Posts
oh my...it's been so long since i've written here! but i was VERY excited to learn that this month, they
are featuring ASIAN IMAGES IN FILM! for anyone who might get the channel TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES,
it features a few of the movies or actors that i had begun to explore in my blog. anna may wong, charlie chan in yellow face, mr. moto....it's SO COOL! (i've never seen these before)
MOST NOTABLY, i got to watch sessue hayakawa in THE DRAGON PAINTER, an early silent film.
how AMAZING to see some japanese actors (and i believe one of the 'yellow face' actors?)
(thanks, lili san!)
here is the link to that movie.
http://www.milestonefilms.com/movie.php/dragon/
sadly, last night also featured slanted screen and that film and the dragon painter are not scheduled to repeat.
JUNE 19 is james shigeta in BRIDGE TO THE SUN! omg. total tearjerker. highly recommend.
it also features that evening, SAYONARA. also THE WORLD OF SUSIE WONG.
here is the link to TCM:
http://www.tcm.com/2008/aif/index.jsp
June 3rd Program
The Slanted Screen
The Cheat
Broken Blossoms
The Dragon Painter
Mr. Wu
The Bitter Tea of General Yen
June 5th Program
Anna May Wong - Frosted Yellow Willows: Her Life, Times & Legend
The Toll of the Sea
Old San Franciso
Piccadilly
Daughter of the Dragon
Shanghai Express
June 10th Program
Charlie Chan at the Circus
Charlie Chan in Honolulu
The Scarlet Clue
Thank You, Mr. Moto
Daughter of Shanghai
June 12th Program
The Good Earth
Dragon Seed
China Sky
First Yank into Tokyo
June 17th Program
Go For Broke!
The Teahouse of the August Moon
Walk Like a Dragon
Bad Day at Black Rock
June 19th Program
Bridge to the Sun
China Doll
Sayonara
The World of Suzie Wong
June 24th Program
The Crimson Kimono
The Mountain Road
Flower Drum Song
Enter the Dragon
June 26th Program
Rush Hour 2
The Killing Fields
The Joy Luck Club
Mr. Baseball
i named this post SUKIYAKI...because it was another well known asian 'dish' ....comprised of a MIX of
ingredients. i actually thought this was a WESTERNIZED version of JAPANESE cuisine...but was surprised to
learn that sukiyaki goes WAY BACK in japanese culture.
then, while LOOKING UP THE MEANING...(means 'steamboat dish') i found this WILD piece of TRIVIA!
in the 1960's, the SONG, became a #1 billboard HIT in america! (sung in japanese language!)
but the ACTUAL title of the song was "UE O MUITE ARUKO". loosely translated, it meant "look up while walking..."
kyu sakamoto's original version of the song was released in the united states, with the title: SUKIYAKI.
here's the WILD part:
the actual title, and lyrics of the song, had no connection or relationship to the meaning of the word, sukiyaki.
the record producers chose THE TITLE, ONLY because it was a RECOGNIZABLE japanese word, familiar to English speakers, (most of whom could NOT understand the lyrics anyway!)
A NEWSWEEK COLUMNIST NOTED THAT RE-TITLING THE SONG SUKIYAKI, COULD BE LIKENED TO RELEASING THE SONG, "MOON RIVER" IN JAPAN, AND GIVING IT THE TITLE: "BEEF STEW".
(hysterical!)
sadly, kyu sakamoto had a tragic twist of fate, which would end his life (and many others) in 1985.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukiyaki_%28song%29 "Ue o muite arukō" again, thanks to you tube...
it's an odd video, but you can see kyu singing about 30+ seconds into it.
i had originally chosen to title part 2, SUKIYAKI as a light 'play on words'...chop suey (chinese) and sukiyaki (japanese) for FLAVOR. i had NO idea that the circumstances surrounding sukiyaki would actually MIRROR the MOVIE that i decided to highlight!
the MENTALITY of the rather flippant attitude of the record producers in 1960, and choices they made, to 'market' this song to american audiences, was the SAME lack of regard, that the director had when making the film that is the subject of this post.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA was embroiled in more CONTROVERSY AND NEGATIVE FEELINGS than any film that i can recall in recent memory...on several DIFFERENT fronts. (casting issues, cultural issues, costuming/style issues, and language issues) it SADLY stirred up the long history of rather venomous relations between the japanese and the chinese cultures.
there is an odd irony (IMO) to this.
i left my blog almost 2 months ago at CHOP SUEY, and THE FLOWER DRUM SONG...the 1960's film featuring a chinese american family, and ALL ASIAN cast, with most of the leads being portrayed by japanese actors.
there is one DISTINCTIVE point of difference here, tho....FDS was a CONTEMPORARY story, with CHINESE AMERICAN issues, and several JAPANESE/ASIAN AMERICAN actors.
the STORYLINE spoke to the UNIVERSAL themes of 'generation gaps, old country ways vs american ways, and integrating into a foreign land'. (becoming americanized...no matter the country of origin) the CULTURAL issues essentially focused on ASIAN vs. AMERICAN ways. OLD vs. YOUNG.
