Friday, September 12, 1997

Bullet in the Head

100395 / 18 / HK 1990 / Woo, John / action

Bullet in the Head / Diexue jietou. PC: John Woo Film Productions. Copyright renewed in 1995 for Star TV. A Media Asia Film Distribution release. P+D+SC+ED: John Woo. CAST: Tony Leung, Jacky Cheung, Waise Lee, Fennie Yuen, Yolinda Yam. 136’. 1,85. Canton Chinese with Finnish subtitles. DIST+TRANS: Cinema Mondo. Viewed in a 131’ version at VET, Helsinki, on Friday, 12 September 1997. **** Hong Kong and Vietnam, 1967-1970. A mythical quest for fortune of three young friends during the Vietnam war. During the extreme ordeals everyone is badly burnt, and only Ben (Tony Leung) survives the final ballet of blood and fire. Not only a violent film, this is a film about brutalization. The historical context is portrayed in epic scale. The scenes of war, demonstrations, suicide missions, and mass evacuations have an authentic touch whereas the actions of the three adventurers are stylized, even glamorized. The glamour, however, only serves to make the final desolation more shattering.

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