CANNES 2009 Competition / France
Franco-Chinese alliance for Johnnie To’s Vengeance
A self-confessed admirer of Jean-Pierre Melville’s work, virtuoso Hong Kong director Johnnie To today presented his film Vengeance [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Displaying To’s characteristic style, this auteur thriller has a French touch for it stars charismatic singer-actor Johnny Hallyday.
Majority financed by France, this French/Chinese co-production bears To’s masterful stamp in terms of the chiaroscuro lighting, choreographed shoot-outs and controlled pace through slower moments and sudden accelerations. All this is seasoned with a touch of offbeat humour.
Helmed by a specialist, this visually successful classic-style film joins a Cannes competition marked by the great variety of genres presented, from horror film (Park Chon-wok, Lars von Trier) to generational comedy (Ang Lee), romantic period feature (Jane Campion) and erotic film (Lou Ye). The remaining titles plunge viewers into the criminal jungle inside prison (Jacques Audiard) and outside (Brillante Mendoza and To).
Vengeance traces the quest of Francis Costello (a direct homage to Jeff Costello, played by Alain Delon in Melville’s The Samurai), a retired French gangster. He finds himself in Macau, where his son-in-law and grandchildren have been murdered, while his daughter (Sylvie Testud) hovers between life and death.
Powerfully and subtly performed by Hallyday, the old man, who is losing his memory, hires three hitmen to help him carry out his revenge. Together, they follow the trail leading to the person behind the killings, passing through Hong Kong. Bullets fly and male friendships are formed.
Produced by France’s ARP Sélection and To’s company (Milky Way Image) in association with Media Asia Films, Vengeance is sold internationally by Paris-based Kinology.
The French film industry seems to be particularly drawn to Asia, as Rosem Films managed financial backing for Chinese director Lou Ye’s Spring Fever [+see also:
trailer
film profile], JBA Production for Malaysian filmmaker Tsaï Ming-Liang’s Face [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Swift Productions for Philippine director Mendoza’s remarkable The Execution of P [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. The latter three films are also vying for the 2009 Palme d’Or.
(Translated from French)
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