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E D I T O R I A L
Monday, March 19: The Price of Success
Okay, I admit it: last week I bit off more than I could chew. Originally I intended just to write a few words about Jackie Chan, and before I knew it I was reevaluating most of his career, and that's a project I've saved for another time. Moving on . . .
Saw Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon a second time this past Friday afternoon in a local cinema. A second viewing confirmed my feeling that it is a very good film. Knowing what to expect, the dramatic scenes did not seem as slow as the first time through. Yet Chow Yun-Fat is so reserved and drained, it is difficult to believe he could have been a great warrior in his time. Michelle Yeoh remained a very effective presence, and Zhang Ziyi impressed me even more with the subtlety of her performance. The print that I saw was completely beat-up and looked ready to fall apart on more than one occasion, so I will have to wait for the DVD to savor Peter Pau's photography and Tim Yip's production and costume design. The music by Tan Dun is atmospheric but also somewhat one-note. As for the ending, I like the fact that it's ambiguous. The Academy Awards will be presented next Sunday evening (March 25); it will be interesting to see if CTHD wins any awards and what repercussions may come from its box office success (it just passed the $100 million mark).
Americans (including me) are obsessed with box office figures nowadays. Clearly the box office totals have nothing to do with the quality of the film. Consider Hannibal: It has made more than $150 million so far, yet it's hard to find anyone who really liked it (personally, the novel was sickening enough just to read). This past weekend, the Steven Seagal film Exit Wounds made $19 million despite across-the-board negative reviews. Here's a case where no one I know would admit to seeing it, but a lot of people chose to go out last weekend and picked a dumb action movie. On the other hand, maybe prominently featuring rapper DMX brought out the "urban" audience (read African-American in box office doubletalk) and perhaps that increased its take.
No matter what awards CTHD may win come Oscar night, I wonder what success future Asian movies will have in the United States and other international markets. In the U.S., opening weekend audiences are made up, for the most part, by the highly-coveted young adults (18-35 years old). They go out every weekend and, more often than not, choose to see a movie. They are not always discriminating (i.e., Hannibal and Exit Wounds). Whether a movie continues to draw customers during its second and third weeks of play seem more dependent on its "buzz" or perceived quality. As an example, everybody who loves action and all the younger kids went to see Exit Wounds and will likely tell their friends who didn't see it that it's a waste of time and the box office returns for next week will reflect that. On the other hand, I suppose that everybody who saw Hannibal the first weekend came back and told their friends it was gross but really cool to see somebody's brains being served to him, and so everybody flocked to see it.
Sometimes a quality movie receives this kind of "buzz" (like CTHD) but it's purely an accident. All the marketing in the world may get people to see a movie on its first weekend, but the "buzz" will go "fizz" if there isn't something in it (whether good or bad or sensational or sick) to get people to recommend it to their friends, co-workers, and school mates.
I hope the success of CTHD encourages more American studios to take a chance with Asian films. But how many films have you seen lately that featured African-Americans or Latinos in front of and/or behind the screen?
As usual, feedback, whether positive or negative, is always welcome.
Peter
Editor / Reviewer / Webmaster
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Previous Editorials
Is Jackie Chan Still the Man? part 1 (3/12/01)
Great Expectations (3/7/01)
In the Mood for Change (2/26/01)
Bronchitis on the Brain (2/12/01)
Hong Kong Sequel Blues (2/5/01)
Better or Best? (1/29/01)
To Dub or Not to Dub (1/22/01)
Scenes From a Fractured Skull (1/15/01)
Year-End Round-Up (1/7/01)
Briefly noted (12/31/00)
Wuxia Fantasies and the Black-and-White Western (12/24/00)
Raiders of the lost heart (12/17/00)
The movie week in review (12/10/00)
Redesigning A Better Tomorrow (12/3/00)
The fantasy begins again (11/26/00)
A return and a shortened work week, hurrah! (11/20/00)
That blasted job! (11/12/00)
Hollywood, Jet, Jackie, Fred, and Gene (11/6/00)
Did you want blood with that? (10/30/00)
Do you like cold pizza? (10/24/00)
Preparing for the Legend (10/16/00)
The pauper must pay (10/10/00)
A visit to Five Star Laser (10/05/00)
A brief vacation (9/25/00)
The editor's plea (8/20/00)
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