The Follow

While John Frankenheimer and Ang Lee made films whose primary purpose is to show off the new line of BMW cars, Wong Kar Wai's FOLLOW is the first to actually try to make a genuine piece of art where the cars plays a secondary purpose. A driver (Clive Owen) is hired to keep surveillance on a movie star's wife, and begins to find himself emotionally involved.

OK, the plot is standard film noir material, but it is Wong Kar-Wai's elliptical visual style juxtaposed with melancholy music that creates an unforgettable mood piece that rejuvenates noir cliches. A perfect example is when Clive Owen looks into the wife's face and suddenly realize why she's attempting to leave her husband. It's just a simple understated shot that would be absolutely beautiful until you realize what the camera is focusing on.

This is a short film that a viewer would wish to be a full-length feature to stay in the sad stylish world that it has created. Now how many car commercials can claim that?

This episode of the series is the most 'filmish' of all. What I mean is that the action concentrates not around the driving itself, but about the plot, the idea - and driving is only entwined with the action, but doesn't guide it.

The driving during all the episode resembles a dance - they two are moving tenderly, closely, yet intently. Storytelling is non-linear, but this dance runs through all the episode. At the same time the details, which are highlighted now and then, make all the plot somehow intimate. And the music matches the mood appallingly.

If other episodes could be associated with a comedy, a thriller or an action movie, this one is sure to be a melodrama: it's very romantic.

Well, you'd better see it - I doubt you'll regret you did.

This short with the possible exception of Inarritu's Powder Keg is the best from the BMW series. This one is a typical film you might expect from Wong Kar Wai (very dark and film noirish). It should not be missed by any of his fans.

The BMW Film series films are all excellent. I particularly appreciate the humor of "Star" and the sensitivity and awareness of "Powder Keg," but "The Follow" seems to stand out as the best film of them all. The Driver seems more relaxed and perhaps more together in this of all of the films. He starts out detached, coldly explaining the best way to tail someone, but becomes human, identifying with the heroine and allowing justice to be served. Amazingly all accomplished in 6 minutes. Clive Owen is great as always and Forest Whitaker is affecting in an unbilled performance. 9/10

I was surprised to find that the director of the second film in the BMW series The Hire was Ang Lee, so imagine how I felt when this one was directed by Kar Wai Wong, he of In the Mood for Love and other films where car chases do not feature particularly highly; to say the least I was curious as to what he would deliver here. The plot this time is a tailing job – a movie star's agent hires the Driver to follow the star's wife to confirm she isn't cheating on him; a simple job but then perhaps not.

What Wong delivers is actually a really nice short film that delivers substance in a way the previous two had not while also giving the guys paying for the film plenty of slick shots of their cars in motion. The film opens with some shots with an artistic slant and it continues as such throughout. In the previous films the Driver had been mostly silent however here his narration is key and it is pretty well written to be about the art of The Follow while also filling in the story as we go along. OK, it is a flaw of the film that his technique looks awful (he seems far too obvious to me!) but the narration and the style help cover this minor quibble.

The film has a great style to it and Wong really does a good job with the following sequences. Unable to work with the thrill of a chase, he instead captures moments of slick beauty as the two cars move around cities and landscapes – it had a real flow to it and looked beautiful; the shots after stopping at the bank were particularly memorable. The cast do well here, Owen is better with some character to talk about while the quality of Whittaker, Rourke and the looks of Lima all help the feel of the film as slick and polished.

The Follow may lack the action chase sequence of the other films thus far, but it produces something I enjoyed much more as a short film (as opposed to an action clip). The story is good, the narration adds a layer to the film and yet Wong still manages to make the central product look good. Very good little short that rises above its commercial heart.