.
so fast forward 44 years later.....to 2005, and move from a CHINESE storyline to a JAPANESE storyline.
REVERSE the CASTING dynamics....and you have....MOAG.
it's not my intention to defend or negate the film. while i DO have my opinions about the movie....i think the MORE significant thing to point out is what a STARK difference there was between the issue of ASIANS IN HOLLYWOOD,
THEN, and NOW. while it often APPEARS that NO PROGESS has been made...i would say that this film reflected
the evolutions, and the inadequacies that remain, related to this subject.
in the 60's it was a JOYFUL, EXCITING thing for ASIAN ACTORS to have a HOLLYWOOD BIG BUDGET movie to participate in. this was before being "P.C.", and although there MAY have been racial issues it was BEFORE the imdb message board, internet, etc. so the CONTROVERSY (if it existed at the time) was not widely known. (*written before miyoshi umeki news article 9/6)
40+ years later, with the INTERNET, and a movie FORUM (imdb) to discuss ANY specific FILM.... you have a COMPLETELY different experience and public reaction. for a time, during the pre, subsequent, and post release
of the movie (MOAG) i would browse the MESSAGE BOARD, and it REALLY blew me away, and saddened me, to read the TERRIBLE animosity between many of the members.
while the biggest CONTROVERSY seemed to be the casting of chinese actresses as GEISHA, (a cherished iconic image of the japanese culture) it kicked up the long and painful history between the 2 countries.
FINALLY, there would be a BIG BUDGET MOVIE about JAPAN, (there had been movies prior about china) featuring a predominantly ALL ASIAN cast, BUT...the SUBJECT was GEISHA...a DISTINCTLY JAPANESE traditional part of their history, and rob marshall cared less about getting any of the details right. and the casting of chinese actresses was almost less significant (imo) than the other choices he made.
1. shot the film in ENGLISH with a cast, most of whom, (unlike flower drum song) were NOT fluent in the language.
2. took one of the most recognizable 'images' of japan....GEISHA, and used CONTEMPORARY hair-do's, costuming, and choreography.
3. a direct quote from one of his costumers was that he said "think geisha on a PARIS RUNWAY".
essentially, the director chose to approach this movie with a FORK AND KNIFE, and serve it to HOLLYWOOD, as a plate of BEEF STEW, with a few chunks of tofu and a splash of soy sauce! (i think i just gave you my point of view, heh heh)
rob marshall, when asked about his choices in the movie, ACTUALLY SAID that he had NO INTEREST OR INTENTION to be authentic! he wanted to 'give it an EXOTIC FLAVOR..have you enter a mysterious world, disorient (funny pun, eh?) the audience'.
at first, i thought that any film that allows asian actors to work, or that shows japan, no matter how skewed is a good thing. but there was something about it that felt 'off'...and did not resonate. (IMO)
critics HATED this film....and audiences stayed away as well. this is nothing against the actors, who certainly tried their best....but when the cook doesn't know what he's doing....the FLAVOR is going to be unappetizing.
i found this review on the movie that was interesting, in light of the subject i'm exploring of 'asians in hollywood'.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Craig Baldwin, Other Cinema
"Memoirs of a Geisha (Rob Marshall, USA). Chinese actresses play Japanese women – offensive to Japanese purists (an insult, really), offensive to Chinese nationalists, Most of it was shot in California, in Thousand Oaks (an affluent suburb with rich, model-minority Asians) and Golden Gate Park. Director Rob Marshall claims it's an INTERPRETATION of JAPAN,– a Japan where everyone speaks broken English or a strange species of Engrish.
But it's not about Japan at all; it's really about Asians in America (Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees). We don't wear signs anymore saying we're not Japanese. When we're good, we're docile; when we're better, we're superhot chicks.
And so the geisha suffers because of the war. I'm waiting for the Rob Reiner directed Rape of Nanking starring Julia Roberts as the last foot-bound survivor. It'll have a happy ending, and Americans will eat it up.
