-watching "Kiss of the Dragon"
Li Lianjie starring
Luc Besson and directed by Luc Besson
"Kiss of the Dragon" is an old film released in 2001, because I bought a set Luc Besson’s complete film (two compressed DVD discs, only 10 yuan), so I found it again today.
The plot of the story is roughly as follows: Johny (played by Jet Li) came to Paris as an agent to cooperate with the French police to complete a certain task, but was framed by the French police chief Richard. Then Johny, after going through hardships, finally obtained Zhaoxue and annihilated Richard.
To put it simply, this movie is just playing around, and there is not much novelty in the play, at least for the Chinese who have watched too many action movies, there is not much novelty. A film, if there is no real material in the plot, performance, or shooting techniques, and only rely on action design to win, of course it cannot be regarded as a successful work.
The character played by Jet Li has no wife, no girlfriend, no greed for female sex, no greed for money, absolutely loyal to his superiors, and resolutely executes his superiors' orders. He is a ruthless super policeman and an excellent fighter machine. However, to maintain an indifferent attitude towards lust, in the eyes of Westerners, not a real man, but a quasi-man. And such an image of a man may just satisfy the Westerners' imagination about the Chinese: that is, the Chinese lack lust.
As a Chinese agent, Jet Li’s character Johny is different from agents in Western countries, such as British 007. 007 and Ohny, which reflect the different imaginations of Chinese men and Western men in the dominant Western popular culture in the world. 007 is romantic and graceful, and constantly uses all kinds of modern high-tech methods. Therefore, in every 007, one or more than one hot "bon girls" are replaced, and some amazing high-tech methods are also to be shown off. This shows such an image: 007 is both powerful and full of wisdom, so it is very sexy, and it can always attract a large number of girls to take the initiative to agree with them, even foreign girls. 007's agile skill and mastery of various weapons and violent methods fully demonstrate the violent logic of Westerners advocating strength and the logic of strength that the strong is king. On the other hand, 007 often fights for abstract values such as "democracy" and "human rights". Therefore, he is the incarnation of justice, so he has the hegemony of both speech and strength at the same time. In addition, 007 is always able to penetrate the enemy's incomparably complex and conspiracy, fully demonstrating his wisdom. Therefore, such a man will of course be sexy, not to mention that he is always personable, full of gentlemanly, and proficient in the speech skills to please women and bed sex skills. All in all, 007 is a contemporary superman, a specimen of an ideal man who is created by popular culture and loved by the public. 007 is such a symbol of desire. For women, this is the man they want; for men, this is what they want to be. Therefore, on the one hand, popular desires need a "modern" heroic image; on the other hand, popular culture takes no time to produce a heroic image that satisfies people’s desires, and constantly imposes this image on the public, and this imposing It is so natural that the public feel that it is just their own natural needs.
But the character Johny played by Jet Li is not such a character, he is not a modern hero. Neither is it a "modern" hero similar to 007, nor is it similar to Rambo (Stallone in "First Blood"), Spartan Three Hundred Warriors, Killer Leon ("This Killer Is Not So Cold"), Daniel ( "Taxi" trilogy) such a modern hero. Rambo's method is not only to fight, but also to be an American agent, able to use all kinds of guns and other killing weapons, and get the intelligence support and air support of the US military; the Spartan 300 Warriors, its selling point is addiction Blood coincides with the barbaric nature deep in the hearts of Americans and Westerners; Leon is familiar with all kinds of firearms; Daniel has driven a taxi very well. Johny is a Chinese agent. His unpredictable skill and superb acupuncture seem to be terrifying on the surface. However, as a Chinese agent, Johny's characteristic is all kung fu, so the whole film is actually to show Jet Li's pleasing kung fu performance. However, apart from kung fu, Johny no longer has any deadly methods. He rarely uses all kinds of firearms, nor does he use modern vehicles, cars, helicopters, unlike 007, every movie will have an enviable one. Nice car. Since the plot of "Dragon Kiss" is relatively simple, there is no complicated conspiracy, and therefore there is no way to show Johny's wisdom. In addition, Johny always acted like Liu Xiahui in the play. Of course, he finally won the favor of the heroine, but this is not because of his demeanor, but just because of his kindness. Therefore, Johny cannot be said to have too much charm in the play, let alone the 007-style suave. In short, Jet Li's Johny is obviously a "pre-modern" hero, and the selling point of "Dragon's Kiss" is the Chinese Kung Fu as a pre-modern factor. For Western culture, the pre-modern factor of Kung Fu is nothing but a substitute, a lace, and does not change or affect the foundation and subject of Western culture in the slightest. Western culture can always replace different laces while adhering to its foundation, while other cultures exist as marginal and substitutes. No matter how these laces are replaced or emphasized, their center remains the same. It doesn't matter whether this lace is Chinese Kung Fu, Japanese Ninja, or Muay Thai. Therefore, no matter how supernatural Chinese Kungfu is emphasized in the "Kiss of the Dragon" film, it cannot be replaced as the main body. In the end, it only satisfies the Westerners' curiosity psychology.
Precisely because the factor of kung fu must be deliberately emphasized in "Kiss of the Dragon", it appears thin in plot design and character creation. So overall, it is far inferior to Luc Besson’s other work "This Killer Is Not So Cold". In the drama "Hitman", the character image is so clear and the personality is so strong, a tall, cold and humane character image is highlighted, and can give the audience an extremely deep impression. But in "Dragon's Kiss", it is full of fights from beginning to end. Perhaps when Westerners look for Chinese people to make films, they will never be able to get rid of the thinking mode of designing Chinese people as "pre-modern" images. Therefore, after Jet Li left the Hong Kong film scene, he rarely saw masterpieces. Thinking of this, I began to miss the good films Jet Li made during his stay in Hong Kong, such as "The Bodyguard of Zhongnanhai", "Huang Feihong", "Jing Wu Men" and so on.
2007-8-29
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