ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA (1991) (WONG FEI-HUNG) (HUANG FEI-HONG)
A Film Review Copyright Dragan Antulov 2002
Among the nations of today, China is most likely to replace USA as the world's economic, political and cultural leader in the decades to come. But one century ago, few people would even dream of China being important player at world's stage. Once the most advanced and mightiest nation on the planet, China at the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th Century was experiencing one of the darkest periods of its long history. Humiliated in Opium War and exhausted by Taiping Rebellion, China seemed powerless towards technologically superior Western powers that began to carve its territory, mercilessly exploit its riches and destroy Chinese culture and traditional way of life. Yet, in this dark moments, Chinese found one of their biggest folk heroes - Wong Fei-hung (1847- 1924), physician and martial arts expert whose legendary figure would, among other things, later inspire his countrymen to endure even bigger ordeals in the last century. Legend of Wong Fei-hung also inspired many filmmakers. Among tens of films about this historical figure the best known is ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA, 1991 Hong Kong kung fu epic directed by Tsui Hark. This film later had five sequels and was among the first to introduce Jet Li, its main star, ti Western audience.
Plot of this film is set in Canton where Wong Fei-hung (played by Jet Li) wants to teach local people kung-fu in order not only to maintain old tradition, but also to help authorities in maintaining law and order and some vestiges of national sovereignity. This task proves not to be easy, because Wong Fei-hung's new militia stands in the way of local gangsters and Jackson (played by Jonathan Isgar), powerful American businessman specialised in kidnapping locals and selling them across Pacific as slave labour. Wong Fei-hung would soon discover that kung fu skills and centuries old traditions can't help people faced with superior firepower of their enemies, but his beliefs are also going to be tested on more personal level. His beautiful cousin Yee (played by Rosamund Kwan) has just returned from West and became enthusiastic promoter of new fashion, values and lifestyle.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA in its title scene, with Wong Fei- hung and dozens of his disciples practicing kung fu at the beach in perfect harmony, shows that it is something more than just another kung fu title. The plot, characters and the action are firmly set in the specific historical context, and the motive of culture clash is explored more than it is usual for genre cinema. Because of this, the screenplay of ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA rises above the formulaic mix of action, humour and sentimentality, so typical of Hong Kong cinema. Unfortunately, editing at times is unsatisfactory, resulting in chaotic pace that doesn't allow viewers to be properly introduced to some important subplots and characters. However, Jet Li compensates this with his charismatic presence and martial skills. Those attributes are well-used by director Tsui Hark in the complex and spectacular action scenes that would impress even the viewers familiar with this aspect of Hong Kong films. ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA is perhaps failed as historical epic, but it successfully pays homage to the ancient tradition and history by making it entertaining and interesting to non-Chinese audience.
(Note: This review was based on shorter, 95 minute version, cut for European markets. The original version is almost 140 minute long and, presumably, without some flaws mentioned above.)
RATING: 6/10 (++)
Review written on August 20th 2002
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax http://film.purger.com - Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in Croatian
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