MY TOP 5: BEST OF HONG KONG CINEMA

Hong Kong. I think it’s name means “Land Of Many Exploding Heads.”

Or maybe not. There’s no doubt, though, that the late 80s and early 90s were a golden age of one of the most vibrant and interesting film industries in the world.

For about 10 years, Hong Kong filmmakers could do no wrong. John Woo, Jackie Chan, Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark (actually a Vietnamese man who went to the University of Texas and then went to Hong Kong), Jet Li and many others all did amazing work in Hong Kong. In 1997 when the country went back under Chinese rule, many of them defected to the US and made…well…they made movies, certainly. Not very many of them were very good, though. Some of them have gone back to make some great films, but nothing will ever replace the days of yore.

Why am I suddenly writing about Hong Kong? Because on this day in 1945, Hong Kong was liberated from Japan by England. And that’s something to celebrate.

You’ll have to forgive me if this article is a bit longer than usual. I love Hong Kong films and I want to tell you all I can about these films and filmmakers. Some of them you probably know, but others deserve attention, too.

WATCH ALL THE HK FILMS YOU CAN!!

Many times, even the bad ones are a lot of fun.

THE KILLER (1989)
Written and directed by John Woo

The Killer is pretty much the apex of Hong Kong cinema. It’s not only bloody and violent, but it has an amazing (and amazingly dark) story and characters that you genuinely care about.

Ah Jong (Chow Yun-Fat) is a gangland assassin who accidentally blinds a young singer during his most recent job. He falls in love with her and agrees to do one last job to help her get her eyesight back. Not only is Inspector Li Ying (Danny Lee) out to stop him, but Ah Jong’s boss is double crossing him.

It’s obvious that Sam Peckinpah is a hero to John Woo what with all of the slow motion going on here, but even with the tropes that we’ve all seen hundreds of times (Woo still uses doves in just about every movie), The Killer is damn near a perfect film. The two adversaries form such a bond (even coming up with cute nicknames) that it’s hard to see them go after each other. John Woo’s best films are, at their core, all about brotherhood in less than obvious places. He really started it with A Better Tomorrow (also a great film from 1986), but this is where it works best.

Also check out Hard Boiled from 1992. It’s Woo’s last Hong Kong film before coming to the US and it’s nearly as good as The Killer. You would be forgiven for ignoring everything he’s done in the US (although, I do like Face/Off, unashamedly), but he’s back in form with Red Cliff.

Chow Yun-Fat, of course, is one of the most successful of the HK defectors. He’s made successful movies on both sides of the Bigger Pond. We all know about Crouching Tiger and Batman Begins, but we can’t forget about all of the other films that he and John Woo made together or Full Contact, City On Fire (the inspiration for Reservoir Dogs) or God Of Gamblers or the countless other classics. Besides Jackie Chan and Jet Li, Chow Yun-Fat is the biggest star of the HK crew. Check out one of his most recent, Let The Bullets Fly.

Danny Lee isn’t as iconic as Chow, but he’s been in more films. Check out The Untold Story and, of course, City On Fire.

HEROIC TRIO (1993)
Directed by Johnnie To
Written by Sandy Shaw

I can’t leave the ladies out. And what ladies they are. Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung and Anita Mui play super heroes…and NOTHING is better than that.

Actually, only two of them are heroes. Thief Catcher (Cheung) and Wonder Woman (Mui) are trying to figure out who is stealing babies from the people of Hong Kong. Invisible Woman (Yeoh) is actually helping someone collect the babies. Why? Who? Can she be turned away from the dark side?

All of these questions are answered with action a-plenty and some of director Johnnie To’s best set pieces. It’s well worth seeking out his and the actress’s other films. To specializes in weirdness and he rarely disappoints. Check out (if you can) A Hero Never Dies, Running Out Of Time and Fulltime Killer.

Michelle Yeoh, of course, became an international superstar after co-starring in Supercop with Jackie Chan (and the confusingly titled sequel, Police Story 4: Supercop 2) a year before becoming a part of the Trio, and she’s made a lot of American films of varying quality. (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is Chinese, but it was made after her defection. It’s awesome.) That’s cool and all, but check out Wing Chun for some real Yeoh action.

Maggie Cheung has been in movies we’ve all heard of (In The Mood For Love, 2046, Hero), but she’s equally well-known in Hong Kong as Jackie Chan’s girlfriend in the Police Story series, which includes the aforementioned Supercop. She’s also in a lot of Wong Kar Wai’s films. More on him later.

Anita Mui was, of course, also a favorite of Mr. Chan’s. She co-starred with him in Drunken Master II, Rumble In The Bronx and Miracles. She also co-starred with Jet Li in The Enforcer (aka, My Father Is A Hero). She was in plenty of movies, but she’s mostly known as being a sort of HK Madonna, releasing many albums and rising to the top of the HK charts many, many times. Sadly, Anita died of cervical cancer in 2003.

CHUNKING EXPRESS (1994)
Written and directed by Wong Kar-Wai

Of all of the amazing filmmakers on this list, Wong Kar-Wai is probably the most talented. Not known for action (although Ashes Of Time has its moments of action), Wong is all about the drama and the love, in all of its many forms.

Chungking Express is the story of two couples at the beginning of their possible relationships. He Zhiwu (Takeshi Kaneshiro) is a young cop who’s in the dumps. His girlfriend took off almost a month ago. He hasn’t been able to collar a guy in six months. His life is heading right down the tubes. But who is this blond girl (Brigitte Lin)? The one who is getting Indian guys to smuggle drugs? Could she be in his future?

