A Fighter's Blues (2000)

A FIGHTER'S BLUES (2000) - Andy Lau goes from being invincible to being human, which is hard. It's a depressing and difficult film to watch, as it doesn't flinch from opening up wounds in the viewer. Andy plays the champion Hong Kong Thai Boxer who lets emotions from his love life get the better of him, which lands him in prison. When he gets out, he discovers that he has a daughter in Thailand, living in an orphanage run by Takako Tokiwo. The film is about what happens when he gets there.

It's an emotionally raw film, almost as brutal outside the Thai boxing ring as in. The message is (I think) that love is hard and responsibility is hard... though to be honest it all goes a bit wayward (and far too Rocky IV) at the end and I couldn't think what message I was really meant to be taking away except that I was upset by the experience. I think the ending was a bit of a cop out to be honest, and they could have done much more.

The film looks great and sounds great, and the performances from all involved are top rate. Andy Lau really can do no wrong these days. Takako Tokiwo looks like she'd be more at home in a more cheerful film, as she's got a great impish smile... she pulls off the harder side of the film well too though. The young actress playing the daughter is really good too.

The Mei Ah DVD is far from exceptional but it's not bad... picture quality is alright and sound is good. The subtitles start off worryingly bad but settle down quite quickly into fair English (or my brain adjusted quickly).

Definitely a film worth seeing, but could have been better.