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Review by
Calvin
McMillin: |
Can't
we all just get along? That's the peaceful sentiment hoped
for—although not immediately achieved—in Lau Kar-Leung's
Heroes of the East, a not-so run of the mill kung
fu flick that uses Sino-Japanese tensions as an excuse to
showcase both countries' martial arts prowess, while delivering
a little social commentary for good measure. The story hinges
on the proud, but good-natured Ah To (Gordon Liu Chia-Hui),
a young Chinese man stuck in an arranged marriage with a
Japanese girl named Kuda (Yuko Mizuno). During the wedding,
Kuda sticks to her own rituals and ignores the customs of
the Chinese, a move that incurs the general ill will of
those in attendance. But just when you think the story is
going to be about a nice Japanese girl suffering at the
hands of Chinese prejudice, the film quickly reveals that
Kuda isn't as demure as she first appears.
Like her new husband, Kuda
practices martial arts, spending most of her days training
in the courtyard. However, her idea of practice isn't exactly
what you'd call polite. The woman's a literal home wrecker!
Ah To and his servants watch helplessly as Kuda proceeds
to knock over walls, destroy statues, and generally wreak
havoc on her new home with gleeful aplomb. When Ah To asks
her to tone things down and perhaps learn the "more
ladylike kung fu" practiced by Chinese women, Kuda
scoffs at his suggestion. Even worse, she orders all the
Chinese weapons that Ah To stores in his personal gym to
be removed and replaced with her Japanese arsenal. When
To tries to explain the historical and practical value of
his Chinese fighting implements, Kuda dismisses his opinion
as ludicrous, happily mocking the Chinese way. Since Kuda
fancies herself a martial artist, To challenges her to a
duel, in which they each would use the weapons of their
respective countries. Kuda agrees, and loses each battle,
but in the end, she resorts to the less honorable (at least
in To's eyes) art of ninjitsu, nearly killing her husband!
As one might guess, this duel doesn't help resolve their
differences.
The confrontational behavior
continues for most of the first act until Kuda, fed up with
the arrangement, returns to Tokyo to consult her sensei
and possible ex-lover, Sanzo (Yasuaki Kurata). With his
wife away, Ah To parties hard, but is later convinced by
his sniveling servant Hsiao Kwan (Cheng Hong-Yip) to send
for her. Knowing she would be too proud to return without
good reason, Ah To writes a letter mocking the Japanese
way in the hope that Kuda will be so enraged that she will
return to China immediately. Once back in Chinese territory,
Ah To figures he can easily explain the ruse to Kuda and
make a fresh start.
Unfortunately, all does not
go to plan as the jealous Sanzo ends up reading the letter
soon after Kuda receives it. Viewing it as a slap in the
face to all of Japan, Sanzo and the best fighters from his
dojo head off to China to take up the gauntlet unintentionally
thrown down by our hero. Of course, Ah To is shocked to
find the masters of kendo, karate, nunchaku, spear, sai,
and judo at his doorstep to answer his "challenge."
After some hesitation, Ah To agrees to fight, using swords,
drunken boxing, a three-sectioned staff, a spear, two butterfly
knives, and some baby oil (you'll see!) to counterattack
his aggressors. Although he finds some success in dealing
with the masters proficient in only one style, Ah To faces
a considerable challenge in Sanzo, a master not only of
ninjitsu, but of the all the previous Japanese styles Ah
To encountered as well. Ultimately, this begs the question,
"Will Ah To be up to the challenge?"
As a martial arts film, Heroes
of the East's best quality would have to be that its
director, Lau Kar-Leung, never once presumes that the mere
fact that two people are fighting is inherently interesting
and exciting to the viewer. To his credit, Lau not only
showcases a variety of martial arts styles and character
types in constructing his fight scenes, but spices up the
backgrounds as well, often shooting the sequences in various
interesting environments. It's a small touch, but it's the
variety that stops the movie from dragging on into oblivion.
No one wants to watch a kung fu film that makes kung fu
look like an exercise in tedium, a problem Lau deftly sidesteps.
One could argue that the movie
puts forth an inflammatory agenda due to the negative portrayal
of the Japanese; Kuda comes across as a real shrew for the
first half of the movie, and the Japanese are the de facto
"bad guys." But none of the negativity comes across
as mean-spirited or crassly stereotypical. Oddly enough,
it's the positive portrayal of the Chinese that helps mitigate
this factor. In a truly anti-Japanese movie, the Chinese
would hate the Japanese, their hatred for them would be
endorsed by the movie, and the Japanese themselves would
be depicted as subhuman monsters. Here, regardless of the
antagonistic mechanics of the plot, there's a clear sense
of respect for the Japanese styles and an overt concern
for avoiding an international incident. Ah To's sober teacher
(Simon Yuen Siu-Tien) even goes so far as to make a point
that this is not a case of China versus Japan, but a battle
of individuals. The film certainly walks a fine line of
ethnocentric thought, since the Chinese way wins out, but
none of it seems racist. Compared to the depiction of the
Japanese in classic films like Fist of Fury, the
"villainous" Japanese seem pretty tame in this
one. In the end, it's all just a big misunderstanding—which,
of course, is how half of all cinematic kung fu fights start.
If anything, the strong performances
of the major players really help hold the film together,
particularly the two leads, Gordon Liu and Yasuaki Kurata.
Overcoming a goofy haircut, Liu takes center stage as Ah
To, and unlike his later more iconic roles, here he's a
henpecked husband pushed to the breaking point. There's
a saying that a hero is only as a good as the villain who
opposes him, and that certainly is the case in Heroes
of the East. With his rugged good looks and obvious
martial arts skills, Yasuaki Kurata makes an excellent antagonist
for Ah To. Lau Kar-Leung chooses not to use a stereotyped
image of a Japanese male, and instead opts to make Sanzo
every bit as charismatic as Ah To—a move which in turn
shows confidence in lead actor Gordon Liu. Even Lau Kar-Leung
gets into the act, showing up at one point as a drunken
master who accidentally trains Ah To in drunken boxing.
Despite my earlier comments,
I wouldn't dare proclaim that Heroes of the East
provides any serious insights into the problems between
the Chinese and the Japanese. The film is fun, engaging,
and it's got Gordon Liu versus Yasuaki Kurata at the climax.
For plenty of fight fans, those are reasons enough to check
it out. (Calvin McMillin 2004)
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