Jackie Made ANOTHER movie!

It seems Jackie contributed to this in March according the dates on articles. How did we miss this?

Jackie on set (SOURCE: XINHUANET.COM)

大魔術師
The Great Magician (2011)

Country: Hong Kong

Director: Derek Yee Tung-Sing

Action Director: Jackie Chan

Cast:

Tony Leung Chiu-Wai
Zhou Xun
Lau Ching-Wan
Ambrose Hsu Shiu-Yang
Jackie Chan
Yan Ni
Alex Fong Chung-Sun
Sawada Kenya
Wu Gang


Production Company: Emperor Motion Pictures

SOURCE: HKMDB

US release of Shinjuku Incident

Take a look at these posters for the US release of Shinjuku Incident:

"Courtesy of Barking Cow Distribution. All rights reserved."

Now did they watch the same movie I watched? HOW did they make this movie about a 'battle for Tokyo's underground'? Why change the entire focus of the movie in this way? Who has these 'bright' ideas? Are 'violent' movies about 'gangsters' the only 'acceptable' films? Because these posters seem to be emphasizing a violence that isn't really present in the film. Yes it has violence but not in the way it is being presented in these posters. I can't help feeling there is such a huge amount of - if not exactly prejudice - but certainly preconceptions in making this movie about "they destroyed his life - now he will destroy their's". It's like the worst kind of prejudice - this is the ONLY image of Tokyo/Triads/Yakuza that is acceptable to American audiences. What worries me the most is if they are right.

This movie is NOT about Jackie's character going out on some war against the Yakuza or trying to take control of the Tokyo underground nor can any such interpretation be forced onto the film.

It is about a man who is caught between a rock and hard place in his attempts to survive in an alien and hostile environment. It is about hard moral choices and how trying to do what you need to do in order to survive is not always RIGHT. There is a clear moral message in this film that doing 'whatever it takes' is not right when it involves doing something illegal. That whatever the intentions (Jackie's character is motivated by the highest intentions for his friends and for himself) doing the wrong thing doesn't make it right just because the intentions were good.

It is a story about love, about loyalty and to whom do you owe loyalty? What happens when loyalties conflict? It is a film about survival, about morality, about right and wrong. It is a film about choices and the consequences of choices - right and wrong.

There is a sub-text about prejudice as both sides (Chinese and Japanese) display a lack of understanding and prejudice against each other.

Ultimately it is a movie that shows the grass is not always greener on the other side. A message that both Jackie and Derek Yee have expressed many times in interviews about the movie when it released in Asia.

There is a link to download the English Trailer HERE (20.3 MB swf format) or HERE (8.3 MB mpeg-4 format) Just right click on the links and 'save as' "Courtesy of Barking Cow Distribution. All rights reserved."

However - it still remains true that if we want more of Jackie's Asian films to be given a general release it is important to support them when they are. Go see it. No matter what they have cut out or changed in the dubbing - it's a great movie!


Post Script:

I think this summary illustrates my point in the comment below extremely well:

Nick, an honest and hardworking tractor repairman from northern China, takes the perilous journey to Tokyo after losing contact with his girlfriend, Xiu Xiu, who months earlier had left China for Japan with hopes of a better life. Trying to exist in the underbelly of Tokyo long enough to find Xiu Xiu, Nick searches for a decent living and unwittingly finds himself pitted against the Japanese yakuza. Ironically, he also discovers that Xiu Xiu has adopted a Japanese identity and has married Eguchi, an ambitious up-and-coming yakuza chief. Nick feels responsible for this turn of events and feels obligated to bring Eguchi down. He must do what is right, even though he knows that he will also be destroying whatever happiness Xiu Xiu has been able to find in this new city. It’s not a question of right or wrong with shades of gray; the question is black and white. Can one simple Chinese migrant take on the yakuza alone? (Barking Cow Distribution)

METACRITIC.COM

I know it sounds like I am being very critical - but the problem is that in attempting to make the movie more palatable for Western audiences and therefore more marketable which should translate into more money - what they are actually doing is going to result in the opposite. Which is bad for every one! What I am saying is market the movie AS IT IS! Don't change it. Then the audience who can appreciate it will go see it. The whole perception of how awful dubbed and cut movies are will change and the whole situation becomes win - win as more people will go see these movies, more money will be made by all and we will see more movies being given a general release. Do it RIGHT and we all win! Do it wrong and no one wins.

As an extremely good example of how a good movie can end up really bad when this happens to it is 'The Medallion'. From interviews I have read/watched with various people involved in the making of 'The Medallion' the original story was very different from what ended up on-screen BUT the American producers felt that American audiences wouldn't understand/appreciate that movie so 2 months after filming was completed the film was re-edited and few extra scenes filmed to 'fit' the new story and you have a good movie gone bad in one easy step! There are so many story elements in 'The Medallion' that just don't make any sense whatsoever, not to mention what appear to be continuity bloopers but in fact are consistent with the original film but the preceding scene was cut.

