Categorie archief: Films

Double Bill #13: Double Impact & Hard Target

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

The eighties and nineties, the decades in which I grew up in, was the era of the action movie. And one of its main heroes was Jean-Claude Van Damme (real name: Jean-Claude Van Varenberg). For this Double Bill, I rewatched two of his most enjoyable and nostalgic movies of this period: Double Impact (1991) and Hard Target (1993). In the first one he plays a set of twin brothers, so it has double the Van Damage. The brothers go after a bunch of gangsters in Hong Kong who murdered their parents when they were babies. It has great bad guys, who are stylishly dispatched by the two Van Damme characters using both martial arts and a variety of firearms. The greatest threat is the triad member played by Bolo Yeung, a legendary Chinese martial arts expert who is also in Enter the Dragon and Van Damme’s Bloodsport. The final duel with him is one of the highlights of the movie. The film’s director Sheldon Lettich also directed Wrong Bet in 1990, another Van Damme classic. He is no John Woo, but skillful enough to give the audience what it wants: violent, bloody action and some humor on the side. Hard Target has plenty of this as well, but the choreography of the action scenes is of a whole different level. Van Damme takes on a gang of despicable white men, led by Lance Henriksen, who organize manhunts for the rich and bored. Van Damme’s character Chance grew up in the New Orleans Bayou and knows a thing or two about survival and asskicking. When he becomes the quarry of their next hunt, the roles are quickly reversed and we get to witness some of the most satisfying kills of Van Damme’s career. Hong Kong director John Woo’s American debut was produced by Robert Tappert and Sam Raimi (of Evil Dead fame). It is easy to see why they liked this project: Woo’s visual style is so immensely cool it matches Raimi’s. His action is an art form, a ballet of blood, bullets, explosions, falling bodies and flying kicks in slow motion. These are two classics of the era and highly enjoyable as a Double Bill.

Classic Scenes #2: ‘Interrogation’ (Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

In Jim Jarmusch’s meditative hitman tale Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, a meticulously planned Mafia hit goes awry when an unexpected witness – a young girl – sees the murder. The assassin, a samurai-inspired Black hitman known as Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker), now finds himself in the crosshairs of the very men who hired him. His contractor, Louie, is forced to reveal everything he knows about the enigmatic killer to mob boss Ray Vargo and his two top lieutenants, who are determined to eliminate Ghost Dog before he becomes a threat. But Louie’s own life hangs in the balance for bringing Ghost Dog into their world in the first place.

What follows is a masterful interrogation scene – pure gold.

SONNY VALERIO: We got a really big problem here Louie, seems that you are directly responsible for it. Your mystery man fucked up.

LOUIE: Morini tells me she put the girl, Mr. Vargo’s daughter, on the bus.

SONNY VALERIO: He did, but she got off the bus and went to Handsome Frank’s house.

LOUIE: You wanted Handsome Frank whacked, so he got whacked. From outside. I set it all up. No traces, no nothing. Morini said she was on the bus, but Jesus, we’re lucky he didn’t do her too, right?

RAY VARGO: If he had, you would be fucking dead.

SONNY VALERIO: This is not a good situation, Louie.

LOUIE: Where is she now? Is she allright?

SONNY VALERIO: Don’t worry about Mr. Vargo’s daughter. What we need to do is eliminate the scumbag who whacked Frank. Frank was one of us. His killer needs to be neutralized. Erased from the face of the planet.

LOUIE: For the past four years, this guy did …maybe twelve perfect contracts. Perfect. Like a ghost. He is very valuable. Totally untraceable. I’m sure he didn’t realise that anyone was gonna be there when he whacked Handsome Frank or he would have backed off. He sure as hell didn’t know she was gonna be there.

SONNY VALERIO: Louie, unless you wanna buried next to Frank, now is the time to tell us everything you know about this mysterious ghost-like untraceable fucking button man.

LOUIE: Okay. Okay, let’s see. I don’t pay him by the job. He only works if I pay him once a year, always on the first day of autumn. That’s the way he wants it. Every first day of autumn, I pay him for all contracts he has done that past year, see?

SONNY VALERIO: The first day of autumn? Okay, let’s skip that part for now. Where does he live?

LOUIE: Fuck if I know. That’s the next strange thing. I can’t just call him up, cause he, you know, he only contacts me through …a bird. [amazed looks] You see since I first started contracting stuff out to this guy, the bird comes every single day.

SONNY VALERIO: Hold it. Hold it. Hold it. Did you say he contacts you through a fucking bird? Did I just hear you say that?

RAY VARGO: What particular species of bird?

LOUIE: It’s a pigeon. Must be like a carrier pigeon.

OLD CONSIGLIERE: Passenger pigeon. Passenger pigeon’s been in state since 1914.

SONNY VALERIO: Am I fucking dreaming here of what? Allright Louie, forget about the bird okay? Let me ask you this: what does this mysterious guy look like. Could you maybe tell me that much?

LOUIE: He’s a big guy, a big black guy.

SONNY VALERIO: He’s what?

OLD CONSIGLIERE: He said the guy’s a nigger.

LOUIE: Allright see around eight years ago, I saw a guy, this guy, he was more of a kid really, in a bad situation. So I straightened things out. Then about four years ago, this guy comes to my door, this big black guy, he got a fucking pigeon on his shoulder. Fuck if I know how he found me, but he said he owed me. I only saw him once after that and we made this arrangement.

