Throw Down

I just watched the version that's dubbed in Mandarin, and found the film to be a disappointment after hearing so much high praise about it. So I would advise everyone to try the original HK version or better subbed version instead. Hopefully you would have a better experience.

I enjoyed the last two films I saw by the same director (PTU and Breaking News, both subbed), but I found this particular one to be incoherent and the characters hard to relate to. The film hardly makes me sympathize with its main characters, and without that connection, their life and action holds no interest to me, and all the cinematic sequences director employs become only distracting gimmicks (ie the dialog/bathroom scene involve 3 leading characters in the night club, the chasing sequence with female lead, money, a shoe...) The performance by all the actors are great, but the story presents those characters in a way that I don't see enough explanation to how they got to the situation they are in and why they chose to take certain action over other. The pace of the film is all wrong for me, some of the cuts seems to be placed at all the wrong places, On the plus side, the film is beautifully shot. Hopefully all the problem I have with this film is due to bad dubbing, which is entirely possible. But I have no intention to find out after already wasting over an hour of my time.

Akira Kurosawa's first film was a martial arts film: Sanshiro Sugata. This is almost never seen in the west; and I confess I haven't seen it. But I know what Akira Kurosawa did in film, and I have more than a general sense of his style and his concerns - what makes a Kurosawa film identifiably Kurosawa.

Johnnie To's tribute to Akira Kurosawa comes as a very splendid surprise. Not really a martial - arts film, this is the story of champion judo wrestler who, going blind, wallows in drink, gambling, petty theft and jazz (do these all go together?) Anyway, although the final 20 minutes of the film gets a little heavy, for the most part this is a humorous look at some Hong Kong low-lives, and how their redemption comes through the personal discipline necessary to learn judo. Even if you don't like judo, you will enjoy this film - very professionally crafted and acted.

For some reason this year, Johnnie To has hired actor that rarely or even be seen in his dark artistic movie. Just like Breaking News, this movie start Louis Koo (who work with him in Love FOr All Season, great movie BTW), Aaron Kwok, Cherrie Ying and Tony Leung Ka Fai.

In this movie he prove he can make a bad actor act good in this, has for the case of Aaron Kwok. Louis Koo unlike most of his film, rarely smile, has he portray a dark character he done a decent job. The movie contain the same moody feeling of late his other night hong kong like The Mission, PTU etc. The film revovle around the character, like those film and the judo was a prop. The judo fighting was film pretty impressive and enjoyable. Cherrie Ying for some reason, does not look hot in this movie, but her appearance scene (where she eating noodles and the owner keep throwing her stuff out the house) was special. I believe Louis Koo doesn't want to fight because he lost his passion. Nothing satisfy him anymore, not even money or booze.

I have to say this movie was better acted and the ending is better than breaking News.

I have gone into this film very excited as I have become a Johnnie To fan only recently. After seeing both Election movies and PTU, I have been totally amazed at the quality of director he is and how good his films can be. Throw Down continues my fan-ship of Mr To in style. I have always felt that wires and stunt doubles ruin films, no matter what the genre, and this is something Mr To seems to share with me. The fighting style of Judo is perfect for the physical aspect of the film. The actors can get close and throw each other to the ground without need of propelling themselves over bamboo trees, which is great.

The three main leads, Sze-To, Tony and Mona are pretty good. Though Mona seems to aimlessly wonder through the film and really only serve as a third wheel at times, she is a nice enough support for the muscle of the film. Louise Koo is amazing as Sze-To, the former champ turned club owner. His drunken and dazed, followed by angered and determined emotions are all portrayed brilliantly. I was even surprised by Aaron Kwok, who is great as the eager Judo fighter, travelling from fight to fight, and spurring Sze-To into his renewed sense of fight.

The photography is spot on. The massive fight in the club is so perfectly filmed and cut with the Japanese vocal that it was a joy to watch. Even the simple scenes of clubs, night life, computer games room, restaurant, are all magnificently shot. And then, as if the film were not good enough already, the soundtrack, sound editing, production design (such as the Ext Judo Championship scene) and the screenplay are all as good as you could want. The first hour and ten minutes had me on the edge of my seat. The following twenty minutes had a more mysterious, what can happen now, feel, but it is all just perfect.

If you haven't seen a Johnny To film, this might be a good starting point, but be warned, he makes no excuses and feels no obligation to explain anything about anything, it's often left to the viewer to determine the why and the how. This, for me, is what film-making is all about.