Lost in Translation made fun of the Japanese; Memoirs slaps all Asians in the face. Even the requisite leering white Americans are present. A gift-wrapped piece of shit for Xmas is exactly what we need – this movie is the truth, and many of us know it. It is Asian America."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i'll leave you with a video clip that CRACKED ME UP when i first saw it. with the review above, and the subject
i've been researching, i actually have a slightly different view now. still, it's MEANT to end this post on a 'light' note...
but i realize that the subject i'm looking at is FAR from 'light. the plot has thickened..... the 'flavor' has changed and MOAG left a bad taste for almost everyone. this clip is therefore, a PERFECT piece in this puzzle.
for MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA....i'd sum it up with a bit 'too much salt' (on the wound)
well, life truly IS filled with millions of miraculous 'coincidences'.
after taking a month long (okay, month and 1/2) break from my blog, i began writing again today, working to finish pt. 2
of ASIAN FLAVOR. i'm almost done with it, (i began it in early august!) but wanted to check a few 'references' when i happened upon THIS bit of news on imdb:
First Asian Oscar Winner Umeki Dead at 78
Miyoshi Umeki, who became the first Asian performer to win an Oscar -- as best supporting actress for 1957's Sayonara
-- died in Licking, MO on Aug. 28 of cancer at age 78, the Associated
Press reported Wednesday. She also courted controversy the following
year when the Japanese-born actress was cast as a Chinese girl in
Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical Flower Drum Song,
for which she was nominated for a Tony award for best actress. (She
reprised her role in the 1961 film version of the musical and received
a Golden Globe nomination.) On television she was best known for her
portrayal of the maid Mrs. Livingston on ABC's The Courtship of Eddie's Father, which ran for four seasons beginning in 1969.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the BOLD line i emphasized (courting controversy re: casting) is remarkable because of what i had JUST written in my pt 2 post. (PRIOR to reading this news).
considering the fact that FLOWER DRUM SONG is one of the movies i had JUST highlighted in my pt 1 post (chop suey) ...as well as a tiny bio about umeki san included in that post (there is also a clip of her singing her signature song from that film, "a hundred million miracles").....well, i was pretty floored.
anyway, just wanted to post this news, as a tribute to such a lovely japanese actress, certainly one of the best known in my early years. her performances always had the sweetest charm, and although she had retired MANY years ago, she will always remain an indelible presence, and an enduring memory for ASIANS in HOLLYWOOD.
sayonara, miyoshi san.
someone posted this lovely tribute to miyoshi umeki...just pictures, but beautiful background music.
okay, i finally decided which post i needed to do next, as i weave my way thru this labyrinth i've managed to enter.
altho it might not seem like it, my FOCUS (and there is one, believe it or not) is STILL on HIRO IN HOLLYWOOD, but i am really realizing the TREMENDOUS CHALLENGE that our hiro sama has taken on, and what a VERY UNIQUE road he is carving our for himself. for any of you still willing to JOURNEY this with me, i so hope it will EVENTUALLY be worth the wait. :)
but i don't think we can appreciate it fully, unless we understand the complexity of ASIANS in HOLLYWOOD. and THIS is really the fundamental issue, for our guy. THIS is THE hurdle.
there are also parallel issues. CHINA/JAPAN. LANGUAGE. STEREOTYPES. and finally ASIA/HOLLYWOOD.
so THIS post, sort of covers ALL of those above issues. and since my last post was about one of the first ASIAN STARS in HOLLYWOOD, being a CHINESE AMERICAN WOMAN....and CHOP SUEY is a distinctively CHINESE AMERICAN dish (meaning MIXED PIECES)...i figured this post was timely.
in 1961, FLOWER DRUM SONG was the FIRST (and i believe for a long time, the ONLY) ALL ASIAN cast assembled for a HOLLYWOOD movie. it was a HUGE 'breakthrough' and opportunity, and the actors involved all felt VERY HAPPY and FORTUNATE for this HIGH PROFILE vehicle.
the HALLMARK of this film was that the storyline featured a 'regular' FAMILY, dealing with 'regular' MULTI challenges.
OLD country ways/values vs. NEW countrys ways/values. GENERATIONAL issues. ("the OTHER generation")
they just HAPPENED to be ASIAN. (chinese). you could take this storyline and TWEAK it, to apply it to any ethnicity!
there is ANOTHER sort of REMARKABLE study in CONTRASTS from a CASTING point of view...which i will discuss later. but for now....enjoy this fun dance clip from the movie. (small trivia points: first guy dancing is jack soo, with juanita hall, the next 'featured' solo guy dancing is patrick adiarte, who also played the eldest son in KING AND I)
but the MOST REMARKABLE sort of irony, is that THIS movie...about a CHINESE family...had the distinction of
having 3 of the 4 lead roles...being played by JAPANESE actors! interestingly, ONLY ONE of the major/minor actors
would be 100% ethnic chinese (american born benson fong).
