Kung Fu Hustle

I hope that everyone had a chance to see Shaolin Soccer, the first of Stephen Chow's actor-director films to make it to the States. Miramax, as distributor, made a royal hash of its release and it was in my area for just a week and no more. I missed it, as a result, and had to wait another few months for its release on DVD. Well, it was worth it. Chow is far, far funnier than, say, Jackie Chan. His humor is less boisterous, less forced. He's still making a martial arts film, with the ubiquitous and required action, but incorporating unbelievably silly musical numbers (the one in the night club is a howler). Well, the same holds true of Chow's latest hit (the largest grossing film in China in 2004). I felt, though, that he was trying to do the same thing with vastly different material. I'm guessing this film is based on Shanghai's real past -- 30s gangsters and the havoc they wreaked on city residents -- and the violence of that time is translated to the screen. I wanted to laugh at how silly it's portrayed, but I was wincing as I did so. Which could be a desired effect, but I found it off-putting. Chow himself isn't as front and center in this film, and more's the pity. You'll understand when every scene he's in seems better paced and more fluid. I suspect that besides watching every Hong Kong pulp film he could (and the Matrix Trilogy over and over), Chow also is a fan of Jean-Pierre Jeunet, of the recent A Very Long Engagement and Amelie, and his weird, dark and funny flavor of directing. I reserve the right to change my rating once I've seen the film in a decent enough cinema. The screen I saw it on was not lit brightly enough, and I found myself squinting for most of the film. Irritating enough to potentially color my view of it. Or I'll wait until it's out on DVD, in digital grandeur. Plus bloopers. (I hope.)

original title: Gong Fu
year: 2004
length: 95 min.
rating: 3.0
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373074/combined