Exiled (2006) (Johnnie To)

What an interesting double bill this would be with “The Departed”. As opposed to that film’s approach of visceral, unflinching violence, Johnnie To brings a sophisticated chic to battles in his newest thriller, “Exiled”. To is fast becoming the most dependable Asian director in this genre today, after coming off a string of acclaimed hits with the complex and purposeful Election films. This could seem a return to a style that first garnered him critical attention and gifted him the nickname of Hong Kong’s “Sergio Leone”.

With the handover to China looming just a year away, reverberations are being felt throughout the Macau underworld. There’s a strong need for scores to be settled and feasting eyes of the mobs from the nearby territories are directed at the southern island. With this political realignment as a backdrop, To urges an intrinsic race against time as old friends and old enemies take their places in order to topple impending gangland regimes and secure their final paydays. Like démodé dinosaurs trapped in a world of lawlessness, friends sharing the same childhood are pitted against each other, silently contemplating their options in midst of divided loyalties as the clock ticks down.

These steely-eyed men, with determined and hardened exteriors each hide a sentimentality that does not go unnoticed. The film does not make any apologies for their line of work, nor does it give excuses or consolations for the acts they’ve committed. But you don’t need to like them in order to root for them. Their reticent features and certain resignation to the twilight of their era are telling enough of their fates.

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