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Once
Upon a Time in China
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NEW YORK, 24 July 2001 -
Whether as the trade partner that haunts its dreams (a billion
customers, ready to spend), or the stand-in foe in its resurgent Cold
War nightmares (sending home a U.S. spy plane in pieces on old Soviet
transports), ascendant China wields increasing clout over the American
imagination. But, even setting geopolitics aside, China has for some
years exerted a powerful influence upon American popular culture,
through its influence on Hollywood. The recent U.S. re-release of Hong
Kong action cinema milestone Once Upon a Time in China, does
more than just bring a kung fu classic to a wider American audience;
it exposes the Chinese sources that are reinventing Hollywood action
cinema.
When 1999's The Matrix hit American
theaters, audiences were enthralled by the movie's kinetic fight
scenes, choreographed displays of speed, technical brilliance, and
fantasy which made the traditional Hollywood fistfight look leaden.
The film's "novel" take on action made it a box office
smash, changed Hollywood's approach to the fight scene, and opened the
door for other Asian martial arts movies, most notably 2000's Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But the team
responsible for The Matrix, Larry and Andy Wachowski, are
ardent fans of Hong Kong action cinema, and specifically of action
star Jet Li.
A major star in Asia since his first movie,
Shaolin Temple, launched his career in 1982, and recently featured in
Hollywood's Kiss of the Dragon, Li first reached superstar
status with his 1991 box office smash Once Upon a Time in China
(sometimes called Wong Fei-Hong). The film was also a
milestone for director Tsui Hark, often called Hong Kong's Stephen
Spielberg. Seeing this film again reminds us that the scenes that made
us gasp in The Matrix and Crouching
Tiger are mere offshoots of Hong Kong's long-standing action
tradition.
Once Upon a Time in China is the story of
Wong Fei-Hong (Li), a Chinese folk hero of the later Qing Dynasty (the
1800's). Wong, who has appeared in many novels and films, is usually
portrayed as a martial artist, doctor, and patriot who lived in a
China devastated by the Opium Wars, threatened by European and
American imperialism, and on the verge of the Boxer Rebellion. (Jackie
Chan fans will remember a more comic take on Wong in 1978's brilliant
Drunken Master, directed by Yuen Woo-Ping, the fight
choreographer for The Matrix.) In Once Upon a Time in
China, we see a wise and sombre Wong Fei-Hong defending the common
people from European and American imperialists, corrupt Chinese
government officials selling the country out to Westerners, and new
Chinese crime syndicates taking advantage of a country in turmoil. In
the process, he must learn to accept the irreversible influence of
Western cultures and technologies on his world: Western guns, for
instance, are making the martial arts obsolete.
Written for
Chinese audiences well familiar with Wong Fei-Hong and his tumultuous
times, the movie's plot is more of a slice-of-history presentation
than a linear storyline. A Western audience, lacking this background,
may have trouble following the events. Mainstream American audiences
may also resent the depiction of whites as ruthless conquerors, and of
Americans in particular as little better than slave traders, trying to
sucker disadvantaged Chinese into servitude in the mines and on the
railways of the American West. Those with a greater awareness of
Chinese history will find it interesting to see these viewpoints in
the context of a popular movie-both in light of the murmurs about
Chinese reunification that were circulating when the film was made,
and as prologue to recent friction between China and the West.
Hong
Kong action flicks draw on a pool of talent that has long years of
experience training in Asian martial arts and wushu, as well as some
of the most technically demanding stunt work attempted in recent
cinema. And Once Upon a Time in China drew on that talent more
deeply than most films. Director Tsui Hark is to kung fu what
East-West crossover John Woo is to gunplay; and Jet Li, a Chinese
national wushu champion who toured the US as far back as 1974, brings
his trademark grace and technical precision to the fight scenes, which
seamlessly combine brilliantly executed techniques with fantastic
wirework. (Li is also an able actor, whose sympathetic screen
presence, used to some effect in this film, allows audiences to
connect with his characters.)
The film showcases, for good
and for ill, another important difference between Hong Kong and
Hollywood: leaner productions. Car crashes, explosions, and other
blockbuster bloat that puffs up Hollywood action movies demands
funding not available to even the most established of Hong Kong
filmmakers. The martial-arts tradition that now re-invigorates
Hollywood action movies was, ironically, created to bring audiences
equivalent thrills within much smaller budgets; and Once Upon a
Time in China is certainly one of the success stories of that
tradition. Unfortunately, other aspects of the production betray the
budget constraints the Tsui Hark faced: picture quality suffered even
in the original release, the music is awful, and this latest release
features embarrassingly cheesy "Saturday Afternoon Kung Fu
Theater" dubbing.
Whatever its imperfections, the
action sequences and the movie's take on history make the re-release
worth a viewing on the big screen for both newcomers to Hong Kong
martial arts movies and old fans who are jumping at the chance to see
this classic on a big screen. The mezmerizing action and Jet Li's
performance make Once Upon a Time in China a landmark martial
arts film and a must-see event.
Three stars.
Related:
The Official Jet Li Website
Simma
Park is a writer and designer living in New York. She writes regularly
on film for Culturekiosque. |
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Cinema Reviews
