I Come With The Rain

I Come With The Rain (2009) dir. Tran Ahn Hung

Tran Ahn Hung is one filmmaker whom I wish to collect, DVDs I mean. But they are such a rarity that I've only spotted one copy, Tran's debutant, The Scent of Green Papaya and that itself costs $60 odd, the last time I checked with HMV. Funny thing is I bought this copy in a small and unpopulated town in Northern Malaysia. The most unlikely of all places.

You put Josh Hartnett, Lee Byung-hun, Takuya Kimura and Shawn Yue together in a film and you would expect yourself a flick that attracts hordes of screaming young teenage Asian girls. Or at least I would have made an idol drama and score at the box office and keep my pockets full of cash. But Tran had none of such ambitions and I Come With The Rain turns out to be one of the most mentally toughest cop film I've ever watched (the other one being Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz's 5 hours long masterpiece, Batang West Side).

Tran is probably more well-known with mainstream audience for his 2011 big screen adaptation of Murakami's Norwegian Wood. Previously with music fans; the combination of Tony Leung's soulful eyes, Vietnamese nightlights and Radiohead's Creep, make for a hair-raising experience.