4k movies reviews
Do you know what true love of film is? In relation to the ‘Double Casting’ trilogy, it manifested itself in this way. I had to watch the film in parts in the morning, and all day long I wondered what would happen next. Perhaps the presence of such a strong interest in my case can already be considered a true love. But each viewer has his own, quite unique love stories, which you have yet to read in other reviews, but for now we’ll talk about the film.

It’s simply impossible not to fall in love with ‘Double Casting. This is the kind of film that not only grabs and holds your attention, but also delights you with its depth and quality, subtlety and heaviness at the same time.

Here is a chess game played out for the third time as ingeniously as it has twice before. Only in the third installment is Andy Lau’s full-time soloist. Despite a certain number of characters, it’s practically one-actor theater. It is simply brilliant (a tautology, but you can’t do without this word) to show us how a man can fall into the abyss that he himself has been preparing for himself all his life.

His past is hell, his future is also hell. And there’s no escape, no hiding. And there is no way out. That is how simple, but symbolic punishment for sins is played out before us.

Mikhail Svetlov once wrote that “if I ever have to grieve someone with my death, then make sure the curtain closes at that moment. I can relate the same phrase to the third part of ‘Castling’. Only there, the curtain, which closes just before the shot is fired, then opens again, as if to say to the audience ‘this isn’t the end yet’, while squinting at it in a sly, Chinese way.

The game is over. Or maybe only the third game is over?

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (60.8 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Cantonese: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)

Subtitles
English, French.

Сообщение Infernal Affairs III 4K 2003 CHINESE появились сначала на 4К-MOVIES.BIZ.

Now all their hopes are pinned on the young policeman, who, risking his life, makes his way into the gang and tries to gain the trust of the new boss. But the clan doesn’t doze off either and infiltrates the police with its informant Min.

4k movies reviews
I can’t hide it, the second part of the trilogy is my favorite of the three. Although it came out much weaker than the first one. It’s a paradox, that’s for sure.

However, without false modesty, I can add that ‘Double Cast 2’ is one of the best prequels ever made in the history of cinema.

And despite the fact that the plot of the second part is quite typical for the Hong Kong movies of recent years, it is simply impossible to tear yourself away from the film.

It is not the plot, but the actors that rule.

Eric Tsang Chi Wai (Sam) is the same funny little fatso we remember from his comic roles as the underdog detective in The Accidental Spy and the tragicomic one in Tomorrow Police. Here he is completely transformed. There is no comicism in his character. His Sam is not yet the boss of the triads, but he is trickier than a cat with three heads and will be that boss very soon.

Anthony Wong Chow-Sang (Inspector Wong) is a rather sad character, burdened with a thousand problems. He doesn’t believe in fate, but still doesn’t let go of his deck of sprinkled cards to decide what to do next.

Sean Yue Man-Lok (Ian) – Replaced Tony Leung, but couldn’t outplay him. He’s still the same stoic, stubborn, stubborn ‘I’m a cop’ guy. However, he does not have that sad doom, which Tony Leung Chiu-Wan captivates from the first minute.

Edison Cheng Kun-Hei (Lau) – this one not only tried, but even overdid it. If the Lau played by Andy Lau Tak-Wah was a mystery to me, the Lau played by Chen, I was frankly afraid.

I think he really got into the role. All the screen time that was given to him, he literally lived, and let his character through himself. Look at Chen’s eyes. That’s what I just couldn’t stand throughout the movie. That look literally wanted to hide from. I don’t know about anyone, but for me it was eyes that really looked into the abyss and took that abyss into themselves.

So, ‘Double Castling’ as a whole is practically a masterpiece trilogy. A gangster saga you just can’t get past.

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (60.1 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Cantonese: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)

Subtitles
English, French.

Сообщение Infernal Affairs II 4K 2003 CHINESE появились сначала на 4К-MOVIES.BIZ.

4k movies reviews
Everything is learned by comparison. And although many people have different tastes, nothing can shake my confidence that love comes for a reason. Love for a particular cinematic work is a whole kolleidoscope of factors that, like dice, have fallen just so and not otherwise at the most opportune moment in time.