'The Medallion' is an extreme example of this but .... my message is ... DON'T DO IT! LEAVE the movie as is! Dub the movie as it was originally written. Don't cut it to try fit a new sensibility. Don't try to change the meaning, message or story to fit a new audience. It just makes a mess regardless of how it is done. And in the end it doesn't produce the desired result.

US Poster for Shinjuku Incident

The movie is being released in selected theaters in the USA this weekend. If you haven't seen it or even if you have - go support it. It is a good movie and well worth seeing on the big screen. Not to mention that the more it makes the more chance there is of other movies being released in the US.

Shinjuku Incident US Release

Jackie Chan in Shinjuku Incident - US Release/Website

Expo Organisers ban Pajamas

On "are not allowed to wear pajamas to the streets during the World Expo" of the. Yang Xiong said, "wearing pajamas to the streets" is Shanghai in the late eighties and early nineties cultural phenomenon that reflected the Shanghai people live in apartments as small, no place to change clothes, we can only take to the streets wearing pajamas . When the Shanghai rich, people have found to wear pajamas to bed, which demonstrates the fact that they are raising the quality of life, therefore, "wearing pajamas to the streets" has become a kind of showing off.

However, this cultural habits, and not on international etiquette, he believed that people would gradually change habits.

Source: UDN.COM or TRANSLATED

LOL I have to laugh ... of all the things to worry about during the expo a cultural eccentricity such this would be low on my list of priorities. So long as a person is respectable who would know? Actually this might explain why Jackie found nothing odd in having a business meeting in his pajamas way back while filming 'The Forbidden Kingdom'. Read about it and see the photos of Jackie meeting with Derek Yee in his PJ's HERE

In other news Jackie and Yao Ming attended the 100 days countdown for the Shanghai World Expo yesterday.

"If Yao Ming of the Shanghai World Expo will bring a high level, then I bring the temperature!" Jackie Chan's humorous comparison of some 21 daily for the Shanghai World Expo Countdown 100 Day celebrations, "heat."

January 21 is the 100-day countdown to World Expo in Shanghai. In the afternoon, the image of the Expo, Ambassador Yao Ming, Jackie Chan appeared Shanghai Grand Stage, and the scene nearly ten thousand names of all our citizens to meet with representatives of the World Expo Hundred Days sprint.

When the host announced that "has requested the Yao", all the eyes of the audience toward the stage entrance of Qi Shuashua places. Accompanied by cheers and applause, a black suit of Yao Ming with a smile slowly walked between two hosts, two hosts look up at the same time, the 2.26 meter tall sideways "little giant", a huge gap height so that the audience burst out out bursts of laughter.

"In another 100 days, the Shanghai World Expo will be held, and I am very excited, very proud. I hope everyone else to show to the world our most authentic city, the best life." Yao Ming to express their own wishes.

"I hope you join me in chanting the slogan of our 100-day sprint!" Yao had hardly faded audience shouted in unison: "Sprint 100, we are in action!"

Despite the cold snap to Shanghai the day suffered a sudden temperature drop, but Jackie Chan brings "temperature" so that the fast heating up the scene, the audience enthusiastic.

"Today the weather is really cold, but I saw everyone I smiled, feeling very warm." Chan said, "Let us cheer enthusiastically for the Expo!"

When the host asked the tone with a dig at what brought Jackie Chan, Jackie Chan smiled Answer: "If Yao Ming of the Shanghai World Expo will bring a high level, then I bring the temperature!" Live a laugh.

Subsequently, Chan presented a building specifically for the Shanghai World Expo to commemorate the song "City." "Mind is a city of the stars, city is the soul chest ... ..." People are looking forward to singing in the "City, Better Life" as the theme of Shanghai World Expo will be coming.

Jackie Chan, Yao Ming and Lang Lang is the image of Shanghai World Expo will be ambassadors. Jackie Chan and Yao Ming recently participated in California's traditional New Year's Day Tournament of Roses Parade activities as reported in U.S. media competing objects. Perform in front of the float pulley of the World Expo mascot "Little Sea treasure" who boarded the "Los Angeles Times" headlines.

Source: XINHUANET.COM or TRANSLATED

Shinjuku Incident secures US distribution

Jackie Chan's 'Incident' heads for U.S.
Film to open on 20 screens in 10 U.S. markets

By CLIFFORD COONAN


BEIJING -- Jackie Chan crimer "Shinjuku Incident" has secured theatrical distribution in the U.S. and will open Feb. 5, followed by a Sony Home Entertainment DVD release on May 25.

Pic's producers have partnered with Barking Cow Distribution to release the film in Chinese with English subtitles on 20 screens in 10 U.S. markets with large Chinese communities.

The DVD will offer a choice of either Chinese- or English-language and subtitles.

Pic, which was exec produced by Chan and helmed by Derek Yee, sees Chan playing an illegal Chinese immigrant trying to survive on the gangster-run streets of Shinjuku Tokyo in the 1990s. Pic also features Daniel Wu, Xu Jinglei and Fan Bingbing.