JAMES SHIGETA (japanese american actor/singer) played wang ta, eldest son, (chinese american) and star of the film, covered in an earlier post.
the other central character, was MIYOSHI UMEKI (born in japan, singer/actress) who played mei li, a chinese immigrant. a singer in her native japan, she was the FIRST asian actor to win an oscar, for her supporting role in SAYONARA, yet she is best known for her t.v. role as mrs. livingston in the COURTSHIP OF EDDIES FATHER. below is miyoshi singing a hundred million miracles. (father is played by kam tong, american born chinese actor)
the two other leads were JACK SOO (born GORO SUZUKI, japanese american actor/comedian) who played sammie fong, a chinese american nightclub owner. in REAL life, jack WAS a nightclub entertainer, DISCOVERED while performing at the FORBIDDEN CITY nightclub in s.f. chinatown, by one of the producers, who hired him for the BROADWAY production of flower drum song! (he played the 'nightclub emcee on broadway). gene kelly directed the broadway production in 1958. jack would later become best known and loved for his t.v. role in BARNEY MILLER, as detective nick yemana.
and finally, NANCY KWAN (born in hong kong to a chinese father and scottish mother) played the chinese american "hottie" linda low. trained as, and aspired to be a dancer, but 'discovered' by famed producer, RAY STARK. she shot to fame when she made her film debut opposite william holden in THE WORLD OF SUSIE WONG. a great bio chock full of pics can be found here: http://www.nancy-kwan.com/biography.html
rounding out the cast:
Benson Fong - Wang Chi-Yang (chinese american born actor, who later played in kung fu t.v series)
Juanita Hall - Madame "Auntie" Liang (role that was to go to anna may wong, and after her untimely death, went to juanita, african american light skinned actress)
Reiko Sato - Helen Chao (japanese american born actress/dancer)
Patrick Adiarte - wang san (filipino ? american born dancer/actor)
AT THE TIME, (i am no film historian, so i could be wrong on this point...) i don't think the casting was controversial at all! remember, at this stage of hollywood, 'YELLOWFACE' and 'STEROTYPES' had long been the 'norm'....so for "authentic" ASIAN ACTORS to be given this chance to star together in a HOLLYWOOD MAJOR MOTION PICTURE,
was TRULY EXCITING! (for the cast, especially).
it would take 32 years, with the JOY LUCK CLUB (1993), for HOLLYWOOD to again show another example of the CHINESE AMERICAN experience. (altho in 1987, THE LAST EMPEROR -<26 years after FDS>-would again assemble an all asian cast.) (more on those later)
now, we might all "look alike" to many westerners....but there is NO DOUBT that the EXPERIENCES, PORTRAYALS and STORIES/MOVIES are quite DIFFERENT when it comes to CHINESE and JAPANESE....even in...maybe ESPECIALLY in...HOLLYWOOD.
so, i leave you for a moment, looking back to 1961 and FDS...JAPANESE actors, playing CHINESE americans....
an ironic "twist" would take place, 40+ years later...
i'm sure you can guess what ASIAN FLAVOR part 2 is going to be about..... :)
....but i'll end this post on this LIGHT note, with some of the lyrics from one of the signature songs from FDS: CHOP SUEY:
Chop suey, chop suey!
Living here is very much like chop suey.
Hula hoops and nuclear war,
Doctor Salk and Zsa Zsa Gabor,
Bobby Darin, Sandra Dee, and Dewey,
Chop suey, --Chop suey!-
born in los angeles on jan 3, 1905...anna was born in the year of the dragon. (altho 1905 is a snake year, it did not change until feb 4, 1905....so it was still the year of the dragon at her birth). her parents were in the laundry business in china town. i had always heard the name, but never had ANY idea that she was the FIRST ASIAN AMERICAN actor in HOLLYWOOD! (gonna be searching netflix for her films!)
while sessue hayakawa was born in japan and struggled with the language issue, once the silent film era ended, anna may wong did not have THAT barrier to impede her career. she DID however, have to deal with anti miscegenation
laws that existed in california (until 1948!) which forbade mixed racial/ethnic relations! (altho i don't understand why sessue hayakawa WAS able to 'seduce' white women in his films....hmmmm...seems a wee bit sexist, eh?)
anyway, i am concurrently working on about 5 different new posts (which has been QUITE a feat for my rather scattered mind...) but i found this awesome clip about the infamous anna may wong, that i thought you might enjoy
until i am ready with the other ones.
besides, it's about time, for me to shine the light on a few WOMEN, ne?
the clip is from a t.v. show in china, (with a VERY clever 'sex in the city' "spin". )...about 35 seconds into the clip, a really wonderful mini bio on this truly fascinating woman begins. it's also quite timely, as my current discussions with sandra have been focused on china/hong kong and american/hollywood issues...and this clip talks about how anna was received WITHIN china.
filming. she was replaced by juaninta hall....a light skinned african american actress, who would oddly be best known in hollywood for 2 asian roles. (bloody mary in south pacific and auntie liang in FDS.)
okay, my computer is going to blow up from all the youtube clips, and i DO need to try and bring this post towards a resolution to get to part 3 of HIRO IN HOLLYWOOD.
still, i'm about to take yet another 'fork' in the road! but before i do, i wanted to gather my thoughts on what i've learned since writing about this subject matter.
my blog on this issue, has been influenced by, and FILTERED on 3 key levels.
