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I am quite addicted to martial arts movies, which is odd when you consider that I hate violence. But when I declaim my love for these films my offline friends start back in horror and make warding motions with their hands. I am quite, quite alone in my obsession. My goal in joining Alive not Dead is to skulk around the forums and read other people’s pages and pick up some information on my favourite genre of films.

2012-01-20 11:22 / 会员可以看

“Why did I use kung fu to make movies – to display the art and to aestheticize fist fighting”

Lau Kar-leung (Hong Kong Film Archive 1999: 89)

There have been a couple of highlights during the past week - one nice long conversation with a new professional contact (a nice man) and a presentation I had to give to a bunch of people (no big deal, but it went well). But otherwise this has been a most distressing week for a couple of different reasons that I think best not to publish on the internet. I spent most of my day off so far having little cries and talking myself down off some psychological ledges. I decided to find something to publish in this blog (given that I don’t have enough concentration to actually write much myself). I found this quote from Lau Kar Leung among my notes. It reminded me as to what is really important: chopsockies. An afternoon on the couch watching kung fu movies is in order, I think.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

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Excerpt from Director’s Commentary on ‘The Replacement Killers’

2012-01-15 14:02 / 会员可以看

This is the second excerpt from director Antoine Fuqua’s excellent commentary on The Replacement Killers, in which Chow Yun Fat had his first starring role in an American movie. The first excerpt can be found here. This excerpt covers the concept behind the plot and which drives Chow Yun Fat’s character, and how certain political pressures from the Chinese Government and the film’s own producers affected how this concept was filmed.

Scene 4 (rectangular brick building)

My hope was to make you feel that this was The Killer in America, you know. The idea was The Killer has been brought to America, you know. What was interesting about this, the scrīpt, going back to the scrīpt, the scrīpt originally had some fantastic stuff in it which I think I wish we would’ve shot. Some we shot, some we didn’t but the concept was, and still is, in the story but it was a stronger point. The concept was that Yun Fat’s character, John, was the son of one of Mao’s soldiers. Yun Fat was the son of a soldier, it was one of Mao’s soldiers. His father wanted to get his family out of Hong Kong and so what he did was he went to Mr Wei for help to help him get him out of the country, get his family out of the country, and in exchange for that John would become sort of Mr Wei’s soldier. He would have to do some favours for him, like the godfather. We don’t know what favours they may be but he’s going to have to do some favours. So the concept was that Chow Yun Fat also was a soldier and he wanted to get his family out of Shanghai (?)

Scene 5 (guns being unrolled on red leather)

And so he had to come first, do a few jobs to prove himself, and then Mr Wei would then send his family over – his mother and his sister.

What would happen was when some of the Chinese government read the scrīpt, because Chow Yun Fat’s such a big star there, the feedback we got was that they didn’t want to have one of their soldiers as an assassin and they didn’t want to make a big deal about Mao and communism and all this kind of stuff so they didn’t want to get tied into it. So if we would have used a lot of the backstory, which was really important to the story, it wouldn’t have got any play in China because by the time our film was released the British had returned Hong Kong back to the Chinese so they were in control. So it was one of those situations where what we did shoot – some backstory when he was in a car when he’s talking about his father – we had to cut it out of the movie. Which was… it was horrible for me because it gave you a sense of who he was and where he came from. It told you why he was here and what he was doing and we had also had plans for shooting him as a child and showing you know a little bit of China, a sense of his family. I wanted to show his mom and his sister so that people could be invested in his family and you understand his reasons for being here, his motivation for everything that he’s doing. He’s a killer in order to get the people he loved over to this country. It wasn’t something he wanted to do. So the concept was the killer is now in America and this is what he has to do

Scene 6 (temple incense pot)

so it’s disappointing in a way that that never made it into the film because I think it would’ve made a difference in the story telling area. It would’ve gave the audience a little more to hold onto, I think, and because he’s such a lovable guy too. I think it would’ve really helped his character, you know.

