Introduction to Wuxia - Chinese Martial Fantasy genre

There was one time that I went to lunch with a group. We talk a little bit about Chinese film and it's not quite pleasant. I didn't remember much about the detail except the tiny bit when one of the guys comment on 'Hero'.

"It's not realistic." He laughed with an annoying grin. "The part where they jump around the water and fly into the air by stab into water is so ridiculous."

And he proceed to laugh like it was the funniest things in the world. I did not remember what my response is but it probably knock his sense enough for him to said:

"Maybe it's a culture thing."

At first, this word did not have much effect on me. But as I go on through my life, I saw several keep using that word when they keep running into their ideology vs. something else. Sometime really for mitigate situation, but for just shut down situation completely. I have use it several time myself. Along the way, I began to notice my surrounding and came to two realizations:

First is that I did not see any Chinese film in the theater for a very long time.

Second is that in western country, most people seems to categorized every Chinese film no matter how exaggerated is it with fighting as a 'Kung Fu' film.

And that was pretty wrong. A film 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and 'Hero' are in somewhat different category than 'Chinese Action' film like Bruce Lee film, 'Fearless', or 'Ip Man'(which I will call 'Kungfu' film for sake of convenience).

Film like 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and 'Hero' is in a special category Chinese people called 'Wuxia'.

Now, Wuxia is probably equivalent to Fantasy and Superhero in western country. And this make me sigh every time when I heard someone said that 'Crouching Tiger,  Hidden Dragon is not realistic! Chinese people can't fly!'

Of course, it not realistic!! What are those people expect? They watch the fantasy film and expect the film to be realistic!?

Ok, maybe they can say they don't know I guess. But then again, I rarely heard any of any Asian complaining that Harry Potter or The Lord of the Ring are 'not realistic' either.

Real documentary of British school. 

So that might come across as hypocrite, don't you think?

So after I switch back and forth between 'Battlestar Galactica', 'House of Cards', and 'Laughing in the Wind', I decide to write some sort of introduction to the Wuxia genre myself.

After all,  I got a feeling that I might write review or thought about it at some point.

But before I begin I like to make myself clear, I'm not an expert on Wuxia and I can't read Chinese. I only write from stuff I know that manifest from many of year of my exposure to the genre. So, it might be possible that I might got some meaning wrong. If I do, feel free to correct me. I would be greatly appreciated.

Also, this will be a lot more informal. If you want formal version, read wikipedia.

=====================================================

What is Wuxia?

Wuxia (wu-hsia), according to good ol' wikipedia, is literally translate as 'Martial Hero'.

Wu(武) means military, martial, or armed.

Xia(侠) means honourable, chivalrous, or hero.

So combine together it probably sound something like 'Martial art hero'. It's a story about a dude/lady who learn some martial art, go around China, and do some good. How hard is that? Change the word 'dude/ lady who learn martial art' with 'knight' and 'China' with 'Europe' and you will got the same promise with western fantasy.

Not hard, isn't it?

See, I can understand it now, Gu Gu.

=====================================================

When is it originate?

From what I understand, the concept of Xia(侠- chivalrous) probably went back all the way in from all of heroic story back during Autumn and Spring period[1]. But the idea of a wuxia probably generate in the Ming dynasty[2], by a book called 'Water Margin(Shui Hu Juan)'.

This one.

Water Margin (also called 'Outlaws of the Marsh') tells a story of 108 bandits who gathers around at Mount Liangshan. It told story for each of them, about their adventure, exploit, and how they were force to become bandit. It was one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese. Quite interesting badass book, if I said so myself. But I won't cover it here, I might do it in later time.

Not this version though.

Because what I want to talk about is the Wuxia in 20th story, the one that you watch in big screen.


================================================================

The Big Three (aka Guys that you should know).

At 1960-1980, it was a golden time for Wuxia novel. Despite the ban from mainland, wuxia novel become very popular among Chinese reader on other Chinese speaking country. Among them, there are three of them that rose among others.

1) Liang Yusheng(aka, Chen Wentong). He was name as a pioneer of modern wuxia genre, a baseline for all incoming writer like Jin Yong and Gu Long. Sadly, he was also the guy I know the least.

Famous work/adaptation: The Bride with White Hair(1993), Seven Swords(2005).

Liang Yusheng.

His most famous adaptation.

And it's glorious 3D remake.

