Sparrow (Hong Kong)

Another festival film from Johnny To. I'm not that familiar with his work. Most years he's got at least one film in the festival and a significant number of fans turning up at the screenings. From what I've seen they're always a bit different than the straight to the point sort of Hong Kong action film. But they've yet to catch my attention to the point where I focus on seeing his newest work. Sort of fair warning with that - if you're already a fan you can probably safely ignore my thoughts.

The movie starts off by introducing us to a gang of 4 pickpockets. They're (sort of) recruited by a beautiful women of convoluted intentions. Mainly she's trying to get away from the local crime boss whom she either loves or hates. We're shown the pickpockets working all too briefly, sort of as a loose jazz ensemble of theft. The jazz theme tends to flow through the entire film - which is loosely held together without much in the way of a storyline. What storyline exists didn't make a whole lot of sense. But there's plenty of style and an interesting battle royale showdown between pickpocket teams - shot at night, in the rain, etc.

I didn't much care for any of the characters and didn't feel like I learned a whole lot - other than to hold onto your wallet very, very closely in Hong Kong. The style was certainly interesting while I was watching, but didn't really leave a strong impression afterwards.