It’s rare that it would happen unless it’s a communist country… here in America we can make movies about our government, the President, you know, you can make a film about police officers being corrupt and all these other things. You may not get the full cooperation of the police force but no one’s going to stop your film from being seen in a movie theatre where if you go to countries like China or maybe Russia or maybe places like that I think that they have a little more control over what’s seen and I think that’s wrong because people will form their own opinions. And this came about simply because, like I said, one, there were certain things in the scrīpt that we found out that the studio had to, obviously they have a person that they talk to who checks the scrīpt out because we were really concerned with the fact that he was going to be a killer here and, you know, naturally studios would do their research and they would want to know if they’re going to have any issues or problems anywhere and we know that China or Asia is a big market for him. So they wanted to just check it out and they had their representatives check it out and what they came back with blew me away, too, when they told me we would have to lose those things and I thought what are you talking about? No one can tell you what, being an American, no one can tell you what to do with your art or your film. If the studio says OK, they approve the scrīpt, we shoot it. But that wasn’t the case and it was obviously that fear of losing that huge audience in China because simply they wouldn’t have got to see the film. It just simply wouldn’t have been shown. So I found that disappointing too, but that’s a whole other political conversation, really.

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A controlled experiment in kung fu movie watching

2012-01-08 12:42 / 会员可以看

I have decided to show a ‘mystery’ kung fu movie to a bunch of my friends and then ask them for their reactions. My friends don’t watch many kung fu movies so I will be curious as to what their reactions will be. Below is the invitation I will send to them today.

You are invited to attend the

Very First Controlled Experiment in

Kung Fu Movie Watching!!!

Sunday January 22^nd

2pm (for opening drinks) followed by screening at 2.30pm.

Venue: My place!

Congratulations! Attendance at this Experiment is being rigidly controlled and offered to a select few. You have been selected from a wide field of potential participants (i.e. every other bugger I’ve ever met) because of your:

Open mindedness and high tolerance for the unusual or different
Ability to articulate opinions
Ability to concentrate
Lack of cultural snobbery
Imagination
Sense of humour
I suspect that you have not seen as many kung fu movies as I have (and this is important to the experiment)
And because I like you and want to see you anyway

So please come! I will not attach electrodes to your brain, conduct probes (anal or otherwise), make you sit tests or ask you to look at ink blots. I just need you to come and watch a great film.

RSVPs are essential and must be made by Thursday 19^th January.

More information about the experiment is below

What the experiment is:

I will show you a kung fu movie. You will not be given the title or any information about this movie – you will view it completely cold. I will be observing your reactions and then leading a brief discussion about the movie after it has finished. At the completion of the experiment you are free to hang around for more drinks or more movies or just general chatting.

Why is the experiment being run:

At the moment, I am (seriously) investigating cultural and creative aspects of kung fu movies and the way that western audiences relate to them. I have watched so many kung fu movies now that I am used to the way their particular and unique story telling devices and characteristics work. I am starting to forget what it is like to experience the kung fu movie culture if you aren’t used to it. I am feeling the need to step outside of my own biases and perceptions for a while, and to see how other people react to these films.

Some ground rules:

If, once the film starts, you realise that you have seen it before or think you know something about it or the performers in it then please don’t say anything. I think it is highly unlikely that you have seen it or will know anything about it but – you never know! Maybe SBS showed it once and you happened to see it, or maybe one of your friends saw it and described it to you… This is THE most important rule. I want people to come to this film cold, so if you know about the film then don’t let on.
Don’t ask me any questions at all about the film before or during its screening. I won’t answer them. One of the objectives of this experiment is to see how far your own guess work and the Hong Kong film makers’ techniques can take you. I will answer all questions during the post film discussion.
Be prepared to suspend your disbelief and your ideas as to what a ‘good’ movie should be. The movie I am showing you is of very high quality and a real show piece for Hong Kong kung fu movie making and performance techniques at their best. But it does not follow the Hollywood template, and its film makers had very different priorities and agendas in comparison to the typical Hollywood film maker.
The movie I show you will be entertaining and fun (I think, anyway). But there is violence in it that is not suitable for children. I am sorry; please do not bring your kids.
Please don’t invite your mates. I am rather rigidly controlling who comes because many westerners are contemptuous of kung fu movies (even if they have never seen any!) and lack the ability to suspend their disbelief, step outside of their own cultural norms and judge these films on their own merits. I have had the experience where, in the past, I have attended screenings of kung fu films in a cinema and have found myself in an audience that was determined to sneer and jeer at the movie before the opening credits even started rolling. The movie never had a chance! You have been invited because, although I know you may have definite ideas about what you do or don’t like (and are comfortable with expressing them), I know that you are not in the habit of treating foreign cultures with contempt. If even just one viewer is blinkered by contempt and determined to find fault with the film during this experiment because they think that it’s “just one of those fucking crazy kung fu movies”, then it’s just not going to work.
You are free to natter during the movie of course, but please restrict your comments to what is happening on the screen. I know that I am sounding like a fascist but I need to you concentrate, so it would be appreciated if you could catch up with each other’s news before or after the screening and not during.

