Hong Kong Moviemakers Break Out Of Bruce Lee Mold

Fri., March 14, 1997

By Dan Webster danw@spokesman.com

For years, the only name that gave the Hong King film industry any credibility at all was Bruce Lee’s.

And even his films, particularly early ones such as “The Big Boss” (1971), were mostly rough-edged collections of badly dubbed action scenes that have helped the careers of more than one American stand-up comic.

So who would have thought that the newest school of Hong Kong filmmakers would now be mentioned in New Wave terms - that is, in the same groundbreaking way as those French types (Godard, Truffaut, Chabrol, etc.) who helped redefine cinema in the decade following World War II?

But it has happened. Filmmakers such as John Woo (“The Killer,” “Hard-Boiled”), Tsui Hark (“Peking Opera Blues”) and most especially Wong Kar-Wai (“Ashes of Time”) are making some of the most vital, watchable films on the world scene.

One American filmmaker who is well-versed in the Hong Kong movie scene is Quentin Tarantino. As part of his Rolling Thunder distribution deal with Miramax Films, the “Pulp Fiction” director has championed several exploitation-type movies (including the ‘70s-era sexploitation gang-girl film “Switchblade Sisters,” starring Spokane’s Joanne Nail).

The first Rolling Thunder Release was Wong Kar-Wai’s “Chungking Express,” a combination - if you can believe this - neo-noir/light romance that he, according to Tarantino, dashed off during the lengthy editing process for his epic “Ashes of Time.”

“Chungking Express,” an intriguing blend of two types of love stories, starts off like a John Woo action film and ends up like any ordinary romance that might easily find its way on a film festival lineup. A meld of styles, it features two stories involving Hong Kong cops and the women who love and, all too often, end up leaving them.

In a pre- and post-video talk, Tarantino explains how “Chungking Express” was made and why he likes it. His appearance is almost as entertaining as the film itself.

*** Rated R

Jude

**-1/2

As opposed to, say, Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy’s novels concern themselves with particularly dark situations. This Michael Winterbottom film, which is based on Hardy’s 1895 novel “Jude the Obscure,” is unrelenting in its depiction of class and gender bias, especially in showing how the title character, Jude Frawley (Christopher Eccleston), struggles to overcome his working-class background and become a scholar. But the struggle to merely live - a battle that involves simple emotional needs vs. larger issues of cultural and spiritual mores - can beat the best of us. And that sense of downer, aside from several stirring performances (by Eccleston, Kate Winslet, Rachel Griffiths and Liam Cunningham) is mostly what Winterbottom leaves us with. Rated R

Foxfire

**-1/2

When a tough new girl named “Legs” (Angelina Jolie) shows up at school, a group of inhibited girls elect her as their unofficial leader. And what results is an object lesson in budding feminism. Filmed in Portland, this adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ ‘50s-era novel has been updated to the ‘90s. And its message of teen-fem bonding has been emphasized, although not always to the film’s overall benefit. Still, there are moments to savor here, even if the filmmakers (director Annette Haywood-Carter, screenwriter Elizabeth White) tend to overstress moments of emotional angst. Rated R

Horseman on the Roof

There are several subplots at work in this visually affecting Jean-Paul Rappeneau film, not the least of which is the cholera plague that swept through much of northern Italy and southern France in 1832. The central plot involves a young nobleman (Olivier Martinez) who is part of a revolutionary movement fighting against the Austrian influence in his homeland. Exiled in France, he is pursued by secret police through a countryside decimated by the epidemic. In the madness, he meets a beautiful woman (Juliette Binoche) and becomes her protector - neglecting his obligation to carry money home to Italy. In the end, it is an absurd tale, one that heads in every direction with much melodramatic flair. Rated R

Glimmer Man

Even by Steven Seagal standards, which aren’t the highest, this formulaic police procedural/ mismatched cop partner movie misses on most cylinders. A beefy-looking Seagal (isn’t he a little young to be doing the Marlon Brando weight-gain routine?) is the title character, a guy so adept at killing that his victims catch only a glimmer of him before they’re dead. Now a cop for the LAPD, Seagal joins Keenen Ivory Wayans in searching for a serial killer who boasts a religious theme. Their investigation, which ends up involving Russian mobsters, gives Seagal plenty of opportunity to do his martial arts routines. But this is not the sleek fighting machine of “Hard to Kill” and “Above the Law.” Many of the fight scenes are filmed so up close that Seagal’s physical presence truly is little more than a glimmer. Too bad they couldn’t have done something about his acting, too. Rated R

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEW TO VIEW Now available: “Glimmer Man” (Warner), “Maximum Risk” (Columbia TriStar), “Space Jam” (Warner), “Jude” (Ploygram), “Foxfire” (Columbia TriStar), “Horseman on the Roof” (Buena Vista), “Sweet Nothing” (Warner). Available Tuesday: “American Buffalo” (Evergreen), “The Long Kiss Goodnight” (New Line), “The First Wives’ Club” (Paramount), “Scorpion Spring” (New Line), “Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves” (Buena Vista).

This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEW TO VIEW Now available: “Glimmer Man” (Warner), “Maximum Risk” (Columbia TriStar), “Space Jam” (Warner), “Jude” (Ploygram), “Foxfire” (Columbia TriStar), “Horseman on the Roof” (Buena Vista), “Sweet Nothing” (Warner). Available Tuesday: “American Buffalo” (Evergreen), “The Long Kiss Goodnight” (New Line), “The First Wives’ Club” (Paramount), “Scorpion Spring” (New Line), “Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves” (Buena Vista).