Lao pao er

In "Mr Six", we see the urban life of modern day Beijing; we see how some of its older resident (Lao Bei Jing) are struggling to adjust to the rapidly changing city; we see strained father -son relationships put under even more stress by the accelerated generational transition. But most of all, we see an aging anti-hero, well past his prime and caged in by values deemed old- fashion and unsuited for the new world, trying to set himself free. The main characters are as much as Mr Six as the city of Beijing itself. And both the film's director and Mr Feng, the director-turned-actor who played the leading role, did a good job in portraying both.

I didn't expect to like this movie. The premise sounded dull and Feng Xiaogang was always known as a director rather than an actor. So imagine my surprise when I thought to myself after the credits rolled that wow, this is definitely one of my favorites of 2015.

I love everything about it, I am familiar with Guan Hu as I have watched two of his films which I also liked and I thought this would be the first movie of his that I would hate. Turns out it'd be one of his best.

Mr Six is not meant to be a hero or a sympathetic character even. He's an old guy set in his ways and stubborn to a great fault. Which is why the ending was fitting in all its symbolic glory.

The character that really stayed with me was Xiao Fei, the spoiled brat turned sympathetic kid who looks up to the values of old and yearns for a father's attention. The interesting thing about this movie was that it also had the story of a father and son but the more compelling story was the one between a father and another man's son.

I would recommend this movie to anyone. Brilliant and well-executed filmmaking.

I wanted to write a review just to let cinema goers know that this is a well made movie, with a lot to like about it - but action is not one of them - because quite simply there is none - ZERO. Now don't get me wrong, i love all sorted of Asian cinema, drama, action, martial arts and thriller, but i am sick & tired of being mislead. It shouldn't be in the category of action and whilst the trailers showed "glimpses and promises of knives, swords and a few sensational stare downs" thats where the action ends. It was actually very well paced for the first half, but there is a scene in which the movie comes to a grinding halt and never recovers. It is a movie about redemption, father & son relationships and Mr Six being a man of principle which is rarely found in today's society. It was beautifully shot and acted, but shame what started out promising so much at a decent pace ended up grinding to a halt and delivering none of the action it promises in description or in the trailer.

It's really difficult to review this film in a different language. In fact it's even tough to comprehend it for many Chinese who are distant from Peking for the reason that it entirely roots on the very local culture of Peking, of both yesterday and today.

The main theme, to me, is about the change of belief.

To many countries, the late half of the 20th century is a continuous of history. But in China, things are opposite. There was no much difference from North Korea till 1980s. But now it's more Capitalism than any genuine Capitalism countries. The old generation, including the Mr. Six, was born in the North Korea - like era. Although brainwashed by propaganda daily, what these former Peking boys value most are something traditional, the loyalty to friends and the courage to risk life for friends. They are really man, of great dignity, and will not bow down for money.

The young generation, born in 1990s or 2000s, grew up in a totally different era. Peking, along other major cities of China, spent the last 20 years to become metropolitans cannot be differentiated from New York by appearance. The lifestyle of many Peking youth is in close association with alcohol, pub, racing cars. Also ironically, a significant portion of these playboys are descendants of those high rank communists who intended to shape the country to the 2nd USSR. Consequently, the belief of the younger generation, the worship of money and power, is totally different from the former.

The film is of plenty vanishing features of old Peking, like the Peking alleys or so called Hu Tong, the parrot in the cage, and the last scene, a remarkable stamp of those heroic boys in 1970s who fight with Katanas (collections of high rank communist from Sino-japan war) and green woolen coats.

Mr. Six was a Beijing crime boss who still has the respect of his hood despite being long retired, but he gets back into the game when his son gets into some trouble, owing rich privilege kids some money.

It's not as action packed as I thought it would be from the plot line, Yet it's still very appealing as if you are watching an action movie.

It's a lot like Unforgiven, as Mr. Six spends the film trying to reconnect with old ties in order to help his son. It was interesting seeing him handle himself ageist a foe that does not care about his past. The actor who played Mr. Six was very successful in his low key style of acting.

It was funny and charming and dramatic perfectly at the same time.