Boarding Gate | 
| Director: Olivier Assayas
Actors: Asia Argento, Michael Madsen, Alex Descas, Kelly Lin, Kim Gordon
Studio: Magnolia
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy Used: $0.92
You Save: $14.06 (94%)
New (29) Used (40) Collectible (1) from $0.92
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 14754
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 10135
UPC: 876964001359
EAN: 0876964001359
ASIN: B001662FK0
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: June 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
BOARDING GATE (DVD MOVIE)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Asia Argento + Oliver Assayas = not for everyone January 24, 2009
Christina Ovalle
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
for me this boils down to a simple equation: asia argento + oliver assayas (writer-director) = awesome.
but it also, as i stated in the subject line: asia argento + oliver assays = not for everyone.
that said, despite my four star rating and personal affection for this film it is NOT for everyone. assayas is the key point in this equation, he makes films of a particular ilk. he has evolved a lot throughout his career, and i personally find his films hit or miss. i would not reccommend an oliver assays film to the majority of the people i know, because frankly, i think most people would find them sluggishly paced, pointless, meandering, and "boring." i personally do not feel this way about assayas's films, but a lot of online reviews seem to follow this train of thought.
argento has evolved a lot throughout her career as well. if you've seen her earlier work, she used to be...a particularly bad actress. but she's really come into her own. her acting is underrated imo, and unique. her filmmaking while flawed, is particularly ambitious and one-of-a-kind (i'm speaking more of "the heart is deceitful above all things" rather than the rather ho-hum "scarlett diva.") i think if you really want to see her ACT, "the Last Mistress" (which is also a more accessible, traditional French period film) is essential viewing. this performance is good, but not her best.
argento is sexy, i won't lie. assayas is considered one of france's leading filmmakers, he lately has been doing international co-productions often largely in english.
but while argento and assayas are a match made in heaven imo, i would warn people who are simply expecting a sexy argento film, or even those expecting a tradtional inernational fillm, this is not it.
i don't know if i'm allowed to say this, but i would suggest (if you haven't already) renting before just immediately buying. that may go without saying, but i know many people who buy movies before seeing them, so that's why i mention this (i'm not trying to be cheeky or anything.)
one final note...i did not see this in theatres, so i have no reference point. but my suspicion is that the image (less so than audio) is not the greatest transfer in the world. it could be an intentional "look" assayas was striving for, but having only seen the dvd (and owning it), i have to say the picture quality leaves a lot to be desired. (and that it is being viewed both with and without an upscaler, no less.)
 Prostitute, assassin, drug dealer or what? November 3, 2008
Reader (Chicago, IL USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I will admit that the reason I wanted ot see this film is not so much because Asia Argento is in it bt because Michael Madsen is in it. His portrayals of bad guys has always fascinated me and I was curious to find out what he has for the audience to show this time around. As it turns out, we see more of Asia Argento who struts around in her underwear baring some impressive tatoos. To some she may seem sexy, to me she looks wasted, tired and trashy. Her character Sandra and Madsen's character Myles know each other from her not so distant past. She is a prostitute providing kinky sex to her high end clientele. Myles hires her to provide services for his business clients and she accepts it in hopes Myles will pay her $1M so she can open a club in Beijing and start a new life. But of course, Myles never pays out and Sandra tries her luck in selling drugs. When that business goes wrong too, she resigns to becoming assasin in hopes to get a payout that will allow her start anew. In any case, plot becomes confusing, Sandra seems to be ready to sleep with any man that comes along in hopes to get that final payout. One cannot but think that her character should just stick to what she does best - "be a prostitute because that is the only thing you are good at, honey". I have totally missed this movie and the mening of it, until I realized perhaps this is just a film about globalization - French call girl, providing services in England who hopes to start her own busienss in China. Now we are talking a plot. Employ this woman's best asset - her body - and we have a real business woman boarding gate at any international airport. How original.
improves as it goes along October 18, 2008
Roland E. Zwick (Valencia, Ca USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Boarding Gate" is an initially verbose French crime drama that, for the first half at least, threatens to talk itself and us to a standstill. Luckily, at about the midway point, the pacing picks up considerably and it turns into a stylish, gripping thriller.
The film chronicles the stormy relationship between an unscrupulous businessman and the ex-mistress he routinely pimps out to his clients. However, it's only after she's lured into committing murder and forced to go on the lam to Hong Kong that the movie becomes an intriguing, multi-layered look at infidelity and betrayal.
Italian actress Asia Argento, who's a dead-ringer for Uma Thurman, commands the screen with her pouting eroticism and natural charisma, and she gets strong support from Michael Madsen and Carl Ng as the two main men in her life, as well as from Kelly Lin as a romantic rival who reluctantly helps Argento out in the end. The direction by Olivier Assayas - in the second half at least - is crisp, focused and exciting, and the visuals alone are enough to compensate for some of the gaping holes in the storyline.
One caveat, however: while technically a French movie, most of the dialogue is actually in English. However, there are times when the movie unaccountably lapses into un-subtitled French and Chinese, leaving the audience in the dark as to a few, possibly crucial, details in the story, proving yet again that a picture is not necessarily always worth a thousand words.
BOADING GATE September 6, 2008
Khaldoun Al Asfar (UAE, DUBAI)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I only purchased this movie because Isia Argento looked sexy in it, it is not a bad movie if you are bored you can watch it and waste some time on it.
A swirling mass of confusion saved only by Asia Argento September 2, 2008
z hayes (plano,texas)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
My husband and I only watched this because of the provocative DVD cover and lived to regret it. Sure, Asia Argento looks sexy on the cover, giving the impression that this is some sort of sexy thriller. It really is neither - the sexy bits are all kind of fuzzy, and some of the sexy scenes end up being more brutal than sexy, and as for the thriller part, the meandering script adds more to one's confusion than answer questions.
The basic plot - Argento plays Sandra, an ex-hooker who has a sordid history with financier, Miles [Michael Madsen] who is based in Paris. Sandra needs money to buy herself a new life running a club partnership in Beijing, and this causes her to re-enter Miles' life as well as an Asian couple, Lester and Sue [Carl Ng and Kelly Lin]. A tryst gone wrong ends with an unexpected murder and Sandra finds herself on the run - taking off to Hong Kong where even more plot intrigues abound and the movie itself becomes a derailed mess.
There is even an appearance by Kim Gordon [of Sonic Youth] here - quite memorable if only because she is spewing Cantonese. At various points in the movie, we not only get an earful of English [and badly spoken English at times ], but also French and Cantonese.
As for eroticism, yes, there is a bit of that in the sex scenes between Sandra and Miles/ Sandra and Lester - but the chemistry really isn't very credible. What is credible though is Asia Argento's performance - she portrays a troubled woman convincingly, one who is able to exude a sense of the erotic whilst appearing demented. She really should be in better movies [not B-graders like this].
Final verdict: watchable for Argento's performance.
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