French Director Olivier Assayas (Irma Vep) has made a self-proclaimed B-movie which got a Midnight Screening at the 2007 Cannes Festival. Now the film is getting a very limited release before its inevitable shuffling of this mortal coil onto DVD. Careful though, this noir thriller may be a little intense for your Easter weekend viewing.
Boarding Gate stars Asia Argento as Sandra, a former prostitute who is reconnecting with an ex-lover, failed financier Miles (Michael Madsen). Their relationship was far from emotionally healthy and both feel the scars, both physical and psychological. Sandra’s current relationship with a Chinese couple: Lester (Carl Ng) and Sue (Kelly Lin) may be what’s really behind Sandra’s rekindling with Miles. A fateful encounter sends Sandra on the lam in Hong Kong where she has no one she can trust and everything to lose.
Trying to be objective with this film was difficult. From the beginning I had inherent issues with the character of Sandra that pretty much carried through until the last act. Over the last few years I’ve become sensitive to the characterization of women in film as well as to the violence perpetrated against them. Yes, I get that this is a b-film and all that implies. I also get that Sandra and Miles’s relationship is based in S&M. But even taking all of that into consideration I was not impressed with the desperate ex-hooker who is so easily lead down the primrose path by the men she loves, to her detriment.
Another major issue that hampered my potential enjoyment of the movie is that I simply don’t find Asia Argento that interesting of an actress. Sandra seems to be a pretty common persona for her. Fans of Asia will enjoy watching her for 106 minutes. I wasn’t impressed. Similarly Michael Madsen has the similar tendency to play the same character over and over again. Portraying that menacing, morally questionable alpha-male seems to suit him so we see it again in this movie.
Asian actors the handsome Carl Ng and equally as appealing Kelly Lin were refreshing additions to the cast. Lin in particular has a little more screen time than Ng and gives Sue an icy edge that makes her completely untrustworthy but great fun to watch.
The film is split into two different genres: sexual thriller and action movie. The first half is about Sandra and her various affairs and the second is about Sandra running for her life in Hong Kong. I found the second half to be the more exciting and interesting of the two halves. Not having to try and make out what Argento and Madsen were mumbling incoherently to each other was a big help. I swear I know the film was in English but there were times I couldn’t understand what either of them was saying.
I can’t recommend this film unless it’s coming on some cable movie channel late one Saturday night. Save your movie-going time for something more substantial like Drillbit Taylor.
Running Time: 106 minutes
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