina in pure white rushes onto the darkened stage and Jun is enraptured by her dance. This is the beginning of an oddly existential movie.
This movie surprised me as I have never placed much on Leon Lai's acting skills. I can still remember that horror of a strange Sci-Fi film I saw him in as a kid, and let's not even talk about that series he did for TVB (The Legendary Ranger if you wanted to know for reference *gag*). You could say he's like the Keanu Reeves of the Hong Kong entertainment industry. While he is probably the cutest of the Four Kings, Andy Lau has trumphed him in both singing and acting and Jacky Cheung in singing. (Aaron Kwok who?) I do adore how Leon can look so handsome while still sounding like a wayward kid. Or maybe that's just that Keanu Reeve effect... I can't say I'm too familiar with Chapman To (an ATV grad), though he was in Infernal Affairs. However, he did capture the desperate feel of his character.
It is a buddy movie- a story of how two virtual strangers become friends, become brothers, and invariably change each other's lives.
There are genuinely funny or amusing moments in the movie. The idea of turning a retarded man into a hunky "duck" (Cantonese slang for male prostitutes) is a bit sad, but there's potential for some comedy in that situation. Chapman's character starts out by continually asking, "What does this have to do with me?" to training Leon to say his business motto in Japanese, "Excuse me, I am Korean. I can't understand or write Japanese, or speak it. I can only 'do it'." I found the scene where Leon and Chapman are hugging each other in a public bathhouse as the other male patrons looked on kind of cute, especially when Chapman surged to his feet to scream "What are you looking at?" in Japanese.
That's not to say the film isn't dirty either. We are talking about the Japanese sex industry here. There's nothing awesomely too explicit and are, more times than not, the point of a gag.
So how does a movie that has seemingly so little to no point pack such an emotional punch? Sometimes, the movie breaks into some creative dialogue-free and even abstract narrative. The musical scoring does a good job of matching and conveying the feel of the scene, whether it be the surreality of the Swan Lake orchestrated scenes or the hard beat techno that follows them as they rush from one job to the next. Each little plot twist reveals another layer to the characters. There are a lot more layers than you would initially expect. Some heartfelt and unexpected dialogue. This movie has a bit of what most HK films are lacking nowadays, but be prepared for wild shifts in tone. That's the killer part.
"You're my older brother, so why wouldn't I support you when you're in trouble?"
Recommendation
Yes, and be sure to bring some tissues though. It may just be that I went in with rather low expectations, but five out of five. Maybe I'm setting up for disappointment by recommending it, but I'll take the risk.
About BTing this movie
Yes, it's there if you wanna go through Chinese sites and if you can deal without English subtitles.
Links
Official Site
IMDb
Buy the DVD on YesAsia / VCD
