I cannot keep up with Johnny To. Though he's a fine filmmaker when fully engaged, he's also directed somewhere around twenty movies over the last eight years. With output that steady (and considering that his movies don't get widespread distribution here in the states), it's easy for stuff to fall through the cracks.
But Albert Lanier's review for SPARROW makes this sound like above-average To, so perhaps I'll check it out at some point (it sounds like his other 2008 release, the romantic drama LINGER, is one to avoid entirely). "Gentle and inviting" is not what we've come to expect from To at all.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER STEAL TOGETHER: SPARROW
by Albert Lanier
A middle-aged man is in a room in an apartment sewing a jacket when a bird flies in. Not your ordinary pigeon mind you, this bird is a Sparrow and supposedly, the Chinese nickname for pickpocket happens to be Sparrow.
Being a pickpocket happens to be the profession of the man sewing his jacket. His name is Kei and he works with a gang of three other "birds of a feather." They do the standard technique witnessed in countless crime films-the walk, bump and "I'm sorry" routine."
Nice way to make a living if you're a crook. Run into someone, swipe some wallets and before you know it, you're a few hundred bucks richer.Kei even keeps a post-office box to stash his ill-gotten gains. I guess opening up an IRA or 401 K is out of the question for a pickpocket.
It seems like a comfortable life and an easy trade. However, into Kei's and his gang's life comes Chun-Mei, an attractive young lady who darts about Hong Kong's streets and lanes as if she is being followed.
One by one, Chun-Mei meets the members of Kei's all-male gang though various incidents. My favorite is when she goes through a caraffe of wine in what seems like a improvised drinking contest with a gang member who is looking to rip off her expensive watch.
Unfortunately, all of the gang members meet up with injuries inflicted by thugs working for Mr Fu, a wealthy old man who exerts a hold over lovely Chun-Mei.
It seems that Chun-Mei has "seduced" them one by one in effort to get them to help her leave the clutches of Mr. Fu.
To find out the rest, you will have to see SPARROW, the latest film from one of Hong Kong's finest filmmakers, the great Johnnie To.
Screened during this year's Hawaii International Film Festival, SPARROW is a bit of a departure for To. Instead of lensing his typically intense powerhouse thrillers like BREAKING NEWS or perceptive, powerful crime dramas like TRIAD ELECTION 2, SPARROW is a light, comedic crime film.
Watching SPARROW feels like eating a delicious pie with whipped cream rather than scarfing down Pot Roast, potato and vegetables in one sitting.
SPARROW's script-written by Chan Kin-Chung and Fung Chih Chiang-is a clear throwback to 60's crime cinema when it was possible to make a fluffy feature about crime. The film obviously steals from the musical THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG especially for its climactic sequence.
To does a good job here keeping the mood and tone light here. He shoots the CHERBOURG influenced climax well and getting the best out of cast including fine performances from the ever dependable Simon Yam as Kei and from Kelly Lin as Chun-Lei with scene-stealing work from Lo Hoi Pang as Mr Fu.
As important as scene set-ups, camera work and acting is the soundtrack of SPARROW, To has chosen breezy, jazzy music to set an inviting warm tone for the audience to take in the film.
The overall effect created is gentle and inviting despite a violent scene or two and SPARROW often ends up putting a smile on one's face without ham-handed manipulation or obvious cinematic pandering.
For To, SPARROW is another interesting chapter in the expanding volume that could be called his career. He is rapidly becoming a director who can not be easily categorized or put in a cage, so to speak.
