Time and Tide ( 1 )

Canada  ( 1 )

Stephen Hunter, Style Section: "A cross between a hurricane and a tornado as run though a movieola dialed all the way up to 10"> ............................................................................................................................................. The Plot:  In this Hong Kong -setaction thriller from director Tsui Hark,  a streetwise young man (Nicholas Tse) takes on work as a bodyguard while dealing with the implications of impending fatherhood.In Mandarin, Cantonese and Engish with subtitles.         -    Michael O'Sullivan    Raiing R Starring  Wu Bai, Nicholas Tse, Anthony Wong, Joventino Couto Remotigue, Candy Lo Directed by Tsui Hark Genre Art / Foreign Running Time  01:53 Cineplex Odeon Dupont Circle  5   Hours:    Daily      May 4-May 10   2:00pm,    4:30pm    7:00pm    9:30pm

Canada  (  2  )

Time and Tide Film review of Tsui Hark's masterpiece Dateline:   5/03/01 Time and Tide tells the classic of two friends who end up on opposite sides of a violent struggle.The confict provides a setup for extraordinary action scenes with just enough subtext to elevate them above simple entertainment. Though the theme is common, celebrated Hong Kong director Tsui Hark makes this an original masterpiece by using a tour de force of visual storytelling techniques. Tsui proves himself a master of such style in the opening sequence.Portraying Tyler,s chaotic sexual encounter mixes montage, cross_editing, flashbacks, point of view and subtle hints to convey mounds of informatrion in a short time.What happens is Jo(Cathy Tsui)has a fight with her lesbian lover, a fellow police officer, so she embarks on a drub_induced fling with Tyler(Nicholas Tse). The morning after, he finds her badge and where the five days of her period are highlighted for each month. You see what,s going on but the film never stops for exposition. The whole story is told in this kinetic visual fashion. The story proceeds with Tyler taking a bodyguard job with a gangster to earn money to support the baby JO claims is not really his. He meets  Jack (Wu Bai) and his pregnant wife, Ah Hui(Candy Lo).Their similar  positions of trying to do right by their women under criminal circumstances paralled each other and intersect as Jack's gangster past comes back to haunt him.. The plot and characters are so complex that even after two screenings, I'm still putting the pieces together. (For the record.It took me three screenings to get  The Matrix. ) The  themes of friendship and living life to the fullest are valid but not so overplayed to become pretentious. The action itself transcends languages barriers with its visceral thrills giving  Time and Tide excellent repeat viewing quality as you pick up more and more of plot while enjoying the action scenes. Fight scenes incorporate a little Jackie Chan prop-play, some wirework acrobatics,hints of WWF and flat out brawling.Chases have guys sliding and gliding on slippery floors, bouncing around escalators and floating along the side of an apartment building.There's gunplay, which does include two guys raising guns at the same time, but that traditional situation plays out differently than most John Woo movies or John Woo rip-offs. Speaking of Woo,there are plenty of white doves for the film theory crowd, and some of those doves blow up for those of you who hate bird symbolism. The influence of other filmmakers include Scorsese freeze frames, Wachowski "bullet time", Aronofsky sound effects and even Blair Witch shakey-cam. Tsui controls everything with carefull editing that creates a unique rhythm from the combined elements. The editing also combines eclectic performances from leads and supporting players with controlled manipulation of time and place. Between the technical skill, philosophical story and stunning action,  Time and Tide is the best movies I've seen this year. Come back to Action / Adventure Movies next week for our interview with director Tsui Hark.