Asian Western

Once in a while, you’ll see something a little weird.

Case in point: the Asian western film being brought to the video store shelves right now. It’s called “The Good, the Bad and the Weird,” owing its title and plot in debt to the original classic spaghetti western.

An Asian western? Who would have thought? It’s complete with horses, Korean, Japanese and Chinese cowboys, a treasure map and… motorcycles?

First, Asians did horror. And now they're doing for westerns what they did with the horror genre.

It’s a hard one to describe. It's set in 1930s Japanese occupied Manchuria. And yet I find this particular film pushing well into the science fantasy realm… and the reason why this film find its way into this column. I would call this film an alternative reality, a different world version than the one we are used to. Instead of the American west, we find a western set some action in Korea. Not a bad idea after all.

But if you can accept the idea of the alterative world theory that I’ve put forth, changing the rules a little, you might be in better place to accept “The Good, The Bad and the Weird.”

The story centers on a treasure map that would lead the pursuers to a pot of gold. Or at least that is what they are led to believe. The film borrows greatly from the old Clint Eastwood movie and then more. It borrows from themes from the familiar cowboy myths and tweaking them just a bit more to make it fit into the Asian world.

It’s a lot of fun.

The stunts in the film are old school. There’s hardly any special effects involved except for a couple of visuals peppered throughout the film. But it’s mostly people doing stunts and wowing audiences with their daring efforts on bikes, horses and gun fights. There is a great scene with the good guy tangling with a group of rogues while holding a rope to swing from one building to the next. The director Kim Ji-woon still believes in the old ways of making a good movie. The stunt work here is well conceived. And it’s a pleasure to watch filmmakers still taking the old methods when creating a movie. Nothing wrong with that.

The weird guy provides plenty of comedy relief. He’s not a buffoon or a clown as he is a clearly dangerous opponent when he is armed. His handling of the gun may not be as good as the other title characters… but he uses his wits to get out of a situation. Such as donning a diver’s helmet for protection… a variation of the old Clint Eastwood stunt used in a previous cowboy movie.

Song Kang-ho plays The Weird. He's been in many blockbuster movies… “The Host,” one of my favorite movies “Thirst” and a couple of Park Chan-wook' Vengeance movies. He’s a very likable actor who always takes on very unflattering roles… but he’s a lot of fun as he broadens his comedy talent here.

Much of the film is carried by the three title actors. The most familiar may be the one who plays The Bad: Lee Byung-hun. He has already hit Hollywood heights by playing Storm Shadow in the god-awful G.I. Joe movie from last summer… apparently the enormous stupidity of this war adventure movie did nothing to put a dent in this actor’s career.

I’ve never seen the actor who played the Good. This is the first time I’ve seen of Jung Woo-sung… and I thought it was interesting to see someone unknown in the role while the other title characters are played by well known actors. But he’s very intense as the silent man… very few lines, but providing good expressions with his polished features. His face is well chiseled with youth… yet his acting is very explosive.

All three actors are in the same range which makes them all very appropriate to be acting in this film.

One of the opening shots is phenomenal with the railroad train robbery. You would think nothing more can be done with the train routine. But they are able to do more with the train sequence as it gave them groundwork to introduce the characters in a very inventive way. Especially when the Good and the Bad sees each other for the first time while in different carriages of the train. It’s one of the funniest scenes in the film.

From the very beginning to the end of the train sequence, it remains one of the pivotal parts of the film. It’s worth seeing twice just for this particular part.

Not very many women actresses in the film. But then again, neither did the original film. There is a grandmother who actually lives through the movie… and she is one of the funniest actresses.

With the recent horse apple known as Jonah Hex being the deluded piece of garbage made into a Hollywood movie, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to find that Asia is able to create a better cowboy movie by using their own artistic sensibilities. They were able to bring a quality of strangeness to their film of “The Good, The Bad and the Weird” while still making it very accessible to the audiences.

I do not know if it was meant to be an alternative world story. There is nothing in the description that suggests this. But if you can believe that a western can be made in Korea, then you would have no problems getting through this. But there is something bizarre about seeing someone riding a motorcycle through the desert which rings the bells of the old Mad Max movies. But this cowboy movie holds its own against the most recent made westerns.

“The Good, The Bad and the Weird” gives a much needed knee-jerk to the creativity vibe of westerns, and there is a sense of rejuvenation here. You can feel this film almost giving a rebirth to what westerns should be able again… plenty of gunfights and action. It’s a good sign.