Boarding Gate: Difference between revisions
m →Hong Kong: layout |
m edit for style |
||
| Line 32: | Line 32: | ||
==Plot== |
==Plot== |
||
===Paris=== |
===Paris=== |
||
[[Image:Paris Office.jpg|thumb|left|Sandra and Miles reignite their relationship.]]After discussing his plans for retiring by selling on the shares in his security company to his debtors with his partner, André, aging |
[[Image:Paris Office.jpg|thumb|left|Sandra and Miles reignite their relationship.]]After discussing his plans for retiring by selling on the shares in his security company to his debtors with his partner, André, aging underworld entrepeneur Miles Rennberg is paid a surprise visit at his Paris office by aggressive underworld [[gun moll|moll]] Sandra. Brazenly taunting him with her sexuality, she bluntly dissects their prior relationship - a nightmarish web of masochism, money, manipulation and dependency, pimping her out to dangerous clients in order to gain both a business advantage and perverse personal thrills. |
||
She outlines her |
She outlines her newest ambition, since their estrangement, of raising the necessary capital to run a nightclub in Beijing. Miles makes no pretence of the fact that he is less interested in the proposal than the woman, and encourages her to visit him at his apartment. |
||
Without making any promises, Sandra leaves for her job at an import business, run by a young married couple: Lester and Sue Wong. |
Without making any promises, Sandra leaves for her job at an import business, run by a young married couple: Lester and Sue Wong. |
||
Sandra's own import sideline, drug running, is facilitated by |
Sandra's own import sideline, drug running, is facilitated by her close bond of loyalty with low-ranking employee Lisa. Acting as her driver and lookout, Lisa escorts Sandra to the site of a drug deal that quickly goes sour when her buyer is revealed to be a Narcotics officer. Suspicious after Sandra's cool response to his earler queries about a missing container in a recent shipment, Lester follows Sandra to the deal and accosts Lisa as she waits in the car. He sends Lisa away on his motorcycle and takes her place in the car. |
||
After Sandra emerges in a hail of gunfire, Lester drives her away from the scene. Expressing disappointment in her deceit, he takes her back to her apartment where it becomes clear that the two are romantically involved. After their sexual encounter, Lester receives a call from his wife and leaves. |
After Sandra emerges in a hail of gunfire, Lester drives her away from the scene. Expressing disappointment in her deceit, he takes her back to her apartment where it becomes clear that the two are romantically involved. After their sexual encounter, Lester receives a call from his wife and leaves. |
||
Sandra appears to relent |
Sandra appears to relent and arranges to visit Miles him at his apartment. Goading him with recollections of their misdeeds, she reveals a deep-seated bitterness; she recalls, in particular, an incident where a group of Japanese clients she was entertaining drugged and raped her, and Miles' arousal at hearing the episode recounted in front of his girlfriend. They both drink and end up on the balcony. Sandra undresses and tries to instigate a violent sexual game, apparently of the genre they used to practice, by pinning Miles to the floor of the balcony and choking him with his own belt. Miles warns her off and leads her back inside to show her a pair of handcuffs, which he intends to use on her later in the evening. She expresses reluctance which he nonchalantly waves aside. When she tries to leave, he locks the door and pockets the keys. |
||
When he takes a business call, she playfully restrains him with the handcuffs, then brutally shoots him in the head. |
|||
| ⚫ | She quickly retraces her steps through the house, |
||
| ⚫ | She quickly retraces her steps through the house, destroying evidence of her presence, and makes a swift exit with Miles' keys. Lester picks her up, gives her a modest sum of cash and the name of a contact in Hong Kong who will arrange her new life, promising to join her soon. Lisa first drives her to a club to establish an alibi, where the the oppressive atmosphere and the noise provoke an aggressively traumatic and regretful response to her act. |
||
===Hong Kong=== |
===Hong Kong=== |
||
[[Image:BG Hong Kong.jpg|thumb|left|Sandra escapes the ambush through the streets of Hong Kong.]]Hours behind Lisa, Sandra arrives in Hong Kong. She makes her way to the |
[[Image:BG Hong Kong.jpg|thumb|left|Sandra escapes the ambush through the streets of Hong Kong.]]Hours behind Lisa, Sandra arrives in Hong Kong. She makes her way to the address of Lester's contact, who in turn sends her to a non-descript office somewhere else in the city. She is told that her contact is waiting for her in an adjacent room, but as soon as she enters the door is locked behind her. In the labyrinthine mess of the locked office she eventually discovers the bound and murdered body of Lisa in a chair facing the back wall. |
||
A manifestly wealthy, middle-aged Western women arrives at the office and orders the men to bring Sandra out, chastising them for Lisa's death. Eventually, one of the men in the office is sent in after Sandra. Having switched clothes and positions with the corpse of Lisa, she manages to ambush the henchman and escape onto the streets. Whilst crossing on a ferry she cries over her last souvenir of her relationship with Miles, his |
