BANGKOK DANGEROUS
Thailand, 1999, 105 minutes, Colour.
Directed by Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang.
Bangkok Dangerous is the first film by the celebrated twins Oxide and Danny Pang. They went on to make the very successful thriller The Eye.
The setting is Thailand, the seedy side of the underworld as well as its intrusion, Mafia-like, on business interests at large in the country. The film focuses on two hit men, one deaf, who are very successful at their work. However, it is beginning to affect one of them and he is betrayed by fellow gangsters.
After a visit to Hong Kong for an assignment, the deaf hit man returns and is disillusioned, wanting revenge on the death of his friend. However, his attitude is somewhat modified as he falls in love with a very sympathetic young woman at pharmacy. However, there is no way out, and he is pursued by the gangs, the police – until a final shoot-out.
What makes this film different from many similar films from Asia is the poetic style in which it has been filmed. The Pang brothers are masters of the camera, the variety of shots, the variety of cinematic styles they can use for confrontations, chases. An advertisement says that with this film John Woo, the action director from Hong Kong, meets Wong Ka Wai the romantic and dramatic director from Hong Kong. This actually is a fairly insightful comment on the style and content of the Pang brothers’ film. It was the winner of the FIPRESCI Prize in Toronto – with praise for its poetry of cinema and violence.
1.The Thai cinema? Content? Gangster films? The poetic cinema style?
2.Asian topics, gangster films, hit men, assassins? Self-realisation – the possibilities of redemption? Love?
3.The vivid Bangkok settings, the sleazy areas of the city? The apartment of the hit men? The contrast with the wealthy atmosphere, the wealthy targets? The hotels? The rooftops? The visit to Hong Kong – and the touristic look at the different aspects of that city? The musical score?
4.The cinematic style, shots, pace, editing? A poetry of violence?
5.The focus on Joe and Kong? Their work as assassins? Their careers, reliance on each other, support? Kong and his being deaf? Its not interfering with his work? Showing their work and the various targets, especially the shot of the executive from the rooftops? The touch with the little girl and her pretending to shoot from the opposite rooftop, Kong seeing this and it registering in his memory? His shooting nonetheless?
6.Joe and his disillusionment, their discussions together? The context for the flashbacks? The boys as children? Kong and his being deaf, his being persecuted by the other boys, the throwing stones? His reaction, vengeance? His career? A sociopath unaffected by what he did? His moving amongst the gangster bosses, getting his orders, getting the money, the envelopes? Meeting the dancers at the strip clubs? His future?
7.The job in Hong Kong, the look at the city, the task, his accomplishing his mission?
8.His meeting with the young girl, attracted to her, going out? Her sympathy, taking account of his deafness? Attracted to him? Bringing him home? Her mother? The possibility of love and redemption?
9.Kong, his disillusionment, the final vengeance, the contacts? The police? His going to the water factory, the hit men trying to kill him? The balletic style of the confrontation? His eliminating the opposition, getting the boss, holding him to ransom? The confrontation with the police? The girl coming to see him, his memories and happiness? His decision to kill himself? The bullet killing himself and his hostage?
10.The emotional impact of this kind of story of assassins? Entry into this amoral world? Issues of conscience? Assassins, violence? The film’s depiction of violence – exploitative or making comment?