2) Jin Yong(aka Louis Cha Leung-yung). Arguably the most successful Wuxia writer of all time. Several of his novel were adapt into TV series for countless time and most of his character is pretty well known in Asian country. His works usually include historical detail and their character. Genghis Khan himself was even show up as one of the important character on 'Legend of Condor hero(射雕英雄传)'.

Also, in my opinion, he's the most politic mind of all three.

Famous work: Condor Heroes Trilogy, Demi God and Semi Devil, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, The Deer and the Cauldron.

Jin Yong.

And some of his adaptation.

3) Gu Long(aka Xiong Yaohua). Arguably the most unique and most tragic of all three. Unlike Liang Yucheng, and Jin Yong who in cooperate Chinese knowledge(poem, history) within their work, Gu Long got most of his inspiration from western literature like Ernest Hemingway along with their heroes like Sherlock Holmes, Arsine Lupin, and even James Bond. Most of his work is mostly involve with internal conflict within character and more philosophic in nature.

Also, as mention by his pen name(Gu - ancient, Long - dragon), he was arguably the most conservative(which can come sexist sometime) of all three. But then again it's a product of his own time and I  don't think he's worst than Ian Fleming in that regard.

Hell, I think he's not even that bad when compare with some modern American comic writer. He's just more direct to the point.

Famous work: Xiaoli Feidao(Little Li's flying dagger) series, Chu Liuxiang series, Lu Xiaofeng series, The Legendary Twins(Jeudai SheangJiao), etc.

Gu Long.

Chu LiuXiang, the fragrance thief, one of his famous character

Special mention:

Huang Yi(aka Huang Zuqiang): He's one of the more recent writer. I'm not sure if he's as popular as the big three above but I guess he's getting there. His most well known work are 'Step Into the Past' and 'Twin of Brother'.

=============================================================

I don't know Chinese. Where should I start?

Sadly, despite having a Chinatown in almost every place in US. The source for English wuxia genre are pretty limit(at least in smaller city). The easiest would be getting one of Chinese movie dvd. I think it's a good idea, but I think it's a bit too short to learn about all those wonderful world of ancient China. If you want something more than 2 hour films you can check the novel and tv series. It might be hard to find but you might be able to get one by using these tips.

1) Know which one you want to check. First you needs to know which one you want to check. You can check by one of the name above or check on these two websites.

www.wuxiaedge.com: Good site. Looks neat. It mostly feature mostly the 'new' series and frequently update. They also have a 'recommendation' section which might be a good place to start.

www.spcnet.com: Seems to have some information and review. Not update for decade but the forum was pretty active. They have a fan translation too which is a plus.

www.wuxiapedia.com Have some info but don't update for a decade.

2) Use steaming service: There are several Chinese series that was fansub all around the 'net. Aside from that you can check on dramafever.com or crunchyroll.com, it contain mostly korean but there are some Chinese series here and there (I recommend 'Laughing in the Wind') as well.

3) Buy TV series dvd. I never try it but I surprisingly found that there are some of them selling in Amazon. But check carefully, some might not have English subtitle.

4) Buy a book. Sadly, this is the worst option. There are very few Chinese translated wuxia novel. I can't find it anywhere on my local Barnes & Noble or Books-a-million. And on Amazon I found only these handful book.

Books and Sword - Jin Yong.
Deer and Couldron - Jin Yong. This one worth a special mention since it's super expensive($35+ for one of three books) and have a bad translation from what I heard.
The Eleventh Son - Gu Long.

There are also some that are write in America(Dream of Dragon Pool, Legend of Snow Wolf,  etc). I might try it someday.
==============================================================

So that's it for now. I hope someone can get something out of this.

Next time, I will be writing about some common 'skill' and 'rule' in Wuxia.

===============================================================

Reference:

[1]: Autumn and Spring period(771-476 BC). One of most chaotic time in Chinese history, a three century of fighting between warlords. Many great philosophy like Sun Tzu, Confucious, Lao Tzu, Han Fei came this era.

[2] Ming dynasty(1368-1644). The next-to-last Chinese dynasty and the last one that govern by Chinese. Have some reputation of corruption by Eunuch. Several wuxia writer love to use this period.

The Wind Rise - Farewell to dream( 4.5/5 ).

"People must have goals and ambition, sometimes we have to abandon everything else and chase them with with a purpose. Regardless of the outcome, whether it be success of happiness, it doesn't really matter."
- Gu Long.

