You are currently displaying Big5
¤å³¶ (2008)
Sparrow


Reviewed by: Masterofoneinchpunch
Date: 06/29/2009
Summary: Brilliant French New Wave Influenced To

There are many facets to the brilliantly diverse career of director Johnnie To, but within these aspects there are many similarities that adhere to auteur sensibilities. He does not direct the same film over and over again but he has many thematic overtures and plot devices that will consistently turn up -- not always in the same film though. Sparrow is no different in that respect though it feels unique in To's oeuvre. Like PTU it was a personal project that took over three years to make. He would film a scene whenever he had the money and/or whenever he could get the principal actors to work when they were not busy with other projects. Its closest equivalent would be Yesterday Once More which deals with thieves and has a few similar characters and situations. While Yesterday Once More was influenced by the American crime caper especially the original The Thomas Crown Affair, this film was created to invoke a feeling of French New Wave cinema (in interviews To states specifically Umbrellas of Cherbourg as an influence). It is one of To's most lighthearted movies (not counting some of the silly romantic comedies he has co-directed or his earliest efforts like The Eighth Happiness) and one of his better directed efforts.

In Cantonese-slang the term Sparrow means a pickpocket. It is also a bird that one day decides to show up in Kei's (Simon Yam: The Mission, PTU) apartment while he was sewing. The pickpocket is Kei who is in charge of three other semi-competent thieves (this is the most common aspect of To's movies – the team and its dynamics). As soon as the sparrow enters his life and he debates the meaning of this with his partners a women enters their life. Chung Chun Lei (Kelly Lin: Fulltime Killer, Mad Detective) a mainland expatriate (whom is similar to Mona in Throw Down) bewitches all four separately and indirectly gets them beat up by associates of her old rich patron who controls her life and has every moment of her monitored. Mr. Fu Kim Tong (Lo Hoi-pan: PTU, Throw Down) is a cigar-smoking leader of a nefarious business and was once a great pickpocket himself. He has Chung's passport and even though he offers his fortune after he dies she does not want to be caged and wants her freedom.

It is eventually their pity on Chung and not her initial coquettishness that wins three of the four to help her get her freedom. Kei is the odd man out until a specific encounter with Mr. Fu threatens his manhood, livelihood and sense-of-honor.

While this film may be a bit laconic for some I found Sparrow to be one of my favorite films of 2008. It is beautifully shot, has an interesting characterization for Simon Yam and there are several sagacious scenes. One of these moments is where all four men ride the same bike (you have to see this, it is filmed quite beautifully) which symbolizes not only the team effort for this film (one of the most common themes in all of Johnnie To's oeuvre) but the actors themselves who destroyed several bikes while making this scene and spent so much time learning to balance while riding. Pickpocketing works better as a team effort (and you can certainly rake in more money), but you have to be in sync as well as completely trust your companions. Another great scene shows them put there skills together much like a similar scene in Robert Bresson's Pickpocket. One would expect there would be much more in common between these two films because of the subject matter but the underlying themes (with the exception of redemption) are quite different.

The funniest scene involves all four pickpockets trying to corner Chun Lei so they can get a better explanation on why they got beat-up because of her. They get stuck in an elevator (well three of them do; how they lose one of them is part of the hilarity) with two movers who are carrying a large glass case. The two movers make the mistake of interfering with the three much more dangerous characters.

The most sublime scene in the movie is the edifying climax involving a pickpocket duel amongst the rain and umbrellas. It is filmed (the filming alone on this scene took over two weeks) with such beautiful editing and splendorous slow-motion grandeur that you realize this Hong Kong and French hybrid works astoundingly well. There are several subtle moments to it so it helps to view it a few times.

While the film is not perfect and portrays several of the characters as more ornamental then full-bodied humans, I found Sparrow to be a fun and rich experience. It is full of jaunty incidents with superficial references to various French film auteurs from Jean-Pierre Melville (of course the birdcages in this film also make you think of John Woo who is also a Melville fan) to Francis Truffaut. But To does this with a mixture of themes and situations that are important to him from team spirit, rooftop encounters*, wayward souls and Lam Suet. Johnnie To uses the splendid older Hong Kong locations to great effect (one of the main reasons he made this film was to document older buildings of Hong Kong that may not be around much longer because of the constant creative destruction and renovation) – this helps with the feeling of timelessness in the movie. This is especially evident when much of the stills through the credits show the buildings. Plus the music which is another hybrid of Eastern and Western influences by Xavier Jamaux and Fred Avril (whom To worked with in Mad Detective) which evokes a feeling of quirky nostalgia for a time and place that has never existed but in the mind of Johnnie To. That is one of the many reasons I love this film.

