#Frank Rautenbach

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Frank Rautenbach as Ken

The Bang Bang Club (2010)

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A film about racial prejudice, corruption that asks difficult questio- Cinema express

A film about racial prejudice, corruption that asks difficult questio- Cinema express

This dark story set in the South African veldt references racial tensions simmering beneath the surface. Apartheid may have been abolished three decades ago, but there still exists an uneven balance of power between black and white South Africans. And this is no more apparent in its smaller towns. Vusi (Mothusi Magano) and John (Frank Rautenbach) are senior police detectives in such a place.…

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Frank Rautenbach on The Bang Bang Club (2010)

as Ken on The Bang Bang Club

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Warrior Season 2 Episode 8 Review: All Enemies, Foreign and Domestic

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This Warrior review contains spoilers.

Warrior Season 2 Episode 8 Review

This episode’s cold open has Hong (Chen Tang) telling a story to Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) and Young Jun (Jason Tobin) as they are eating. It’s a tale of a killer who uses violin strings as a weapon to explain why Hong uses his signature whip chain. Ah Sahm and Young Jun tease him by constantly interrupting his story and as the camera pulls back, we discover that they are casually eating over a pile of dead Fung Hai men. With their leader Zing (Dustin Nguyen) in jail, the Fung Hai were easy pickings for the Hop Wei. 

Ordinarily, skipping to after the fight scene without showing any action would be disappointing for a martial arts-based show like Warrior, but it’s such an artfully crafted interaction between the Hop Wei threesome that the absence Kung Fu is forgivable this one time. Their gangster buddy chemistry is on point and remains one of the best things about Warrior. It adds some much needed levity to a grim and nasty world, However, this is another episode that is weak in the action department with only one fight scene. 

Buckley’s (Langley Kirkwood) backstory is revealed when relives having his leg amputated during the Civil War in a PTSD flashback nightmare, which finally explains his limp and cane. He’s awakened to learn that Mayor Blake (Christian McKay) has been killed and joins Chief Flanagan (David Butler) at the scene of the crime. Flanagan questions Penny (Joanna Vanderham) who refuses to give any statements, partly in shock and partly to protect Jacob (Kenneth Fok), their valet, who saved her life by killing Blake. However, Sophie (Celine Buckens) snitches in hopes to protect her sister, completely throwing Jacob under the bus. Buckley realizes that it’s another opportunity to vilify the Chinese and as he strategizes, Flanagan reminds him that he’s now the acting mayor.

Meanwhile back outside Fung Hai body pile, Ah Sahm tells Young Jun that their attack was a tactical move to provoke his sister, Mei Ling (Dianne Doan). Mei Ling spies on them from a nearby window and understands his play. Both tongs must behave without offending the Six Companies, which restricts them from launching an all-out gang war. She lets Li Yong (Joe Taslim) know she has other tricks up her sleeve outside of Chinatown.

Young Jun returns to the Hop Wei compound and pours a drink for Father Jun who he has incarcerated after his takeover of the tong. He boasts about his victories over the Fung Hai and Long Zii hoping for some paternal approval. But once again, Father Jun rebukes him for losing men. Young Jun has only been the Hop Wei leader for two days, and the violence is escalating.  

With the rising xenophobia, the SFPD launches a major crackdown on Chinatown, pulling out all stops to find the Chinaman who murdered the mayor. After Flanagan briefs the squad on the importance of their mission, Lee (Tom Weston-Jones) accuses O’Hara (Kieran Bew) of planting the watch to set up Zing, and the two get in a fist fight in the precinct station. Their partnership has gone completely sour.

The Irish union starts to question Leary (Dean Jagger) about the jobs he’s promised. They’re tired of waiting. They don’t want handouts. They want jobs. Leary believes the mayor will throw the coolies out. Sophie arrives with a black eye from fighting with the Mayor and tells Leary about Blake’s death. Leary realizes he’s lost an important ally for his mission to find jobs for his fellow countrymen.

There’s a nice composite scene as Buckley is sworn in as acting mayor. His oath taking is juxtaposed against the cleaning of Blake’s blood at the Mayoral manor as Penny prepares to go her slain husband’s viewing with Sophie. Meanwhile, the SFPD begins to march on Chinatown. The police raid is merciless, grabbing every Chinese male and comparing them to the line drawing wanted poster for Jacob. Jacob hides in an alley in fear.

Buckley settles into the Mayor’s chair and then pressures Flanagan to catch Jacob quickly. He wants to manipulate this to his political advantage as he’s been pushing for the Chinese Exclusion Act for several episodes. Leary catches up with Buckley and asks him to deputize his men in hopes of getting them some jobs. He says three dollars a day would do it, and then drops to two, but Buckley rejects him entirely. Leary tries to threaten Buckley, but Buckley, confident in his new found power, brushes him off. Later Buckley meets with Mei Ling privately in his carriage. He demands that she find Jacob and threatens to takedown the Long Zii and their opium trade. Mei Ling agrees as long as Buckley helps her crush the Hop Wei later. 