Once upon the time in every body life, no matter how bitter they become in later life, they have a dream at one point. Some dream to become a soldier. Some dream to become a teacher.

Hayao Miyazaki was no different than those men. He build several excellent animation film for all people in the world could enjoy. Those animations such as 'Spirit Away', 'Princess Mononoke' and many other touch many people heart, including mine.

For a time, things have been good.

But like all things, it has come to an end. When I heard from last year that Miyazaki have a plan to retire and make this one last film for all of us , I sighed with sadness. Then I make my plan to see this film. His last film. His last hurrah.

The film called 'The Wind Rise'.

The Wind Rise is a story base on story of Jiro Horikoshi, an airplane designer.

Jiro was a Japanese boy who was born in the undeveloped 1920 Japan. Despite how poor his country was, he have a big dream.

To build the best airplane ever made.

Along the way of his life, he was frequently visit in his dream by Count Caproni, an Italian aeronautical engineer. I found him to be excellent character since he works at both mentor and foreshadowing of Jiro's life. He too, have big dream to build on airplane.

Which only use for war.

And Jiro walk down to the very same step as he work on Zero airplane project, the plane that was so infamous by their use of Imperial Japan in WWII. 

For this I feel that the film give me very interesting thought. If this was said another anime, it would have some sort of question like 'What is the mind behind slaughter machine?' or 'Is advance technology only make slaughter more efficient?' The film did not ask me that. Instead, it shows Jiro as a normal human with only passion for his wife and his dream for building an airplane. For me, Jiro represent the change. 

Not change from old-Japan to Imperialistic Japan, just change of the passage of time.

Alongside of Jiro, the film also show pre-WWII Japan with some sort of nostalgic through Jiro's wife, Naoko. If Jiro is a symbol of future change, a young, dedicate, and frail Naoko was symbolized a dying old Japan who was on it's last breath.  

And as Jiro found out that his dear wife Naoko was dying from Tuberculosis, he was represent a choice. He have to choose whether to leave his job with his wife to sanitary(past) or stay with his job to create an airplane. He choose the latter with support of his wife.

Like the future needs support from the past.

When the time that Zero was finish, Naoko passed away like a past that can never turn back. 

His success was also the come and gone like a spirit wind of summer. It can make your feel better but it never last. Once Zero complete, Jiro was left with nothing but empty heart. His love was gone and his masterpiece become a killing machine. 

In the last scene, as Jiro walk along the dream scenery airplane graveyard while watching the Zeroes fly away, I also felt like I was watching the fond memory of hyping for Miyazaki's film pass away myself. When Naoko said goodbye to Jiro and tell him to live, it felt like a goodbye message to the us. No matter if this is really his last film, his time was passing by like a wind which can never be control.

And so we must move on and live to the best of our live.

Robocop (2014) review 3/5

I first met Robocop when I was young boy. It was the third film that I watch. I can't remember what year it is but the time feels different back then. Life is easy with nothing to worry about. I remember watching it and amazing how cool Robocop was with machinegun hand and jetpack. A few week later, I follow it with first and second film. I like the film but did not feel amazed by it back then. I was too young and could not understand the concept of 'Ghost in the machine'

Fast forward several later around two years ago, I decided to grab the Robocop trilogy and watch it for some reason that I couldn't remember. I like the film instantly. Unlike my childish self back then, I found myself prefer first film the most and film the least. The trilogy did remind me of how the movie was back then. The time where cg is hard and difficult. In that time, Robocop doesn't need to be flashy. He need to be slow and robot like since it reflect his mind, the one of person that has been lobotomized so hard that he became robot like. Although I like both sequel to a degree, I felt that there are no need for it since the conflict, a search for Alex Murphy's soul, was already solve in the first film. When he turned around to the camera and said his name is one of the perfect moment in cinema. It show a triumph of human spirit who refuse to be machine.

It's a good film for its time.

Ah, memories.

Now, there's a new Robocop film coming up. Like most people, I first have some pessimist feeling about it. It doesn't seems like original film. There's a lot of recognized actor. There's a lot of CG and action scene. Even Robocop doesn't look like his old self. He's faster, stronger and even paint in black!

That doesn't seems like Robocop to me!

