Flaming Brothers

Summary

“You deserve to be called ‘fierce dragon from across the river!’”

Eureka! Entertainment has been one of the go-to distributors for Asian cinema with an emphasis on Hong Kong and Chinese cinema. I have an affinity for the action and martial arts films that came out in the Eighties, having grown up watching all of Jackie Chan’s and John Woo’s films. Fans of this cinema have had a lot to celebrate between labels like 88 Films, Eureka! Films, and Shout! Factory’s numerous releases over the last few years. Collectors have been gifted with a wealth of riches. When I saw that Eureka! was releasing Flaming Brothers on Blu-ray, it piqued my interest due to the people involved. Flaming Brothers was released a year after the influential John Woo crime masterpiece A Better Tomorrow. Starring Chow Yun-Fat, Flaming Brothers was directed by Tung Cho “Joe” Cheung. The picture’s screenplay was written by Wong Kar-Wai and Jeffrey Lau, who would go on to write As Tears Go By and Days of Being Wild for Wong Kar-Wai to direct. I checked out the Eureka! Entertainment Blu-ray.

As the film begins a young boy named Tin Jai sneaks into an orphanage run by nuns. While stealing some rice, he is interrupted by a young girl named Ka Hei. She does not turn him in, but tells him not to steal and she will bring him rice. The young boy relays this news to his brother. Ka Hei brings food to the young orphans, but she is adopted by a family in Hong Kong, and she will be moving there. She reminds him not to steal in the future as she departs. Tin Jai (Alan Tang) and his brother Ho Tin (Chow Yun-Fat) continue to scrounge a living on the streets. They witness a gangster named Brother Hung collect protection money, and they want to be like him. As adults they are Traid members and own a night club together in Macau. Brother Tsui comes by to make an offer. Fourth Brother Kao would like to use their pier for drug smuggling, and will give them a cut of the profits. Tin Jai refuses the offer, explaining that they only operate places for gambling and entertaining gentlemen with their hostesses. That same night, while Ho Tin attempts to bribe an officer named Chen (Philip Chan,) he is handcuffed. Chen issues a warning that if Ho Tin keeps making mistakes he will get him. They play off the handcuffs as a sign of union for the onlookers. That night, when Tin Jai drops off Ho Tin, Ho Tin is taken by Tsui’s men. The next evening, Tin Jai meets with Tsui and is told in no certain terms that they will kill his brother if he doesn’t comply with Kao’s orders. Tin Jai asks for proof of life, and when he sees his brother, he shoots Tsui in the head. They kill Tsui’s men, potentially sparking a turf war with Kao. The triad intervenes and sets a meeting. When they once again show courage to Kao in their meeting, he offers the brothers a job running guns from Thailand. As Tin Jai works on the gunrunning job, a chance encounter between Ho Tin and Ka Hei sparks an unlikely romance. She wants him to leave the life and come back to Hong Kong with her.

Flaming Brothers is an interesting and enjoyable Chinese gangster film that falls just short of being extremely memorable. As one can expect, Chow Yun-Fat lights up the screen whenever he is in the picture. Alan Tang is a solid counterpart as his brother in arms. The film has action, Eighties hair and clothing styles, musical interludes at nightclubs, and some humor that all feels distinctly Chinese in the best way. The film falls firmly into the heroic bloodshed genre with some of the sensitive notes of Wong Kar-Wai’s work. All of these elements benefit the picture, but the direction by Joe Cheung lacks a certain amount of pizzazz. It is hard to watch the film without comparing it to better pictures of its ilk. I couldn’t help but wonder what this film would have been like if it had actually been directed by John Woo or by Wong Kar-Wai. The script probably would have come off more profound if handled more artistically. On the other hand, Joe Cheung handles most of the action sequences in the movie very well. I was happy with the first shootout and the finale in particular. That said, the foley artist could have used some help. The same gun shot sound is used repeatedly which creates an almost comedic effect. This is most notable in the first chase sequence. Trust me – you will pick up on it. While the action scenes are handled well, some of the other sequences lack something. In particular, the relationship between Tin Jai and the singer played by Jenny Tseng fails to convince. 

If it sounds like I am nitpicking that is not my intent. It just seems like there are so many good elements to the picture that struggle to form a perfect whole. There is a lot I enjoyed about the picture, because it lands somewhere between the careers of two master filmmakers owing debts to the influence of John Woo (hence Chow Yun-Fat’s starring role) and the writing of Wong Kar-Wai. As a fan of both, it was interesting to see. The film is also interesting because of its portrayal of Christianity within the Chinese culture, which I have not seen regularly in Chinese cinema. Fans of this niche will definitely still want to check it out despite some of its lesser elements.

Video

Eureka! Entertainment presents Flaming Brothers in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio in 1080p from a new 2K transfer. The transfer looks pretty good given the age and provenance of the film. Like many Fortune Star restorations from this era, there is an element of softness that was likely inherent to the quickly staged productions being made at that time. The cinematography by Jingle Ma is workmanlike and fails to make a lasting impression despite a few well-lit sequences. Overall, I think fans will be more than happy with how this looks.

Audio

Eureka! Entertainment have provided a restored LPCM Mono 2.0 track in either Cantonese or Dubbed English. I thought this mono track sounded pretty darn good. I really enjoyed the music by Violet Lam and Stephen Shing in the picture. The only real qualms would be with some of the sound effects which can be repetitive at times. Immersion is limited, but I was happy with the track overall.

Supplements:

• New audio commentary by action cinema experts Mike Leeder and Arne Venema – Mike and Arne dive into the specifics of Macau cinema as an offspring of Hong Kong cinema and discuss numerous facets of the production and history of the actors and crew involved.
• Archival interview with director Joe Cheung – this 45 minute interview goes into great detail about the production of the picture and working with Wong Kar-Wai.
• New video locations piece by CFK – this is an exhaustively researched piece showing some of the locations from the film now.
• Original theatrical trailer
• Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing on Flaming Brothers by Hong Kong cinema expert Camille Zaurin  – I enjoyed this piece by Camille Zaurin which focused on the movement away from Wuxia films to crime cinema and heroic bloodshed pictures which had their zenith in the late Eighties. It’s a well researched and written piece.

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5

Audio – 4/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 4/5

Flaming Brothers has lots of elements that I enjoyed. It collides some of the heroic bloodshed influence that John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow inspired with some of the more tender screenwriting by Wong Kar-Wai and Jeffrey Lau. Add on top of those elements the solid duo of Alan Tang and Chow Yun-Fat. Despite all these good elements, the film is not directed by Joe Cheung with enough style to become a full blown classic of its genre. The sum is somewhat less than the parts, but there was still so much here for me to enjoy that I think Hong Kong genre enthusiasts will still want to add it to their watchlist. The video transfer is pretty solid and the audio capably replicates the original sound design. The special features are enjoyable. If you can get the film with the slipcase and booklet, it includes an enjoyable essay by Camille Zaurin.