SONNY VALERIO: That’s very touching Louie. Let me just backtrack here for just a second, you say this fucking bird comes to your house every day. Did he come today?

LOUIE: Yeah Sonny, the bird was here this morning.

SONNY VALERIO: Did he have a message?

LOUIE: Yeah, the usual ‘mission accomplished’ message.

SONNY VALERIO: Did you send a message back?

LOUIE: No. No, you called me in, so I figured it was best to leave things alone.

RAY VARGO: Did you try to follow this bird? Put a bug on it? Anything like that?

LOUIE: Uhm, no. I never had a reason to do anything like that. Look, like I said, I realise the arrangement I made with this guy is pretty weird, but he has always shown me complete respect.

SONNY VALERIO: Well, a whole new century is coming Louie and Mr. Vargo wants every member of this family to make it a priority to erase this weirdo.

LOUIE: This guy is a professional. Going after him could be very dangerous.

SONNY VALERIO: Handsome Frank was one of us, so now we’re gonna peel this nigger’s cap back. Better him than you right Louie? Now what the fuck is his name?

LOUIE: Ghost Dog.

SONNY VALERIO: What?

LOUIE: Ghost Dog.

RAY VARGO: Ghost Dog?

OLD CONSIGLIERE: He said Ghost Dog.

LOUIE: Yeah, he calls himself Ghost Dog. I don’t know, a lot of these Black guys today, these gangster-type guys, they all make up names like that for themselves.

RAY VARGO: Is that true?

SONNY VALERIO: Sure. He means like the rappers, you know, all the rappers, they got names like that: Snoop Doggy Dog, Ice Cube, Q-Tip, Method Man. My favorite was always Flavor Flav from Public Enemy. You got the funky fresh fly flavor.

RAY VARGO: I don’t know anything about that, but it makes me think of Indians. They got name like, uhh, Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, Running Bear, Black Elk [Imitates Indian].

SONNY VALERIO: Yeah. That kind of shit.

OLD CONSIGLIERE: Yeah. Indians, Niggers, Same thing.

SONNY VALERIO: Johnny!

JOHNNY: Sonny? Mr. Vargo?

SONNY VALERIO: Go outside; get Sammy the Snake, Joe Rags, Big Angie. Get them in here will you?

JOHNNY: Right away.

Classic Scenes #1: ‘Masters of Death’ (Shogun Assassin)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

The final fight in the best samurai film ever (purists will say that would be the original Japanse Ogami Itto movies, but this American/Japanese compilation contains twice the action and a ridiculously entertaining voice-over, not to mention the music) is one hell of an accomplishment.

Hero Ogami Itto, the shogun assassin from the title, takes on the three invincible Masters of Death and triumphs. The bloodshed is of a completely new calibre and the third master’s dying words (famously quoted by Genius GZA from Wutang Clan) are of a rare poetic beauty (see below). This whole scene is just a stroke of pure genius.

MASTER OF DEATH: [his jugular fatally slashed] Your technique is magnificent. When cut across the neck, a sound like wailing winter winds is heard, they say. I’d always hoped to cut someone like that someday, to hear that sound. But to have it happen to my own neck is ridiculous. [dies]

Withnail & I

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Bruce Robinson
Written by: Bruce Robinson
Cast: Paul McGann, Richard E. Grant, Richard Griffiths

Year / Country: 1987, UK
Running Time: 107 mins.

Withnail & I is a masterpiece of British cinema, produced by HandMade Films, the iconic production company founded by George Harrison. Known for crafting timeless classics like The Long Good Friday and Monty Python’s Life of Brian, HandMade Films once again struck gold with this darkly comedic gem, written and directed by Bruce Robinson.

The story revolves around two unemployed, substance abusing actors, called Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and I (Paul McGann). It is based on the experiences of writer-director Bruce Robinson. When the two actors get increasingly depressed by the lack of auditions and the drudgery of regular life in Camden, they go to the countryside for a vacation in a cottage owned by Withnail’s homosexual uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths).

However, their idyllic getaway quickly spirals into chaos, as the harsh realities of rural life – featuring a bull, unplucked chickens, unfriendly locals, and the unwanted advances of a very horny Monty – compound their misery and desperation. Their only solace seems to lie in copious amounts of alcohol, leading to some of the film’s most memorable moments.

Robinson’s autobiographical script works wonderfully well, and the acting by the three leads is top notch. The soundtrack, featuring classics from Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, add to the great atmosphere. Withnail & I is a truly original film with dialogues that are truthful, witty and genuine. A one of a kind movie.

Rating:

Biography: Bruce Robinson (1946, Broadstairs, Kent) started his career as an actor, but did not find it fulfilling nor lucrative. He started writing screenplays and in 1984, his Cambodia script The Killing Fields was turned into a memorable war movie by Roland Joffé. With his second script, he chose to direct himself. Withnail & I, which is largely autobiographical, became a cult classic. Robinson’s subsequent films, the advertising satire How To Get Ahead in Advertising and the serial-killer thriller Jennifer 8, while less memorable than his debut, still showed Robinson’s talents. In 2011 he brought The Rum Diary, a novel by legendary writer and Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, to the screen which received mixed reviews.

Filmography: Withnail & I (1987) / How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989) / Jennifer Eight (1992) / The Rum Diary (2011)