Não brinque com fogo

Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind is wild. I kind of found it engaging and maybe entertaining (not sure if that's the right word) but it also might be easiest to respect/admire than enjoy in the traditional sense. It's about three wannabe terrorists who are also kind of losers, and then a more ruthless girl catches onto the stuff they're doing, and she kind of pushes the entire group to do worse things. Then things get more chaotic, they make a lot of enemies, and the level of violence/death just increases as it goes along.

It's blunt, but it does leave me feeling more than most movies that could be described as simple. There is a quality to it that makes it special, even though I didn't like all the decisions it made creatively or content-wise. It's definitely meant to unravel and feel chaotic, and looking back, that whole structure is easier to appreciate, but it did leave me wanting a bit in the moment.

It's a tricky film to talk about, and a trickier one to recommend, but it was something different and I liked it enough for that alone.

Three friends out for a night of fun in daddy's car accidentally kill a pedestrian. The only witness is young, psychotic girl who decides to blackmail them. She forces the boys to participate in her misanthropic deeds, which eventually bring them into some Japanese bank notes for 800 million yen that belong to some illegal arms dealers. Wow, this is one psychotic movie! DON'T PLAY WITH FIRE (aka DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS: 1ST KIND) is Tsui Hark's third film and it is one angry movie. Opening with the scene of a mouse having a pin shoved into its head (sadly, for real), Hark makes modern day Hong Kong look like hell on earth with its grimy streets and claustrophobic apartment buildings. I'd like to think he is making a statement on class warfare, but Hark just seems like he wants to destroy everything in a wave of nihilistic fury. A final shootout in an equally crowded cemetery is the film's highlight. The score is stolen from all over the place. Tracks I identified were from Goblin (off the DAWN OF THE DEAD soundtrack), Jean Michel Jarre, and the disco band The Mike Theodore Orchestra. I actually wish Hark made more modern day stuff like this as I got tired of his costume kung fu drama porn rather quickly.

I never believed in rebirth, but italian freak cinema of the 70ies lived on in a lot of Hong Kong flicks of the 80ies. If you like animals, human life or are a fan of political correctness you should NOT watch this movie. If you like explotation movies, italian cinema and have mental problems like me, GO FOR IT. It really has a good script, lot of twists, overall good acting and is very well made. What I really missed are car chases between Alfa Romeo's and BMW's, Tomas Milian, Henry Silva and a score from let's say Stelvio Cipriani, then it would be perfect, but you can't have it all. Hardcore entertainment par excellence (really).

This one is a punk movie made by a young and (very) angry filmmaker, as dark as dark goes ; not one character is redeemable in this story where a bunch of amateurs killers suddenly brushes with the real stuff. The finale in the Hong Kong cemetery (already featured in John Woo's movies) is prominent remains breathtaking. A masterpiece, but be warned : this is strong stuff that grows up on you, the movie equivalent of music by Skinny Puppy, Korn or Nine Inch Nails. One of my favorite ever (It even was theatrically released in France as "L'enfer des armes" - "Hell by weapons", which describes it perfectly

DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS OF THE FIRST KIND is a searing political thriller and an unforgettable debut from first-time director Tsui Hark. The storyline follows a fan of amateur anarchists who decide to terrorise Hong Kong by setting off home-made bombs in various places such as a cinema. Their fortunes take a turn for the worse when they meet up with a young girl who proves to be even more of a maniac than they are, and when they steal a wad of Japanese cash their adventures turn deadly.

Be warned: I would have given this film a higher rating if it wasn't for the real-life animal cruelty that plagues the production. In order to show us that the protagonist is a psychopath, Hark has her committing real-life cruelty by torturing mice with pins. These are horrible scenes and a bit with a cat, although less realistic, is equally disturbing.

Otherwise, the film itself is fine: a slow start, plenty of tension, building to a breathtaking all-out climax set in a hillside cemetery. The cast give effective performances, particularly seasoned pro Lo Lieh, thankfully not cast as a bad guy for once but instead the cop brother of the main character. Scenes of the main characters going on bombing rampage were censored by nervous distributors but they remain the most interesting part of the production. Watch out for the soundtrack, which borrows heavily from the likes of Jean-Michel Jarre and the music from DAWN OF THE DEAD.