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Film: Iron Monkey
Release date: 1st March 2004
Certificate: 12
Running time: 86 mins
Director: Yuen Woo-ping
Starring: Rongguang Yu, Donnie Yen, Jean Wang, Yen Shi-Kwan, James Wong
Genre: Action/Comedy/Crime/Martial Arts
Studio: E1
Format: DVD
Country: Hong Kong
Tales of folk heroes and legends saturate the fabric of Chinese history and culture. Re-released and discovered by a wider audience after Yuen Woo-ping’s astonishing success choreographing Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Iron Monkey is a notable addition to the extensive list of historical legends committed to film. Directed by The Matrix choreographer and action master, and featuring Hong Kong and China’s most vaunted action star of the moment, Donnie Yen, Iron Monkey proves to be a short but well-crafted story.
Rong Kwong plays Dr. Yang, a good man who tends to the needs of the ill and hungry in his community for free but charges the well-off. Seeing refugees and the poorest people of the town trodden on by rich and corrupt Governor Cheng (Wong), Dr. Yang transforms himself at night into Iron Monkey to steal Cheng’s ill-gained wealth and fight for good.
Wong Kei Ying (Donnie Yen) arrives in town with his young son Wong Fei Hung (Tsang Sze-Man). Kei-Ying is a prominent master of the Hung-Gar style. Initially believed to be the title hero by Cheng, Kei-Ying fights to prove he is not the wanted outlaw, and goes after Iron Monkey himself to save his son being held as insurance by Cheng. Eventually he teams with Iron Monkey after realising they have similar principles. They battle against not only the corrupt town officials, but also Imperial minister Hin Hung – a traitor to his own Shaolin Temple, and a man with his own mission to stop the notorious and troublesome Iron Monkey…
Of course, it’s a Robin-Hood variation, yet this time we’ve two Robins willing to stand up and fight corruption and redistribute the wealth to the community’s neediest souls. Even though the title of the film boasts one hero, this is essentially a buddy movie, two righteous warriors who are willing to fight the evil disease denigrating their town.
Female support is solid from Jean Wang who plays Dr. Yang’s clinic assistant Orchid with a gentle air and subtlety. But more notable is the son of Kei-Ying, played by young actress Tsang Sze-Man. It’s an interesting cross-gender casting for the role of one of China’s most celebrated legends in Wong Fei-Hung. Sze-Man brings gravitas and subtle expression of emotion to the part that perhaps couldn’t be entrusted to a teenage boy.
Splashes of humour come from Dr. Yang’s cheeky teasing of the governor’s guards while tending the injuries his alter-ego has inflicted, although Rong Kwong is more at home taking the responsibility for the emotional core of the movie. His strength and kindness shine through when tending his patients and fighting for justice with honour against guards and officials.
Donnie Yen’s acting, especially in the aftermath of his son’s kidnap, proves to be lacklustre. His sadness just doesn’t convey or convince, and it’s noticeable he has worked on this aspect of his screen repertoire in recent years. The more emotionally-loaded scenes featuring Yen do stick and slow down the brisk pace built up from Woo-ping’s action segments.
It’s a very short film in which to explore corruption, the awful treatment of displaced refugees, and the relationships between Dr. Yang and Orchid, as well as Kei-Ying and his son. It leaves the viewer feeling short-changed about these points, and if it is vying for a more gentle exploration then more comedy and light-heartedness would’ve evened the tone.
Woo-ping offers us some quite impressive slices of wire-work - seeing Iron Monkey jump up and through a hole in the roof to land deftly on the tiles being one highlight. We’re also treated to Yen’s undeniable speed and agility when it comes to his hand-work. His quick moves solidly display practiced form, and help distract from the lack of depth in his acting.
The final reel sees our heroes go up against the traitorous Shaolin monk Hin Hung. Stilted speech about righteousness aside; it’s a riotous two-on-one affair which sees the monk crash through a brick wall and our heroes thrown into wooden struts. They indulge in pole-top balancing kung-fu, too, with the aid of wire-pulls. Woo-ping knows how to deliver an exceptional closing fight scene, and the flaming stick scene is pulsating. In lesser hands it may have appeared overblown, but Woo-ping once again shows that he is a master of standard physical interplay as well as wire-work choreography – even if belief is shattered by a flaming pole to the monk’s head (clearly a rubber dummy!).
