Different light
Action superstar Jackie Chan broadens his horizons and shows audiences a new side to his acting prowess.
JACKIE CHAN will make you cry in this movie. Yep, there are no slapstick antics, no laugh out loud quips.
In fact, Chan has taken a huge leap of confidence in his latest venture, Shinjuku Incident. In this one film alone, the superstar – who has acted in over a 100 films in his long and illustrious career – boldly goes where he has never tread before. Chan tackles several issues he’d never considered touching in his 47 years of filmmaking. Renown for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing and his innovative use of improvised weapons, Chan readily admits that “this is a film of many firsts for me”.
It is the first time he plays a non-fighter. It is the first time he plays a villain who kills people. It is the first time he does a bedroom scene, and drops his towel! And without giving too many spoilers away, this is the first time viewers will be moved to tears by the time the credits roll. (Malaysian moviegoers might not get to see several of the action star’s “firsts” though, as some of the more violent and sexy scenes have been censored.)
Yet, with all his “firsts” aside, the biggest breakthrough for Chan was actually succeeding in stopping himself from interfering with other aspects of filmmaking, and sticking to acting.
“Before we began filming, I agreed with director (Derek) Yee that I would only play the role of an actor and nothing else. He said if I made changes to the script or altered any of action-director Chin Ka-Lok’s fight choreography, then we might as well not make this movie at all.”
Chan agreed. “But it was indeed very difficult for me. As I watched the proceedings and even the editing, many times I wanted to offer my opinion but I had to respect the wishes of the director.”
Chan was in town on Tuesday with his co-star Daniel Wu to meet fans and promote Shinjuku Incident, which they say will not be released in China due to the film’s violent content and the negative influence it might have on young minds.
Helmed by multiple award-winning Hong Kong filmmaker Derek Yee, the gangster thriller tells of the sad predicament of Chinese immigrants caught between the police and the yakuza as they try to eke out a living in Shinjuku, Japan.
“Though I can’t say the same for many other directors, I knew I could trust Derek Yee. He did his research for 10 years. In this film, we’re showing people what their countrymen have to contend with in other countries. Effectively, we’re telling people everywhere that there’s no place like home.”
While it may not be considered a martial arts flick, the film is nevertheless packed with action sequences and tremendous dramatic impact, courtesy of action director Chin, who also plays Hongkie, a key figure in the movie. The film also stars mainland Chinese beauties Fan Bingbing and Xu Jinglei – both who play Chan’s love interests in the film, as well as Japanese actors Masaya Kato, and Naoto Takenaka.
The story is set in the early 1990s. Chan portrays Chinese tractor repairman, Steelhead, and Wu plays his fellow villager Jie. His girlfriend Xiuxiu (Xu Jinglei) goes to Japan to study and when she does not return, he enters Japan illegally to search for her.
There he meets Jie and he ends up doing odd jobs to earn a living. Then he finds out that she has married yakuza head Eguchi (Masaya Kato) and changed her name to Yuko. Meanwhile, he saves Inspector Kitano (Naoto Takenaka) from drowning and nightclub mama-san Lily (Fan) during a robbery. And along the way, he somehow gets entangled in triad dealings while trying to help his friends.
“The character I play is 70% like the real Jackie. I take care of other people and go far away to work leaving my family at home. In fact, I take care of others more than I do my own son. He’s in his 20s now. He used to compose songs. Now, he wants to make films. He plans to go into directing. I said to him, ‘You can do anything you like. But, there are three things you can’t touch: drugs, triads and gambling.’ My father taught me that. I grew up with all these negative influences around me but I never touched them.”
Heaping praise on the Chinese actresses in Shinjuku Incident, he said: “I think people have a lot to learn from mainland Chinese actresses. Their professionalism is impressive. A lot of the film’s dialogue is in Japanese; and Bingbing would come on set and speak like a native Japanese. Though, she doesn’t understand a word, she’s learnt all her Japanese lines by heart. And she’s got all the proper expressions and inflections to go with it.”
Unlike most of his previous films which mainly revolved around action, Chan traded kicks and punches for drama and tears this time around. “I have always wanted to be known as an actor who can fight, not an action star who can act.”
“My chief purpose has always been to make different films and play varied characters for the benefit of my fans. If people can accept me in Shinjuku Incident, then it would have really broadened the range of roles I can look forward to playing in the future. In Hollywood, I won’t get offered such films, they only give such roles to actors like Robert De Niro.”
Referencing his popular American and Hong Kong movies, Chan voiced his boredom at being stereotyped. “Given an opportunity, I would rather not carry on making films like Rush Hour and Police Story.
“I want to explore new things and have an enjoyable time on the set,” said Chan, who turns 55 next Tuesday. “If I continue making those movies, it would be no fun for me any more. The cameras start rolling and I repeat the same lines: ‘Don’t move. Police from Hong Kong. Inspector Lee,’” Chan droned, eliciting peals of laughter from the media present.
Though he is keen to explore a wider scope, he is concerned that moviegoers would not be able to accept change.
“To date, some 85% of the response I’ve gotten is positive. In Japan, however, fans were crying in the streets because they didn’t like to see me get beaten up or in any tragic sort of conclusion. To placate them, I had to tell them I already had a comedy in the pipeline.”
Chan then shared that he’d been working on a screenplay for the past decade. The film is a combination of action and noir comedy called Da Bing Xiao Jiang (Big Soldier, Little General). And his co-star for the flick would be none other than Rochester-born Taiwanese singer-songwriter, Wang Lee Hom.
“I hope to release this film this year as well so audiences will get to see two movies from me, and one with the Jackie they’re familiar with.”
Apart from that audiences can expect two other movies, a remake of Karate Kid said to be renamed as Kungfu Kid and Chu Ba Wang.
Chan is also ready to groom his successors, and he has already signed on all the 16 contestants from the 2008 edition of Beijing reality show titled Long De Quan Ren (Decendants of the Dragon). “Next year we’ll start the show again, and I will open it to Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Japan and the rest of the world, not just China.”
Other than being a cultural icon and role model for youths through his films, Chan is a keen entrepreneur and active philanthropist. With his own line of clothing, fitness centres and eateries, Chan has pledged a portion of his profits to fund various charities apart from his own Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation.
Besides being being a spokesperson for the government of Hong Kong and goodwill ambassador for Unicef, Chan also champions various causes, among them disaster relief efforts, protection against animal abuse, and various educational institutions.
A Jackie Chan museum is also being built in Shanghai.
Catch Jackie Chan in Shinjuku Incident, distributed by Golden Screen Cinemas, and now showing at cinemas nationwide. The movie is rated 18PL.
Originally Posted by Kansuke
"Worse"?! Are blacks and Jews 'bad' in your estimation?
Reply With Quote