A manifestly wealthy, middle-aged Western women arrives at the office and orders the men to bring Sandra out, chastising them for Lisa's death. Eventually, one of the men in the office is sent in after Sandra. Having switched clothes and positions with the corpse of Lisa, she manages to ambush the henchman and escape onto the streets. Whilst crossing on a ferry she cries over her last souvenir of her relationship with Miles, his keys, before dropping them into the water. With little money and no recourse to her credit cards or passport, due to risk of capture and extradition for Miles' murder, Sandra resorts to repeatedly calling Lester. |
||
She eventually manages to contact his wife, Sue, who maintains that Lester is unavailable but agrees to meet Sandra in a karaoke club. Sue is evasive and aggressive, revealing that whilst she knew of Sandra's affair with Lester, Sandra was not her husband's first infidelity and he never really planned to leave his wife to join her. The whole venture was an attempt to raise the investment capital for the Beijing club, an enterprise in which Sue was fully complicit. Whilst she attempts to take everything in, Sue spikes Sandra's drink with a sedative. |
She eventually manages to contact his wife, Sue, who maintains that Lester is unavailable but agrees to meet Sandra in a karaoke club. Sue is evasive and aggressive, revealing that whilst she knew of Sandra's affair with Lester, Sandra was not her husband's first infidelity and he never really planned to leave his wife to join her. The whole venture was an attempt to raise the investment capital for the Beijing club, an enterprise in which Sue was fully complicit. Whilst she attempts to take everything in, Sue spikes Sandra's drink with a sedative. |
||
| Line 55: | Line 57: | ||
In a back room, Sandra threatens Sue with a gun and demands more information; Sue pleads her innocence until she manages to talk Sandra into succumbing to the drug's sedative effects. She leaves Sandra unconscious on the floor. Sandra wakes in the home of the wealthy Western women who she escaped in the offices earlier. The woman explains that she owes someone a favour and sets Sandra up with papers and well-paid employment elsewhere. |
In a back room, Sandra threatens Sue with a gun and demands more information; Sue pleads her innocence until she manages to talk Sandra into succumbing to the drug's sedative effects. She leaves Sandra unconscious on the floor. Sandra wakes in the home of the wealthy Western women who she escaped in the offices earlier. The woman explains that she owes someone a favour and sets Sandra up with papers and well-paid employment elsewhere. |
||
Sandra |
Nonetheless, Sandra eschews the easy escape and tracks Lester down in a Hong Kong shopping mall. She follows him up the staircase with an unsheathed knife, but as she prepares to stab him she is interrupted by a group of women coming the other way. Lester enters an expensive restaurant, meets with Miles' business partner, André, and leaves with a sports bag full of cash - ostensibly a payment for Miles' murder, which ensured that his shares did not pass to his unscrupulous creditors. Sandra follows Lester down to the doorway out to the car park, where he hesitates at the threshold as if aware of her presence. At the last moment, however, she finds herself unwilling to either kill or confront him. He walks calmly away with the money. |
||
==Cast== |
==Cast== |
||
Revision as of 17:18, 25 May 2008
| Boarding Gate | |
|---|---|
 English-language release poster | |
| Directed by | Olivier Assayas |
| Written by | Olivier Assayas |
| Produced by | François Margolin |
| Starring | Asia Argento Michael Madsen Carl Ng Kelly Lin Alex Descas Kim Gordon Joana Priess Sondra Locke |
| Cinematography | Yorick Le Saux |
| Music by | Brian Eno[1] |
| Distributed by | MK2 Diffusion (France) Magnolia Pictures (US) |
Release dates | August 22, 2007 21 March, 2008, (US) |
Running time | 101 min |
| Countries | France, Hong Kong |
| Languages | English, Cantonese, French |
Boarding Gate is a 2007 French thriller about the sophisticated power plays between a debt-ridden underworld entrepeneur, his provocative and ambitious ex-associate and a manipulative young couple who employ her. Written and directed by Olivier Assayas, the film features an international cast comprising Asia Argento, Michael Madsen, Carl Ng and Kelly Lin. Kim Gordon, of the band Sonic Youth, also plays a supporting role as an enigmatic businesswomen forced to intervene as events unfold in Hong Kong.
The film premiered 18 May, 2007 at the Cannes Film Festival and later opened in France on 22 August, 2007. [2]
Plot
Paris
After discussing his plans for retiring by selling on the shares in his security company to his debtors with his partner, André, aging underworld entrepeneur Miles Rennberg is paid a surprise visit at his Paris office by aggressive underworld moll Sandra. Brazenly taunting him with her sexuality, she bluntly dissects their prior relationship - a nightmarish web of masochism, money, manipulation and dependency, pimping her out to dangerous clients in order to gain both a business advantage and perverse personal thrills.
She outlines her newest ambition, since their estrangement, of raising the necessary capital to run a nightclub in Beijing. Miles makes no pretence of the fact that he is less interested in the proposal than the woman, and encourages her to visit him at his apartment.
Without making any promises, Sandra leaves for her job at an import business, run by a young married couple: Lester and Sue Wong.
