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| Friday, January 19, 2007 |
| Star Wars, Patriotism, Genius |
BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
I really wanted to compose a thoughtful, well constructed piece about this movie but I'm feeling lazy. The following jumble will have to do.
Midway through our screening last night, my friend Matt said, "This movie walks a thin line between genius and...genius. That's it man. Genius on both sides." I couldn't agree more. I hadn't seen Big Trouble in years and was worried it wouldn't hold up. My fears were for naught. It still feels as fresh and inspired as ever.
Have I lost anyone? Feel free to speak out if you didn't like it. I've been pretty open about my adoration, but I can understand how someone might not like it. It's got B-Movie written all over it and some folks just don't dig that kind of thing. I don't always myself.
And it isn't like Big Trouble is so-bad-it's-good. That's not it at all. It's just so much goddamn fun, and that's exactly what it's supposed to be. And how awesome is the dialogue?!?
Alright, I noticed some stuff I never noticed when I was a kid. One, there's a ton of obvious Star Wars allusions. They break into the trading company building to rescue green eyes, and the whole scene plays like Luke and Han going into the death star to save the princess. Then you have Jack's interaction with Samantha from Sex and the City mirroring a lot of the tension between Han and Leia. And there's that scene when they end up in that watery chamber and someone's like "Is this a garbage disposal or something." And THEN there's that scene when Jack opens the door and there's a ton of ninjas waiting to kick his ass - just like when Han runs around the corner to find all those stormtroopers waiting. Obviously the electricity stuff reminds you of the emperor and we haven't even talked about the dark magic/force parallels.
So there's that. But also I want to talk about the whole mythos of the thing. There's this weird global message going on. Jack is Mr. America, right. Just about as romantically American as you can get. But he fits in in Chinatown. He's buddies with Wang and all is good. But underneath Chinatown there's this whole mysterious, magical lair. It's like this whole thing we Westerners have about the far East. It's so exotic to us, almost mystical. Jack America and his melting pot pal Wang have to venture into this darkness and rescue their women from the clutches of evil. And what is evil? Well, the ghost of an ancient Chinese emperor...someone who wanted to conquer and rule as a dictator....someone who wanted to impose a way of culture and life and rule upon others - not coexist and accept like we do here in the States (supposedly). What I also think is interesting is this bit about a Chinese girl with green eyes. She embodies the marriage of East and West, right. Lo Pan needs to own her, and sacrifice her to the demon God. Why? Because she represents everything Lo Pan, the ancient emperor, and the demon God loath and fear. Kill and rule that which is unlike yourself. Thank God Jack and his immigrant friends are there to show them what being an American is truly about - different peoples living in peace as neighbors. Someone even says some shit about the colors that don't run when they drink that potion.
Not very eloquent, I know, but hopefully you get my point. |
posted by Jeff @ 1/19/2007 02:17:00 PM  |
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| 5 Comments: |
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"What? What will come out no more?"
And how great is it when he delivers that speech with lipstick all over his face?
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"Forget it Jack...it's Chinatown."
Sorry, wrong movie.
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okay so i just watched the movie and it was definitely genius and also genius.
i mean really really hilarious. and i don't know if anyone got the two disc set with "special features" (which include a music video) or listened to the commentary with kurt and carpenter, but it was very interesting as well. i just listened to about 20 minutes of the commentary and carpenter kept saying how brave old kurt was to take this part, and how most actors aren't daring enough, etc etc. Which I agree with completely. Kurt Russell is fucking awesome, because he doesn't seem to have any ego whatsoever about being an "actor." I mean the man was Captain Ron. He obviously just loves to have fun, and he also recognizes that a part like Jack Burton demands just as much acting as a part like Wyatt Earp or whatever. I'm just so done with actors that keep taking parts that seem to prove that they are smart and sensitive and "real" - I think you can see the extreme of this in folks like scarlett johnassen, who get adored for being in all these "good" indie films when in reality the actor in question is just playing the person they wish they were in every single movie. right? right?
secondly, johnny boy said how this movie was ahead of its time, and how people didn't get it. he said that very first scene, where the grandad from Surf Ninjas is talking to the cops, was added in afterwards at the request of the grandad from Surf Ninjas because he felt like Kurt's character wasn't going to be thought of as a hero enough. but then John and Kurt were laughing at that (even though the scene WAS added...?) because they were like "people didn't get this movie, they couldn't handle the idea of this buffoon playing the lead, they wanted rambo and indiana jones" etc. And I think that's very astute. I mean this movie is really ahead of anything remotely comparable from the 80s. because sure han solo and indiana jones were smarmy, but they had a softer side plus they had the skills to back up their bullshit. this movie kicks ass because it begs the question: how would the audience feel if the competent asshole hero was no longer competent?
i think that what makes the movie really pop was that they never let up on jack's character at all, from his first huge bite of that meat sandwich to his final ramblings into his cb radio. every single line jack has is fucking golden. apparently the movie took some guff for being unfriendly towards Chinese culture, and playing on Asian stereotypes. but if anything, i think the movie does the exact opposite. (now clearly some idiot who refuses to contextualize the movie ie: the average american would not realize this, but thats a different issue.) i think that carpenter really shows a love of the a genre that hadn't been nearly as exposed (over-exposed? exploited?) as it has been now. and he took that mystical word and played in with a really good sense of humor. for example, there are Chinese and Chinese-American characters that speak in a sort of "stereotypical" Chinese person speaking with an accent way, but then there are also integral characters that are very clearly american or american-ized or whatever you want to say. there is that great part where a bunch of soldiers are going to help them for the final break-in and jack is like "any of them saavy to english?" or something, and then one of them says, in "perfect" "american english," "who's this guy?"
finally, kurt and john mentioned how they wanted to flip the parts of the hero and the sidekick, and make the sidekick the lead in the movie. they again said that a lot of the audiences were not ready for that, and they didn't really get it, and didn't really get that this was a comedy. and kurt said he loves when fans come up and talk to him about this movie, so if you ever see him be sure to do so.
there were a few parts i had to watch repeatedly because they were so funny, including:
the two dudes are tied to wheelchairs and meeting Old Lo Pan for the first time, and he's explaining his whole deal to them. then kurt says "go off and rule the world from beyond the grave" and lo pan says "INDEEEED!" in a hilarious way, and then kurt is like "or check into a psycho ward..." but that indeed cracks me up.
and then:
"terrific. a six demon bag. sensational. what's in it, Egg?"
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are you crazy? is that your problem?
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"What? What will come out no more?"
And how great is it when he delivers that speech with lipstick all over his face?