Iron Monkey may not be amongst the best of Yuen Woo-ping’s enviable filmography, nor of the ever-growing list of historical hero endeavours, but it is a short and fun exponent of the historical hero genre. JM
Film: Mulan
Release date: 21st June 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 107 mins
Director: Wei Dong
Starring: Wei Zhao, Jaycee Chan, Rongguang Yu, Xu Jiao, Vicki Zhao
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Romance
Studio: Cine Asia/Showbox
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: China
Not to be confused with Disney’s 1998 animated blockbuster Mulan, director Jingle Ma’s 2009 epic offers a more sophisticated and nuanced retelling of the story based on a sixth century Chinese poem. Mulan: Legendary Warrior charts the early life and rise to power of Hua Mulan, a fearless heroine who disguises herself as a man and goes to war in place of her ailing father.
We first meet Mulan (Zhao Wei, perhaps best best known in the West for her role in Shaolin Soccer) as a young girl who causes her father a great deal of consternation by fighting with boys and generally refusing to behave as he believes a daughter should. It is clear from an early age that Mulan will not conform to what is expected of her, and when she reaches adulthood, and her ailing father is summoned to join the war against invading Rouran tribes, she takes his sword and armour and sneaks off to join the Wei army in his place.
At this point, you have to ignore the fact that Zhao Wei is one of China’s most strikingly beautiful actresses, and simply accept Mulan’s not particularly convincing attempt to disguise herself as a man. There are strict rules about no women being allowed in the army, and Mulan cannot let her guard down for a second. When she is recognised by childhood friend and fellow soldier Tiger (Jaycee Chan, son of Jackie), she has to convince him to keep her secret, but very soon she faces a far more serious threat to her true identity being revealed.
After admitting to the theft of another soldier’s pendant in order to avoid a strip search, Mulan is scheduled for execution, but when Rouran fighters launch a surprise attack, she is released by a young officer, Wentai (Chen Kun), and proves herself in battle by killing the Rouran general. Mulan and Wentai both rise quickly through the ranks of the army, and develop a special bond that is central to the latter half of the film.
As generals, Mulan and Wentai enjoy great success, but when a new, more ruthlessly ambitious Rouran leader emerges, they are tested in ways that neither could have foreseen…
On the surface, Mulan: Legendary Warrior is an epic war film, full of impressively choreographed battle scenes and military strategising, but, at its heart, it is also a well written drama in which the central characters, rather than the action sequences, are the film’s driving force. In lesser hands, the burgeoning romantic bond between Mulan and Wentai could have been overplayed, but it is to Jingle Ma and writer Zhang Ting’s credit that this is not the case in Mulan: Legendary Warrior.
There are moments when Mulan and Wentai appear to be reaching breaking point, and you half expect them to give in to their feelings and fall into each other’s arms as a soaring string section breaks out on the soundtrack, but what little physical contact there is between the two is sparingly shown and relatively understated. Even here, the idea of putting their country and their army before their own desires could have come across as bombastic, but Jingle Ma adeptly balances Mulan and Wentei’s commitment to duty with their mutual frustrations and human yearnings.
Zhao Wei is superb as Mulan, shifting convincingly from full-blooded fervour to anguished vulnerability, steely determination to forlorn resignation, making it easy to forget that she is only slightly more convincing as a man than Russell Crowe would be as Anne Frank. As Wentai, Chen Kun is inevitably overshadowed by Wei, though he more than succeeds in conveying his character’s conflicted interests, and the simmering chemistry between himself and Wei is vital to the film’s overall tone.
The relationship between Mulan and Wei may give Mulan: Legendary Warrior its backbone, but it’s a relationship that could not exist without the war between the Wei dynasty and nomadic Rouran tribes, and Ma Jingle goes to great lengths to ensure the battle scenes and the background against which the war takes place are as believable as possible. Where some directors would offer a cursory explanation for the conflict and then dive head first into a CGI-aided orgy of violence, Ma Jingle reaps the rewards of excellent cinematography that makes the most of some stunning locations and a consistently engaging narrative.