Um. Don’t worry too much about these rules. I want them followed, but participation in this experiment is meant to be easy and fun. This is one of my very favourite movies I will be sharing with you, so lie back on my couch or a cushion, drink some wine, prepare to be amazed and enjoy yourself!

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It’s official: Mr Brain needs a holiday

2011-12-23 9:47 / 会员可以看

Welcome to my end of year blog. I have spent the last week holidaying on the Gold Coast – many thanks to the rellos who provided the free accommodation (without which I could not have afforded to go away at all). I haven’t had a proper holiday for years. Granted, I visit my parents often and enjoy doing that. But, following a stroke several years ago, my Mum needs a lot of support. My father is her carer so, by extension, he needs it too (if Mum and Dad get enough support then they motor along very nicely!). This means that my visits to my parents, as much as I am happy to undertake them, have an element of effort or obligation to them. Stooging around on the beach for the last week, taking dips in the pool, spa and sauna, and spending too much money on food I didn’t cook, living in an apartment that I won’t have to clean and just generally being in an area that is quite, quite different to my home town of Melbourne – this has all been so nice, and has made me realise just how much of a holiday I really did need.

It has, in some ways, been a tough year. For most of the year I was manager of a neighbourhood house. This was an intense experience. The neighbourhood house did a lot for the community it was situated in, and was staffed by some really excellent people. The life stories of some of the valiant souls who turned to the neighbourhood house for support and learning were pretty amazing. I learnt a hell of a lot about the community sector, the adult community education sector, working with local government, and, in particular, governance in community based organisations. In October this year I decided to leave the neighbourhood house for reasons that were compelling, but which I do not wish to go into here in detail. Suffice to say that there were challenges looming that I felt that I didn’t have the resources to deal with. Don’t get me wrong – I do have some great resources and skills in my armoury, but the particular challenges facing the house, internally and externally, were of a nature that I could do nothing about. The decision to leave was an absolute harrowing one, and I felt dreadful about not being able to help the house more. But I felt absolutely compelled to go.

I quickly picked up more work – I am now employed part time as a project worker for the Darebin Overseas Students Association (DOSA) capacity building project. This entails my working with a community of overseas students who either live or study in the City of Darebin. DOSA aims to support these students, and, in order to survive, has to organise itself from a community movement or loose network of people into a more formally organised group. My initial challenge was, and still is, to make contact with representatives of this community and to gauge their needs and ideals. Then the name of the game will be to assist the leaders of this community to investigate just what sort of a group they will be and how they can plan to achieve their aims. So far, the project is proving to be enjoyable and busy (not a complaint!). The students I am working with and talking to are lovely; and smart as whips. There are far more questions than answers for DOSA right now, but that’s OK. I’m quite interested to see where we end up!

An additional benefit to working on this project is that it is close to where I live. I can walk from my flat in Thornbury to my desk in Preston in 40 minutes at the maximum! I have enjoyed living in the City of Darebin for the past few years; it is nice to be rediscovering the area as a local worker now. I am based at the Darebin Information, Volunteer and Resource Service (DIVRS) which is auspicing DOSA this year. DIVRS is a well-run and calm work environment and the other staff and volunteers are pleasant people. I currently work 18 hours a week spread over 3 days, and my contract runs out at the end of next September. I decided to just work with DOSA until the end of 2011 so that I could properly get my head around what was required in that project. I must admit also to enjoying (and needing!) the long rejuvenating 4 day weekends. During next year I will have to be looking out for extra work in order to be able to boost my small income, and also to help me make the transition into another job when the DOSA contract is up next spring. ( www.divrs.org.au/dosa )

Next week will be spent at my parents’ place in rural southern New South Wales, near Albury and Rutherglen and the New South Wales and Victorian border. My sister and, hopefully, her son will be joining us for the Christmas-New Year’s holiday period. The block in the small country town where my parents live is a blackspot – there is no internet or mobile phone coverage. So after today I will be off the air until the New Year. I brought my laptop with me to Queensland (where I am writing this now with the sound of the surf thundering away in the background) anticipating that I would be wanting to write blogs. But, apart from making a few notes on the use of martial arts in The One, I have done very little writing. My brain wouldn’t settle to it. I have realised that it’s tired, and that it, too, needs a couple of weeks break. So the fact that I won’t be able to post heaps of blogs is a moot point anyway.

