We have two fantastic martial arts films called A Bittersweet Life and Fearless with the great Jet Li that will be featured in the Telecom 2006 New Zealand Film Festival later this winter (Auckland July 13-30, Wellington July 21 – August 6). We are really thrilled to have these films as part of our programme.

A Bittersweet Life

Dalkomhan Insaeng
South Korea 2005, 120 Minutes
Director: Kim Jee-woon
With: Lee Byung-hun, Kim Young-chul, Hwang Jung-min, Shin Min-a, Kim Roi-ha, Lee Ki-young
In Korean with English subtitles
Festivals: Cannes (Out of Competition), Edinburgh 2005

From the formidable Korean director of two contemporary classics, The Quiet Family and A Tale of Two Sisters, comes a stunning blend of icy noir and ultra-violence, wrapped up in a velveteen embrace of wicked black humour and chiaroscuro stylings. Sun-woo is a cold-blooded and loyal enforcer for gang boss Kang. Kang asks Sun-woo to watch over his girlfriend Hee-soo, a gorgeous young cellist whom he suspects is having an affair. If proven correct, he wants her and her lover killed. When the conflicted enforcer makes an unwise if honourable decision, he becomes the target of Kang’s extreme wrath. Soon our suave bodyguard is being beaten to a pulp, hung up and smashed like a piñata before finally being buried alive. Fortunately, Sun-woo is the toughest bugger ever seen in Asian gangster cinema: after clawing himself out of the ground, he decides to settle the score by working his way back to Kang. This is one superb film, featuring riveting performances, operatic mayhem, moody cinematography, dazzling martial arts, kinetic editing and incredible set-piece action.

Fearless

Huo Yuanjia
China/Hong Kong 2006, 103 Minutes
Director: Ronny Yu
Action Director: Yuen Wo-ping
With: Jet Li, Betty Sun, Dong Yong, Nakamura Shidou, Collin Chou, Bao Qijing, Nathan Jones
In Mandarin with English subtitles

Fearless is being touted as Jet Li’s last foray into martial arts, but fans needn’t worry about the enduring 42-year old kung fu icon limping to the finish line: it’s easily his most ballsy and brutal martial arts flick since his peak Hong Kong period. Imagine the uncompromisingly vicious prowess of Fist of Legend married with the lavishly mounted, epic grandeur of Once Upon a Time in China, and you’ve got Fearless. In his most emotionally resonant performance yet, Li plays turn-of-the-century folk hero Huo Yuanjia, a kung fu master who sought to enforce his title as the greatest fighter in the land, only to succumb to the consequences of his arrogance. Gracefully directed by Ronny Yu (Bride with White Hair), on the rebound from helming mediocre American horror franchises, the film doesn’t skimp on bone-snapping Yuen Wo-ping-choreographed fights: there’s an astonishing restaurant set-demolishing centrepiece that’ll please fans who think Jackie’s much too slow these days and simply can’t wait for the next Tony Jaa bash-fest.

Film Festival Screening Dates