1. my own personal film/tv memories, being born and raised in america...(no...not silent film era) heh heh. but FLOWER DRUM SONG, KING AND I, KUNG FU, etc.
2. my own awareness about "HOLLYWOOD", living in l.a. PLUS, having friends and family WITHIN the industry.
(sort of funny, since the word/IMAGE of 'HOLLYWOOD' is so iconic...but actually hollywood is an essentially irrelevant CITY within the film business).
3. the realization that i TRULY was somewhat unaware of "BEING JAPANESE" for most of my life! :)
so what began almost as a 'lark'....(hiro in hollywood), actually has become an AMAZING JOURNEY on a personal level, as ALL journeys that come from my interest in sanada san tend to be. :)
GROWING UP with almost NO SENSE of my asian identity, (which i intend to blog about AFTER if finish the hiro in hollywood subject matter) MOVIES, were simply, for me, ENTERTAINMENT. i grew up in the time of movie musicals, so THAT gives you an idea of the 'fantasy factor'. :)
now, that said, i want to mention a few other things.
1. i rented from NETFLIX the movie SLANTED SCREEN and received it last week. i watched it last friday. WOW!!! i had NO IDEA how similar what i have been exploring was, to jeff adachi's documentary!
(i started this blog with my own early memories, knowing about james shigeta, pat morita, etc, aided by google and further aided by youtube!) one door led to another, etc.
i had previously only seen the CLIP of jeff's documentary (that i had posted)...plus read some reviews. but when i saw the ENTIRE DOCUMENTARY....it was SO fascinating to hear from some of these asian american actors discussing THEIR OWN experiences!
anyway, i HIGHLY recommend renting that movie, for a MUCH more thorough and knowledgeable presentation than anything i could ever illustrate. just FANTASTIC and opens the eyes! (slanted or not). :)
2. i'm going to attempt to get in touch with arthur dong, who recently finished HOLLYWOOD CHINESE, because i REALLY want to watch that one too. (and i'll share info if i find out anything). but i found it ironic that adachi and dong were BOTH working on this subject likely around the same time.
* just got an email back...they expect it to go on sale 'sometime' next year, and i'm on the mailing list for it. www.deepfocusproductions.com if interested.
3. i am realizing more and more how very different the subject of ASIAN movies might be, from a NATIVE of the country (be it hong kong, japan, or others) than the ASIAN AMERICAN point of view. sandra's viewpoint about hong kong films, and adachi's documentary about THE SLANTED SCREEN offer such interesting insights into this very complex issue.
as life continues to amaze me, with it's synchronism, last night, i turned on the t.v. and MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA was on. i THOUGHT i'd seen it....but realized i must not have paid much attention, so for ME, watching it was sort of a NEW experience, and also, it was 'colored' by the current research i'm doing on the subject. it TRULY gave me a 'new perspective', in the viewing of it.
many other 'coincidences' followed, and pulled me towards this new direction, so i'm just going to follow it....and see what unfolds. i had a very remarkable discovery the last couple of days, which may or may not have relevance but i'm excited to share it. it WILL all lead to my PART 3 of HIRO IN HOLLYWOOD...PROMISE. :)
ah well....
i put together a montage of clips illustrating the EVOLUTION of 'kung fu'/martial arts films in HOLLYWOOD over the last 30 years. like YELLOW FACE, you will see the transitions.
it isn't necessary to watch the entire clip of each of these....as my intent is only to give a 'taste' of what was happening. this small sampling includes some of the key 'MARKERS' for this genre...from the movies themselves, to the actors, as well as the directors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
when the television series called KUNG FU came to the attention of u.s. audiences, the FACE would NOT be bruce lee, but instead, an actor doing 'yellow face'....DAVID CARRADINE. the popular series ran from 1972-1975 and featured the prolific chinese american actor, KEYE LUKE (best known for "no. 1 son" of charlie chan with warner oland, and in later years, as master po, in kung fu) seen in this clip as the blind master. PHILLIP AHN (korean american) is master kan, who is shown speaking.
in 1995 the movie MORTAL KOMBAT, (greatly influenced by "enter the dragon" storyline with a supernatural flavor),
hit the theatres, starring mostly 'B' actors, with the 'other' hiroyuki, CARY HIROYUKI TAGAWA as the villain. (shown fighting at about the 2min. mark) this was already a hugely popular VIDEO game (controversial for it's graphic violence) and had a cult following. trivia: BRANDON LEE (bruce's son) was set to play the lead character but died prior to the filming.
in 1998, a new 'face' was introduced to hollywood. it is rumored that jackie chan was offered the role, but jackie did not wish to take on villain parts, and turned it down. this was JET LI'S breakout hollywood debut. (both jackie and jet li were already huge action stars in hong kong). i DISTINCTLY recall seeing this film, and watching this AWESOME jump off the stairs....and thinking 'who the "H" is THAT dude!' not like the hiro 'swoon' but transfixed by his moves.
this would once again change the landscape of chinese/martial arts movies, and the changing face NOW included WOMEN who were essentially 'dancers', learning the choreographed martial arts moves.
