Isabella (2006) (Blu-ray) (Hong Kong Version) Blu-ray Region All

Inspector Ma Chen Shing (Chapman To), or Shing as he is known, is a Macau policeman whose methods are a bit unorthodox - usually involving beer bottles and criminal's heads - but he gets results. His manner with women seems to be similarly efficacious - screw them, pay them and get rid of them. However he has trouble with one girl who won't just disappear the next morning. Not only does she follow him around all the next day, but she also seems to have picked up something from his interrogation methods. The girl is Yan (Isabella Leong) and she says that she is his daughter, the product of a brief liaison Shing had many years ago - a child he thought, in his usual offhand manner, had been disposed of before birth. Her mother has died recently, and she is in trouble, needing a large sum of money. So true to form, Shing pays her the money she needs to make her disappear again. However, things are not that simple.

The money is needed to pay her landlord and get back the dog he is keeping locked in her room until she pays her back rent. Shing therefore has to use his influence, or at least his heavy-handed techniques to get the dog, who is called Isabella, back for her. Isabella was Yan's mother's name, and in making such an effort on her behalf, Shing is of course showing a weakening in his position. Yes, it's as blatant and as predictable as it sounds. Yan and her mother are thus identified with the position of a dog that has been thrown out on the street, pricking Shing's conscience about his behavior. Without a place to stay, Yan moves in with Shing and they have to find a way of getting on together - something that is not easy considering Yan is a teenage schoolgirl and Shing is a lecher who has a steady flow of women visiting the house. Inevitably however and despite their differences a bond develops between the guy who has suddenly discovered he is a father and the daughter he never wanted. Yan tries to subtly get rid of his women, but takes up drinking and gambling and practices her bottle swinging action. Real family bonding stuff - it will surely bring a tear to your eye.

In between, screen titles mark out the passing of time with dates and facts about an increasingly volatile situation with the Triads, as the Portuguese colony of Macau is about to be handed over at the turn of the millennium to China. All the trouble happens off screen, but it becomes evident that the authorities are trying to clean the place up and Shing's background means that he can be implicated in some dubious dealings. Of course with Yan now staying with him, the daughter he has just discovered could also be at risk.

This is a fairly predictable storyline, and it was already fairly creaky when Luc Besson trotted out a similar situation in Léon: The Professional - a film I absolutely despise for its lazy characterization, false manipulation, genre clichés and rather dubious sexual undertones. This doesn't make me at all sympathetic when seeing it done third-hand, the surrogate father-figure even sleeping with his teenage schoolgirl "daughter" in this case. More agonizing however is watching Yan even do a little singing piece while Shing looks on bemused. It all feels utterly fake and contrived. John Woo in his Hong Kong movies heyday could make much more of such a cliched genre scenario, imbuing it with style and the charisma of his actors. There is no such compensation here, the whole thing filmed in the framing, style and coloring of Christopher Doyle's cinematography for Wong Kar Wai, without it being as imaginative, meaningful or appropriate. Rather than see a lonely lover standing at the end of an immaculately lit alleyway, you are more likely to see someone getting a bottle smashed over their head - a Carlsberg bottle at that, such is the level of product placement. The music score is also reminiscent of Wong's scores, and like the cinematography is a little overegged, failing to match the tone of the film, using Portuguese influenced plucking guitar strings, plaintive violins and tinkling piano which sits uneasily with these harder-edged characters.

To compensate however, we have a lovely cameo from Anthony Wong as Shing's boss, who pops up now and again, mumbling and arguing semi-coherently with himself, to warn Shing of the deteriorating situation as he extols the qualities of his food. The cinematography may be unoriginal and inappropriate to the tone of the film, but Macau is still beautifully photographed throughout in beautiful washes of a bold gold and green color scheme. Also to the film's credit, it does tend to slip away from the predictable direction it seems to be going in and even disregards the Chekhov dictum about a gun being introduced in the first act. But you could also see this as just further evidence of the film just running out of steam and losing direction.

DVD
Isabella is released in Hong Kong by Media Asia/Mega Star as a 2-disc set. The DVD is not region encoded and is in NTSC format.

A/V
One of the better Hong Kong DVD companies, or at least one that has consistently improved the quality of its releases, Media Asia/Mega Star transfer and presentation of Isabella is impressive. With beautiful cinematography and striking use of color, with frequent use of darkened interiors, a sympathetic transfer is required here and that is what we get. The image is not overly sharp or bright, but the level of softness seems right and there is good detail and fine gradation in the rich colors. Shadow detail is not quite perfect, but blacks are deep and solid. There are very few marks on the print and those that do crop up from time to time are barely perceptible. Stability is good, with only an occasional judder or lack of smoothness in movements. These minor issues are far too rare to have any significant impact on the quality of the image.