Pic fell foul of the censors in mainland China for its violence and depiction of malcontent mainlanders fleeing to Japan.

Source: VARIETY.COM

Shinjuku Incident Review

Although the link to this review is in the Google feed I thought I would bring it to your attention because it is really a very good review of the movies and touches on many of the same area's I thought Shinjuku was weak and the areas in which I also thought it was strong.

DVD Times

Shinjuku Incident - my thoughts

What a fascinating film. Too much to absorb in one viewing really so I will be watching it again a few times I am sure. I haven't watched any of Derek Yee's other movies. I must confess that overly realistic gangster films are not my cup of tea. And while there is certainly some very gritty realism in this movie with certain scenes they are however not only essential to the plot (I can see why they had trouble trying to edit the violence down for the Chinese market) but essential to the character and nature of the environment and characters.

While it is clear that this is not your usual light 'Jackie Chan' movie, I don't see that he is playing that far out of character. Steelhead is not a bad man. He is a man who does bad things because of circumstances. It is not even that he believes the end justifies the means. He is simply a man motivated by love, honour and a sense of brotherhood who will literally do anything for the people he loves and cares about - even kill. He comes to Japan to find the girl he loves. He tries to help Daniel Wu's character Jie out of love and brotherhood. He grows to love the other people who are in the same boat (pardon the pun) as he is and is motivated to help them - again out of a sense of brotherhood. This is so clearly brought home when he has won the territory for them, his sense of brotherhood with the other Chinese immigrants makes him put Jie in charge of collecting funds to help them. He tries to stop the illegal activities. He says that they must all work together to help each other. These are all the principles of love, honour and brotherhood that are inherent to his character. His ambition is simple - all he wants is to help his friends.

But what truly makes this movie interesting are all the different stories being told. The attitudes that are on display, the interactions between characters, between cultures, between moral codes. Steelhead is the pivotal character around whom all the action occurs. He is the catalyst, the connecting force, the driving force that carries the movie forward and it is so good to see Jackie in leading role of this kind. While he is the lead character in most of his movies he tends when scripting himself to - hmm - how can I put it because I haven't thought of it in quite this way before I saw this movie. Jackie's characters tend to have somewhat of a self-effacing quality. Although he is the lead, his characters tend to be reactive, and not the driving force. In other words he is central to the story but it is the decisions and actions of the other characters that drive the story forward and he just reacts to those. In this film Steelhead's decisions drive the story forward. He is not just reacting to circumstance but making circumstances happen. His decision to help Eguchi, for example, is one of those decisions that have far reaching consequences for everyone. Likewise his decision to help the policeman is also a factor that drives certain consequences as well.

Although over the years I have read a fair number of novels about Japan, Japanese fiction, and about Japanese culture I cannot in anyway regard myself as an expert and I think that in order to understand some of the subtext between the Japanese Yakuza as to their motivations and actions one would need to understand a bit more about that particular aspect of Japanese culture. 

However one doesn't need to understand the culture to understand the race issues that are expressed in various ways throughout the film as well as the shifting dynamics of power. 

In a way Steelhead is an innocent. He doesn't fully realise the complexities of the sub-culture in which he finds himself and he abandons his Chinese brothers to navigate some very deep waters that he took them into - believing in his innocence that he has done what he needs to do to help them. The end consequences of the film are inevitable given the circumstances. 

Jackie has expressed a great deal of concern that fans will accept him in this kind of role. I want to say - Jackie! Please! MORE of this level of complexity of character and subtlety of acting. I don't want to say necessarily this type of film unless we understand by 'this type' movies that have good scripts, good character development, good directing, good cinematography, good acting, good .... everything.

I know that Jackie commented during the promotions for Shinjuku that is was hard for him to take the step back and "just" be an actor in this, but I think that if Jackie can find more directors whom he can trust to direct him well, and in finding roles that require more from him as an actor, he can then concentrate all his considerable ability on acting - we will certainly see some great movies in the future. If this movie is a foretaste of what Jackie can do - then I for one am very eager to see what else he can achieve.

Now I have to mention my 'wish list' I wish the Jackie/Zhang Yimou collaberation would happen. If there is one director whom I think could get an Oscar winning performance from Jackie it would have to be Zhang Yimou. While his recent movies have been incredible I think the very best movie of his that I have seen is a movie called Shanghai Triad. There are scenes in that movie that are unrivalled for poignant subtle emotion where every aspect of the onscreen image from sound, to colour, to light, to dialogue (or lack thereof), to the positioning of the characters, to the environment that tell a story. I long to see Jackie in a movie like that, no matter what the story is. 

In my opinion Shinjuku was another step in the right direction for Jackie. I thoroughly enjoyed watched this movie, and while some of the scenes may be a bit much for some viewers they were not gratuitous. In actual fact the amount of blood that should have been present was underplayed considerably which also helps to lessen the impact some what. I have no hesitation in recommending this film with only one proviso - adult viewers only. This is not a children's film - simply because of the issues it deals with it is very much an adult movie.