Blood Brothers: Bloody good, brother!

I'm never a fan of those Chinese underworld-triads-knife-fighting-pistol-shooting shows, but i was utterly impressed with the recent Tian Tang Kou (Blood Brothers). Yes i said it, utterly impressed. Though i must admit i'd wanted to catch it because of Taiwanese sex-pistol (pun intended) Shu Qi, who is well on her way in finding herself in the Haz Wayne's Fantastic Females charts. The sight of her as the woman of a criminal-boss wearing those snazzy dresses was just too tempting to be missed!

And damn she didn't disappoint. Such stunning performance. Well she is known for her sultry, sexualised look...those eyes and lips! The thought of her crawling naughtily on top of you in bed as her lush hair caresses your body is enough to make any man forget the world... Ok explicit content people!

Excellently Emotionally-engaging

Anyways back to the movie. I do at times watch those Chinese criminal underworld ahows on tv on Channel 8 and they have the usual themes of betrayal and loyalty bla bla bla. But what stands out for this one is the focus on the emotional aspect of the main protagonists, namely the 3 brothers who set out to make a living in urban Shanghai. There is no excessive gun-fighting or bloodshed, unless really necessary to move the plot, and of course at the climax. This sets it apart from the rest in the genre i think. I remember one which involves gang chain-raping of a ex-gangmember's wife, infront of their children. Can you believe it? Though it is not a happy ending, at least the brutality in Blood Brothers makes plot sense rather than dramatic effect.

The older brother eventually became so powerful..yada yada..then came betrayal...forgets his sense of self and eventually kills one of his brother. The 3 of them beforehand became engulfed in the inner circles of the criminal underworld - involving secret affairs, clashing of values, principles and brotherly love, and yes degeneration of the self. It might sound cliche even for this genre, but watching it you could sense the quality. The contrast of rural village values versus that of urbanised Shanghai was also touched in a heartfelt manner.

Comparisons to the Malay film Industry

I am not that intuned with Chinese cinema but the elder brother i recognise from the Curse of the Golden Flower fame. I feel more Malays should start watching these Chinese movies because we can see how the modern Malaysian film so much pale in comparison. No offence but i guess they should learn and take them as case studies. Malay movies about crime-fighting seem laughable next to the likes of Blood Brothers, and epics like the said Curse of the Golden Flower explains why Puteri Gunung Ledang could never garner the international audience enjoyed by Chinese productions.

But then again i see hope in the film series Sepet, Gubra and Mukhsin, which gives a new and refreshing angle to the Malay film industry, for the films very much has the Western foreign film kinda feel to it.