Mar
31
2008
The Drummer
Posted by luna6 Leave a Comment
Movie: The Drummer / Jin. gwu
Release Date : October 11, 2007
Country : Hong Kong
Director : Kenneth Bi
Starring : Jaycee Chan, Angelica Lee
Runtime : 118 min
Editor Rating : 7.0
Users Rating: 5 
(6 votes)
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Hong Kong gangsters, the Zen Drummers (played by the real life musical troupe U-Theatre), and Jaycee Chan (son of Jackie Chan) are all featured in Kenneth Bi’s “The Drummer”. The script’s interesting mixture of the usual (HK mob) and the not so usual (the Zen Drummers) work in a likable fashion to make for a simplistic, but nevertheless enjoyable film. Jaycee Chan also performs well in the main lead role as the rebel son that tries to escape the shadow of his legendary father (a powerful mob figure played Tony Leung Kai Fai). If you wonder how the Zen Drummers come into play … just read on.
In “The Drummer”, a nearly out-of-control Sid (Jaycee Chan) roams around Hong Kong, fearing no one, knowing that his all powerful father will save his hide. But the power that his father wields also hangs over Sid’s life like a suffocating cloud. Sid seems to be always looking for trouble and he finds it in spades with a sexy girl named Carmen. Sid knows perfectly well that Carmen is the girlfriend of another powerful mob leader named Stephen Ma. The couple frolic in Stephen Ma’s apartment and things turn for the worse when Stephen Ma himself walks in on the couple. Sid fearing no one, tells Stephen Ma off and walks away unscathed.
Stephen Ma then calls a meeting with Sid’s father named Kwan (Tony Leung Kai Fai). Stephen Ma and Kwan have known each for years and at one point Stephen Ma even saved Kwan’s life. Because of this, Stephen doesn’t demand Sid’s life, but just his hands. Kwan not willing to cut his son’s hands off, concocts a plan to send his son away to hide in a small rural village in Taiwan and fake the the dismemberment of his son’s hands.
In Taiwan, Sid comes across the Zen Drummers. He becomes enchanted with the group and their Zen like drumming manner. He eventually asks to join their group. The Zen Drummers recognizes Sid’s drumming talents, but also recognizes his penchant for undisciplined behavior. Meanwhile Sid’s appointed bodyguard (played by Roy Cheung) tells Sid he can join the group but bets that he won’t last in their group for more than 2 weeks. The Zen Drummers lets Sid join their group but first require Sid to go through a rigorous training program that teaches Sid about life.
Their’s plenty of questionable moments in the movie from the standpoint of believability, but those faults are forgivable because of the general likableness of the script and the performers. The whole bit with Stephen Ma demanding the hands of Sid was one of them. Would a real life gangster expect another gangster to cut his own son’s hands off? Also, Kwan’s plan to fake the dismemberment of his son’s hand was equally bizarre. Did he expect his son to stay in the rural town until Stephen Ma died? Otherwise Ma would eventually discover Kwan’s rouse. But again, these were forgivable moments, with Tony Leung Ka Fai playing his maniacal mobster role to perfection and Kenneth Tsang playing the sinister but refined Stephen Ma to a tee.
In the movie’s second act, the movie shifts gears with the appearance of the Zen Drummers. The movie then pulls out the Buddhist like philosophy while also unveiling the coming-of-age angle of its script. These moments were good, helped by the stellar camera work which breathed life and vitality into the movie ala “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring”. The techniques used by the Zen Drummers to teach Sid lessons on life didn’t make all that much sense to me and some things hinted at greater things to come but never materialized. What was the point of having Sid fetch water and carry the 40 rocks in a bag? Modesty? Selflessness? Importance of group over individual? Discipline? Also one of the drummers emphasized drumming without drumming, which zoomed right over my head.
Lastly, in the third act, Sid returns to Hong Kong. The movie reverts to the HK mafia theme found in the first act. The movie then hinges on some cliché moments for the mafia genre (loyalty / betrayal / revenge), but doesn’t embarrass itself with anything terribly shoddy. I did wonder why Stephen Ma didn’t go after Sid in a more direct manner.
“The Drummer” does offer some fairly entertaining moments, particularly Jaycee Chan’s indoctrination into the world of the drumming vis a vis U-Theatre. The mafia angle is standard fare stuff, but never sinks to cheeseball territory. Angelica Lee seemed a tad off the mark, but otherwise the cast was on the money. Visuals were also stellar, with the best moments reserved for the second act. Whenever you’re in the mood for popcorn entertainment give “The Drummer” a try. Likely to satisfy.
Cast:
Jaycee Chan - Sid
Tony Leung Ka Fai - Kwan
Angelica Lee - Hong Dou
Roy Cheung - Ah Chiu
Josie Ho - Sina
Kenneth Tsang - Stephen Ma
Hei-Yi Cheng - Carmen
Ruo-yu Liu - Lan Jie
Chih-chun Huang - Sifu
Glen Chin - Uncle Tak
Ken Lo - Long
Eugenia Yuan - Kwan’s wife
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2007 Movie Reviews, Chinese Movies |