The effect of music videos over the past two decades on the film industry has been phenomenal. Directors such as Spike Jonze ("Being John Malcovich") & Tarsem ("The Cell") started their careers in the music video game. Soundtracks and their accompanying videos are as much part of the advertising of a movie as the trailers themselves. Most importantly, techniques used in popular music videos are often mimicked in feature films. Economy has played a large part too, and now with the popularity and relative low-cost of digital cameras and effects almost anyone can create a visually alluring piece of eye-candy.
David Fincher upped the ante of digital effects with "Fight Club". A original storyline with an even more original script, it initially received a lukewarm response before becoming a cult favourite. Mr. Fincher is an example of a director using a new medium with a combination of precise care and wonderful abandon.
And then there is Guy Ritchie. A mostly talentless hack who in "Snatch" proved that fancy camera effects and funny accents will wear themselves out if there is nothing to support it.
"Time & Tide" by Tsui Hark is both a homage to the films that helped popularize a new visual style and it raises the bar a few more (large) notches. It is by turns brilliant, relentless, and breathtaking.
"Time & Tide" follows the interweaving lives of a pregnant lesbian cop, two mercenary friends and their underworld dealings, and a pregnant surrogate woman drawn into their world. Thematically it delves into issues ranging from mafia-like loyalty to Peckinpah-esuqe themes of man entering manhood through violence. But what is most impressive in "Time & Tide" is the delicate balance of tension and release. Something that flashy directors like Guy Ritchie should be paying attention too. The last two action sequences are phenomenal and take up a good half of the movie, but with Mr. Hark's careful direction you hardly notice. The first sequence is simply unequaled, taking place in three apartment towers in the tenements of Hong Kong. The second in a train station and stadium downtown. It is in these sequences that requires characters to hold back their flaring emotions in order to survive that Mr. Hark clearly flexes his directorial muscles. In a sequence which involves a young man trapped in an apartment slowly filling with gas, its conclusion is one of the most clever bits of action in recent memory.
"Time & Tide" is the real deal. An action film that delivers from beginning to end and doesn't blow its load halfway through. It is also truly cares about its characters and valiantly tries to delve into large issues. However, it never takes itself too seriously and for any action fan this is a must.
Highly recommended. Do not pass this up.
