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Fant-Asia diary >> Week one: Sleazy dives, resurrected mummies, one-armed warriors by RUPERT BOTTENBERG
Another unusual expression: Chiu Cheuk, the Beijing-bred martial arts star and Fant-Asia's first Hong Kong guest, was anything but the stern, stoic Kung Fu disciple moviegoers are familiar with. Presenting The Blade, he was smiling ear to ear and cracking up as he gave an animated description, in Mandarin, of the hassles of playing a one-armed warrior in that film. His visit here was a riot for him. He demonstrated Kung Fu for MusiquePlus and Global's Popular Mechanics for Kids, did numerous interviews, and still had time for a guided tour of selected Montreal dives (he wanted to see the "sleazy side of Montreal"). Good thing Hussein was on hand. Chiu will be spreading the word back in HK upon his return, so expect a slew of cool guests next year. Spanish freakazoid Hector Carré was also in town to present his wacky Dame Algo, a wild tale of media hijacking. He was supposed to do a Q&A after the screening, but was apparently engrossed in the magic of Burger King and lost track of time. Too bad... the flick was great. Tonight, Thursday, July 16, Russell Mulcahy is on hand to present Talos the Mummy, his attempt to resurrect (yeesh, I know...) the mummy movie. Mulcahy's the man responsible for the first Highlander movie (the good one), so this could turn out to be quite good. Horror legend Christopher Lee cameos in the first reel, which is a good omen. By the way, Lee's in The Devil Rides Out, the old Hammer chiller classic playing the same evening. A double shot of scaaaaaary business... someone call Count Von Floyd! And now, of course, my hot picks for the week: My own taste in HK cinema leans strongly toward the gritty, hard-boiled existential crime dramas, and programmer Julien Fonfrède has really pulled his weight in this department. Not only are John Woo's ballet-of-bullets magnum opi The Killer and Hard-Boiled showing, but you've got HK auteur Wong Kar-Wai's debut As Tears Go By (Sunday), as well. Not his best work, but a great triad caper nonetheless. Moreover, you've got The Odd One Dies (Monday), a definitive piece from HK's new new wave of cynical, smart-ass, darkly funny triad films. The absolute must-see, though, is Ringo Lam's latest and greatest, Full Alert, which plays on Saturday night. Lam's the guy who made City on Fire with Chow Yun-Fat, a film you might know better in its U.S. knockoff form: Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino lifted half the storyline and a lot of the best action riffs, but connoisseurs recognize City as the far superior film. Full Alert is Lam's most painful and philosophical film to date. See you there!
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While a full house was filing in for The Blade, a kid came up to co-organizer Karim Hussein and asked him to autograph a festival programme. Hussein was thrown--first time, I guess--but he bounced back fast enough to scribble, "À Patrickon adore tes liquides!" The kid blanched. The look of mortification on his face was, to me, the real kickoff of the fest.