Recent Jackie Chan converts could easily be under the impression that
he is the last word in Hong Kong cinema. SBS rarely showed any HK
movies up until the recent fad, and they seem reluctant to show
anything other than Chan films. Most video shops are much the same (if
you know any with a good collection, let me know). With his recent
filmmaking in Melbourne, the press is full of Chan.
However, there are other film makers in HK, and other actors, and the
most stellar of these is Chow Yun-Fat (as in the phrases "Chow Yun-Fat
is God" and "CYF, coolest actor on earth"). A few years ago the best
action films in the world starred CYF and were directed by John Woo.
John Woo (Hard Target, Broken Arrow) has since gone to Hollywood, but
has not yet shown the form that allowed him to dominate the HK market.
CYF has not made an American Film (though alt.asian-movies is full of
talk of "Replacement Killer" with co-star Mia Soreno (sp?)).
But if you've enjoyed other HK movies, and you live in Melbourne, this
week affords you the opportunity to see a film made when both men were
really on top. Not either's best movie, but well worth watching.
"A Better Tomorrow" is a fabulous action movie. This film spawned two
sequels (not unusual for HK) and a fashion of wearing heavy overcoats
(very unusual for HK). In the same way that Kurosawa took an American
form (the western) and did it better (7 Samurai etc), Woo takes the
action/police/criminal genre and blows it out of the water.
Be aware that logic, continuity and English subtitles are not the most
important things in HK films. Bullet wounds improve if one of your
comrades receives a worse one, dead characters are replaced by their
identical twins in sequels. Favourite subtitles (from a variety of
films) include "I had to gamble for my limps", "Bump him to death",
"Down to the fire, you wicked man", "That was the year the Emperor was
deflated". But I find that these things are not important, and just
add to the fun.
