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 Asia
Argento. For those familiar, Asia’s very name conjures a plethora of
impressions, mostly based on her raw, uninhibited presence onscreen. Her
beauty, canniness and the underlying touch of madness that transcends
the screen in many of her films is responsible for a devoted cult
following amongst a wide and varied demographic. For those who
unfamiliar with the Italian star, the closest crossover comparison I can
make with the sensual, dusky beauty is to that of an independent film
version of Angelina Jolie. Straight, gay, young or old, everyone who’s
seen her is intrigued by Asia.
Apparently, director Olivier Assayas feels the same
way. The auteur of such arthouse classics like Demonlover, Irma Vep and
Clean, has once again made a study of a woman in the midst of
transformation and the repercussions of those changes. With Boarding
Gate, Assayas seems more preoccupied with what he can capture Argento
doing on film rather than such trifles as creating a cohesive storyline
or guiding able performances out of his cast.
Here’s what I could gather, Argento plays Sandra, a
woman with a fallen past trying to extract herself from one
self-destructive relationship in order to be free for another lover and
a new life waiting in Hong Kong. Unfortunately for relationship # 1,
despite their shared propensity for S&M, the ties (N.P.I) between Sandra
and Miles, her old lover/pimp (- played by Michael Madsen), can
only be severed in the most permanent way - possibly under orders from
relationship # 2. Sandra flees Europe for Hong Kong allegedly to rejoin
her married lover boy who’s wifey doesn’t exactly take to a
charmingly-tattooed concubine vying for her man’s affections. Cue
attempt at Hong Kong action-style chase as Sandra runs for her life from
the wife’s scary henchmen. Sandra realises that Hong Kong may not be the
place for her, after all.
I think I may have given Boarding Gate more of a
plot than actually exists on screen. There are long, droning bouts of
dialog about nothing that I suppose are meant to link scenes together,
but all Boarding Gate really does is fixate on watching Asia Argento do
stuff. Look, there’s Asia in Madsen’s office being naughty on his desk.
Hey, there’s Asia and Madsen having kinky sex. Boy, Asia sure looks
swell running around Hong Kong with a gun. Fair enough, for some that
may be a sufficient expenditure of 90 minutes, but I was looking for a
bit more. Assayas’ usual beautiful, frameable imagery of his previous
works gives way to muddy palettes and seedy lighting. Perhaps his visual
choices were a reflection of the murky souls of his characters and
perhaps it’s just uncharacteristically sloppy work. The latter would
certainly explain the script that rambles in its first half and then
grinds to an unsatisfying halt once the locations move to Hong Kong.
Even with the frantic chase scene, the tension in the film is nil as one
never gets to know the characters or their motivations enough to care
what happens to any of them, Sandra included. Any exposition of
character development is delivered in dull, barely-coherent mumbles that
reveal the cast to be as uninterested in the script as we are. Only
Kelly Lin as the vengeful wife seems to have any acuity or restraint.
Boarding Gate should have been something more, this dark tale of a
murderess on the run through two continents. Instead, due to Assayas’
pointless, meandering script and laissez-faire treatment of his actors,
all we get is a vapid, boring mess where an edgy, modern film noir might
have been.
~Mighty Ganesha
March 17th 2008
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