HOLLYWOOD'S TRACKING OF THE FINANCIALS, AND THE CRITICAL RATINGS SYSTEMS became more and more VISIBLE within the industry, via IMDB, starmeters (for individual actors as well as movies)
the ROTTEN TOMATOES site, where critics reviews of the movies were compiled and then calculated, based their findings on a scoring system known as the TOMATOMETER. (60 and above, FRESH. below 60: ROTTEN)
listed are the domestic and international grosses:
crouching tiger; $128,067,808 us $209,000,000 worldwide TOMATOMETER: 97.
long a fan of asian martial arts films, the quirky cult director, QUENTIN TARANTINO put his unique spin on the genre ...with his KILL BILL movies in 2003. (WARNING...CLIP IS GRAPHICALLY VIOLENT, if you didn't see the film). i can't imagine there is anyone who doesn't know this, but the fun trivia is that DAVID CARRADINE would play the title role of BILL, and SONNY CHIBA, (sanada's mentor in early years) would have a great cameo as hattori hanzo, a great sword master.
a TRULY remarkable piece of trivia is that sonny chiba was set to CO STAR with BRUCE LEE in a new production, but when his plane landed in HONG KONG, he was met with the news of bruce's untimely death.
kill bill : $70,098,138 u.s. $178,398,138 worldwide TOMATOMETER 85
ZHANG YIMOU, (initially a cinematographer for CHEN KAIGE, in chen's first film - YELLOW EARTH) completely turned the action film into visual eye candy with his breathtaking use of color, style, costume, and choreography, with his back to back films, HERO, and THE HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS.
(again, trivia people probably already know... but it is because of quentin tarantino that HERO found release in the U.S. in 2004, 2 years after it had been completed, and premiered in CHINA.)
this clip features two of hong kongs greatest actors, TONY LEUNG CHIU WAI and MAGGIE CHEUNG, who elevated the film through their amazing acting skills, with the achingly beautiful portrayals of the doomed lovers, BROKEN SWORD and FLYING SNOW.
hero: $53,583,486 : $169,583,486 worldwide TOMATOMETER: 95
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, introduced 2 more faces to hollywood, ANDY LAU, one of the most respected and popular actors in CHINA, and heartthrob, TAKESHI KANESHIRO, (who had already developed a bit of a cult following in the west, with the WONG KAR WAI movies, CHUNKING EXPRESS, AND FALLEN ANGELS)
the film also starred ZHANG ZIYI, who had now become the 'NEW FACE OF ASIA', it was once again, a visual feast, altho without JET LI, the movie fell short in box office results.
these 2 films (shot a few years apart, but released back to back) brought the 'creme de la creme' of HONG KONG/CHINESE actors to the attention of movie goers in the U.S. and romanticized the genre. unlike the rapid fire punches shown in earlier martial arts movies, these films had the quality of watching ballet....beauty, grace, and strength.
hofd: Latest gross: $11,041,228 u.s. 27,000,000 aprox. worldwide. TOMATOMETER 88
so i began THIS post, and will end with KUNG FU.
in 2004....we saw a truly UNIQUE AND ORIGINAL presentation (for hollywood) when STEPHEN CHOW gave us the classic, KUNG FU HUSTLE in 2004.
kung fu hustle: $17,104,669 u.s. $94,700,000 worldwide TOMATOMETER: 90
the first time i ever saw or heard of STEPHEN CHOW was in 2001 with SHAOLIN SOCCER!
sandra (gakinme) has graciously been sharing her knowledge about hong kong cinema on this blog, and sent me the most INTERESTING info last night.
i was floored, because i ALSO happened to be compiling the NUMBERS on these movies last night, along with the tomatometers! (talk about synchronicity!)
she had sent me a link to HER blog page and she POSTED THE FINANCIALS for hong kong films....AND THIS IS WHEN I SEE THAT STEPHEN CHOW IS HUGE IN HONG KONG!!! (right up there with jackie chan!)
AMAZING!
(sandra, will you post the link to your article and chart in this post, so i can have the hong kong and u.s. figures/info linked?) thx!
according to imdb info: Bruce Lee Jun Fan Yuen Kam (Bruce Lee's full birth name) was born in the year of the dragon (1940), at the hour of the dragon (7:12 am) in san francisco, ca.
raised in hong kong, his father was a chinese opera singer, and his mother was eurasian. (half german, half chinese).
i'm not going to write alot of bio info, because it is so readily available for anyone interested in him, and my focus is more on how he changed the IMAGE of asians in hollywood. but here are a couple of fun tid bits:
bruce spoke English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese.
bruce began his film career in hong kong, when he was 6 years old.
hmmm....sound like someone ELSE, who started at 5 years old!
