Massacre no Bairro Chinês

The dark world of Film Noir, with its complex plots, shades of gray and evocations of unrelenting human evil, has long been one genre where Hong Kong cinema has lagged behind Hollywood. After "Infernal Affairs", however, things have changed, and Hong Kong cinema has finally gotten to this profoundly affecting and challenging genre.

Jackie Chan stars as Iron Zhao aka Steelhead, a truck repairman from China's poor but happy Northeast who settles down as an illegal immigrant in Tokyo, and after a series of run-ins with the Yakuza, rises to power as the Don of Chinese illegal immigrants. However, things get out of control when Steelhead is foolish enough to believe in clean getaways in a world that offers none, and soon comes to seal his own fate. A superb supporting cast rounds up this tale of a man's tragic fall from Grace against an unstoppable tide of greed, corruption and evil.

Derek Yee creates a grandly atmospheric, neat piece of work evoking the grime and grit of Tokyo existing under the glittery clean streets, to bring out an immortal tale that has existed as long as there were cities: a tale of hard-luck immigrants who fight their way to the top against all odds in the world of crime, and for the pursuit of money and power, damn their souls to hell.

The stronger message in the story here, is how easily the Chinese get taken advantage of. As the adage goes, united we stand and divided we fall. It's very obvious that given the myriad of Chinese, from the Mainlanders with the different dialect groups to the Taiwanese to the Hong Kongers etc, the immigrants here are shown to exhibit solidarity when they are together, sharing whatever little spoils they have as they build their little community. But quick success would mean the opportunity for corruption to creep in, splitting up the unity established, and spawn plenty of infighting to make the community weak again and ripe for the picking by their enemies. Perhaps in not wanting to acknowledge this issue as highlighted in the film, would have resulted in making Violence an excuse for the Chinese censors to drag their feet in awarding a rating, since they put the people on the whole in some negative light.

One scene too was reminisce of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury, where Lee's character Chen Zhen rips apart a signboard that says "Sick Man of Asia". Here, lead actor Jackie Chan tears away a sign that says "No Entry to Chinese", but this is no action movie for the action star we're so used to see. In fact, if Shinjuku Incident was a typical Jackie Chan film, then we would see him kick everyone's rear with nary a scratch to himself. Here he drops his superhuman persona, wanting instead to take on a more dramatic, ordinary role as Steelhead, a simple man from Northeastern China who made his way to Tokyo in order to look for his lost love Xiu Xiu (Xu Jinglei).

He strikes an unlikely friendship with Japanese police inspector Kitano (Naoto Takenaka in a more dramatic role too, as I associate him with madcap characters he plays in zero-to-hero movies), and works his way around the new environment with the help of Daniel Wu's cowardly Jie, and with the likes of supporting characters played by Chin Kar Lok and Lam Suet. Together with his Chinese buddies, Steelhead embarks on a life of crime after seeing his lady love had already moved on in life, and a crime he committed back home meant his new one should begin in Japan, hence the desire to achieve instant results. It's almost quite an insult though to the Japanese's polite society manners that the Chinese sought to exploit for personal gains.

Derek Yee had fused some realism into his previous triad drama Protégé, and here he does the same in bringing on the Japanese crime lords, where their latest election of a new leader brought about unhappiness amongst the ranks. So the illegal immigrants got embroiled in the new turf war, in order to lead it to the second and very hurried act of witnessing how power could corrupt, especially when the person at the top, steelhead, decides to adopt a nepotistic approach in delegating power to friends out of pity, or out of having to repay favours, and didn't spell the out-of-bound markers clearly. All this just because of his rebound affection for Fan Bingbing's bar hostess Lily, who's severely underused here.

Surprisingly the many subplots cooked up for the film, got let down by the relatively fluffy narrative style. It had wanted to deal with multiple themes (like selfishness, unity, betrayal and doing deeds for the greater good at whatever the costs), but found itself introducing them quite haphazardly, jumping from one point to the other sometimes with disregard to time. While action sequences are very sparse and bordering on shock value with in-your-face type violence, the finale whack-fest brought to mind some Johnnie To classical stand off moments, but unfortunately was let down by the tight shots and poor lighting. And lo and behold, the guilty party in ruining the film experience is the trailer which basically spelt everything out in black and white terms, so if you haven't seen any clips of the film, don't.