The DTS track has a slight edge over the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, with superb clarity, a pleasant tone and effective use of surrounds. Occasionally dialogue sounds a little bit harsh, with background hiss or a low level of high-pitched whistle. This would seem to be inherent in the source recording of the dialogue, and not something that can be easily dampened. In fact, the higher quality DTS sound mix only makes it more pronounced. It is not frequent or loud enough however to be a serious problem.

Subtitles
English subtitles are provided and are optional in a white font. The grammar and spelling are correct almost throughout. I only noticed one error in the use of "passed" instead of "past" - as in "he walked passed" - but elsewhere this is a good translation.

Extras
Mega Star's 2-disc edition of Isabella is packed with extra features, but none of them are subtitled in English. There are no less than 3 commentary tracks on Disc 1. It seems excessive and I can't imagine what they all find to talk about in a film like this. Disc 2 contains a standard EPK Making Of (14:09), made up principally of clips from the film, with the usual interview snippets and behind-the-scenes footage, with emphasis on fooling around on the set. There are three Deleted Scenes (4:45), footage of the film's presentation at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival in Berlin Tour (4:18), where the film won the award for Best Score. There's an extended version of the Isabella Leong Interview (13:15) used in the Making Of, the actress getting quite emotional at the end. The Music Video makes use of the ballad 'Ó Gente da Minha Terra' sung by Mariza, but again I fail to see any compatibility between music and imagery. It's used again in the Trailer (2:43), which has dual Chinese and English subtitles. There are also a 15-second and a 30-second TV Spot, a Photo Gallery of twenty gorgeous stills, ten images of Poster & Promotion Materials, which plainly imitate the poster campaign for In The Mood For Love. The bilingual English and Chinese Cast & Filmmaker Profiles includes a synopsis that explains much of what the film fails to convey about Shing's status (I hadn't realized he was suspended for example). There is also information about Macau, statements from the director and producer, cast and crew details and information about the Portuguese fado music used in the film. The text information in this section is all very useful.

Overall
It's possible that viewers more favorably inclined towards Luc Besson's Léon: The Professional than myself might find something more appealing in the storyline of Isabella, particularly as it is attractively photographed in a Wong Kar Wai/Christopher Doyle style to evoke a particular mood. Personally, I found it all too predictable and too long, the cinematography and score inappropriate for the subject matter, failing to let me really engage with the characters. Mega Star's 2-disc edition is however a good way to view the film with an impressive transfer. Without English subtitles however, the abundance of extra features are of limited value.

by Noel Megahey - DVD Times

Over the course of five films, director Pang Ho Cheung has quietly carved out a niche for himself as one of Hong Kong's brightest and most distinctive directors. While his earlier works are known more for their sly sense of humor, with Isabella he proves he is just as able to build his films around serious character work. Helping greatly to that end are his two lead actors. Long time collaborator (To also produced the film) and acclaimed character actor Chapman To steps into his first leading role here as Shing and plays the part with subtlety and grace. Shing is a character that could easily be despised but To finds his human heart, gradually revealing a broken man coming to realize that his life has been dominated by one very bad decision made in his youth. As for model-turned-pop-starlet Isabella Leong, she turns in a remarkable performance, one that should guarantee that she never has to appear in mindless teen flicks like The Eye 10 ever again unless she is possessed by some strange burning desire to do so. Though Derek Tsang is entirely too bland as Yan's would-be boyfriend, the rest of the supporting cast is excellent. Anthony Wong puts in a stellar, hilarious turn as Shing's food-obsessed, constantly talking friend and fellow dirty cop. Wong's screen time is minimal but he makes the most of it, creating one of the more memorable characters of his career.

While 1999 seems a little too recent to term the setting nostalgic, there is no denying that Pang's film is filled with the same sense of memory and longing that marks Wong Kar Wai's Shanghai or Hou Hsiao Hsien's Taiwan. Cinematographer Charlie Lam shoots gorgeous film, filling the streets of Macau with a warm amber glow and composing his shots to perfection. Lam, like Pang, is still young and building a name for himself, but he shows every sign that he could develop into a very significant player.

The just released DVD features an excellent anamorphic transfer and very good subtitling. Somewhat disappointing is the fact that while the two-disc set is loaded with features, the only ones to include an English option are the written cast and staff profiles. They are, however, well worth reading and loaded with information that help contextualize the film - particularly if you need a quick primer on Macau's history.

Whatever the reason may be, Pang has yet to really travel outside Hong Kong, but the signs are there that this may be about to change, with this quiet little gem picking up a Silver Bear at this year's Berlin Film Festival. But whether the masses discover Pang or not, there is no reason for you to miss out. Seek this one out.

by Todd Brown - Twitchfilm.net