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O’Hara begins to tap his Chinatown connections to find Jacob. He searches Ah Toy’s (Olivia Cheng) bordello, and the police presence forces her to close. In the back alley, O’Hara crosses paths with Ah Sahm. He reveals that he was the reason the Li Yong didn’t kill him in their duel in Season 1, but Ah Sahm is nonplussed. O’Hara tells him to stay off the streets while they search Chinatown for Jacob. He hoped for some clues but gets nothing from the tightlipped Ah Sahm. 

Nellie (Miranda Raison) visits Ah Toy at the bordello and invites her to come to her winery to escape the police harassment. But they are interrupted by the butcher hitmen, Cleaver (Brad Kelly) and Hammer (Jason William Day), so named for the weapons they wield. They were hired by Ah Toy’s former real estate partner, Patterson (Frank Rautenbach) in previous episode. They arrive disguised as police and get the drop on Ah Toy, injuring her badly. Nellie tries to help her lover fight but is quickly knocked out. 

This is the only fight scene in this episode and although it’s gruesomely sanguineous, Ah Toy’s Kung Fu is subpar. Granted, she’s fighting wounded, but she lacks the finesse of her previous fight scenes, narrowly escaping the two hitmen, crawling away as she evades their attacks. It’s suspenseful because as we’ve seen from the previous episodes, major characters are dying, and no one is safe. Inevitably, she dispatches Hammer with her hairpin throwing dagger and then manages to recover her sword (a new one, not the one presumably in the evidence room incriminating Zing) to decapitate Cleaver off screen. After the fight, Ah Toy sends Nellie away, telling her this is ‘no place for a white woman.’

Ah Toy brings the decapitated heads of Cleaver and Hammer to Patterson’s home. She’s a bloody mess and it’s not clear how she escaped the Chinatown curfew in her injured state, but she’s Ah Toy and has her ways. She knows that Patterson sent the hitmen after her, and with her sword on the dinner table, she threatens him and his family, forcing him to finally sign off on her property. She tells him to vanish saying in her clipped accented English, ‘If I ever see you, you dead man.’  

O’Hara finds another cop pinning Chao (Hoon Lee) to a wall, interrogating him about Jacob. O’Hara pulls him off Chao in a classic good-cop-bad-cop tactic, although this seems unrehearsed. He asks Chao for his help to find Jacob. Chao acknowledges their past exchanged favors yet leaves disgruntled. He returns to his place to find his door ajar. He draws his derringer and finds Jacob is hiding there, begging for help.

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Análisis de personaje: Una mirada al Club Bang Bang

Dejando de lado unos cuantos clichés del periodista eligiendo una película del ‘’típico’’ periodista -ese que como muchos profesionales anda estereotipado por décadas, ese que vive en el imaginario colectivo como el desenfrenado presentador de noticias vestido de traje- decidí adentrarme a otra visión de la profesión, esa que se vive a través de las cámaras, los lentes y en este caso, también la guerra.  

Me resulta curioso toparme con largos listados de filmes sobre periodismo donde se retratan una y otra vez al entrevistador, al presentador, al locutor, al de la prensa escrita, pero ¿dónde están esos que se ganan la vida a través de los bellos encuadres, de plasmar realidades en una única imagen?. Es allí donde me encuentro con una historia que además de estar basada en la vida de los fotógrafos sudafricanos del ‘’Club Bang Bang’’, está construida a diferentes tonalidades reflejadas en los diversos colores de cada uno de los personajes.

¿Cómo es el periodista gráfico?

Empezando por apartar al periodista del estereotipo y acercarlo al arquetipo, en especial dilucidar -o al menos intentar- definir ese periodista que vive fuera de los sets, de las calles comunes, de las preguntas constantes, se establecerán un listado de características principales de ese fotoperiodista, que como era de esperarse, comparte la mayoría de sus  valores con el periodista clásico:

Investigativo, busca el mejor lugar para su toma y el contexto de los que plasma.

Veraz, procura establecer una realidad a partir de su imagen.

Independiente, más que en la mayoría de tintes en la profesión, el periodista gráfico atraviesa fronteras en todo momento, busca su sustento sin ataduras.

Responsable y comprometido.

Metódico, cuida los detalles de cómo lograr su objetivo.

Ingenioso, intenta lograr su mejor toma a como dé lugar.

Multiforme, versátil, en él convergen variadas técnicas periodísticas clásicas, lo que se traduce en distintas formas de aplicar su fotografía.

Inteligente.

El club Bang Bang: Los fotógrafos de la muerte

Esta película canadiense-sudafricana de 2010, es un film adaptación del libro autobiográfico de Greg Marinovich y Joao Silva: The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War , a cerca del llamado Club Bang Bang,  escrita y dirigida por Steven Silver, donde cuatro fotoperiodistas atraviesan la cruda guerra en Sudáfrica durante la ruptura del Apartheid de 1990 a 1994.

El club de fotógrafos fue reconocido en Sudáfrica gracias a las impresionantes fotos que retrataban la sangrienta guerra entre los guerreros Zulus del partido Inkatha (secretamente financiados y proveídos de armamento por el gobierno blanco)  y el ANC de Mandela, luchadores contra la segregación racial.

Los Personajes

Greg Marinovich 

El fotógrafo representado por Ryan Phillipe, atraviesa el filme como la figura base del relato, donde su caracterización refleja interesantes valores propios del reportero de guerra.

Su novicia como fotoreportero, lo lleva a entrar en terreno marcado por los fotográfos del periódico The Star,  donde más adelante logra una contratación.

El eje de su personaje ronda la actitud osada, apasionada y oportuna que combina la guerra, la fotografía y el romance con Robin, editora del periódico; además su representación trata una realidad que trastoca muchos casos del fotoperiodista y es la necesidad de trabajar, golpeada por lo poca demanda de oportunidades laborales para el fotógrafo, donde este se convierte en el ahora tan conocido freelancer, quien maneja no solo su tiempo, sino a dónde ir, qué cubrir, que temáticas abordar. 

A pesar del choque contra la realidad de la guerra y su personalidad conservadora, Greg intenta luchar para plasmar sus imágenes  en medio de los intentos del gobierno por opacar su labor.

Greg refleja un soñador que gracias a la supresión del miedo, de la inmediatez y el acercamiento a su objetivo, logra ganar un premio Pullitzer gracias a su iconica fotografía del hombre en llamas:

Pero es gracias a ese mismo contexto frío y sangriento en el que se desenvuelve día a día, que más adelante su sombra llega a la luz: la frialdad con la que consigue sus mejores tomas -en el contexto clásico, en cómo consigue la información- expresan en él un hambre de ser el mejor, el aire competidor y materialista que muchas veces es característico del periodista y que desdibuja la ética, sin embargo más adelante logra gracias a su lejanía con Robs, volver a su cálida faceta de ser comprometido y amante de fijar la realidad a través de su lente.

Kevin Carter

El legendario Kevin Carter es encarnado por Taylor Kitsch, quien representa una faceta más liberal del periodista, el elocuente y sociable, el osado, persuasivo e independiente.

Su amistosa personalidad logra adentrar a su mundo a Greg ‘el novato’; pareciera que Kev es una figura romántica del periodista competitivo y rapaz, a él no le importa compartir su conocimiento, es osado  y libre de miedos, no le interesa estar en medio de la guerra, es el loco fuera de molde que no encaja en la oficina.

A su vez, Kev tiene un conflicto, no con las personas de su mundo, sino con él mismo, en su sombra se encuentra el abuso de drogas que lo aleja del compromiso y la responsabilidad con el periódico, lo que lo lleva a emprender un viaje a Sudán con el fin de retratar los rebeldes  del movimiento local, donde por suerte toma la imagen de su Pullitzer, la memorable fotografía que evidencia  la hambruna de una niña en la aldea de Ayod al sur del país, quien en el momento se dirigía a un centro de ayuda humanitaria de la ONU y es acechada por un buitre a la espera de su muerte:

A pesar del magnifico logro, Kevin se encuentra abrumado gracias a las constantes críticas del público al preguntarle cuál fue el destino de la pequeña, si había brindado su ayuda, si el gran fotoperiodista había hecho algo para cambiar su destino. Las preguntas imparables en su cabeza, un constante choque con la realidad del mundo,  la perdida de su amigo Ken y la falta de dinero, su conducta errática e inconstante llevan a la tristeza extrema de Kevin a su suicidio.

Ken Oosterbroek

Frank Rautenbach interpreta al fotoperiodista Ken, quien representa la figura de liderazgo, la mente inteligente del equipo, el audaz, metódico, conquistador, la figura a seguir. Su interés por defender su equipo y la profesión es constante, destaca que para ser periodista se deben poseer habilidades especiales, no es característica de cualquiera.

Ken es apasionado y calculador, su espíritu toca cada miembro del club, es amado por sus amigos, por ello su fatídica muerte en medio de su labor en la guerra, impacta en gran medida la vida y pensamiento de los demás.

Joao Silva

Interpretado por  Neels Van Jaarsveld, Joao es la plena representación de la competitividad, su ácida personalidad es cortante e impredecible. A pesar de ello, demuestra inteligencia y audacia a la hora de ejercer su profesión, no es muy elocuente pero tiene un gran lazo con el club, aunque no le guste llamarlo club. No acepta a otros periodistas en su territorio, quiere las primicias sin compartirlas.

Su destacable labor como periodista gráfico lo lleva a atravesar fronteras, es la encarnación del compromiso y la rigurosidad del quehacer periodístico.

Robin Comley

La editora de fotografía del periódico The Star, representada por  Malin Åkerman, es un personaje no muy profundizado, entender su mente es una acción más compleja. En el contexto de su profesión logra expresar la inteligencia y compromiso propio de los editores, su espíritu es más tranquilo y romántico. Al tener una relación con Greg, se muestra más sociable y abierta, a la vez no logra dilucidar la realidad en que vive, el choque contra ella le causa estragos en su mente. Lo suyo no es el trabajo en campo, prefiere mantener su cuerpo distante de la guerra.

El fotoperiodista héroe

En varias oportunidades el filme logra plasmar esa actitud osada que he destacado a lo largo del blog, donde sin importar el riesgo, la veracidad del momento es lo verdaderamente relevante. Así mismo, el fotoperiodista y su ser aventurero rompe en momentos el molde clásico del periodista, para lograr obtener su noticia o historia a través de herramientas más cercanas al momento, claramente la cámara debe estar tan cerca como sea posible, pero es la forma en cómo se logra a travesar la frontera del miedo lo que resalta en esta faceta periodística.

ver ‘’todo se trata de leer el momento’’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNivDcjqRUg#t=22m30s 

A pesar de la emocionante guerra  y el intento por permanecer distante al conflicto, el ser humano dentro de cada periodista sale a flote, el impacto contra el muro sangriento de la muerte se adentra en la sensibilidad del profesional, a la atadura de informar sin tomar partido, lo que ubica a la figura periodística con un tinte heroico, tal y como afirma Ofa Bezunartea en su articulo Periodismo y cuarto poder en el cine:

(...) el periodismo se muestra impotente, incapaz de enfrentarse a un entorno tan hostil que pretende limitar su función a mantener la objetividad y no tomar partido. De alguna forma, la ausencia de libertad de prensa o la incapacidad de ejercer dicha profesión parece, a su vez, limitar sus funciones a la objetividad y –como dramáticamente se muestra en las películas-, a la supervivencia del propio periodista.

ver: ‘’nuestro trabajo es sentarse ahí y ver como la gente muere’’ : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNivDcjqRUg#t=1h23m25s

El fotoperiodista se ve en la obligación de retratar una realidad por cruda que sea, su poder no está en cómo ejecutar una buena foto, es en la esencia de su mensaje, en lo verosímil de su puesta en imagen, el verdadero poder brindado a su profesión, el captar momentos irrepetibles, el hacer inmortales los segundos.

ver: ‘’¿qué hace a una fotografía grandiosa?’’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNivDcjqRUg#t=1h25m46s

El fotoperiodista anti héroe 

Como ya dije, El club Bang Bang está repleto de colores, no solo plasma el ejemplar angulo del buen fotoperiodista, sino también las tonalidades oscuras con las cuales se toparon los personajes -y con las cuales se puede topar cualquier periodista en cualquier faceta-. La extrema competitividad que se vive a diario en el quehacer, es evidente también en esta faceta, que a pesar de obtener un poco más de independencia que las demás, tiene su interés monetario como cualquier profesión. 

ver: la competitividad del medio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNivDcjqRUg#t=3m25s + https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNivDcjqRUg#t=58m00s 

Bien dicho por mi tutora de clase de cine: si el personaje no tiene incoherencias es un estereotipo. Las contradicciones entre el periodista como super retratador de la realidad, ese que lucha por plasmar la realidad lo más cercana posible, también atraviesa momentos en que otros intereses como el económico, la posición dentro del medio, y el reconocimiento, entrar a jugar con su ética y su práctica. 

ver: la frialdad de Greg frente al infortunio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNivDcjqRUg#t=1h13m5s

Además de eso, el retratar la realidad sin poder cambiar esa realidad, convierte al periodista en ocasiones en un ente sin mayor acción, así como en el caso de Kevin Cartner, el periodista es un relator, quien informa de una situación alegre, confusa, triste, y quien a su vez con solo informar no será un gran impacto, pues en su profesión no está tomar partido, es más bien el fin de movilizar para crear un efecto, pero en sí mismo ejercer fuerza sobre la realidad no es su deber, y aun así, sin el deber, es el anti héroe.

ver: el ataque a Kevin Cartner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNivDcjqRUg#t=1h21m36s + '’creo que debes olvidar que ellos son gente real’’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNivDcjqRUg#t=1h16m1s

¿Es o no un estereotipo?

Las incoherencias que encuentro en cada uno de los personajes denotan esos claros y oscuros que se supone, tiene cualquier ser. En cuanto a la profesión,  creo que se acerca bastante a esa representación variada -también dada por existir más de un personaje periodista- que no se conforma con solo plasmar un esquema de periodista como profesional y ejecutor de su actividad, sino que trastoca distintos tintes, que en su combinación están más hacia el arquetipo que al estereotipo. Unos personajes, claro está, con más profundidad que otros, pero cada uno con su esencia y su ventana hacia el trasfondo de una personalidad única.

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U.S. Hedge Fund Fined $400 Million Over Bribery Claims in Five African States

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A U.S. hedge fund, which has been linked to a $150 million investment that helped Zimbabwean strongman Robert Mugabe cling on to power in 2008, has been fined more than $400 million to settle charges connected to the bribery of officials in five African countries.

The United States financial watchdog—known as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)—found that New York-based Och-Ziff had paid bribes to secure mining rights and influence government officials in Libya, Chad, Niger, Guinea and Democratic Republic of Congo.

Och-Ziff is one of the biggest hedge funds in the world, with around $42 billion in assets under management.

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“Och-Ziff engaged in complicated, far-reaching schemes to get special access and secure significant deals and profits through corruption,” said Andrew J. Ceresney, director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, in a statement Thursday. The SEC said that the company and its chief executive Joel Frank have neither admitted nor denied the findings but chose to settle the charges.

In one of instance of misconduct, the SEC stated Och-Ziff had made illicit payments in order to convince the Libyan Investment Authority, a government-managed fund that oversees investments in agriculture and infrastructure, to invest in funds managed by the company.

The hedge fund has come in for scrutiny over its dealings in Africa in the past. It was revealed in August 2015 that U.S. authorities were investigating Och-Ziff in relation to $150 million investment it made in a small African mining company in early 2008, part of which later ended up in the hands of Mugabe’s government.

