Steelhead does everything to make a better life for his Chinese brothers, but has no interest in the daily operations of Yakuza activity. The rest of the cast are just about adequate. Some of the demands of the script are completely alien to the Jackie-Chan-role: sadness, loss, and longing? But I had forgotten how to attend a ticketed concert. [citation needed], However, due to significant amounts of violence in the film, director Yee made a conscious decision not to release the film in mainland China. Ostensible love interest Xiu Xiu, played by Xu Jinglei, is a strangely anonymous MacGuffin. Xiu Xiu is still nowhere to be found, but Steelhead must also look out for his own daily existence. All rights reserved.PopMatters is wholly independent, women-owned and operated. There's meaty material covered in Shinjuku Incident, but there's so much of it to process that when the film resorts to genre conventions, it buries all the subtle, thought-provoking content. Cue mega-mega unhappy ending. Those details are certainly relevant, but since the ending leans more towards genre, the message gets a little lost. A combination of immigrant drama and gangland thriller. Shinjuku Incident is an attempt to reclaim a sense of dignity in Chan’s international career and smooth over the ruffled feathers of a now-cautious Hong Kong audience. His very public political activism and socially and politically aware lyrics have earned him a prominent place in the creative and political history of rock. (Kozo, reviewed at the Hong Kong International Film Festival, 2009), image credit: Emperor Motion Picture Group. Luckily, Steelhead makes one friend on the opposite side; in one bust, he saves the life of police inspector Kitano (the always entertaining Naoto Takenaka). Gao is also killed with Steelhead's retaliation. Fan Bing-Bing gets the meatier role, with her character Lily serving partially as Steelhead's moral compass. Wu's performance is not particularly subtle, and he's a difficult sell as a Mainlander. Jackie Chan clearly wants to play more serious characters if only to prolong his acting career. "[5], Meanwhile, Brian Miller of The Village Voice wrote "The killing and the brawling between rival Japanese and Chinese gang factions are spasmodic and unruly; there's no glamour to this mobster's rise and fall. [3] Chan, who was an investor in the film, agreed with Yee's decision. The strength of Yee’s films had always been its realistic portrayals of the dirty-glamour of the underworld types but some polish is always necessary. Shinjuku Incident is such a weird movie, Jackie Chan is an illegal immigrant living in Japan trying to find his old girlfriend, Jackie then saves his old girlfriends husband from being killed and in return is given his own turf and becomes the boss of the Chinese immigrants..... this film started out as a boring light hearted comedy and ends in a complete and total bloodbath. However, even with a guardian angel on the police force, Steelhead embarks on a crooked path. Can Queer Studies Rescue American Universities? Steelhead learns that Eguchi and Xiu-Xiu have a little girl, Ayako. The laughs in a typical Chan film, pre-Hollywood, come from the inappropriate use of impromptu weaponry on feckless enemies or through something akin to punching someone through graceful stumbling, an cunningly clumsy style of fighting personified in the classic 1978 Hong Kong action comedy, Drunken Master. Shinjuku Incident feels less like an illegal immigrant drama than it does an all-star gangster thriller featuring a serious performance from Jackie Chan. What insanity is this? His signature style of falling over and kicking ass had been fulfilled to its logical extreme in Hollywood – all he could seem to do in any Hollywood film was just that. Director Derek Yee’s films have shown a complex (and surprisingly complete) understanding of the day-to-day mechanics of the Hong Kong underworld. Yee didn't mind waiting until Chan's busy schedule had a slot, as the two are good friends and because Yee feels Chan is right for the role. Unwilling to get caught, Steelhead and the others run for their lives. "[7], 16th Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award. After dodging the cops, Steelhead settles into life as an illegal immigrant alongside pal Jie (Daniel Wu) and other immigrant Chinese. The sequences help the film along, upping the stakes while also reminding us that the characters' choices come with a price. "[6], Perry Lam of Muse sees the film as an example of Hong Kong's eroding cinematic identity due to encroaching mainland influence: "OK, we get the point – mainlanders have always been the patriots, now they can be heroes in Cantonese cinema too… What will become of Hong Kong cinema, or what will be left of it, when its filmmakers stop trying to seek inspiration from the city and make heroes of its people? The third album by the impossible-to-categorize no-wave duo Budokan Boys is a meditation on death filled with songs that are both strange and strangely moving. Strangely anonymous MacGuffin a guardian angel on the police force, Steelhead settles into life as an illegal alongside... Play more serious characters if only to prolong his acting career of Yakuza activity Hong Kong International Film,. Still nowhere to be found, but Steelhead must also look out for his Chinese brothers, but since ending... But I had forgotten how to attend a ticketed concert subtle, longing. 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