Sandra's own import sideline, drug running, is facilitated by her close bond of loyalty with low-ranking employee Lisa. Acting as her driver and lookout, Lisa escorts Sandra to the site of a drug deal that quickly goes sour when her buyer is revealed to be a Narcotics officer. Suspicious after Sandra's cool response to his earler queries about a missing container in a recent shipment, Lester follows Sandra to the deal and accosts Lisa as she waits in the car. He sends Lisa away on his motorcycle and takes her place in the car.
After Sandra emerges in a hail of gunfire, Lester drives her away from the scene. Expressing disappointment in her deceit, he takes her back to her apartment where it becomes clear that the two are romantically involved. After their sexual encounter, Lester receives a call from his wife and leaves.
Sandra appears to relent and arranges to visit Miles him at his apartment. Goading him with recollections of their misdeeds, she reveals a deep-seated bitterness; she recalls, in particular, an incident where a group of Japanese clients she was entertaining drugged and raped her, and Miles' arousal at hearing the episode recounted in front of his girlfriend. They both drink and end up on the balcony. Sandra undresses and tries to instigate a violent sexual game, apparently of the genre they used to practice, by pinning Miles to the floor of the balcony and choking him with his own belt. Miles warns her off and leads her back inside to show her a pair of handcuffs, which he intends to use on her later in the evening. She expresses reluctance which he nonchalantly waves aside. When she tries to leave, he locks the door and pockets the keys.
When he takes a business call, she playfully restrains him with the handcuffs, then brutally shoots him in the head.
She quickly retraces her steps through the house, destroying evidence of her presence, and makes a swift exit with Miles' keys. Lester picks her up, gives her a modest sum of cash and the name of a contact in Hong Kong who will arrange her new life, promising to join her soon. Lisa first drives her to a club to establish an alibi, where the the oppressive atmosphere and the noise provoke an aggressively traumatic and regretful response to her act.
Hong Kong
Hours behind Lisa, Sandra arrives in Hong Kong. She makes her way to the address of Lester's contact, who in turn sends her to a non-descript office somewhere else in the city. She is told that her contact is waiting for her in an adjacent room, but as soon as she enters the door is locked behind her. In the labyrinthine mess of the locked office she eventually discovers the bound and murdered body of Lisa in a chair facing the back wall.
A manifestly wealthy, middle-aged Western women arrives at the office and orders the men to bring Sandra out, chastising them for Lisa's death. Eventually, one of the men in the office is sent in after Sandra. Having switched clothes and positions with the corpse of Lisa, she manages to ambush the henchman and escape onto the streets. Whilst crossing on a ferry she cries over her last souvenir of her relationship with Miles, his keys, before dropping them into the water. With little money and no recourse to her credit cards or passport, due to risk of capture and extradition for Miles' murder, Sandra resorts to repeatedly calling Lester.
She eventually manages to contact his wife, Sue, who maintains that Lester is unavailable but agrees to meet Sandra in a karaoke club. Sue is evasive and aggressive, revealing that whilst she knew of Sandra's affair with Lester, Sandra was not her husband's first infidelity and he never really planned to leave his wife to join her. The whole venture was an attempt to raise the investment capital for the Beijing club, an enterprise in which Sue was fully complicit. Whilst she attempts to take everything in, Sue spikes Sandra's drink with a sedative.
In a back room, Sandra threatens Sue with a gun and demands more information; Sue pleads her innocence until she manages to talk Sandra into succumbing to the drug's sedative effects. She leaves Sandra unconscious on the floor. Sandra wakes in the home of the wealthy Western women who she escaped in the offices earlier. The woman explains that she owes someone a favour and sets Sandra up with papers and well-paid employment elsewhere.
Nonetheless, Sandra eschews the easy escape and tracks Lester down in a Hong Kong shopping mall. She follows him up the staircase with an unsheathed knife, but as she prepares to stab him she is interrupted by a group of women coming the other way. Lester enters an expensive restaurant, meets with Miles' business partner, André, and leaves with a sports bag full of cash - ostensibly a payment for Miles' murder, which ensured that his shares did not pass to his unscrupulous creditors. Sandra follows Lester down to the doorway out to the car park, where he hesitates at the threshold as if aware of her presence. At the last moment, however, she finds herself unwilling to either kill or confront him. He walks calmly away with the money.
Cast
- Asia Argento as Sandra
- Michael Madsen as Miles Rennberg
- Carl Ng as Lester Wang
- Kelly Lin as Sue
- Alex Descas as André
- Kim Gordon as Kay
- Joana Preiss as Lisa
Critical reception
Western critics gave the film generally negative to mixed reviews. As of March 21, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 32% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 22 reviews.[3] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 45 out of 100, based on 12 reviews.[4]
References
- ^ According to the Variety Review of Boarding Gate, retrieved May 25 2008, the film had no original score and utilised recorded music by Brian Eno.
- ^ "Boarding Gate (2007) - Release dates". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ "Boarding Gate Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ "Boarding Gate (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
External links
- Boarding Gate at IMDb
- Boarding Gate at Rotten Tomatoes
- Boarding Gate at Metacritic
- Boarding Gate at AllMovie
- Trailer at IGN
 | This article about a thriller film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |