I dont think Lam and VD are still friends after that last episode..VD had to get a new director and replaced Lam.
Ringo Lam had a disagreement with the Producer of the film, and he chose to leave. As far as I know he and Van Damme are still friends. He probably advised Van Damme not to leave the production because it might be a highly successful film.
My Review of In Hell-Major Spoilers
In Hell Review
Drama: This movie is not about the action scenes, but rather the drama that is about to unfolds before us, as we enter the world of the inmates. The main dramatic theme looks at a drastic change, as a person evolves in to a beast. Jean Claude Van Damme is seen as a family man with morals in the beginning of the movie, but as he enters the world of the inmates he slowly becomes a beast. He was unique at first because he did not want to be a part of the crowd, or should I say pack of animals. But as the story progressed and time has began to slow down inside the prison his mind slowly became overshadowed by hate, and this motivated him to fight and even kill. He become similar to the killer that took the life of his wife in the beginning of the story. An animal. A beast.
The Cell: This represents “reformation”, but in reality it’s created by the authorities to break down a person. When a person spirit is broken down, he has no reason to continue to live. In most cases this results in the person to take his own life, or to become a perfect role model for other prisoners who obeys all orders and rules. Jean Claude Van Damme is seen entering the cell a number of times, since he has trouble following orders. As he spends more time in the cell he is slowly stopping putting up efforts to fights, and the conditions and the environments are slowly breaking him down. And as this process is taking place, he attempts to commit suicide. Once the process begins, it very hard to stop it and very few people are strong enough to return to their normal state. Jean Claude Van Damme is motivated by his wife who is seen taking the form of a butterfly. She teaches him how precious ones life is, and that because it starts and ends so fast he should live and enjoy it to its full potential. The scene that illustrates Jean Claude Van Damme will to live again, is when his character is seen climbing the wall to reach a window that looks outside in to the front yard. Before these events he wanted to be shut away from the world or rather reality. While he was physically present at the prison, his mind was traveling in other dimensions experiencing fantasies rather than living the reality. But as he was motivated he was reborn in a way, and this forced him to look beyond himself.
The Mentally Retarded Prisoner: The first time Van Damme’s character is seen entering the cell, he begins to get frustrated with a neighbor prisoner crying in anguish. At first he hits the wall to force the other prisoner to stop, but the other prisoner returns the gesture by also hitting the wall. This continues for a long period of time, and soon this develops in to a bound between these two prisoners. The wall itself represents a form of communication that these two isolated people can use to share their emotions with one another. As Van Damme undergoes a change, so does his relationship with the other prisoner. At first he was motivated to strike the wall out of ignorance and hate, but then as he began to understand what the other prisoner is undergoing he began to strike the wall out of compassion.
Prisoner 551: His character is there to teach and to guide Van Damme, as he undergoes various changes while being in the prison. He undergoes three transformations, while serving his life sentence. The family man with morals and values, who is grieving over the death of his wife. In this form he isolates himself, and his inner self avoids everyone and everything inside the prison. The beast is the second stage in which his character evolves in to something that he himself despises. In this stage he is motivated to become a part of something, in this case a part of the crowd(or prison). The final and most significant stage is when his character becomes a human being. Not to say that he wasn’t a human being in the beginning, but rather he was missing some of the human qualities. In this stage he learned more about himself in a time period of a few months than in his whole lifetime. In each stage his character that not poses total control over himself nor his actions, and therefore prisoner 551 is there as a role model to guide Van Damme’s character to inner discovery.
Billy: Friendship is vital for survival. Jean Claude Van Damme becomes a father figure to the young man. He is his protector, advisor, and friend. They both were in need of one another in order to survive. And both took a bit of one another pain, which helped them to forget some of the painful memories, which were haunting them before. Billy’s story is rather simple in nature, he met a young girl who influenced him with her beauty and when her vehicle collided with the nigh club he was imprisoned. This is another trademark of Ringo Lam that takes on a different form. He has a passion for vehicles, and while the story only showed a limited number, Ringo Lam found another way to demonstrate his love for the subject. Through storytelling. The most dramatic moment involving Billy is the rape scenes, which show him as a vulnerable child being forced to do something against his will. With each new intercourse he is loosing the will that motivates him to live. So he decided to take his life in an unsuccessful with a toothbrush(A tribute to Prison On Fire 2 where Chow Yun Fat used a toothbrush to stab an inmate in the eye). Billy’s character was never truly explored and we as audience never found out about his private life. And therefore when he was shot during the escape scene, we could only allow a certain range of emotions to the expressed.
The Groups: The two groups can be categorized by skinheads and Mexicans. Through out the film both groups despise one another, but one moment brings them closer than they were before. Or should I say one person. Van Damme motivated the prisoners to rebel against the system. The General of the prison is similar to A Big Brother who keeps everyone under control in the structure it has power over. He made the two groups to come together and stand up for their rights. The two groups refused to fight sending a message to others to follow in their footsteps. If there are no volunteers the General and his friends cannot have their usual entertainment. For the first time in history of that prison, a system of order was challenged and quite successfully.
The Fights: The fight sequences where beyond peoples wildest expectations. They were not stylized, which is a term, which can be defined as “lots of style but no substance” or “style over substance”. They were beautifully and exceptionally choreographed, but more importantly they were realistic. A graceful moment of such combination can be seen during Van Damme’s battle with the leader of the skinheads. Van Damme is not strong enough to defeat the villain(He might be physically strong enough but in his mind there is a sense of unrest. This unrest could be seen as a form of terror which has formed because of a previous encounter with the villain), so made a puncture in the artery of the villains neck with his teeth. It’s a very realistic scene, and a great dramatic moment, which motivates the audience to ask one important question. Has Van Damme finally crossed over the imaginary barrier and became the beast he once despised. A realistic film with realistic and believable fight scenes is a solid combination. Ringo Lam can be often misunderstood, because his films do not rotate around the action scenes. The action scenes are realistic and short, and while they are great by the end of the film you only have vivid(brief) memories of them. After you finished watching the film you remember the tender romantic moments(Wild Search), the friendship(City on Fire and Prison on Fire), the great performances(Chow Yun Fat in Prison on Fire), the scenery(The Suspect and Victim)..etc You begin to care for the film rather than the action, which motivated you in the beginning to view the film.
Conclusion: Its seems that each new collaboration between Ringo Lam and Van Damme is better than the previous. Ringo Lam had high expectations and while Van Damme tried to ignore them at first he soon was taught a valuable lesson during the production of Maximum Risk. He motivated himself to meet these expectations five years later with Replicant, and judging from the interviews Ringo Lam was quite satisfied. This film is very special because it sort of officially made Van Damme an actor. He has proven me that he was a capable actor with Legionnaire, but many people didn’t get a chance to view that forgotten gem. It’s a shame that The Monk is no longer in Production. Ringo Lam cancelled the project because he thought it resembled Rush Hour 2. And after a disagreement with a producer Ringo Lam is no longer attached to Wake of Death. This might be their last collaboration together, but it was indeed a memorable one.
