Blood Brothers - Entrance to Paradise

This was a movie that was wasted on lack of ambition. This is a long convoluted entry.

I cannot be 100% sure if Infernal Affairs was meant to be a trilogy, but the series turned out pretty ok. In fact, Infernal Affairs 1 can pretty much stand on its own. But the Infernal Affairs trilogy really pushed Hong Kong cinema to the next level.

Back to Blood Brothers which stars Chang Chen, Daniel Wu, Shu Qi and Liu Ye (the excellent actor in Chen Kaige's The Promise - Wu Ji, also lead in Lan Yu). In a rushed 95 minutes, the movie went from showing two brothers and their best friend leaving their village to the bright lights of Shanghai in the 1930s, shedding their village-goody-two-shoe-ness, becoming regular hoodlums, salvation, ascension and finally vengeance. Interspersed with complex love relations and John Woo (Producer) stylee gun-battle ballets.

The entire movie is beautifully shot. The ambers, reds, browns and all the various hues in between set the backdrop for the Shanghai which most would romanticised of. The cinematography was off occasionally, with lots of "round the room" scenes instead of the typical set piece scenes. It can get pretty bad when done too often or inapproriately. It becomes very amateur-ish. Like Blair Witch. No direction, the camera just points to wherever the action is taking place.

I thought the movie lack ambition because at the end of it, you just don't feel much for the three guys who left their village. The chemistry was just not there. On top of that, the relationship between Chang Chen and Daniel Wu, with his dismal Mandarin was not developed fully. They are such fantastic actors that I feel if given the breadth and scope, they would have excelled. Chemistry between Shu Qi and every guy who lusted after her was also lacking. Salvaged only by her thespian skills.

How to bum this 6.5/10 movie to a 9/10 movie? Well, for starters, it could be longer. In fact, so long that it becomes a 3-parter which of course no production house will agree to immediately. Agents for the actors/actresses will be hardpressed as well. I thought the story bore a strong resonance with The Godfather trilogy. Not as complex but on the surface, it can pull it off. Just need much more script-writing.

Part 1 - Beginning. This part will tell the story of these three young men growing up in the village, how their bond was formed. In the background can have the blossoming of love between the village girl and Daniel Wu. On the other side would be the struggling artist/singer that is Shu Qi who finally found favour with the Big Brother of Shanghai, Boss Hong who owns Paradise Club. And another story is how Chang Chen character is constantly jealous of his brother's success. He wants them for himself but when he fell in love with Shu Qi, decided to forego his own ambition to be with Shu Qi. The three young guys arrive in Shanghai and struggles. Part 1 will end when they made their first killing and is rewarded with entrance to the inner circle of Boss Hong. This is like a part which explains the bonds between the characters and the values they carry.

Part 2 - Ascension. This part will show how the three guys fought up their way and the relationship between Shu Qi, Daniel Wu, Chang Chen. The character played by Liu Ye will show his ambition while the other two guys just wanna go back to the village. The bonds are broken and Liu Ye kills his own brother while Chang Chen, Shu Qi and Daniel Wu escapes to the village. Liu Ye kills Boss Hong and ascends the leadership.

Part 3 - Vengeance. This part is where Liu Ye sends his men to eradicate Chang Chen, Shu Qi and Daniel Wu. Shu Qi is killed and the remaining two guys return to Shanghai to seek vengeance.

In this trilogy, at least the story can be fully developed because there is more time basically.