Today's new additions to Netflix Instant Watch that are worth watching features works by great Asian directors Johnnie To and Kim Ki-duk. Oh, and there's a Viking movie, too.
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VALHALLA RISING
After years of slavery, Viking warrior One-Eye (Mads Mikkelsen) escapes from his captors and seeks refuge on a Norse ship bound for his homeland. When a storm throws them off course, the crew lands at a mysterious realm inhabited by invisible demons. As the bloodthirsty creatures claim one sailor after another, One-Eye rediscovers his fighting spirit but begins to wonder if they have arrived in Jerusalem or someplace much more sinister.
We don't get a lot of Viking movies, and when we do, too often it's played for schlock. This Danish film mixes a moody arthouse aesthetic with bursts of hyperviolence to an entertaining degree. Our own Rob Young wrote this favorable review for the theatrical release.
VENGEANCE
Today, Costello (French music and film icon Johnny Hallyday) is a skilled chef. Twenty years ago, he was a cold-blooded killer working for the mob. But when a horrific tragedy befalls the family of his daughter (Sylvie Testud), Costello returns to his old ways. Journeying from France to Hong Kong, our culinary hero prepares to serve up revenge on a host of bad guys in this bloody tale from acclaimed action director Johnnie To.
This modern noir revenge story competed for the Cannes Film Festival's Palme D'Or last year, the latest from Hong Kong action savant Johnnie To (Election, Exiled). It sadly never received a US theatrical release, but now you can watch it on Instant Watch.
ADDRESS UNKNOWN
Three teens -- a girl with an injured eye (Min-jung Ban), a timid artist (Young-min Kim) and an American soldier's forsaken illegitimate son (Dong-kun Yang ) -- find themselves displaced by the upheaval and aftermath of the Korean conflict. Just outside an American Army base, the trio's lives collide in ways none of them could have imagined in this incisive psychological drama. Extras include deleted scenes and a making-of documentary.
Kim Ki-duk is one of my favorite auteurs of all time, but Address Unknown is not exactly one of his more hailed films. True, in Kim's body of work, I'd even place it low on the list. That doesn't mean that it's not a powerful work in its own right: Kim hasn't created anything quite as political as this before or since.