Och-Ziff made its investment in Central African Mining & Exploration Co. (Camec), with the firm later making a $100 million payment to the Zimbabwean government through another company, Lefever Finance, controlled by Billy Rautenbach, a businessman with ties to Mugabe, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The investigation into whether Och-Ziff knew the funds would end up with Mugabe’s government has not concluded. The dictator was almost ousted from power in 2008 after losing the first round of the presidential election, with human rights groups accusing the 92-year-old president of overseeing a brutal crackdown on opposition groups that ultimately led to his victory.

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[u-seerosie]

[aion-rsa]

Warrior Season 2 Episode 7 Review: If you Wait by the River Long Enough…

https://ift.tt/2IDDI7F

This Warrior review contains spoilers.

Warrior Season 2 Episode 7

This episode picks up right where the last one left off – Young Jun (Jason Tobin), Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji), and Hong (Chen Tang) return from their successful mission to face Father Jun’s (Perry Young) wrath.

The Jun father-son relationship has been trying since the beginning, and it comes to a head when Father Jun blackballs his son from the Hop Wei with a ritual to ‘burn’ him out. Hop Wei members show their loyalty with branded forearms, so Father Jun burns out Young Jun’s brand with what appears to be the flat side of red-hot sword tip.

It’s a brutal ritual and bothersome to anyone who knows swords. No one ever does this. Swords are heat treated so getting one red hot like that would spoil the temper of the blade. In Warrior’s defense, all we get is the tip so it might not be a sword at all. Maybe it’s a special sword-tip-shaped branding iron just for burning out blackballed members of the Hop Wei Tong. 

Nevertheless, the ritual leaves Father Jun feeling unsatisfied, so he orders the Hop Wei to kill the threesome. But Ah Sahm says his piece in defense of Young Jun’s actions and sways the tong to their side. They all stand down as Young Jun tells his father that “We are honoring your long years of leadership and celebrating your retirement,” and then takes the chair as the head of the Hop Wei. It’s a significant role change, something we’ve been waiting for since Warrior began.

Later the Juns have a heart to heart. Father Jun tells his son to kill him because that’s the way power is transferred in the tong, and even offers to do it himself, implying again the Young Jun is too wimpy. But he refuses patricide, claiming he wants to keep his father’s wisdom. Instead, he puts him under constant guard, which is good because Father Jun is too interesting of a character to kill off just yet. 

Prostitutes, Cops, Politicians and the Weapon Dealer

Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng) and Nellie (Miranda Raison) get it on in Ah Toy’s bordello, and the irony of their tryst location isn’t lost on either of them. In a moment of post-coital bliss, Ah Toy opens up to Nellie, revealing her tragic backstory. Her husband was a silk vendor who was murdered on the boat when they were travelling to America, forcing Ah Toy to become the captain’s concubine to save herself from being passed around by the whole ship’s crew. She confides in Nellie that she has 200 hectares of land outside of Chinatown but because she’s Chinese, she’s had to hide her ownership using her token white real estate partner, Patterson (Frank Rautenbach). Nellie suggests that she take over as Ah Toy’s Caucasian partner and shares her frustration with one particularly nasty group of sex traffickers who run a sadistic rival brothel. Ah Toy asks Nellie to show her where they are on a map. 

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In court, O’Hara (Kieran Bew) testifies against Zing (Dustin Nguyen). Zing is sentenced to be hanged at San Quentin. San Quentin is California’s oldest prison, established in 1852. It lies north of San Francisco, only 20 miles away by the Golden Gate bridge, but much farther in the time that Warrior is set because the bridge didn’t open until 1937. Nevertheless, it’s a timely and appropriate reference. Although Warrior is fictional, it reverently references a tumultuous time in American history with ample liberties taken.

After the trial, Leary (Dean Jagger) corners O’Hara and calls him out on rumors he’s heard about him working for Zing, but O’Hara covers quickly by saying that it was a ruse so he could get closer to his target. Later, Mayor Blake (Christian McKay) honors O’Hara and the Chinatown police squad for catching the swordsman. After that, it’s Buckley’s (Langley Kirkwood) turn to corner Leary after the speeches. Knowing Leary has the Irish vote, he tries to sway him into politics. 

Leary returns to the Banshee and boxes some poor bloke in the back alley. Sophie (Celine Buckens) shows up and breaks Leary’s focus, so his opponent connects with some good punches. But Leary gathers his composure and knocks his opponent out, then runs to Sophie. She regrets the Mercer bombing. Leary mentions his chat with Buckley, and Sophie also encourages him into politics because she realizes he has the Irish vote too.  

Ah Sahm places an order for a lot hatchets and other weapons with Chao (Hoon Lee). Chao comments on Young Jun usurping the Hop Wei, insinuating that Ah Sahm had a bigger hand in it that he claims. After noticing Chao’s injuries, Ah Sahm counters by implying Chao had a hand in Zing’s bust, knowing full well it was all a set up. Ah Toy is the real swordswoman and Ah Sahm joined her for some of the revenge murders. Chao dodges the question like always, claiming his father said, “Wait by the river and the bodies will come floating by.” Ah Sahm retorts by saying Sun Tzu said this but this is a common mistake.

