Bullet In The Head - Treasure of the Mekong Delta

Sep

13

Bullet In The Head - Treasure of the Mekong Delta

≡ Category: Action, Bullet Ballet, Drama, Essential, Hong Kong, Movie Reviews By Country |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Action/Bullet Ballet/Drama
Director: John Woo
Year: 1990

Rating:

TRASH CINEMA ESSENTIAL MOVIE

How to describe Bullet In The Head? In it’s heart, it’s a simple story of friendship and loyalty put to the test by the chaos of war, but mostly by greed.

Ben (Tony Leung), Frank (Jacky Cheung), and Paul (Waise Lee) are fast friends in 1960s Hong Kong. When one of them accidentally kills a triad leader, the threesome make a decision to flee together and at the same time try to make their fortune in war-torn Vietnam by smuggling — weapons, medicine, whatever it takes. They get more than they bargained for.

I can’t think of another film that more convincingly portrays the chaos of war. Unlike most films with a wartime backdrop, Bullet In The Head doesn’t take sides. The CIA, the American military, the Vietcong, and the Vietnamese government soldiers all play a part in the movie, but no one is demonized. Oh, sure, the Vietcong are pissed off and commit atrocities, but no more so than anyone else. The section that takes place in Vietnam (that would be most of the movie) is unrelentingly ferocious.

At the same time, Bullet In The Head is the most passionate of director John Woo’s pictures. It slows down to agonize over the friendships between these three men, usually with sentimental music in the background. John Woo is certainly not afraid of emotion. Bullet In The Head plays like a Douglas Sirk melodrama crossed with the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, with a big heaping side portion of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

The performances are similarly operatic. Jacky Cheung is the wildest, eyes bugging out and screaming, but Waise Lee and Tony Leung (that would be “Little Tony”) emote for the cheap seats, too. Mind you, these performances are very good, but the intensity is just off the charts. Naturalism was definitely not the goal here. Simon Yam is suave as usual in the role of Luke, a Eurasian lothario who helps out the boys, and Lam Chung is wonderfully oily as a scumbag businessman in Saigon.

All that said, Bullet In The Head is probably not for dabblers in Hong Kong movies. There are plenty of flicks you should watch first, like Hard Boiled and Full Contact. Bullet In The Head is very messy, emotionally and otherwise. For example, John Woo tacked on an apocalyptic ending to please his financial backers that’s kind of ridiculous. It’s fun, but tends to diminish the seriousness of what came before.

But I don’t care. Bullet In The Head is still essential viewing for anyone who really cares about Hong Kong flicks.