The US DVD for this is an R1 Tai Seng/Universe release (that should be exactly the same as the R3 Universe release) that has no commentary but several worthwhile interviews with Simon Yam, Lam Ka Tung, Johnnie To and Kelly Lin, a press conference at the Berlin Film Festival, a making of and a Gala Premiere.

* The rooftop is an important allegory in Hong Kong film. Many times the only way to escape the busy populace is to go up and obtain a measure of humanity by being a godlike place where you view the ants below. It is also an escape where you can either find another building to hop to (common in American urban action films) or find the ultimate escape by death (Infernal Affairs, Royal Warriors).

Reviewer Score: 9

Reviewed by: MrBooth
Date: 11/08/2008

Johnnie To continues forging a unique style for himself and Milkyway Image, with another film that, like EXILED, takes a narrative that can be expressed in a single sentence ("a sparrow recruits four pick-pockets to steal the key to her cage") and uses it to explore and indulge his cinematic skills in every aspect of the production. Can there be any doubt that he has earned his place amongst the world's greatest directors already? As usual, a great cast is key to his success, with Simon Yam once again justifying To's trust.

Reviewer Score: 8

Reviewed by: mrblue
Date: 09/30/2008

Shot over the course of several years, Johnnie To's Sparrow is a loving tribute to the films of the 1960's, those of the "French New Wave" in particular. It revolves around a group of pickpockets (or "sparrows" as they are known by in Hong Kong slang) led by Kei (Simon Yam), who each meet up with the beautiful Lei (Kelly Lin), who has a very jealous older beau in the form of Mr. Fu (Lo Hoi-Pang). Fu sends his cronies to beat up the pickpockets, which makes Lei think that they will want revenge.

Lei tries to convince Kei and his team that revenge is best served by stealing a key that Fu wears around his neck that opens a safe, which holds Lei's passport, and thus keeps her from her real love in the Mainland. Kei rejects the offer at first, but after his crew is humilated again, he takes Lei up on her offer. This leads to a climatic duel between Kei and Fu's teams, as they try to steal the passport from each other.

So this doesn't sound like the usual Milkyway/Johnnie To crime movie, and it really isn't. Sparrow is much more about style over substance and the journey being more important than the destination. At the end of the film, none of the characters really feel like they've progressed or changed in any way, which may lead some people to think the proceeding ninety minutes were pointless. But when a film looks and sounds this great, one can give it a lot of leeway.

Taking care to shoot in the older parts of Hong Kong (the few that still exist) and making a conscious effort to dress his characters in clothes that could have very well have stepped off the set of a Godard picture, Johnnie To brings back a different time and different feeling in this film, where the mise-en-scene itself was paramount.

Bolstered by an excellent jazz/lounge soundtrack, Sparrow has a very unique emotion to it, especially compared to many recent Hong Kong movies, which tend to lack any sort of real warmth or humanity to them, where the film-makers hope that if they throw enough CGI or cheesy love ballads sung by the latest pop star at the audience they'll respond by actually paying for a ticket, rather than getting a bootleg.

One particular scene where Kei and Lei simply share a cigarette while driving could be dismissed as throwaway, but if you look deeper, there's a lot to it, most notably how the simplest connections can make a huge difference. Like the films of Wong Kar-Wai. Sparrow is a much an exploration of the unique loneliness of Hong Kong, where one can feel bitterly alone, even while being surrounded by millions of people.

Viewed overall, Sparrow does come off as a bit haphazard and incomplete, probably due to the way it was produced, mostly during down times in Johnnie To's busy schedule. This sort of feeling Sparrow gives the viewer keeps it from reaching the upper echelon of To's best works like The Mission or Exiled.