The real quote comes from a mistranslation of Confucius. While observing a river, Confucius said “Time is like this, no matter day or night.” However, the characters he used for “time” can also mean ‘corpse’ and over time, the translation became misconstrued in English. Whether that mistranslation goes as far back as the period when Warrior is set is unknown, but the quote is bandied about in martial circles for years and is commonly attributed to Sun Tzu or as some samurai wisdom.

Slicing Up Sex Traffickers

Ah Toy and Lai (Jenny Umbhau) raid a dirty brothel where the girls are kept in a dungeon filled ankle-deep water. It’s one of those sets that looks cool but is too absurd. Why would you keep prostitutes in standing water? Not only would that be a petri dish for disease in an already unhealthy environment, given San Francisco weather, there’s no way that would be anything but freezing cold. 

Nevertheless, it’s the big dose of Kung Fu for this episode so we won’t quibble. It’s a lot of shadowing sword play where both Ah Toy and Lai get to shine as they slice and dice the sex traffickers. Much of it is shot from a bird’s eye view, giving an artsy angle to a very carnal and sanguineous battle. Lai tortures one of the traffickers before killing him which gives Ah Toy pause. 

Later, Ah Toy visits Nellie’s winery refuge to deliver the women she and Lai rescued. She leaves Lai there too. It’s a major bummer. This better not be the end of Lai. Umbhau is a talented martial artist and brings some much-needed genuine Kung Fu action to Warrior. Hopefully, this won’t be her final appearance in the show, but the scene has the feeling as if she’s being written out for a few episodes. 

The next day, O’Hara and his squad find the bodies and realize it’s death by sword. The cop that was first on the scene offers to keep his mouth shut if O’Hara recommends him for a promotion. O’Hara consents and he and his men clean the mess up and hide the evidence that would blow their framing of Zing. But Lee (Tom Weston-Jones) has his suspicions too. When he returns the incriminating stolen watch that O’Hara planted on Zing to Timmon’s widow (Michelle Douglas), she reveals that O’Hara had been there before the raid. Lee realizes that O’Hara poached the watch. 

After Ah Toy tells Patterson that she’s transferring ownership of her properties, he goes to confess to a Priest (Lawrence Joffe). But the Priest is dirty. He takes an offering from Patterson through the confessional window, revealing that his hand is conspicuously missing a finger. The Priest sends Patterson to a slaughterhouse to meet two brutish butchers who are now presumably hired to exact revenge for Patterson. The death of Ah Toy would transfer her properties to him, and he’s already used them for investment collateral. Butcher hitmen sound very promising.  

The Body Comes Floating By

Mayor Blake is called out in a Gentleman’s Club by Merriweather (Andre Jacobs) about Penny’s (Joanna Vanderham) use of Chinese labor. He is caught unaware that Penny had approached Merriweather earlier about a deal for Mercer Steel. Mercer is supplying steel for Merriweather’s buildings. The Panic of ’73 is brought up which places the time period of Warrior within the early years of the Great Depression. Blake’s loss of face at the club sets up an unbelievably bad night for Penny.

Leary walks Sophie near to home and before they part, Penny sees them together. When Sophie comes in, she and Penny argue and Penny kicks her out of the house. Then Blake comes home drunk and starts fighting with Penny about the Merriweather deal. He claims it will jeopardize his plans to become governor. Penny tells him to divorce her. Their fight gets physical. Sophie rushes to defend her sister but both women are overpowered by Blake. Straddling Penny, Blake starts choking her out.

This was oddly foreshadowed in this episode by an earlier sex scene where Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) plays some dominance strangulation games with Li Yong (Joe Taslim). As Penny starts to lose consciousness, she is rescued by Jacob (Kenneth Fok), who strikes Blake in the back of the head with a fire iron. With a good chunk of his skull taken out, the Mayor looks dead. It’s a grisly end to a despicable politician, but one well deserved, and the survivors are left to clean up the mess.

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[triggerwarningsfyi-blog]

The Bang Bang Club (2011 film) (submitted by Julie)

Directed by Steven Silver. Starring Taylor Kitsch, Ryan Phillippe, Frank Rautenbach, Neels Van jaarsveld, Malin Akerman, Patrick Lyster, Russel Savadier

Trigger warnings for: racial violence, extreme violence, racism

[polnoch-blog-blog]

The Bang Bang Club

I loved this movie even though the ending was a bit abrupt.

[aion-rsa]

Warrior Season 2 Episode 2 Review: The Chinese Connection

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Warrior review contains spoilers.

Warrior Season 2 Episode 2

When Warrior was first announced, Bruce Lee fans were worried that this was going to be just another Bruceploitation. After all, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of Bruceploitation flicks. Bruce Lee is the most impersonated icon on the planet. No one needed to see another weak caricature of the Little Dragon, even if it was on Cinemax.

However, Warrior isn’t Bruceploitation at all. The creator and writer of the show, Jonathan Tropper, credits Bruce’s daughter, Shannon Lee for making sure that Warrior didn’t go “overboard with the Bruce Lee stuff.”