Throw Down from 2004 is slightly different, retaining the technical qualities his films are known to exhibit, but having a storyline with themes that are more personal, and in essence a shout out to anyone found struggling with whichever aspects of life at a point in time. There are no guns nor weapons galore, nor are there cops and clear cut villains who are baying for blood. While it's about Judo, don't come to expect a fight-a-minute film because this is not that movie, with action sequences kept to a bare minimum, though it does boast a scene which I thought was pandemonium done poetically with wonderful choreography that looked like a Judo free for all tournament is in progress, set within the confines of a crammed pub premises that spilt over to the sidewalk and roads outside.

Amongst the various Asian martial arts, I never really come to understand the spirit of Judo, and thus was my least favourite of them all, until this film. Almost every martial art would have found a representative film to promote the art or the sport version, and I haven't seen one that focused on Judo until Throw Down came along, and the metaphor couldn't be more pronounced. In essence it may seem like a series of throws to get your opponent off balance and gaining an upper hand, but it's truer of its spirit and intent. the message of dusting oneself off the ground when one gets defeated, to get up on one's feet and try again. It is this spirit of perseverance and encouragement that is very much alive through the protagonists in the film, a spirit that To explores in this movie.

Written by Yau Nai-Hoi, Au Kin-Yee and Yip Tin-Shing, Throw Down follows the story of Sze- To (Louis Koo), a one time Judo champion who decided to abruptly call it quits, and now manages a karaoke pub and lounge, spending his time wasted in drink and gambling, void of the zest of life. Nobody knows the real reason behind this sudden change, and it is we the audience who will journey with him down the trodden path of redemption. I think this film also marks Aaron Kwok's rare acting tutelage under Johnnie To as he plays the youngster Tony, a Judo enthusiast who seeks out Sze-To for a genuine challenge, and decided to stick around when he doesn't get the quality of challenge he's looking for. And Cherrie Ying rounds up the protagonist trio as Mona, a cannot-make-it singer wannabe from Taiwan who tries hard to make it to the entertainment scene, ending up at Sze-To's pub looking for a job.

Each character is vastly different and encapsulates the different approaches toward this journey we call life. In Sze-To we see someone zapped of zeal and spirit, giving up on what he does best and going through the motions, nary wanting to lift a finger to help his one time master Cheng (Lo Hoi Pang) to continue his legacy and fight in an upcoming tournament, much less helping anyone else. In Tony comes optimism, forward looking and almost always seizing the moment, be it the bouncer at the door, or a formidable opponent he knows of, just to spar for the sake of sparring to improve himself, broken arm notwithstanding - where he even designs his own one-arm wrestle. And in Mona's case, one who simply never gives up even with the realization of a void of talent, determined to want to breakthrough no matter what, and seeking out her own opportunities to do so wherever it make take her, home or abroad.

Perhaps this film had remained Johnnie To's underrated best in terms of very focused characters each who will emerge quite differently by the time the final act rolls by, given the active metaphor of Judo sparring throughout the narrative, of being thrown down hard onto the ground, yet finding strength from within to pick oneself up again. And To doesn't feel the need to be verbose about everything, preferring to let the long takes, with minimal dialogue, allowing the music, and the basic mood and feel of each scene to tell the story, where even a key plot element has to be figured out that provides the answer why Sze-To acts the way he does, and his reason for quitting while at his prime, providing a sort of a mystery for the audience to unravel themselves.

And the technical strengths of this film is very Milkyway, gorgeously photographed by Cheung Siu Keung in both the interior shots and the outdoor ones that romanticizes the streets of Kowloon, with plenty of light and shadow play being very pronounced in the film, highlighting the state of mind each character find themselves in at any particular point in time. The Judo spars and fights are vividly designed to be real, sans wirework and mats, coupled with an engagingly punchy soundtrack that consistently accentuates the mood of the entire film. A superb support cast like one third of The Grasshoppers Calvin So as an outright homage by Johnnie To to Akira Kurosawa, Eddie Cheung as a ruffian who talks to himself under his breath spewing insults, and Tony Leung Kar-Fai as a mean dojo owner with a menacing single Judo technique, make this journey a classic one to undertake, and definitely one of Johnnie To's best works in his filmography that deserves to be widely seen. Highly recommended!