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E D I T O R I A L
Thursday, May 3: The Echo of Small Children
Walt Disney freaked me out.
My earliest movie-going memory is of watching Bambi on the big screen. I loved the color and all the furry animals, and identified completely with Bambi, the friendly little deer. Then, near the end of the movie, a hunter kills Bambi's mother and a forest fire erupts. I was left traumatized, heartbroken, stunned, and speechless. Leaving the cinema, I listened to my mother and cousin talking, but I didn't hear a word they said. I just kept seeing my mother shot dead by an anonymous gunman, and then blazing chaos.
A couple of years later, good old family-friendly Walt did it again (in the United States, at least, Walt Disney dominated the cinematic landscape for children well into the 1970's). Darby O'Gill and the Little People seems like an innocent little fantasy flick. But at some point in the film, late at night, a banshee, a carriage, and ghost horses appear to take someone away to the land of the dead. Scared the (fill in your own blank here) out of me. I suffered through restless nights for weeks. I would lay awake in my bed, listen to the wind whistle gently through the cracks, watch the softly billowing translucent curtains, and imagine the banshee coming for me.
As I grew older, I developed more mature, full-blown adult nightmares. The objects of my terror changed as earlier childhood fixations transmuted into the financial and interpersonal horrors that stalk my latest (happily only occasional) sleepless nights.
Movies, though, still hold a certain power over me -- most especially when I am ensconced in a cinema with a good screen and sound and nobody's talking. If it's a good film, as a captive viewer I tend to identify with the characters on the screen. And the director, behind the scenes, never (or rarely) seen, becomes a sort of father figure, working hard to provide a nice-looking home and a happy family life for the characters. Hopefully he has some good stories to tell, too.
That's a childish view of the movies, of course.
When I was young, I thought my father was perfect. Time has proved otherwise, but I am still inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, simply because without him I would not exist. In the same way, when I learned about film directors, I thought some of them were perfect: Steven Spielberg. George Lucas. Alfred Hitchcock. Howard Hawks. Preston Sturges. As I became exposed to a wider variety of films over a period of time, I saw the faults and failures (along with the successes) of past favorites. In some cases I disowned them. I tend to grant certain directors the benefit of the doubt, because without them I would not have been able to learn the possibilities of the film art.
When I started exploring Hong Kong movies, I became excited and rediscovered my childhood as a film lover. I thought some of the filmmakers and stars were nearly perfect: Jackie Chan. Chow Yun-Fat. John Woo. Jet Li. Lau Ching-Wan. Tsui Hark. Ringo Lam.
Having viewed about 100 HK films now, I can feel my adolescence is blooming. The shortcomings of certain father figures have been exposed. Only time will tell how strong my river of appreciation for these artists will flow.
As an example, after viewing Broken Arrow, Hard Target, Face/Off, Hard Boiled, The Killer, A Better Tomorrow, and Bullet in the Head (in that order), I was convinced that John Woo was a cinematic genius, worthy of all praise and honor. My first impression of Mission: Impossible 2 was quite positive. Then the house of worship began to collapse. I watched a big batch of HK films, then MI:2 again, and was less impressed. After watching more HK films and A Better Tomorrow again, I was beginning to re-evaluate Mr. Woo. Further viewings of Heroes Shed No Tears, all of the above films a second time, plus A Better Tomorrow 2, Once a Thief, and the Canadian television version of Once a Thief, led me to the conclusion that Woo struck gold with A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Bullet in the Head, slid down to pure (and exceedingly well-done) action in Hard Boiled, and has since relied on recycling past successes in order to grow his career in Hollywood. A director I thought was a genius turns out to be a good action director. That leaves me deeply disappointed.
Something similar may be happening with Tsui Hark. He had many great successes as both producer and director stretching from the early 1980's up to the early 1990's. His output since then has tended to divide fans but seldom completely satisfied. Time and Tide came out last year but has just become available for viewing by most American fans within the last couple of months. Again, fans are divided, sometimes intensely, between those who love it, those who thought it an interesting failure, and those who genuinely dislike it and what it may represent for his future film endeavors. Will he continue to concentrate on the visual side of things, having lost (or ignoring) his ability to tell fascinating, heartfelt stories about people?
Not having seen Time and Tide yet, I can't comment specifically on it. Yet I love the fact that Tsui Hark has so deeply affected people in the past that they are passionate about defending or criticizing his work as a film artist.
After all, no matter how much our view of our parents may have changed, there's probably at least a little residue of love left in our hearts for them. We care about what happens to them in the future.
That's the echo of small children.
Yes, I realize that I constructed this house of words on an extremely narrow foundation of personal experience. But I would still argue that at least some of the principals hold true for most HK film fans: the early excitement, the groaning disappointments, the realization that not all is what it seems. We love the films without reservation as children love their parents (in many cases). Then comes the confusion of adolescence. And beyond lies the different insanity of adulthood. At least when it comes to films, insanity can be a good thing!
Hong Kong Film Week: Rest in peace. I came to rely on this very fine site as the primary source for English-language information on current releases in Hong Kong cinemas. Sadly, Mathieu Ravier is 'putting the site to sleep' because he has 'reached the end of his stay in Hong Kong.' Visit the site to see what once was before it's gone forever . . .
Next week: Still have Hit Team and Wishful Milenio on the docket for review, and will post the delayed editorial "Dreaming in Cantonese" as well.
As a reminder, if you disagree (or, by chance, even agree) with any of my reviews, I will be glad to post your comments (with expletives deleted) on the forthcoming "What Other People Are Saying" page of this site.
Please feel free to e-mail me your comments, whether positive or negative.
peter
Editor / Reviewer / Webmaster
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Previous Editorials
Hong Kong Film Awards: Who Won? (4/26/01)
A Tale of Three Directors (4/19/01)
Supermodels of the HK Film World (4/12/01)
What are you prepared to do? (4/6/01)
Academy Awards Special (3/26/01)
The Price of Success (3/19/01)
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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