(imdb offers a very thorough bio on him: http://imdb.com/name/nm0000045/bio)
with bruce lee, it is his VERY PRESENCE that was so powerful. clearly, his martial arts skill was a sight to behold...
but watching him on screen....it is evident what a charismatic individual he was.
this was his 'screen test' for the GREEN HORNET t.v. show, which aired in 1966-67, and he was cast in the role of kato, which brought him to the attention of western audiences. **
** (columbia pictures has the green hornet "in development" for a film as of march 2007)
I COULDN'T HELP but think of the CAR (black beauty) and CARTOON/comic book angle of THE GREEN HORNET ...and also, BATMAN and....of course, the BATMOBILE. (not shown) but, HOLY MACH MOBILE!
so hmmmm....someone ELSE is currently filming a movie with the CAR, and a japanese anime "cartoon" based theme. SPEED RACER. :)
FUN trivia....look at kato's enemy in one of the first clips in this montage....you will see our MAKO as the chinese villain.
what i want to point out here is the very 'one dimensional' CASTING IMAGE that is being created....and it is (IMO ONLY) possible that he might NOT have been able to make the transition needed, to play anything OTHER than an action star. (albeit, the best in the world).
sadly, we'll never know, but judging from his childhood clip, he certainly seemed to possess an innate ability to convey his feelings onscreen. still, it would have taken a total 'REINVENTION' of his image. (as our hiro recognized, and made this choice in his native japan...afraid of getting pigeon-holed/typecast)
bruce lee's 'presence' was undeniable, and he SINGLE HANDEDLY was responsible for laying the groundwork for an ENTIRE new 'genre' for ASIANS in HOLLYWOOD.
the last clip i'll post is from his final film, ENTER THE DRAGON. fun trivia....about 1 min. + into this scene, you will see a 'guard' grab bruce lee in a bear hug from behind, and bruce grabbing him by the hair (before breaking his neck). it's none other than our friend....JACKIE CHAN. oh...."links links and more links".
(hmmm......warner bros made: TLS) :)
these films catapulted bruce to INSTANT stardom....(fists of fury was the highest grossing hong kong film of the time, and enter the dragon, remained THE quintessential ACTION film in the west, for more than a decade)
tragically, he died less than one month before the U.S. release date of the film that would cement his indelible mark in hollywood history.
after these movies entered hollywood mainstream, and western audiences, two things happened.
1. bruce lee became (and remains) a LEGEND. his imdb starmeter is 685 TODAY, 34 years AFTER his death! (jackie chan and jet li are both in the 300 range).
2. kung fu/martial arts, became one of the most powerful ways for an asian actor to grab hollywood's attention on a mass scale. (and most asian actors in hollywood began to realize what an ASSET it would be to learn/know/perform
martial arts in western cinema.)
http://www.bruceleedivinewind.com/index.html a truly informative site with IMMENSE detail about his life and tragic death.
HOLLYWOOD came knocking on bruce lee's door, and the superstar broke down the 'barriers' with FISTS OF FURY. (forgive me....couldn't resist....).
the OPENING he created, planted the seeds for the future of asian action stars in hollywood. it would take
many many years for it to become an "art form"...but the name most associated with elevating martial arts and kung fu in the hollywood film industry will forever be, BRUCE LEE.
no, i'm not taking us on a journey to OZ....it's my little metaphor for the fork in the road i've taken in looking BACK at the way ASIANS in hollywood were portrayed, and the actors who were responsible for the very subtle changes that
began to take place on the screen.
i'm going to narrow my focus for now, to the KEY 'players' who helped to influence and change the IMAGE of
asians in the HOLLYWOOD movie industry.
so i'll explore china/hong kong and the impact of ACTION and martial arts in hollywood, and of COURSE, the segue will begin with bruce lee. (next post)
WHILE i was doing my research, i found this clip, from one of bruce's series of final films, THE CHINESE CONNECTION. it was a HONG KONG film, shot in 1972.
i want to post this clip, NOT because of the relevance to bruce lee, but because i was VERY STRUCK by a few things, in watching it. (again, IMO only)
1. 'the japanese villain' with the thick glasses, reminded of mr. yunioshi - mickey rooney-, minus buck teeth.
3. the stereotypical, somewhat comical 'ASIAN IMAGES' and 'all asians look alike' casting of chinese as japanese.
(only 2 'actors' from the 'japanese' school were ethnic japanese according to the cast notes on imdb)**
4. perpetuating the japanese vs chinese "as enemies" consciousness. (which i realize has its roots in deeper socio-political issues)
of interesting note: because of the movie's racial content and personal disagreements, Bruce Lee quit working with Lo Wei after this movie.
