preseva-1

Stephen Chaw is an eastern Sergio Leone , Quentin Tarantino , Groucho Marx , John Milius , Bob Foss and Stanley Donen at the same time . Sergio Leone in the milieu and style, Milius in epic exaggeration, Groucho Marx in completely screw-ball approach to comedy, Stanley Donen and Bob Fosse in amazing choreography and Quentin Tarantino in a nostalgic playing with the genres. In addition, Jackie Chan and Buster Keaton at the same time.

I have not seen a movie that is so successful a mix of styles and still has its own style. When you're doing comedy, it's very difficult to keep the tone of the gags , especially in acting and mise–en-scene, a tone that is always on the verge to go to failure , but still floats fresh and chic. You even laugh at the graphic effects . I can imagine what the reaction was in the cinemas , when the audience was mass "lifted" after a couple of good jokes and than start to laugh at each and every tiny antic. See once this movie or download it from the net – be sure that it is in Chinese with the translation. Dubbed versions (translated into English ) will not do . This film has the same value for Kung Fu genre as "Once Upon a Time in the West" has for the "spaghetti western", as " Singing in the Rain" has for the musical , as " A Night at the Opera " has for screwball comedy , as "Meals on wheels " has for the action movies - the best that genre can offer.

Mustafa Presheva

After watching this movie, you will find very hard to get rid of the image of two Ottomans in the Wild West- image that implants itself into your mind for a numerous of days after consuming the product. But despite all efforts, this movie (that was designed to be a hilarious comedy) does not live up to expectations. The main slow down and confusion is resulted by a strange and naive holes in the script during it's middle part. Almost useless scenes in the church that have no motive, intro or outro, confusing turn-overs (the sheriff is talking friendly to the lead guy in one of the scenes, the lead guy exits the scene, 10 seconds later the message-boy approaches the lead guy to tell him that the sheriff is challenging him to a death-match duel)makes you think that you missed the whole sequence in the middle. Turn-overs in the script, mainly designed just to produce the thin motive for the next (hopefully) comic scene are not very seldom. But the comic outcome IS seldom. Maybe the source of real trouble in this Sorak- Yılmaz collaboration is the gap between language-based, sitcom jokes (that are a mother- ground for Yilmaz comedy-style) and Sorak's effort to tell the story more cinematic,picture-wise. Final product is trapped somewhere in the middle - sitcom diluted with something supposed-to-be a serious cinema. Usage of more than one camera on some scenes sometimes result with a series of lined shots that have no readable sign - shots that are used just as a bridge to squeeze timing and jump over the long gaps in the scene. They look more like a "don't mind this" inserts, rather than a planned shots. Anyway, visually film looks good, story-wise looks bad, comedy-wise looks decent enough, but not hilarious - as one could expect from a master comedian Cem Yımaz definitely is.

This is a full-length long feature made by Srdjan Karanovic,one of the most celebrated Yugoslav writers-directors of 70tees and 80tees. Karanovic, who was a Prague student (generation with Emir Kusturica, Goran Paskaljevic and Goran Markovic - all of them internationally recognized) was always known as an advanced intellectual who treats his realistic stories with merciless irony. This movie is a story inspired by the true events during the raise of nationalism in ex-Yugoslavia in late 80tees, story of a possible romance between Serbian Guy and Albanian girl - whose nations are in conflict. Despite their good will and naivety, the avalanche of chauvinist-driven emotions burst out from their surrounding and produce very dark,tragic and comic events. In the middle of that chaos a movie-director character is trying to shoot the film about them, and it deepens the chaos even more. This film won "Altin Lale" award at Istanbul Film festival, and although it looked funny and comic for the intellectuals of the day and entertaining for the audience in Yugoslavia, the nationalism before the civil war of the 90tees was already risen to a level where this kind of self-critic and irony was not welcome any more. Film had controversial reviews and caused a pause in the carrier of this very talented director. Srdjan Karanovic was forced to fly abroad to USA and come back after the civil war in Balkans was finished. By its tone and story-telling style, this film is more likely good for the European and Asian,rather than western audience.