Chow Yun Fat Movie Marathon



THE CHOW YUN-FAT MEGA MOVIE MARATHON



I had been planning a mega movie marathon for a few weeks, but hadn't decided which actor, series, or genre to watch...just kidding, of course it was going to be Hong Kong cinema! Jet li, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen, the Venom Mob, Gordan Lui, and a few others crossed my mind before I finally made a choice. Going to my DVD shelves, I selected a hand full of movies from one of Hong Kongs most loved actors. A man whose filmography spans drama, action, and comedy works and has received several Best Actor awards and nominations at the Hong Kong Film Awards (basically Asias Oscars).

Chow Yun Fat started his acting career in the mid 70's but was only rocketed to semi-stardom after his role in the 1981 film The Story of Woo Viet. As one of Hong Kongs first political dramas, Chow Yun Fat was able to show off his ability to convey emotion and captivate audiences. After the success of  The Story of Woo Viet, later dubbed The God of Killers in the US (hoping to capitalize on the success of the popular God of Gamblers series), Chow Yun Fats career took a four year slump. 

In 1984 the limelight hit him once again with his role as Fey in the wartime film Hong Kong 1941.Action Director John Woo picked up on Chows onscreen charisma and cast him to star in his 1986 flick A Better Tomorrow. The film was Chow's breakthrough movie, spawned an entire genre of copycat films, and made bankable stars out of both Chow and Woo.

While he had indeed made several successful films, Chow felt he had accomplished every thing he could in Hong Kong cinema. Being uncomfortable with his typecast characters of either cop or killer, He took a two-year break from filming to learn English. He then moved to America to try his hand in Hollywood as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and a select few others had done before him.
To say that Chows Hollywood career was a success would be an over exaggeration. His three American films were not very popular, and in 2000 Chow scurried back to Hong Kong to star in Ang Lees world wide hit Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. His part as Li Mu-Bi concreted him, in the minds of many, as the coolest man alive.

THE MARATHON

Friday:
After work I hustled home in order to get the party started. I selected several movies off of my shelf and used process of elimination to whittle the stack down to five flicks. I ended up with Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hard Boiled, The Killer, Curse of the Golden Flower, and Hong Kong 1941; all movies that I have seen multiple times but cannot get enough of. 

Hard Boiled-
First up was John Woos classic cop/killer movie. Chow Yun Fat is Tequila, a cop who "breaks all the rules". His counter part is a Triad assassin by the name of Tony (played by Leung Chiu-Wai). Later in the film we find out that Tony is actually an undercover cop who is fed up with his double life. Anthony Wong plays Johnny, an evil illegal weapons dealer who does evil things for the sake of being evil. Got it? 
After about 60 minutes of Cop/Triad set up, Tequila and Tony are brought together to bring down Johnny. What ensues is some of the most epic gun fighting scenes you will ever see. I mean, If i was half as good with one gun as Chow Yun Fat is with two guns, id be the male version of Anne Oakley. To qualify as a true John Woo film, several criteria must be met: Sappy music, over the top gun battles, tons of bro-mance, melodramatic scenes, and women being used for emotional manipulation. Sounds great right? Somehow this combo works in a big way in Hard Boiled and has placed it in the hearts of many fans as the greatest action flick in Hong Kongs brief history of movie making. Overall, the movie starts a little slow but does not disappoint at the end, plus Tequila rescues a really cute baby!!!

For dinner I made a pretty tasty Chinese Chicken dish. I served up these little honeys with some jasmine rice and then popped in the next movie. If you are interested in trying the recipe that I made, follow le' link---> Chinese Drumsticks

Curse of the Golden Flower-
The most beautiful melodrama you could ever hope to see! Zhang Yimou, the famed Chinese director, who in 2004 brought us House of Flying Daggers, returns with a flashy rewritten version of Cao Yu's play, Thunderstorm. Chow is Emperor Ping, a powerful mustached man who has built a successful empire through a series of deceptions, and he apparently aims to enjoy it. 

Things kick off with the revelation that the Emperor's second wife, Empress Phoenix (Gong Li), is being slowly killed by the "medicine" she is forced to take every hour by the Emperor. The Emperor's three boys are introduced in the following scenes: the eldest and Chows favorite son, the sniveling crown prince Xiang (Liu Ye),  followed by mama's boy Prince Jie (Jay Chou), and youngest son Cheng (Qin Junjie) who mopes around looking annoyed because everyone is too busy scheming and plotting to pay him any attention.

Grudges and betrayal are the name of the game in Curse of the Golden Flower. The Empress, Jie, Xiang, and even the baby faced Cheng all formulate treasonous plans with self-interest in mind. Even the Emperor has his own secrets involving his first wife. 

