Exiled (2006) is Hong Kong director Johnnie To’s tribute to the spaghetti western embedded within a contemporary gangster film. The opening sequence sets the tone. An apartment where a woman, Jin (Josie Ho) feeds a baby, waiting for her partner, Wo (Nick Cheung). She is visited by two sets of men. One duo – Blaze (Anthony Wong) and Cat (Roy Cheung) – is there to kill Jin. The other duo – Tai (Francis Ng) and Fat (Lam Suet) – are associates there to protect him. The quartet wait in the city square outside, an uneasy holding pattern, nobody else around in the empty streets. Cigar smoke, trench-coats and holstered pistols. Setting up a stand-off, which takes a surprising turn. A cut to an amber-tinted, old photo – the five men are childhood friends and the alliances shift to one of mutual support. Clearer when the big boss who ordered the hit is introduced, Boss Fay (Simon Yam), the central antagonist to the crew.
Exiled sings differently with its use of the Leone tropes than someone like Tarantino. I think it’s To’s focus on fraternity and brotherhood, men working together and bonding. Coordination of bodies in a frame. The way the action is choreographed in space rather than about kinetic stuntwork. Doors, hospital curtains, Redbull cans… All of these items put into play by the firing of guns, working as a conversational ball bounced between opponents.
Prog-rock electric guitar noodling by Dave Klotz and Guy Zerafa adds another melancholy dimension. Something disarming about the film, particularly in the mid-point where the gang is “exiled” to the countryside, standing around a sandpit, considering their next move. Fascinating to watch an interview with Josie Ho, one of the actors in Exiled about To’s approach, not really giving them a script during shooting, trusting them to bring their own charisma and improvisation. Particularly in light of the tightly controlled and coordinated gunplay. The childhood friends don’t reminiscence about the old days like in other movies; they show that bond through their joking around, clamouring for a photo-booth snap right before the climatic showdown.
Copped the Bluray from Chameleon Films. Elegant and wistful as far as blood-splattered gangster movies go. The more you watch Johnnie To movies, the more the familiar faces become like old friends, such as the irascible Lam Suet. Recommended.
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