But I will definitely be back into the blogging next year. During the last few years, which have not been easy, the blogging’s power to distract me from any petty tensions or problems has been a true sanity saver. Because I pretty much focus on writing about kung fu movies and their use of choreography, physical performance and aesthetics geared towards accommodating the kinetic, the blogs have been a fun and non-demanding place where my creative instincts and the experience and insights gained during my past career in the arts industry can live. The blogging has been highly and compellingly enjoyable, even while it’s intellectually hard work. (www.dangerousmeredith.wordpress.com)

My main blogging project has been to write a blog on every single one of Jet Li’s films. I admire this artist – as an ex hoofer I can’t go past his elegant movement dynamic and subtle mastery of technique. This was something I coveted as a young dancer. But I also chose his films because, being so well known even in the west, I knew that his films would be readily buyable or rentable. He also worked alongside some great other physical performers in his Hong Kong films – people who are maybe less well known than him but still really great performers in their own right – as well as some brilliant choreographers, and these are definitely worthy of investigation. I was also intrigued (and horrified) as to how his career went off the boil creatively when he started making films in the west. His has been an interesting, if unfortunate, career trajectory. What happened there? What went wrong?

I started writing these blogs in 2008 (I think) anticipating it would take me a few months. I had no idea that it would take me a few years! It has taken me a lot of writing to untangle what I thought about some of the films. When I started I anticipated that I would write a lot about the choreography in the films, a little about the performance dynamics and narrative techniques (much maligned in kung fu films by many westerners), and also focus on tracing the development of Li as a performer. This last I have not written about as much as I thought I would – as much as I love watching Li it has not been the compelling blogging theme I thought it would be. But I have definitely written about the other themes, particularly about the choreography. I am in the home straight of this project, and have about 10 or so films to write about. I am starting to look at the films Li made in the west, alongside a few great Asian films, and in doing so I realise that I am more and more thinking about how the west encounters, views, evaluates and uses something exotic. When the Li filmography project is over I am not sure what I will move onto as a blogging theme, but I have a feeling that it will be to do with the storytelling techniques in martial arts movies as this is a theme that has surfaced again and again during the blogs I have written so far. If you give over large chunks of screen time to choreographed movement, what effect does this have on narrative structure, performance dynamics and mise en scene?

So… who knows what 2012 will bring? Working with DOSA and blogging on the weekends for sure. But, for the first time in a long time, there is time and brain space left over after I have finished doing these things and I can see that I will soon have completely regained the energy reserves I will need to take advantage of that extra time and brain space. Nature hates a vacuum. I am curious as to how the empty spaces in my life will fill up in 2012.

Merry Christmas and happy new year to you all. To my offline friends – I will have more time and energy for you next year and I look forward to seeing more of you. To my online friends, I will continue ‘seeing’ you in 2012. I do not aggressively promote my blog and so never expect many people to read it. To those hardy few who do slug their way through my purple prose – Thank You! To know that you’re interested fills me with delight and I always value your comments. A big Thank You also to those on the Heroic Sisterhood page who encourage me (especially Achillesgirl and Athena) – I love hanging out on this page and always look forward to seeing what our gloriously diverse group of Heroic Sisters will post. So happy holidays, people, and I will see you on the other side!

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Great Quote No. 8

2011-12-19 15:58 / 会员可以看

“Broadly speaking, there are two ways of looking at the West’s ‘Asian romance’: ‘a controlled setting in which to be exposed to and (perhaps) examine certain notions of linguistic, racial and cultural difference’ (Fore) or ‘a flirtation with the exotic rather than an attempt at any genuine intercultural understanding’ (Marchetti). Then again, given kung fu’s complex origins (a ‘Chinese’ subject (re)made in Hong Kong), it is not always clear what such a genuine understanding would be with.” p. 13