#hong Kong action cinema

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Chinese vampires are known as Jiangshi and they’ve been a massive part of martial arts cinema for decades now. Here’s a fight scene from one of the rarer Jiangshi films, Son of the Vampire (1986)

There are some amazing bumps and wire-assisted stunts in this one.

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Anita Mui

Michelle Yeoh

Maggie Cheung Man Yuk

1993’s “The Extecutioners”

Produced & Directed by Johnnie To & Tony Ching Siu Chung

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A Fantasia Festival 2023 PREVIEW

Most years I don’t particularly look forward to my birthday—yes, I’m one of THOSE people—but you can bet that every single summer I look forward to the Fantasia International Film Festival; one of the greatest film festivals on Planet Earth. Fantasia cobbles together a wide variety of genre films from all corners of the world and every corner of genre, spanning proud B-films of any genre to…

[jimmylee300]

Hong Kong Action cinema (Blog 5)

For my last blog post about Hong Kong action cinema, I will be discussing the critical reception for some of John Woo’s films. First, I’d like to discuss the relationships and masculinity present in John Woo’s films, as it is very present in a lot of his films.

Jillian Sandell in Reinventing Masculinity states how “Woo is famous for his vision of intense male friendships-depicted through his trademark blend of breaktakingly choreographed action sequences” (Jillian Sandell, 23). These male relationships are a common thing to happen in Woo’s action films, and it goes hand in hand with loyalty.

His movies have “tragic and sentimental plots about the place of loyalty and honor in a corrupt and violent world” (Sandell, 23) and a perfect example can be seen in Hard Boiled with the relationship between Tequila and Alan. A big reception of John Woo’s movies is a positive one, but it is out of the ordinary compared to Hollywood. Sandell states how Woo’s films model a certain type of masculinity “that combines an understated emotional intensity with the physical strength and expertise of a deadly killer” (Sandell, 23) which differs from Hollywood which “celebrate(s) the male body in a very literal way (with the protagonist exposing his muscular, and frequently wounded, torso)" (Sandell, 23).

Another recurring theme in Woo’s films, that he gets praised for, is the use of Wuxia cinema. The idea of Wuxia cinema is creating concrete heroes who “have a spiritual function as well as a martial arts function” (Qiao Li and Lei Deng, 65). We see in John Woo’s films the presence of martial arts, and John Woo does not put martial arts in there for no reason. It represents the spirit of xiayi. Wuxia cinema started in the 1950s in Hong Kong cinema, and John Woo ran with it. John Woo uses a lot of wuxia in his films, specifically in Hard Target when Chance helps Natasha figure out her father was killed. He then risks his life for her trying to get revenge for her father’s death.

In Chinese culture “Xia is always ready to help others (even strangers) for a just cause” (Li and Deng, 65) which we see in Hard Target. “It represents a symbol or a code for certain aspects of the Chinese traditional culture… when Woo moved to Hollywood, he did not abandon this core cultural element” (Li and Deng, 65). This is what separates Woo from the others and the public is able to recognize this and praise it. He never abandons where he came from in his films and he defines a warrior and fighter as someone else, someone who has a different type of fight than the ones in Hollywood films.

The critical reception for Hard Target was very solid. It was Woo's first film that wasn't made in Hong Kong, and this is because he was doing so well he went to Hollywood. Duane Byrge, from the Hollywood Reporter, labels it “a blazing blend of Woo’s hard-boiled visual histrionics… smartly torched by Woo’s technical expertise” (Duane Byrge). Woo displays his unique directing style for Hard Target. Woo’s use of quick-cutting angles mixed with slow motion with tight fight scenes is remarkable, with a touch of suspense and revenge to top it off.

It is a great movie about getting revenge on an organization hired by wealthy people to kill. Like I mentioned above, Chance is the one trying to get revenge and it’s that Chinese touch, with wuxia being in play. Woo’s use of action sequences incorporated into the theme of revenge and justice is the perfect blend, which is why he is so great.

While Hard Target showcases all of Woo’s skills piled into one film, Hard Boiled keeps away the revenge theme, with Tequila avenging his cop partner, and gives us even more gun-fu. With some of Woo’s greatest action sequences, and one of the greatest long takes of all time (the elevator in the hospital scene) this movie is great work.

It also has the relationship between men, that masculinity I mentioned earlier. Woo’s camera work is remarkable, with so much action, gunfire, and we stay at the hospital for basically half an hour of movie time. That’s a LOT of movie time for one singular place.

Barbara Scharres, from the Criterion Collection, acknowledges how Hard Boiled is “filled with images of departure and closure, of impending death, fear of the unknown, and regret for what is not to be” (Barbara Scharres). This is what makes the film so great, because Tequila is out for revenge and both him and Alan are out for justice. But with that comes the fear of the unknown, because they both might die doing this which also pairs with impending death. Woo keeps with the themes of sticking with your brothers, Wuxia, fighting for what is right for a cause. He is avenging the death of his partner who was a cop, but also fighting for what is right in taking down Wong and his clan.