That’s why the answer to the question ‘Why do I like ‘Double Castling’ and not ‘The Departed’ is unambiguous – ‘It happened that way.

Though I don’t belittle the worthiness of the ‘Departed’ picture, I just don’t have any fan love with it, that’s all.

Although, it is very obvious that the Asian version is much easier to watch (I mean, watched with more interest), and the characters are much more charismatic.

Frankly, not a big fan of DiCaprio or Leung, but still…

Leonardo DiCaprio, no matter how hard he tried, failed to achieve that frankly aching tragedy which permeates every cell of Tony Leung’s character. I’m not going to argue, you might have noticed that Leung is repeating himself from 10 years ago, because we’ve already seen something similar in ‘Coolly Boiled’, but…

…No, still, it’s impossible not to empathize with his character.

The character of Andy Lau is the strongest and most vivid image of the picture. No offense, but he makes Meth Damon look bad. He’s just not yet up to that level, which Lau easily surpasses.

In a word, ‘Double Castling’ – a trilogy of life, a trilogy of the intricacies of fate, a tragedy of two people whose paths, according to no one knows whose will, intertwined so closely that by the third film they were literally on the same road.

And if ‘The Departed’ is simply a heavyweight that deservedly won its Oscar, ‘Double Castling’ is undoubtedly a masterpiece for all time.

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (66.9 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio
Cantonese: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Cantonese: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)

Subtitles
English, French.

Сообщение Infernal Affairs 4K 2002 CHINESE появились сначала на 4К-MOVIES.BIZ.

4k movies reviews
There have been few note-worthy films coming out of Hong Kong for some time. It does seem that every other output from the studios is a commercial film that tries hard to appeal to the gargantuan China market. In this sense, debut director Wong Chun’s Mad World is an audacious and brave film.

The subject matter is mental illness and it is remarkable that the film never stoops down low to gain your sympathy through cheap histrionics. The film earns it through superlative performances and keen observations. It not only gets inside the mind space of a mental illness patient, it also studies the plight of the care-giver and the bystanders standing in the path of the malady. Neither does the film shout slogans, point fingers or offer pet solutions. Mad World is an indictment on the social stigma and medical agencies, but how it remains deeply humanist is a deft balancing act.

Shawn Yue puts in a career-defining performance as Tung, a bipolar disorder sufferer. His range is commendable and his portrayal totally surprised me. He can start taking on more challenging roles, other than rebellious hunks and rigid police officers. There is a scene of him crying late into the night, every last bit of moisture inside him is pushing out of his eyes and yet he just can’t stop. When finally he did stop crying, it is because a precocious little boy who lives next door is whispering a story from Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry’s The Little Prince through the thin wall to encourage him. That scene moved me, I doubt Tung can hear the story clearly, but I think at that point he needed to hear a voice from an understanding person.

Eric Tsang as a guilt-ridden father trying to make amends is such a natural. My tears rolled down at a heart rending scene where he explains why he left his family. The reason doesn’t make it right, but it is perfectly understandable why he did it. As Tung’s illness takes a turn for the worst, his soul becomes a constant battlefield – do I do the right thing or do I do the loving thing?

Jin as Tung’s embattled mother and Fong as the ex-fianc?e struggling to forgive Tung are also pitch-perfect. All four, including screenwriter Florence Chan and the director have been showered with nominations at last year’s Golden Horse Film Festival and Hong Kong Film Awards, and some of them have deservedly racked up the accolades.

Where Mad World perhaps over-played its hand will be the scenes of the church portrayed as over-enthusiastic zealots and Tung’s friend Louis having a turn for the worst at one point. The film felt like it was over-reaching. But I am not taking anything away from the film. This is a compassionate look at mental illness and it looks at the issue from all the angles. I would hardly call it an entertaining film, more of an affective and effective thought provoking piece of filmmaking. Give me thought provoking anytime.

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio
Cantonese: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (96kHz, 24-bit)
Cantonese: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (96kHz, 24-bit)

Subtitles
Mandarin (Traditional), English

Сообщение Mad World 4K 2016 CHINESE появились сначала на 4К-MOVIES.BIZ.