THE KING OF THE THRILLER : CHOW YUN FAT

 

With the advent of the thriller in Hong-Kong following the dazzling success of A Better Tomorrow by John Woo ($ 34.5 millions HK), an actor is going to become, as time goes by, the king of the thriller : the charismatic Chow Yun Fat. Almost all the great directors in Hong Kong will approach this gifted actor who will progressively earn such a reputation that American producers will try to foist him on Hollywood (Replacement Killer by Fuqua). Whether the talent of Chow Yun Fat enables him to play all kinds of roles, nevertheless he is at the top of his art in the thriller galaxy. Great directors in Hong Kong spoke highly of this actor, but we must not forget he did a lot concerning his image and his style. Besides, many directors tried to make use of this image in their movies, but they only managed to make movies without any screenplay. However, even alone, Chow Yun Fat enhances the quality of the movie by his extraordinary charisma (Tragic Hero and Rich and Famous by Taylor Wong). Several aspects of the personality of Chow Yun Fat by the analysis of some of the most beautiful roles he played …

 

1. The heroic gangster : A Better Tomorrow by John Woo, 1986.
 Although already greeted by the critics with Story of the Woo Viet, the movie by Ann Hui, Chow Yun Fat became really the most demanded actor in the colony with A Better Tomorrow. He plays in it the role of a dealer, which actually turns out to be a fair man with a rare smartness in this world of Mafiosi. This film will reveal Chow Yun Fat's style and image. Indeed, he is going to give a whole series of tics to his character, completing ideally the one created by John Woo. One thinks in particular of the dark glasses, the match wedged in the corner of the mouth, the cigarettes lighted with bank notes or the way he shoots, with one revolver in each hand, every little thing moving … This image of the heroic gangster desired by John Woo would have never been so perfect without Chow Yun Fat …

 

2. The infiltrated policeman : City on Fire by Ringo Lam, 1987.
Chow Yun Fat embodies in this film an infiltrated policeman in the triad. His character has very little thing in common with the one in A Better Tomorrow : no more smartness but a character racked with the betrayal caused by the infiltration. This betrayal imparts a more intimist and secret actor game to Chow Yun Fat, and therefore in near opposition with the John Woo hero. What surprises especially is the easiness of Chow Yun Fat's adaptation to these two opposed roles and the complicity that exists among him and the two directors. It is also necessary to note a surprising inversion between on one hand Chow Yun Fat who plays the role of the policeman and on the other hand Danny Lee who plays the role of the gangster, each being rather specialised in inverse roles.

3. The cunning prisoner : Prison on Fire by Ringo Lam, 1987.
Second collaboration among Chow Yun Fat and Ringo Lam, Prison on Fire is an excellent film dealing with prison environment and gives rise to Chow Yun Fat to develop a new role : the cunning prisoner. His character takes here a new aspect that of the comedy while having the characteristics of the perturbed character dear to Ringo Lam. Actually, Chow Yun Fat plays the role of an angel defender of a new prisoner (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) who sees itself humbled and assaulted permanently with the members of the triad inside the prison. The prison universe was already lots of times treated but the interest here lies in the psychological analysis of the characters and the description of the reorganisation of sets of the triad in the prisons of Hong-Kong. It is so very obvious that in such an approach Chow Yun Fat is the ideal actor... Yet it is pity that Ringo Lam and so Chow Yun Fat in Prison on Fire II fell in the trap of the hackneyed film on the relationship among sadistic screws and prisoners instead of continuing in the same vein as the number I...

