Dang kou (2008)

Dang kou: Directed by Nelson Lik-wai Yu. With Anthony Chau-Sang Wong, Joe Odagiri, Domingos Antonio, Alessandro Azevedo. Yuda, a feared Chinese outlaw, and his adopted son Kirin, an impulsive young dreamer, together rule the pirated goods racket in an ultra-liberal Brazilian metropolis. The magnate and his heir control all of Liberdade, from rival gangs to street hawkers, corrupt politicians to erotic dancers. But an empire that takes years to build can also crumble to the ground with one fatal mistake. A conspiracy between politicians and the mafia begins to threaten Yuda’s power. Little by little, he loses control of his business and is ultimately arrested. Kirin struggles to re-conquer his father’s honor, fighting this city’s wars singlehandedly. But Yuda, tired of the bloodshed and feeling the weight of his years, abandons his son, falsifies his own death and returns to the jungle in a last attempt to put an end to his criminal life. Escaping from a complex maze of violence, Kirin sets out to find his father. In the mysterious jungle, father and son both have to wipe the slate of their past clean. Only in the end will Kirin discover the ultimate answer to the search for his own destiny.

“In 1984, in Oiapoque in the north border of Brazil, the Chinese Choi Chi Leung a.k.a. Yuda (Anthony Wong Chau-Sang) rescues the orphan boy Kirin from the jungle. In 2008, in Liberdade, São Paulo, Yuda is a powerful smuggler that supplies with Kirin (Jô Odagiri) pirated goods to the street vendors. The corrupt politician Daniel Carvalho and the Chief of Police Coelho (Antônio Petrin) invite Yuda to have lunch with them and they tell Yuda that they will make a raid on two or three trucks and shopping centers of his own to satisfy the media in times of globalization. Further, they arrest Yuda and his henchman Inácio goes with Yuda to protect him. Sooner, Yuda and Kirin learn that their empire is in danger, threatened by the mobster Mr.Taiwan and his gang that wants to take their business. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Dangkouu0026quot; a.k.a. u0026quot;Plastic City – Cidade de Plásticou0026quot; is a film with a stylish cinematography but a pointless and messy story. The director Nelson Yu Lik-wai has a plot with great potential, but unfortunately he goes nowhere and waste what could have been a great movie. The film show the problem of piracy on the streets of São Paulo; corrupt politicians and policemen; violence on the streets; fight of gangs; but in a shallow way, without any depth. There are characters that are simply forgotten, like Kirinu0026#39;s girlfriend, the sexy stripper of the night-club. There are also ellipsis and lack of continuity in many sequences. My vote is four.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTitle (Brazil): u0026quot;Plastic City – Cidade de Plásticou0026quot;”