Jackie Chan had limited success in taking on a more dramatic role, and a morally ambiguous character who's prime motivation may have seemed like a mechiavellian one masked by a very simple exterior, and looked clearly uncomfortable in not being able to unleash his usual repertoire of stunts when surrounded by thugs. Deniel Wu however upstaged Chan with ease with his Jie role, despite having to suffer bad hair days throughout the film with a ridiculous perm, and a Joker-esquire makeup in the latter half. And following the Jackie Chan trend, female characters are little to show for, and here both Xu Jinglei and Fan Bingbing's characters do nothing more than looking good and offer translator services.

Shinjuku Incident is a good effort, but nowhere near the ranks of Derek Yee's better films. This is not to say that this film is no good, but it could have been much better. A pity too that it had to end with a whimper.

I want to start by saying this: if you're a fan of Jackie Chan's usual slapstick acrobatics and comedy that doesn't mean you should shy away from this film. Yes, many of those movies are great but it's also nice to know he can...you know...actually act. Just think of it like Robin Williams doing One Hour Photo. Sure, you knew him as Mork, but he was absolutely perfect for his role in One Hour Photo as the insanely creepy photo lab guy. And so it goes for Jackie Chan. His bread and butter will always be goofball kung fu films but man...he can definitely act if he has to.

In terms of plot there really isn't much you haven't seen before in this film. If you've ever watched a movie about a guy crossing the Yakuza while trying to get the girl, not a whole lot will be new here. I did like the added sense of unity that most Yakuza movies lack with all of the Chinese immigrants. Also, the film touches on the often tenuous relationship that China and Japan share. That's not usually presented in a realistic manner...maybe in Jet Li's Fist Of Legend (still one of the best kung fu flicks to date in my opinion), but that's more of a period piece. And forget about all of those Men Behind The Sun films...while they may be somewhat accurate they're more like snuff films than a real historical look. This may also be (to my knowledge, anyway) Jackie's first Category III movie (for westerners who are unfamiliar, this would be the equivalent of the US's Unrated status or maybe the UK's 18 rating. And I think the Aussies have MA-18? Whatever). So it took Chan until his 50s to make a movie with enough substance to carry such a heavy rating.

I'd definitely recommend this for Jackie Chan fans...especially the ones who started to feel like they'd gotten a bit tired of seeing him doing the same "awe shucks" good guy hero thing. Don't get me wrong...Dragons Forever ranks right up there for me among kung fu films, but you can only milk that for so long, you know? Hell...even Adam Sandler moved on and, let's face it, he's not the most mature guy in the world. But Chan succeeds where Sandler failed...he proved he can be counted on in a dead serious role and deliver as good as ever.

In the early 1990's, a Chinese man named Steelhead illegally enters Japan by way of a cargo ship, which sinks off the coast. He is looking for his fiancé Xiu-Xiu, who disappeared in the country years before. Stranded miles from nowhere without his papers, Steelhead somehow makes it to Tokyo, where he rendezvouses with friends from back home. They teach him the tricks of the underworld, and he is soon the de-facto leader of an all-Chinese gang. Still searching for Xiu-Xiu- and incurring the wrath of the Yakuza- Steelhead comes to realize that the grass is not necessarily greener on the other side, and that life in Shinjuku may not be worth living at all.

Directed by Derek Yee, 'Shinjuku Incident' is a dark drama that makes for a refreshing change of pace for star Jackie Chan. Yee and co-writer Chun Tin-nam's screenplay focuses on the experience of illegal immigrants, examining how some are taken advantage of and left with no prospects outside a life of crime. Their version of Shinjuku is a violent, inhospitable place populated by bottom-feeding scum and insidious gangsters. Steelhead's story- of an outsider being perverted by the depravity of the city- is a sadly believable one, at times feeling reminiscent of films like 'Manila in the Claws of Light.'