 

4. The comic policeman : Tiger on the Beat by Liu Chia Leung, 1988.
Tiger on the beat is the archetype of the low-quality film made in Honk Kong. Indeed, it does not include a real scenario, the scenes of fight are more and more surprising as the film is continuing, even finishing by an unforgettable fight with the chain saw and humour is very often clumsy. Chow Yun Fat's performance in this film is surprising. Indeed, the elegant Woo hero or the tortured Lam hero becomes a funny, artless and dolt hero, ending in underpants to save the life of a hostage. It is with this film that one can realise the easiness Chow Yun Fat has to adapt himself to all the situations and in particular to the register of the comic actor; besides, he will confirm his comic actor's talent in a completely astounding film Diary of a Big Man, known by any self-respecting Honk-Kong films fan (see Tsui-Hark) …

 

5. The protector cop : Wild search by Ringo Lam, 1989.
Minor film in the career of Ringo Lam, nevertheless Wild Search remains a small amusing film giving rise to Chow Yun Fat to play the heartrending role of a cop falling in love with the young lady that he took under his wing. Thus, he develops a double-faceted character, solid in his work as a cop and fragile in his sentimental relations with the young lady. It remains all the same a classic role in Chow Yun Fat's career even though he manages as usual to create an original and moving character.

 

6. The king of the game : God of Gamblers by Wong Jing, 1989.
In this film, Chow Yun Fat portrays a very astonishing character since he is the king of the game. So, he can develop one more time his comic qualities thanks to the king of the gag in Hong-Kong: Wong Jing. It is necessary actually here to detail two different characters. The first one played by Chow Yun Fat is the king of the game strictly speaking, namely a rather serious character who corresponds in fact to a wise businessman who is a past master in the games of money (card, dies, …). He plays a role rather close to those that he has already played previously (a noble and elegant hero) but he amplifies the body movements in a caricatured way. Indeed, he juggles with all the objects, which are presented to him in a smart way, and with a skill out of the ordinary. Then begins the performance of the second character, in complete opposition with the first one since the king of the game, after an accident, loses memory and becomes a dreadful idiot unable to manage alone. It gives obviously opportunity to Chow Yun Fat to play the idiot for more than an hour and that gives all the interest to this film...

 

7. The hard Boiled cop : Hard Boiled by John Woo, 1992.
This film is considered as one of John Woo's most beautiful technical success. Indeed, scenes of gunfights are particularly impressive and are on the verge of the choreographic perfection. Chow Yun Fat participates marvellously in the technical success of this film by bringing his usual personal touch: the charisma, the elegance, the easiness and the ideal body movements. However, this debauchery of scenes of action hardly leaves place with the treatment of the characters. Therefore, as a result, it's a film impressing visually but which suffers from a lack of depth. One can strongly feel it through Chow Yun Fat's performance, but it is not bad for all that. Nevertheless, this film remains one of my biggest shocks coming from Hong-Kong.

 

8. The hell angel : Full Contact by Ringo Lam, 1992.
Full contact is to date the last collaboration among Chow Yun Fat and Ringo Lam. The result is more than surprising since Chow is transformed into a leather jacket and shaved skull hooligan. Thus, Chow has so to struggle with a role for which he is hardly familiar with, but in which, as usual, he manages to play a very good interpretation of it. This role is diametrically opposed to those he used to play, Ringo Lam wrecking the image of the traditional hero to make a staggering character of it in a world of cartoons.

 

 
9. The cowboy policeman : Peace Hotel by Wai Kar Fai, 1995.
Peace Hotel is an outstanding film in Chow Yun Fat's career since it constitutes its last performance in Hong-Kong and its last meeting with John Woo, the producer of the film. The characteristic of this film is to be a western that was conceived as a thriller. The influence of John Woo on Wai Kar Fai is in no way perceptible in this film, and the director gives us a very personal and very interesting film. Chow's character is a former bloodthirsty murderer who tries to make amends by putting on a hotel that welcomes people without money. Thus, the first scene of the film presents him in bloodthirsty and shaved skull murderer, which kills above all out of revenge. It is a little pity that his transformation into a rather nice hotel manager is not really clarified in the film. This weird and dark atmosphere film gives rise to Chow Yun Fat to give us a last brilliant performance before his departure to Hollywood.

By François HENRY

Translation : Herve Goldfarb