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Moonlight Express 1998 (Action Director) Yen directed the action sequences for this critically acclaimed Sino-Japanese co-production. Moonlight Express is a love story with lots of action. Leslie Cheung stars as an undercover cop, Kar-bo, who has been undercover for too long. He is betrayed by his superior and is also a dead ringer for Tutsuya (also briefly played by Cheung), the deceased husband of the grieving widow Hitomi (Tokako Tokiwa). A computer disk with hard evidence, drugs, and money feature into the plot complications, and the narrative arc traces an emotional path between aggressive survivalist instincts and tenderness. Director Daniel Lee (Black Mask) approached Yen after he’d seen Ballistic Kiss and expressed his admiration for Yen’s strong visuals, inviting him onboard as action director for Moonlight Express. Himself a stylish director, Lee told Yen he wanted to integrate their styles. In fact, Lee paid homage to Yen’s Ballistic Kiss by including it onscreen in Moonlight Express in the movie theater scene where the couple sees a film; following the screening, posters from Ballistic Kiss are featured in the theater lobby. Yen was responsible for editing the action scenes he shot, and they represent the distinct flavor he brings not only to the action but the film overall. Although Cheung’s a lover not a fighter, you’d never know it based on how well Yen choreographs the gunplay. The action sequences Yen directed deserve special attention. Cheung’s character arranges a drug deal in a fancy hotel suite, and it’s the first time he meets the boss with whom he’ll be dealing; the characters are suspicious of each other and the tension is palpable. The boss’s boys surround Cheung’s character, kicking him while he’s down. The camera lurks, and with over the shoulder composition and cuts between close-ups and medium shots, Yen makes the scene intense and believable. With the exchange set, a complex scene follows, in which Cheung’s backup fails to materialize and he’s trapped in a huge space between killers and cops. Blue filtered weak light and exterior rain create a fog-like effect, and the camera registers every action by those who potentially can kill Cheung’s character as well as his reaction to them. Yen’s shooting style makes this a suspenseful scene. The camera angles and composition play out like a pinball game on speed, the silver ball bouncing and banking and scoring. There’s extreme tension, high energy and confusion as Cheung is caught in the crossfire. In another scene, Yen faced the challenge of choreographing both Cheung and Tokako Tokiwa, neither of them action stars or marital artists, in a small apartment space against an unexpected assassin (Jimmy Wong). Here again, Yen’s camerawork and editing registers Kar-bo’s good instincts, as he realizes the danger of the situation and fights off the killer. Hitomi’s desperation and spunk really come across as she clumsily but spiritedly joins in the battle when Cheung is temporarily down. Yen again makes the action high stakes and real, and the rhythm of the action plays into the dramatic elements of the story, reflecting the damaged state of both characters’ psyches, and their (at least) subconscious realization that they have to surmount the difficulties that confront them. Director: Daniel Lee [FILMS] |