However, the things the film does right are done well enough that Sparrow becomes a worthy viewing not just for fans of Johnnie To, but for cinephiles from all over the world. Sparrow isn't necessarily going slam you with its' brilliance or make you run to your friends to rave about, but it is a damn fine movie that reminds the viewer that there are at least a few solid film-makers left in Hong Kong.

[review from www.hkfilm.net]

Reviewer Score: 7

Reviewed by: dandan
Date: 09/23/2008
Summary: umbrella...

four pickpockets, or sparrows, who work in central hong kong, come into contact with a beautiful young woman, chun lei (kelly lin), and find their lives turned upside down. kei (simon yam), bo (gordon lam), sak (law wing-cheong) and mac (kenneth cheung) all find themselves falling under chun lei's spell, only to find that she is always being watched by the stooges of mr fu (lo hoi-pang); an old timer who feels that chun lei is his property...

this is a film which took three years for johnnie to to film: in hong kong term, that's an eternity. in that time he has chalked up another half a dozen directorial credits to his name; including the excellent 'exiled', 'mad detective' and the two 'election' films (which, criminally, i still haven't got round to watching). for me, i see this as being a labour of love: ideas that to had, shots he wanted to film, but finding the film to put them in, obviously, became a tricky prospect.

the film, in terms of narrative, is very simple; however, as with almost all milkyway productions, it has richness injected into it from other avenues. visually, the film is quite, quite beautiful; the shots of hong kong and the unconventional framing of shots and lighting of scenes showcase some of the most interesting cinematography i've seen come out of hong kong for a while. on top of this, the movement of characters and the choreography of scenes where there are pockets to be picked are more akin to busby berkeley numbers, than hong kong choreography.

add to this a stellar cast and you're able to forgive any perceived narrative short-comings.

a great little film...


Reviewed by: Beat TG
Date: 09/07/2008
Summary: A master at work

This must be Johnnie To's lightest and most different but also one of his personal efforts to date. And it's all excellent fare by him as expected. Here, To decided to tell a story about past constructions, old buildings; the past Hong Kong which often from people's views are seen as somehow pure and historical art, something that everyone should cherish as good memories because they might not take part of that ever again or that these arts will one day vanish for good. With To's brilliance of skills in film-making, lively music score (courtesy of Xavier Jamaux and Fred Avril), neat usage of cinematography (Cheng Siu Keung being reliable to that job) and beautiful photography, things can't get better than that when imagining everything as a whole. It’s absolutely gorgeous, masterful and enjoyable altogether to look at.

To enhance all this, acting was ensured to be specified accordingly to the times those constructions/arts set foot for the first time, in this case the 60s (or the 50s, seems more that way) and I think Johnnie To succeeded in doing so, with the actors portraying and playing their characters pretty much like how people in HK were behaving back in those times. It also means that some (or all) of the actors are doing different acting jobs than usual. Simon Yam going away from his cockiness (EXILED, THE MISSION and many past movies), silence (most of his recent Milkyway movies), usualness (the same) to becoming a very charmy, easy-going, caring, emotional and intelligent character and that's refreshing to see from someone who has played all kinds of roles throughout the decades. Big props also goes to everyone else in the cast; Gordon Lam (great as always), Kelly Lin (she's officially become one of my favorite actresses as she's got the acting skills and the damn looks!), Law Wing Cheong (otherwise known as an associate director of countless Milkyway/Johnnie To movies), Kenneth Cheung, Lam Suet (plays it serious this time) and Lo Hoi-Pang for doing refreshing acting tasks and for giving the movie the required touches and special mood. Johnnie To scores big-time once again!

Reviewer Score: 10

Reviewed by: Sydneyguy
Date: 06/20/2008
Summary: Not your normal Johhnie To movie

The movie is more about style and people than story.
The basic premise is Simon Yam leads a group of pickpockets and they each meet a beautiful woman (this leads to spoilers!!) who asks for there help to steal her passport back from her old, rich husband. But its not that easy.........

All the actors are great, with Simon yam leading the way. This is not a action movie so those expecting bloodshed will not see any. The confrontation at the end with the rain and umbrella's is something i have never seen before and it was quite entertaining.

Worth a watch

Reviewer Score: 7