Far North (2007)

[Drunk Monk]

I’m on a Michelle Yeoh binge for a piece I’m doing for Den.

Here Michelle is an outcast herder in the icy tundra, living as a hermitess. She’s with an adopted girl and discovers Sean Bean on the brink of freezing to death. 

This is a brutal film. It opens with her killing one of her dogs for meat. On a side note, Yuki watched some of this because there were a lot of noisy dogs. He wasn’t aware of the dog death scene but I mention it because I know it’s a deal breaker. There’s a lot of kill gutting - the dog is off screen tho.

Not sure where this was filmed but it’s stunningly panoramic. Chillingly stark arctic vistas, reindeer, ice fields, barren cold hell. Not a lot of dialog. Lots of howling wind.

It’s grim and visceral, a slow freeze, hypothermic, yet beautiful. Then it takes a horrifically dark turn.

A tour de force for Michelle - very different than anything else she’s done.

Not D00M recommended unless you’re a major Yeoh fan.

[Greg]

Everything Everywhere all at once?

[Drunk Monk]

Yup, Den has tasked me to do a 'best of Yeoh' piece to run in conjunction with that release. I had pitched it for Shang-Chi, but they went with Tony Leung and we put Michelle on the back burner. 

This movie was kinda disturbing. I'm glad to have seen in being a stalwart Michelle fanboy ever since Yes, Madam, but I'll never watch it again. It's messed up.

[Greg]

You've already seen it? You are the coolest. I hope to catch it in the theater.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I think he means "Far North", not the new one

[Drunk Monk]

You are the coolest. 

Holding on to that even though the Yeti is correct. I've not seen a screener for EEAAO yet. Hoping for an invite. But I hoped for an invite to The Batman and that didn't happen.

[Greg]

Dammit, Lucy.

[Drunk Monk]