Bodyguards and Assassins
A Chinese professor in Hong Kong exile speaks to his students about democracy and Lincoln when a bullet from one of the Empress’ assassins fells him. The time is early 1900s but Hong Kong director Teddy Chan is drawing an unspoken analogy with the early 2000s. The message is wrapped in the appealing gauze of a martial arts movie with the Empire and the Rebels in choreographed clashes of steel blades and slo-mo bloodletting.
The Black Jacket
Not content with pious speeches or ineffectual peace marches, ex-Black Panther Aquil Basheer formed a Los Angeles training program for hardcore intervention against gang violence. His peacekeepers wear black jackets and are trained to diffuse violence in face-to-face encounters. Escorting kids to school in gang-ridden neighborhoods is one aspect of their program. The camera lingers long and indiscriminately, but the documentary makes its point about one man’s effort to teach his community to seize their destiny.
Shield for Murder
“Once a cop pulls a trigger, it’s one big secret society,” a reporter tells his editor, explaining why he can’t file a story on a dubious shooting during an arrest. Edmund O’Brien stars as a cop gone brutal (but not all bad) in this underappreciated, often brilliant 1954 film noir. He’s building his bank account through murder to buy a piece of the American Dream. Will he be thwarted by the lone witness, a deaf mute?
Hidden Fear
When his expatriate sister is arrested in Denmark for murder, hardboiled American cop Mike Brent (played by a grimly determined John Payne) uses vacation time to solve the case. He is flustered that the Danish police refuse to beat suspects during interrogation. Filmed on location, this 1957 crime drama offers a rough sketch for the Bond movies of the following decade with its suave Euro villains, unusual settings and helicopters chasing motorcycles and boats.