**BTW, i DO recognize that the budgets on these films were low, and the casting would have come from a local (hong kong) crop of talent. but ON that note, i would also say that this would likely, have played a part in casting issues with asians in hollywood....certainly in the early days when "yellow face" was the norm. and remember, the language issue was a barrier in hollywoods early days as well.
my point is that even in FILMS MADE IN ASIA (at that time) the STEREOTYPE was portrayed, or, one might even say, CREATED.
hollywood looked to the films from asian countries to derive a 'visual image' of asians....and AT THAT TIME the IMAGE of japan seemed to be either samurai or geisha, and of china, perhaps, kung fu or dragon lady's.
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i found this AMAZING site that delves into this issue, and the site owner is a documentary filmmaker, arthur dong.
the film was JUST RECENTLY shown in san francisco at the asian american film festival.
http://www.asianamericanfilmfestival.org/2007/films-events/film-detail/?i=54
HERE IS A BRIEF SYNOPSIS....
A voyage through almost a century of cinematic delights, intrigues and treasures, HOLLYWOOD CHINESE weaves together a wondrous portrait of the actors, directors and personalities who have defined American filmmaking from the silent era to the current new wave of Asian American cinema. Dong explores the long-untold stories behind the faces who have graced the silver screen, from Anna May Wong to Nancy Kwan, James Hong to B.D. Wong, as well as those who have made their mark behind the camera, from famed cinematographer James Wong Howe to directors Ang Lee and Justin Lin. What emerges is a rich and complicated tapestry, one marked by unforgettable performances and groundbreaking films, but also by a tangled history of race and representation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a few snippets of the interviews from some of the featured actors/actresses:
“I knew very little about Chinese people, and I thought, ‘Human beings are human beings.’ It’s anyway, an illusion, and if you are true to the character inside it’s much more important than it has to be exactly right outside.”
–Luise Rainer
Caucasian actress who won an Oscar® for her portrayal of O-Lan Lung, a Chinese peasant, in The Good Earth (1937).
“Flower Drum Song is special because it portrayed a Chinese family who was not doing laundry; it just seemed like a refreshing change of pace from what you usually see of a Chinese family.”
–James Shigeta
Acting credits as a Chinese character include Flower Drum Song (1961)
.
“I’m not particularly proud that I did these [Fu Manchu] films, but I did it. It’s called, you know, something like food, that you need to eat! And if I do two, I’ll be okay; I don’t have to really work (laughs) very much because the scripts are always the same.”
–Tsai Chin
Acting credits include the daughter of Fu Manchu in a series of films with Christopher Lee during the 1960s, The Joy Luck Club (1993), and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005).
“Right now there are thousands of Kung Fu and martial arts studios – not that that’s wrong, but it’s an American trend. That feeds the video games, feeds the cartoons, feeds the studios, and the studios then call upon James Hong, Robert Ito, and Mako and all the rest of us to do Kung Fu masters. Let’s say of all the roles I get, maybe thirty-five percent of those are old masters of one sort or another.”
–James Hong
Actor in Chinatown (1974), Blade Runner (1982), and Big Trouble in Little China (1987).
http://www.deepfocusproductions.com/page_html/film_CHP-cast.html hollywood chinese. read more and see the pictures of the actors.
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http://www.deepfocusproductions.com/page_html/film_CHP1.html read his original thoughts
heck, i FEEL like i'm doing a mini documentary via you tube, myself! hee hee.
in 1946 REX HARRISON portrayed king mongkut in the movie ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM unfortunately there was no clip on you tube.
however, in 1956 a lavish musical version was produced by the great RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN starring
YUL BRYNNER and deborah kerr called THE KING AND I.
(both the rex harrison 'anna and the king of siam' and the 1999 chow yun fat 'anna and the king' are also banned in thailand.)
in 1999, (fifty+ years later) the 1946 version was recreated in ANNA AND THE KING, starring jodie foster and
the DASHING ASIAN actor, CHOW YUN FAT. (hong kong) there are SEVERAL clips on youtube of various parts of the film, however, the sound quality is poor, so instead, i chose this clip, as it illustrates what true 'leading man' qualities he posseses.
in the CONTEXT of this slow 'change' on the hollywood screen....it is interesting to consider the CONTROVERSY that surrounded the CASTING CHOICES made in the movie MEMOIRS of a GEISHA! one might say, that in THAT sense, PROGRESS has indeed taken place. chinese/japanese issues aside...at least ASIAN.
the truth of the matter is, that ALL 'ASIAN' actors will undoubtedly play chinese, japanese, thai, etc. roles, as all CAUCASIAN actors will take on english, american, australian, and european roles, regardless of their country of origin. (clearly, the same goes for 'latin or hispanic' actors... middle eastern and black actors as well)
the HUGE steps taken forward in the 'acceptance' of the african american and latino actors in mainstream hollywood and leading roles (and the recent academy award honors for denzel, halle, jamie foxx, forest, and jennifer) shows that change IS occurring....
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