Instead of Ah Sahm (Andrew Koji) doing yet another Bruce Lee imitation, there are sequences in his fight choreography that reference timeless scenes from the Little Dragon’s films. There are also clever Easter Eggs throughout the show, like the character names O’Hara (Kieran Biew) and last season’s Bolo (Rich Ting). Both O’Hara and Bolo are the names of villains in Enter the Dragon however these characters are completely different in Warrior. 

This gives this episode title that extra ‘Wataaah!’ of excitement because The Chinese Connection was an alternate title for Bruce’s second major Kung Fu film, Fist of Fury. The closest Easter Egg title of Season 1 was episode 9, “Chinese Boxing.” Every Bruce fan remembers Ah Gung (Chin Ti) saying “Chinese Boxing!” as he pointed at Bruce and gave him the thumbs up. For this episode to take on the name of one of Bruce’s most beloved films, it had better deliver. And it does, especially with the most important facet of Warrior, the Kung Fu fighting.

Young Jun Gets Stabby

The first fight of this episode is a showcase for Young Jun (Jason Tobin). In their quest for cheaper product, Ah Sahm hooks Young Jun up with a new molasses connection through his fight manager Vega (Maria Elena-Lass). They visit Happy Jack (Nat Rambulana), an African drug dealer. There’s some historical basis to this. During the period when Warrior is set, there were attempts to produce opium in South Africa to undermine the British dominance of the global opium trade.

Opium was weaponized by the British as part of its strategy to establish colonial rule. This was largely controlled by the nefarious East India Company that smuggled opium from India, mostly to cripple China’s port cities. In Chinese coastal provinces during the mid 1830’s, it was estimated that 90% of the adult Chinese population were opium addicts. In San Francisco, opium was still legal and taxable until 1889 when local ordinances restricted it to medical use only. But beyond the nod to history, Rambulana is a South African TV star and Warrior was filmed in South Africa, so his appearance works on several levels.  

The deal with Happy Jack goes sour. This elicits a lovely bit of ultraviolence in which Tobin delivers a solid long take sequence. Long takes are the hallmark of good fight choreography because each movement increases the challenge exponentially. It’s a good showcase for Tobin’s Kung Fu and he sells his slice and dice attacks with a convincing ferocity.

Tobin has appeared in a few martial arts themed films before such as Beverly Hill Ninja, Rob-B-Hood, and House of Fury, but he’s most known for his other projects with Warrior’s producer Justin Lin including Better Luck Tomorrow and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Tobin is reprising his Tokyo Drift character in Lin’s upcoming F9, due out next year. In Warrior, Tobin nails the tough punk qualities of Young Jun perfectly. As the son of the leader of the Hop Wei, he’s been entitled yet he’s still eager to prove himself. His viciousness in battle is spot on.

For martial arts fans, there’s a subtle yet significant correction in Young Jun’s dagger play from Season 1. In episode 6 “Chewed Up, Spit Out, and Stepped On,” Young Jun deploys a conventional forward knife grip where the blade is on the thumb side of the hand. Double daggers like Young Jun wields are a common weapon in Kung Fu, however they are almost always used with a reverse grip where the blade is on the pinky finger side of the hand, more like an ice pick.

In the fight with Happy Jack’s squad, Young Jun deploys the more proper ice pick grip. It’s a trivial detail but given that Warrior is catering to the Kung Fu fandom, it’s important to get this right. 

The fight ensues after Happy Jack refuses to store the opium, leaving Young Jun and Ah Sahm in the lurch. Later, Penny (Joanna Vanderham) hires the Hop Wei to protect her coolie workers from the Irish, and Ah Sahm takes advantage of the situation to secretly store the opium at Mercer Steel. It’s not hard to project how this will turn out in upcoming episodes and adds even more tension to the relationship of Ah Sahm and Penny.

Blue Lives Matter

The Season 2 premiere left Chinatown in a bloody mess. Ah Sahm, Ah Toy (Olivia Cheng) and Lai (Jenny Umbhau) chopped up the racist Teddy Boys and Leary (Dean Jagger) blew up a factory that employed coolies. Chinatown is a tough beat for SF cops and O’Hara and Lee (Tom Weston-Jones) have a ton of work cleaning up.

They’re investigating the sword killings and the explosion while O’Hara wrestles with his obligation to the Fung Hai Tong and Zing (Dustin Nguyen) and Lee struggles with his growing laudanum addiction. O’Hara’s wife Lucy (Emily Child) grows more suspicious of her husband’s dealing and after a binge, Lee wakes up in a piss-soaked alley just as it is getting a fresh drenching. This episode’s title comes from Lee. After the partners question Patterson (Frank Rautenbach), Lee says to O’Hara that he’s trying to find ‘the Chinese connection’ in the sword killings.

O’Hara and Lee form a stereotypic police partner ‘buddy’ relationship: the old, jaded cop who is tainted by a corrupt system and the young brilliant detective who is too cocky to get along with the rest of the department. In their heart of hearts, they both want to be good cops, but their world is too dirty to stay clean. Biew gives his character a lot of soul as a father and husband just trying to do right by his family. Lee’s backstory is hinted at when he begins his laudanum binge, but his haunted past is still unclear. 