And what about this other cop (Tony Leung Chiu Wai)? His girlfriend took off, too. Could the girl (Faye Wong) at the late-night food stand help him out of his funk?

Christopher Doyle’s amazing cinematography helps to bring these two alternately heartbreaking and fun stories of four young folk in Hong Kong meeting cute and finding their hearts all over again. It seems a little trite, but it’s one of the best movies that you’ve never seen.

Wong Kar-Wai has made bigger and more popular films, but this is still my favorite. Check out In The Mood For Love, and its semi-sequel 2046. Both star Tony Leung. Fallen Angels is also very good and is a semi-sequel to Chungking…kind of. It also stars Kaneshiro. For more of Kaneshiro, check out House Of Flying Daggers, The Warlords and, of course, Red Cliff. Tony Leung Chiu Wai is one of the most popular actors in Hong Kong.

Between the Infernal Affairs films, Hero, Red Cliff and most of Wong’s films, he also has a very successful singing career…as do most of Hong Kong’s stars. Brigitte Lin is also a huge star, although she basically retired after 1994’s Ashes Of Time (Wong’s most epic movie). You should also definitely check out Dragon Inn and Ronny Yu’s The Bride With White Hair.

DRUNKEN MASTER II (1994)
Directed by Liu Chia-Liang/Jackie Chan (uncredited)
Written by Edward Tang/Tong Man-Ming/Yuen Gai Chi

Jackie Chan was, at one time, the most popular man in the world. Even when no one in the US had heard of him but Tarantino, he surpassed Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Willis. Even Chuck Norris. His popularity has waned with age, but also probably because he’s come to embrace Chinese rule. It’s unfortunate, but it can’t keep me from enjoying the hell out of his old movies.

Drunken Master II (re-released in the US as The Legend Of Drunken Master) is his best film and, quite possibly, his last great film. The mix of comedy and action is vintage Chan with unforgettable set pieces that put him in severe danger on the set. It’s the sequel to, of course, Drunken Master, his best early film…although really only the main character is the same. Jackie plays real-life Chinese folk legend Wong Fei-Hung (played by Jet Li, Sammo Hung and MANY others in other movies) as he protects Chinese artifacts from American aggressors…especially from people under trains. That scene is amazing.

More on Wong Fei-Hung later.

The plot is thin, but it really doesn’t matter. All that matters is watching Jackie Chan do what he at one time did best: kick ass, make you laugh and take an awful beating.

Everybody knows about Mr. Chan’s films…or they should. The first Drunken Master movie from 1978 is a lot of fun in a much more primitive way than the sequel. Project A has some great stunts as does its sequel. The Armour Of God movies are a lot of fun and he still has a hole in his head from the first one! (These were confusingly released backwards in the US as Operation Condor and Operation Condor 2: Armour Of Gods. Look for the original versions, though.) Rumble In The Bronx is what finally broke him over here, but it’s not all that great. Watch the Police Story movies first. After Jackie came to the US, he made Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2…and a whole bunch of crap. The Medallion? The Tuxedo? Shanghai Noon?! (Shanghai Knights was actually pretty fun, against all odds.)

Jackie’s not nearly as popular as he once was, but that happens when action stars get older. He can’t do the stunts anymore, so he’s trying to act more and doing alright, but no one really cares.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA (1991)
Directed by Tsui Hark
Written by Tsui Hark/Leung Yiu-Ming/Elsa Tang/Yuen Gai-Chi

Jet Li, just like Jackie, is a modern Hong Kong legend. He’s typically more serious (and brutal) than Jackie, but there are times when he can cut loose a little. Once Upon A Time In China is one (or four) of those times.

Tsui Hark’s kung-fu classic is based around one of the most legendary figures in Chinese history, Wong Fei-Hung. He’s the Chinese Sherlock Holmes, but he kicks ass and he was real. Hundreds of movies have been made about this guy, but this is quite possibly the best. Wong (Li, of course) has to try to keep the West from invading his corner of the world. His Aunt Yee (Rosamund Kwan) has come back as a totally Westernized lady. Wong and his two friends, Leung Fu (Yuen Biao) and Buck Teeth Soh (Jacky Cheung) have to protect her from the white men who brought guns to take over the town.

Action packed and hilarious, this is an awesome movie. The sequels (all five of them!) have pretty diminishing returns, although the ones starring Jet are all worth checking out. Hark directed all but the last one (Once Upon A Time In China And America), which was directed by Sammo Hung. Jet came back for that one after sitting out 4 and 5.

As awesome as Jet Li is, his films are kind of hit or miss. Fist Of Legend is very good while The Legend and many of the other movies that he made with Corey Yuen are worth checking out. Most of his films since he came to America are kinda fun, but they’re not all that great…except for Kiss Of The Dragon and Unleashed, which were both written by Luc Besson and are pretty awesome. For more recent greatness from China, check out The Warlords and Hero.

Tsui Hark is a Vietnamese director who came to the University of Texas to learn film in the late 60s and then went to Hong Kong to make films. OUTIC is his most famous film as a director, but he was already producing tons of great films, like most of John Woo’s great films. Check out Time And Tide or either version of Zu Warriors for some other cool HK flicks from Hark. The less said about Knock Off or Double Team, the better. (Ok, they’re not awful…but Van Damme? And Dennis Rodman?!?!)

Yuen Biao was a classmate of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung at the China Drama Academy and has made about as many films as the two of them put together, very often with one of the two legends. Check out Meals On Wheels to see all three of them together. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen nearly enough of Yuen’s films.

There are so many great Hong Kong films that I probably could fill up a couple more of these lists and barely scratch the surface. We’ll just see about that.