Mulan: Legendary Warrior isn’t exactly innovative, and it doesn’t really add anything new to a story that has been told many times, but it’s an expertly crafted film that fuses war and romance genres in a highly absorbing way. JG
Film: Mulan
Release date: 21st June 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 107 mins
Director: Wei Dong
Starring: Wei Zhao, Jaycee Chan, Rongguang Yu, Xu Jiao, Vicki Zhao
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Romance
Studio: Cine Asia/Showbox
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: China
Mulan is based on the famous fable of Hua Mulan, a general who led the Wei dynasty army to victory over raiding northern forces sometime around the 4th century. Director Jingle Ma has tackled this kind of historical story before, most recently in The Assassins Blade, which was also inspired by a legend from Chinese history.
The story will be instantly familiar, both for those who have watched The Assassins Blade, as well as the countless other films and cartoons, and read novels inspired by the Hua Mulan story.
Mulan’s sick father is conscripted to fight the increasingly aggressive Rouran northern army. Mulan takes the place of her father knowing he is too ill to fight, keeping her true identity hidden while at the same time proving her worth on the battlefield.
As the years go by, and the body count continues to rise, Hua Mulan works her way through the ranks to become a powerful General, but she is forced to examine what is truly important to her, while at the same time trying to defend her homeland and make it home to her sick father…
The actual story of Mulan hails from an ancient poem, so there is a fair bit of leeway afforded to the scriptwriters - in this case, the film benefits from centring on the relationships between the main characters and, in particular, the relationship between Hua Mulan and her superior officer Wentai.
With The Assassins Blade, Jingle Ma approached the tale with a light touch, but this caused problems, as the film failed to build any genuine tension towards its supposedly dramatic climax. Lessons have most definitely been learned, and Mulan is a far earthier and grittier proposition.
Casting lessons have also been learned since The Assassins Blade, which was necessary, as both films share a similar plot device, with the female lead playing a character hiding her true identity from those around her. Unlike The Assassins Blade, Jingle Ma creates a believable scenario in Mulan by choosing an actress who carries the part well. There is no doubting Wei Zhao is a beautiful woman, but she is also a good actress, benefitting from good makeup, and a film which is extremely well lit throughout. The Hua Mulan character visibly ages through the twelve year timeline of the story arc, and, as war rages on, becomes evidently more battle weary. This realism makes it easy to buy into the difficult premise, something which The Assassins Blade failed to achieve.
As Hua Mulan’s relationship with Wentai progresses, the film exposes the myths of battle and the flaws inherent within human nature; every set piece and death is played out over a background of political intrigue, betrayal and the love for family, friends and the country, which the soldiers serve and the Rourans covet. The way in which the Wei Army and the Rourans treat their fathers acts as a brilliant wider metaphor for how they also see the land they are fighting for; one side shows no respect while the other must serve to bring honour.
Visually, Mulan is quite ridiculously beautiful, but the China we see on screen is a harsh place. The fear evident in the soldier’s actions is reflected by the harsh realities of the surrounding landscapes, in which browns and greys are mixed to provide ominous and unsettling vistas. This is in stark contrast to the village scene at the beginning of the film, and highlights the pointlessness of the ongoing war, as the opposing armies fight over a land which is completely unforgiving. The desert scenes near the end of the film are particularly cruel, and every parched lip and flaked piece of skin can be felt.
There is a brilliantly ‘old-school’ feel to the battle scenes were everything is shot realistically using plenty of stunts and some incredible horse riding. The scenes are fast paced and brief but well positioned throughout the film. CGI is kept to a bare minimum, and this all adds to the look and feel - Mulan has far more in common with the work of David Lean or Kurosawa than Yimou Zhang. The score from Li Si Song is perfectly balanced with the onscreen action and is never obtrusive.
Mulan is an exhaustive, detailed take on a classic tale. It is beautifully crafted and carries a high emotional impact. SM