As far as a character analysis goes, Kozo of lovehkfilm was spot on when he said, "Chow Yun-Fat is powerfully smug as the Emperor, and uses his tremendous screen charisma to ooze smarm instead of the patented Chow Yun-Fat charm. Liu Ye perfectly embodies Xiang with a suitably over-the-top display of pathetic weakness." Jay Chou does a wonderful job in his acting debut, making the switch from Asian pop singer to big screen star with relative ease. Gong Li once again stuns the crowds; in my mind, she has really proven herself to fit into a wide array of character roles.

Curse of the Golden Flower is one of those rare films where no heroes exist. Every member of this disintegrating family contributes to the chaos and no one can be sided with. Overall this is a really fantastic film that I would highly recommend. 

After the last credits rolled on COTGF I hit the sack, for 8 A.M. would roll around quickly. 

Saturday:

The Police Story theme song sounded from my phone signifying that part two of the Chow Yun Fat party was beginning. I rolled out of bed and heated up some rice, before plopping down in my chair for the next film.

Hong Kong 1941-

Hands down my favorite Chow Yun Fat movie. In all honesty this movie is in my top 10 favorite Asian Cinema flicks. Set in wartime Hong Kong,A young Chow Yun-Fat is Fay, a loyal friend and heavily principled man who is not above using deception to act on his noble interests. The film opens with Fay trying stow himself away on an Australian bound ship. After having his plans foiled by a little girl and pausing for a few photos for the on-board Brits, he beautifully dives into the bay. Through a series of events, Fey befriends Keung (Alex Man) . In my humble opinion this is Alex Mans best film; he portrays the half-nutty local hero/tough guy, Keung, flawlessly. Fay tags along with Keung, despite Keung’s essential immaturity, and ignores the burgeoning romance between he and Keung’s fiance Nam (Cecilia Yip) whose father is played my none other than the legendary Shih Kien aka "Mr. Han". The motley crue decide to run away to Australia together and, by coincidence, schedule their getaway on the same day the Japanese attack. When the Japanese hit, Keung decides to stay and fight the invading army against the better judgment of Fay and Nam. Thanks to Keung, they all stay and things go from bad to worse. This is a fantastic film with a good story, believable characters, and a towering central performances from Chow Yun-Fat and Alex Man. Chow was rewarded with Taiwan’s Golden Horse award for Best Actor that year. Cecilia Yip is wonderful as the emotionally damaged Nam. Highly recommended for fans of Chow Yun-Fat. 

Enough of these emotionally draining wartime films; we need more gun fights! Enter our next film.

The Killer-

Long story short, Chow Yun-fat is Jeff, a professional killer with a heart of gold. On what was to be his final job, he accidentally injures a young nightclub singer named Jenny (Sally Yeh). 

"She risks becoming blind if she can't find the money to undergo surgery, and Jeff decides to take one last job to pay for the operation. However, things go wrong and he's spotted by a cop (Danny Lee). What follows is the building relationship between Jeff and the cop against the backdrop of a much bigger conflict between justice, crime and love. Like the heroes in many Yakuza films, the conflict between giri (sense of duty) and ninjo (instinct, inner feeling) brings suffering to the characters. It also brings them together, creating a bond between the two due to what they have in common." -lovehkfilm.com

This is not my favorite Chow film, but is a classic none-the-less. Personally, I feel like the story drags on for an hour before culminating in one of the strangest endings you will ever see... I mean seriously, how did that even happen? Haven't seen it yet? Give it a watch and you will understand what I'm talking about.

Moving on to our fifth and final film.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon-

Easily the most famous Asian film of our time; Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. After being nominated for ten Academy Awards and named "Best Picture of the Year" by over 100 critics nationwide, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon can be safely awarded the title of "film classic."

 CTHD is the story of two couples coming to grips with life in the martial world.Li Mu-Bai (Chow Yun Fat)and Yu Shu-Lien (Michelle Yeoh) are on the older side of the spectrum as two well versed  martial artists whose plans for retirement are interrupted by the theft of Li's prize possession: the Green Destiny sword. The other couple includes Jen Yu (Zhang Ziyi), a beautiful, well-to-do noble who is more than she seems, and Lo (Chang Chan) the desert dwelling bandit known to the countryside as Dark Cloud. While Mu-Bai and Shu-Lien have grown tired of the life of Jiang Hu, Jen desires it, setting herself up as a student Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-Pei), a vicious kung fu mistress and killer of Mu-Bai's Wudan master. The movies central theme is the question of whether the talented Jen will remain a puppet of the evil Jade Fox or become a faithful disciple of the stoic Li Mu-Bai. In the end, the impetuous Jen follows her own will…with tragic results.

Interestingly, this film would have turned out far different had filming gone according to plan. Jet Li was offered the part of Li Mu-Bai, but he declined after accepting the starring role in Romeo Must Die. Similarly, Shu Qi and Takeshi Kaneshiro were offered the parts eventually given to Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen. Reportedly, Shu Qi's manager Manfred Wong (of Young and Dangerous fame) turned down the role of Jen Yu because Shu Qi had to film a commercial in Japan.

That concludes this episode of Kung Food and a Movie!