Yau & Yee Fest

In preparation for the dvd releases of Derek Yee's Shinjuku Incident and Herman Yau's The First 7th Night (which were on the same day), I decided to have a film festival for one, featuring some of my favorite films by the two directors. The films are as follows:

The Untold Story
Directed by Herman Yau

Troublesome Night 3
Directed by Herman Yau

Troublesome Night 5
Directed by Herman Yau

People's Hero
Directed by Derek Yee

C'est La Vie, Mon Cheri
Directed by Derek Yee

Lost In Time
Directed by Derek Yee

Nightmares in Precinct 7
Directed by Herman Yau

On the Edge
Directed by Herman Yau

I had planned to watch Yau's A Mob Story, Whispers and Moans, and True Women for Sale; and Yee's One Nite In Mongkok, Drink-Drank-Drunk, and Protégé, but Shinjuku Incident and The First 7th Night arrived at my door earlier than I had anticipated, and I couldn't wait to watch them.

Shinjuku Incident
Directed by Derek Yee, starring Jackie Chan, Naoto Takenaka, Daniel Wu, Chin Kar-lok, Lam Suet, Masaya Kato, Fan Bing-bing, and Xu Jing-lei.

Back in October of last year, I wrote a post about upcoming films I was excited about. One of those films was Shinjuku Incident. I wrote:

"I live and breathe cinema created by Yee. Like most of my favorite directors, I have all of his films, and love them all. On top of that, Shinjuku Incident stars Jackie Chan, who, while hardly known for his acting ability, just might pull off an engaging performance thanks to Derek Yee. As if a thriller directed by Yee weren't enough, it co-stars Daniel Wu who worked with Yee on the incredible One Nite in Mongkok, and it stars another of my favorite actor/directors, Xu Jinglei.

Being a film from Derek Yee, this is bound to be a good, if not great film. With all the talent involved, this could be Yee's greatest film yet. I haven't been this excited about a film since Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. I can only hope Shinjuku Incident will be better than that. Much better."

While my level of disappointment with Shinuku Incident wasn't as great as with Episode I, it was close. However, the blame shouldn't be placed with Derek Yee. Though I have some minor quibbles script-wise, Shinjuku Incident was an intriguing film with one of the best supporting casts I've seen. The film fails due to the limited acting ability of Jackie Chan.

The direction, cinematography, costumes, set designs, locations, score, and supporting cast are excellent. Had another actor (a real actor) been cast in the lead role, I think Shinjuku Incident could have been Yee's best film, and one of the best films of 2009. Unfortunately, Jackie Chan was cast in the lead role, and for that Shinuku Incident suffers greatly.


The First 7th Night
Directed by Herman Yau, starring Gordon Lam Ka-tung, Michelle Ye, Julian Cheung, Eddie Cheung, Fung Hark-on, and Tony Ho.

Unlike Yee's Shinjuku Incident, Yau's The First 7th Night is good. I'm both too lazy and too in-awe of the film to describe it's plot, but it is a great blend of genres. For those that don't know, 7th night refers to the belief that on the 7th night after a person's death, they return to visit their family/exact revenge.

I liked so many things about the film, but I especially enjoyed Gordon Lam's performance, and the story upon it's conclusion.I hope that this is just the first in a series of 7th Night films, as the title suggests. Yau's directed is superb, and the film turned out to be far more thoughtful and interesting than I expected.