Overall, John Woo is a skilled director who choreographs phenomenal fight scenes and influenced Hollywood. While keeping Hong Kong action cinema alive and bringing international attention to the movement, he stuck to his roots of wuxia, while implementing a lot of other recurring themes throughout his movies. Woo mastered the art of gun-fu, and directing gun-fu, and the critical reception overall for his movies is very positive. I did not see any hate or negativity towards him or the Hong Kong action movement. John Woo will forever go down as one of the most innovative and true filmmakers of the world He is still making films to this day too, he is truly dedicated to the craft.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1213555?seq=1

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In The Line of Duty 4: Film Review

In The Line of Duty 4: Film Review

I’m not a fan of Auteur Theory. Movies, television, and video games have so many people involved in the process of creating them that putting all the weight of a work’s success on a single person weakens the contributions of everyone else in the project. That said, a good director can make a world of difference on a film, not because of their sole artistic vision, but because of the other…

[boardsdonthitback]

Jackie Chan, Hiroyuki Sanada - Rush Hour 3 (2007)

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Beautiful Moon Lee  😍🔥

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Cynthia Rothrock fight scene in Magic Crystal (1986)

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The Heroic Trio (1993)

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警察故事 (Police Story), 1985.

Dir. Jackie Chan & Chi-Hwa Chen | Writ. Jackie Chan & Edward Tang | DOP Cheung Yiu Cho

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Lobby card set for Yes, Madam! (1985)

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Donnie Yen & Michelle Yeoh Throughout the Years..🥋😍

The two co-stars shooting behind the scenes of “Wing Chun” (1994) [top]

At a movie premiere in 2023 [bottom]

[theersatzcowboy]

Green Snake / 青蛇 (1993)

Director: Tsui Hark

Cinematographer: Chiu-Lam Ko

Production Design: Bill Lui

Costume Designer: Bo-Ling Ng

Starring: Maggie Cheung, Joey Wong, Vincent Zhao, Nagma, Sridevi, and Wu Hsing-kuo.

[jimmylee300]

Hong Kong Action Cinema (Blog 4)

For Blog 4, I’m looking at how John Woo’s Manhunt from 2017, stacks up against his classic films from the 1980s and 1990s, specifically Hard Boiled from 1992.

To start, there is one big similarity. The one main similarity is that Manhunt it is still an action film. It still has plenty of gunfire and weapons and fight scenes. This is what John Woo specializes in, just gun-fu as most would call it. His films from the 80s and 90s, and Manhunt both have enough action to satisfy. Another similarity is the fact the action scenes still exist and he uses the same techniques, fast cutting angles and slow-motion along with gun-fu and close quarter fights. We even get a jet-ski chase which is incredibly awesome!

For the differences, there is a few. For one, Manhunt focuses more on the story and plot than the action. We follow Du Qiu throughout the film, who was framed for a murder he did not commit.

Now he is on the run while trying to prove his innocence. This movie has more emphasis on the story than the action, which was not necessarily the case with John Woo’s films in the 80s and 90s. It takes the action from his earlier films and turns it into suspense rather. His earlier films, specifically Hard Boiled are very straightforward and fast-paced but John Woo takes a slower approach with his 2017 release. Another difference is the fact Manhunt is based on a Japanese Novel, “Kiminona”, so it makes sense why it isn’t like his other films, and focuses more on the story than the beauty of gun-fu.

John Woo in an interview, states “the biggest difference for me now is that the action should be realistic… Silent Nights’s action looks more realistic and more powerful, and it gives the audience more of a feeling instead of just being entertained” (John Woo, The Hollywood Reporter). What he says can fit into Manhunt too. It makes you feel something and makes you feel emotion and connection to someone, rather than just watching straight action for the whole two hours. Although John Woo’s style has changed over the years a decent bit, he stays true to his roots. In an interview with he was asked if he prefers CGI in this time of moviemaking. John Woo states “I still prefer physical stunts. Unless we can’t get the actors together on set, then we’ll have to shoot them separately with a green screen” (John Woo, The Film Stage). He loves to stick to his roots and that is why he is such a great director and filmmaker.

My personal take on the film is that it is refreshing. I love the constant action, but I also can enjoy a good story. We as an audience know Du Qiu is innocent, so the story makes us root for him, and it makes us sit on the edge of our seat hoping he gets his innocence heard. In Hard Boiled, you root for the cops to win but it wasn’t as thrilling because we could have predicted the outcome. His style has changed the least, and it is more the content of his films that have evolved, but John Woo still puts out great projects, nonetheless.

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In The Line Of Duty 3: Movie Review

In The Line Of Duty 3: Movie Review

The In The Line Of Duty series of films is kind of odd as far as film series go. It’s not like the Zombi or the Italian House series – where you had a bunch of directors taking a bunch of desperate films with common elements (zombies or horror films regarding a house respectively), and sticking the label of an existing series of films on them, making for a bunch of films based around a thematic…