Hong Kong action cinema
Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese and Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling and aesthetic traditions, which Hong Kong filmmakers combined with elements from Hollywood and Japanese cinema along with new action choreography and filmmaking techniques, to create a culturally distinctive form that went on to have wide transcultural appeal. In turn, Hollywood action films have been heavily influenced by Hong Kong genre conventions, from the 1970s onwards.
The first Hong Kong action films favoured the wuxia style, emphasizing mysticism and swordplay, but this trend was politically suppressed in the 1930s and replaced by kung fu films that depicted more down-to-earth unarmed martial arts, often featuring folk heroes such as Wong Fei Hung. Post-war cultural upheavals led to a second wave of wuxia films with highly acrobatic violence, followed by the emergence of the grittier kung fu films for which the Shaw Brothers studio became best known.
Hong Kong action cinema peaked from the 1970s to the 1990s. The 1970s saw a resurgence in kung fu films during the rise and sudden death of Bruce Lee. He was succeeded in the 1980s by Jackie Chan—who popularized the use of comedy, dangerous stunts, and modern urban settings in action films—and Jet Li, whose authentic wushu skills appealed to both eastern and western audiences. The innovative work of directors and producers like Tsui Hark and John Woo introduced further variety, with genres such as heroic bloodshed and gun fu films, and themes such as triads and the supernatural. However, an exodus by many leading figures to Hollywood in the 1990s coincided with a downturn in the industry.
Exit of many leading figures (late 1990s to early 2000s)[edit]
Due to the new-found international awareness of Hong Kong films during the 1980s and early 1990s and a downturn in the industry as the 1990s progressed, many of the leading lights of Hong Kong cinema left for Hollywood, which offered budgets and pay which could not be equalled by Hong Kong production companies.
John Woo left for Hollywood after his 1992 film Hard Boiled. His 1997 film Face/Off was the breakthrough that established his unique style in Hollywood. This effort was immensely popular with both critics and public alike (it grossed over US$240 million worldwide). Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) grossed over US$560 million worldwide. Since these two films, Woo has struggled to revisit his successes of the 1980s and early 1990s.[55]
After over fifteen years of success in Hong Kong cinema and a couple of attempts to crack the U.S. market, Jackie Chan's 1995 film Rumble in the Bronx finally brought him recognition in the U.S. Since then, he has made several highly successful films for U.S. studios including Rush Hour (1998), Shanghai Noon (2000), and their respective sequels Rush Hour 2 (2001), Shanghai Knights (2003), and Rush Hour 3 (2007). Between his films for U.S. studios, he still makes films for Hong Kong studios, sometimes in English (Mr. Nice Guy and Who Am I?), often set in western countries like Australia or the Netherlands, and sometimes in Cantonese (2004's New Police Story and 2006's Rob-B-Hood). Because of his enormous U.S. popularity, these films are usually released in the U.S., a rarity for Hong Kong films, and generally attract respectable audience numbers.
Jet Li has reduced his Hong Kong output since 1998's Hitman concentrating on Hollywood instead. After a minor role in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), he has gone on to star in several Hollywood films which have performed respectably and made a name for him with American audiences. So far, he has returned to Chinese cinema for only two films: Hero (2002) and Fearless (2006). He claimed Fearless would be his last traditional kung fu film.
Chow Yun-fat has also moved to Hollywood. After his 1995 film Peace Hotel, he has made a handful of films in Hollywood which have not seen as much success as those of the aforementioned figures'. These include The Replacement Killers (1998), The Corruptor (1999), Anna and the King (1999) and Bulletproof Monk (2003). He returned to China for 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and 2006's Curse of the Golden Flower.
Recent trends (late 1990s to present)[edit]
The Hong Kong film industry has been in a severe slump since the mid-1990s. The number of local films produced, and their box office takings, are dramatically reduced; American imports now dominate in a way they had not for decades, or perhaps ever. This crisis and increased contact with Western cinema have probably been the biggest recent influences on Hong Kong action cinema.[56]
Luring local and regional youth audiences away from Hollywood is a constant concern. Action movies are now generally headlined by babyfaced Cantonese pop music idols, such as Ekin Cheng and Nicholas Tse, enhanced with wires and digital effects – a trend also driven by the waning of a previous generation of martial arts-trained stars. The late 1990s witnessed a fad for Cantopop stars in high-tech, more American-styled action pictures such as Downtown Torpedoes (1997), Gen-X Cops and Purple Storm (both 1999).
Andrew Lau's wuxia comic-book adaptation The Storm Riders (1998) earned a record-breaking gross and ushered in an era of computer-generated imagery, previously little used in Hong Kong film. Tsui Hark's lavish CGI-enhanced efforts Time and Tide (2000) and The Legend of Zu (2001), however, were surprisingly unsuccessful. Comedy megastar and director Stephen Chow used digital effects to push his typical affectionate parody of martial arts conventions to cartoonish levels in Shaolin Soccer (2001) and Kung Fu Hustle (2004), each of which also set a new box office record.
Striking a different note were a series of crime films more restrained and actor-driven than the earlier, John Woo-inspired examples. The Milkyway Image production company was at the vanguard with examples like Patrick Yau's Expect the Unexpected (1998), Johnnie To's The Mission (1999) and Running Out of Time (1999). Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's blockbuster Infernal Affairs trilogy (2002–2003) has set off a mini-trend of brooding police thrillers.
Collaboration with other industries, particularly that of Mainland China, is another increasingly common survival and recovery strategy. Hong Kong stars and other personnel have been involved in international wuxia successes like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Hero (2002) and House of Flying Daggers (2004).