The repercussions of killings and the explosion result in the SFPD being lambasted at a political rally along with Mayor Blake (Christian McKay). Here, the parallels between the political climate of Warrior and America right now are disturbingly uncanny, especially because this was filmed a year prior. When the crowd starts chanting ‘Send them back,’ it is echoed by some of the rising anti-China sentiment today. The Exclusion Act comes up, foreshadowing worse times to come. The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed by congress and signed into law by President Arthur in 1882, so this provides some indication of where Warrior is set in time. 

Martial Melodrama and the Moonlight Sonata

Sophie (Celine Buckens) meets Leary at the rally, and they go to Leary’s place, the Banshee. She reveals to Leary that she’s Mercer’s daughter and while flirting with him, plays Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata on the pub piano. It sets up a poignant musical interlude at the end of the episode, so typical of television shows nowadays, where a tune is laid over all the characters as they ruminate over their various complicated circumstances.

The Moonlight Sonata is a melodramatic choice, and at the end it drifts into Warrior’s heavy guitar riffs. This feels a little overdone – the show leans too heavily on those guitar riffs – but Warrior redeems itself musically with its end credit Chinese raps, which have been solid throughout the entire show. 

The other ladies of Warrior continue with this season’s fashion show. When Mai Ling (Dianne Doan) hires the ex-Pinkerton man Nichols (Emmanuel Castis) to spy on Buckley (Langley Kirkwood), she’s wearing a luxuriant deep blue hooded robe and strange vambrace rings. She looks more like someone out of Game of Thrones than SF Chinatown. And Ah Toy appears later in a resplendent emerald gown with a flared collar more befitting of a Vulcan bride than a whorehouse madame.

But Warrior is a fantasy so the costume designers can be forgiven of indulging their leading ladies. As ridiculous and incongruous as these outfits appear when all the other characters are in period dress, Doan and Cheng fill out these outfits beautifully and are lieterally dressed to kill. They’re too busy looking good. 

Another new character is introduced in this episode. Enter Nellie Davenport (Miranda Raison), a wealthy widow committed to rescuing Chinese women from prostitution and exploitation. Davenport is the first character based directly upon a real historic figure, although plenty of artistic liberties have been taken with how she is depicted. The forthcoming interaction between her and Ah Toy is promising. Both Ah Toy and Davenport are strong women and given their principles and position, they are sure to go head-to-head in upcoming episodes.

Back to the Action

The finale fight in this episode is worth the wait. Mai Ling dispatches Li Yong (Joe Taslim) and Zing to stop a small time Tong from encroaching on the Long Zii’s opium business. Li Yong settles things peacefully, but Zing (Dustin Nguyen) is ready to pick a fight, and mayhem breaks out when he slashes the Tong leader’s throat. Taslim and Nguyen are the veteran martial artists on Warrior. Any fight scene that features their work delivers the level of masterful choreography one would expect from a show attached to Bruce Lee. 

Nguyen is remembered for his leading role as Harry Ioki on 21 Jump Street. Over the years, he’s appeared in several martial arts related Hollywood productions like 2 Ninjas Kick Back, Vanishing Son and Justin Lin’s mockumentary Finishing the Game.

However, he truly established himself as a martial arts star after he returned to his homeland, Vietnam. There he made a series of Vietnamese martial arts films: The Rebel, Clash, and Once Upon a Time in Vietnam. These films put Vietnam on the martial arts movie map. Solidly paced with brilliant choreography, they demonstrated that Nguyen is a force to be reckoned with and a serious practitioner of the martial arts.

He is credited as studying Muay Thai, Taekwondo and Bruce Lee’s creation Jeet Kune Do, but where he really shines is with the indigenous Vietnamese martial art called Vovinam. This style of fighting was seldom seen outside the country until Nguyen showcased it in his films. It gave him an extra stylistic edge in the martial arts genre. As Zing, Nguyen’s choreography is ruthless, befitting of the most villainous Tong leader in Warrior. 

Taslim is Indonesian and studied Wushu and Taekwondo. He is a decorated Judo champion who represented Indonesia in world competitions from 1997 to 2007 as a member of the national team. He medaled in two major Southeast Asian competitions and captured the gold in the national games.

Taslim appeared in the groundbreaking Indonesian film The Raid, which raised the bar on cinematic ultraviolence. That film also introduced Silat masters Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian, who have been dominating action films in recent years with appearances in films like Mile 22 and Stuber for Uwais and John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum and Wira for Ruhian. They even had a quick cameo together in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Following The Raid and its sequel, The Raid II, Taslim has appeared in Fast & Furious 6 and Star Trek Beyond. 

It’s no mistake that Li Yong was set up as the ultimate rival for Ah Sahm last season. Taslim is not just another stuntman throwing haymakers. He is at the top of his game choreographically and every in every fight scene he appears in has a crisp precision that can only be achieved by a veteran martial arts master. He moves with style and grace, doling out the damage with a sophisticated flair that Warrior demands. With Ah Sahm’s defeat at Li Yong’s hands in what was arguably the best fight scene in last season, Season 2 is all about that rematch. 

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Warrior Season 2 can be seen exclusively on CINEMAX.

The post Warrior Season 2 Episode 2 Review: The Chinese Connection appeared first on Den of Geek.

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