This is not to say the screenplay is without fault. Secondary characters are generally ill-defined and- more often than not- sequences involving the Yakuza feels like a pale imitation of the work of Kinji Fukasaku. Additionally, the character of Steelhead is initially morally ambiguous, though paradoxically becomes more virtuous as he rises in the criminal underworld. Perhaps this was done to acquiesce to Chan's cardinal rule that he never plays a villain- or an irredeemable one, that is. Whatever the reason, it is a strange bit of characterization that feels slightly jarring and out of place within the gritty urban drama that the film is billed as.

'Shinjuku Incident' features assured cinematography from Nobuyasu Kita that highlights the grime and degeneracy of the city. Oliver Wong's impressive production design adds to locations a feeling of authenticity, which the detailed set decoration compounds. Furthermore, the costume design from Satoe Araki and Angelo Bernardo Castillo is striking, with Xiu-Xiu's kimonos and various Yakuza outfits being particularly memorable.

Jackie Chan stars as Steelhead, delivering a restrained performance that ranks alongside his very best. Chan has proven himself an adept dramatic performer before, in projects like 'Heart of Dragon' and- to some extent- the first two 'Police Story' pictures. Here he showcases a great amount of vulnerability, disappearing inside the character in a way he had not done before. Though Steelhead has a moral code and plenty of redeeming qualities, it is still the closest Chan has ever come to playing a bad guy; and he does it brilliantly.

Chan's co-stars prove themselves to be up to his standard, with a few being especially deserving of praise. Daniel Wu stars as a friend of Steelhead's named Jie, who has an interesting character arc that Wu realizes brilliantly. A multifaceted talent, Wu threatens to steal the picture at times with his remarkable ease of performance. Additionally, Fan Bingbing does excellent work as Steelhead's love interest Lily, demonstrating the boundless charisma and pure acting prowess that has endeared her to so many. Also worthy of note is Naoto Takenaka's performance as Inspector Kitano, which is- simply put- faultless.

A gritty urban drama, 'Shinjuku Incident' offers fans of Jackie Chan something a little different. Violent, exciting and nicely shot by Nobuyasu Kita, the film has many positive elements. While the story may lose steam in the latter half, and a few of the secondary characters are underwritten, it is still entertaining and suspenseful. For fans of Chan- and of Hong Kong cinema in general- 'Shinjuku Incident' is well worth a watch.

Jackie Chan has been known to audiences worldwide for his spectacular, comedic and stunt-filled martial arts. Well, now in this movie, Chan gets to show off acting chops as well, with a few kicks and punches thrown in as well.

The setting and story are surprisingly solid and well done. The movie paces along in a brisk pace (courtesy of director Derek Yee), and is gripping throughout. The cinematography is beautiful at times and gritty at others, showing Tokyo as a whole. And it's fun to see Japanese and Chinese spoken a lot in this film, really pulls you into the film further.

While the level of violence is the highest than any other Jackie Chan movie (there is graphic brutal violence in some action scenes), the total amount of violence is surprisingly little, with the majority of the film dealing with the characters' trials and tribulations. There are some fight sequences, but don't expect Chan to do his usual thing; at times he's down to earth and makes us genuinely feel for his character, at times he is directly brutal. This film is NOT for the easily disturbed.

The acting is above average. Chan delivers a standout performance, an illegal worker who tries to protect his kinsman by gaining respect by and protecting themselves from the Yakuza. Another great performance comes by Daniel Wu, a fellow immigrant who gets his innocence lost... the hard way. The two love interests and the detective also get props too.

For those of you expecting another Chan romp ala Rush Hour and Supercop, you may find yourself refreshed at Chan's sudden change of pace. For those who like crime dramas such as City of God, give this one a shot. This is definitely one of Chan's highest marks, and I hope to see more of the new, dramatic Chan in the future.

Overall rating: 8/10