Like a crazy frantic nerd, I wander around the internet. Of course, there some other who have some hope for the film and there are some who did not. But  as a fan, I got to watch it.

And so I did.

And I like it.

The story of the film is quite similar to original. Detective Alex Murphy was badly injured by a car bomb. After his wife Clara (Abbie Cornish) agree to let Omni Corp used his body for their prog ram, he was resurrected as Robocop, a law enforcing machine and Omnicorp biggest product advertisement.

The cast is pretty solid. Joel Kinnerman is doing a good job of portraying Alex Murphy. While many people might think that he could not fit into Peter Weller(original Robocop) shoes, I beg to differ. I think that it would be wrong to compare these two because both actor got different script and different take on Robocop /Murphy. Weller's Robocop was a lobotomized cyborg who gradually regain his humanity while Kinner man's Murphy was a cyborg who slowly became lobotomized as the story progressed.

For the rest of colorful cast, they done a pretty good job. I like Gary Oldman the most since it's different from rest of the role he usually has.  Michael Keaton was good as well as Omnicorp CEO who ask like Steve Job's evil brother. Even he's not Batman anymore, it's funny to see that he still like to 'make it black'. 

Also it was nice to see Jackie Earle 'Rorschach' Haley as well, didn't see him since Watchman.


Still, there are two things that I did not like about the film.

1) Aimee Garcia as Jae Kim. Her role is okay but wasn't the character suppose to be Korean? I did not ask for Lee Young Ae but couldn't they just put cast an actually Korean or at least some Asian?

My eyesight probably bad, but I don't think they can pass at each other.

2) This flicking ending theme.


Seriously, it's a bad idea. You can't end a franchise movie with a well known theme with some random music. It's disrespectful. Like you can't make Star Wars film with an ending song from Justin Bieber album. At least write some original music like all the Bonds film.

My face when I saw the end credit.

I would like to mention also that the action scene are rather dull in my opinion. In most scene, Robocop just ran forward with dual gun and mow the bad guy like an arcade rail shooter. The original film kinda like that too but I never got the 'rail shooter' feel from it. Guess the soundtrack might help.

But aside from that I think it's a good film.

As for the change, I believe it was necessary(except for the ending credit theme). The first Robocop, while not Oscar film, was so good and unique in it own way. If the film use all the old element, it will only retreading all the old concept. It's a no-win situation since the critic and fans will always compare it with the old film. The world have change a lot from the time that the old Robocop was film. While I don't think we are any close to utopia, I think that people are more aware of their right and something in the old film like the OCP's right of Alex Murphy's body is something that is less believable nowadays. Not to mention that the concept is already been used. The viewer and visualize effect have change too. With a superhero film like Iron man coming out several times per year, a sight of slow walking cyborg is not so unique anymore.

Like Murphy, I was struggle throughout the film watching everything change around me. As he feels confuse when he found his new cyborg body, I feels confuse that it was black instead of blue. When he was program to subdue his emotional size, we also have been bombard with what some people think as 'brainless CG movie' instead of 'oldies handmade SFX'. But as the movie goes one, as Murphy seems to adjust of this 'change' and his emotion began to resurface, I ask myself a question.

If he can adjust to the change, while shouldn't we?

Of course, nothing would be the same. But the change is not always come with the bad thing.Old movies, like Murphy's old past are come and gone. Murphy would prefer to get the old life back but he can't have it. It's a thing of the past which will not return. He knows accept the change and fight on. And in the end, he was able to see his wife and child again. He might not be able to do things he able to do but in the end he still regain something.

So why we won't be like him, we would never have a new 'Original Robocop' anyway so why we don't just enjoy the film for what it is. I don't think that it's as good as the original but it's not even half bad. Let's just enjoy our current time and current Robocop for what it is. And if I want to see the old Robocop again...

....I just need to pop in my Bluray.  

PS: Since there are many actor in this film that was in super hero flick. I like to write down a short crazy summary for fun.

"After Detective Alex Murphy(Joel Kinnerman) was badly injured by a car bomb, his body was retrieved by Omnicorp, a company that was run by Batman(Michael Keaton). There he was transformed to an ultimate fighting machine called 'Robocop' by Commissioner Gordon(Gary Oldman). Other cast include Abbie Connish as Murphy's wife. Rorschach(Jackie Earl Haley) as Robocop's trainer, and Fox news host play by Hairy Nick Fury(Samuel L. Jackson)