A Criterion For Jackie

I have a good friend whose goal in life is to read every volume of the Library of America, keeping up with them as they continue to come out. To him, that series represents a certain standard of acknowledged quality. He trusts their critical standards. By reading them, whether they would naturally interest him or not, he feels that it being immersed in the best literature available. It is a noble goal, nice finding a standard bearer, although I only own a scant few myself.

Instead, I feel the same way about the Criterion Collection. There are certain movies that I would skip due entirely to my personal taste. For instance, everything after about 1958 by Ingmar Bergman is - to me - unwatchable, and everything except 'Contempt' and 'Alphaville' by Jean Luc Godard is agitprop. But overall, due to the diligence of the curators and the taste of the selections, I trust that series when it comes to world cinema. They have even diversified into exploitation films in certain places, especially Japan, things like 'Lone Wolf & Cub' and 'Tokyo Drifter.'

Even if physical media is disappearing, the polite way of saying that DVDs and Blu Rays are becoming extinct in a streaming world, I still hold the Criterion Collection as the gold standard for movies. From laserdiscs back in the late 1980s, when they insisted on the correct aspect ratio and were the first to add commentaries, to this very day, I will investigate all their releases. In truth, I wind up buying slightly less than half, but that includes films I may already own.

The Criterion Collection does everything right, even if I don't always agree with the selection. They restore a film if necessary, they get 'Director's Approval' for cuts and color timing if possible, and most importantly, they put the film in context to the times and the state of film making when it was first released.  Perhaps the finest example would be 'Godzilla', where they combined both the 1954 Japanese cut with the 1956 re-edit adding Raymond Burr. If you listened to both commentaries in chronological order, it was a master class in world cinema history, forcing you to completely re-evaluate the merits of the movie.

So it was big news when, right about my birthday this month, Criterion announced that in April they would be including two Jackie Chan films in their hallowed ranks for the first time. Despite being the only Chinese film maker to ever win an Oscar (honorary), Jackie still doesn't get anywhere near the respect he deserves as a film maker. Some day I may go much deeper into the man's filmography, but today I'll touch the tip of the iceberg. To put it mildly, Jackie Chan is the single most important film maker to emerge anywhere in the world in the last 40 years.

The hardest thing to do is communicate across language barriers, yet Jackie has more fans worldwide than any other film artist today, and has for at least two decades. He re-invented a way to make cinema to highlight his own skills and vision, being fortunate enough to work in an area that allowed him the freedom to do that. He has been remarkably consistent over the years, once he started being able to call the shots around 1978. And he has always been an honest film maker, putting his body - often his life - on the line to get the images needed.

By now, the story of Jackie Chan is legend. The son of immigrants who moved to Hong Kong during the Chinese Civil War, growing up poor, sent to the Peking Opera for ten grueling years. Meeting Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, his two 'brothers' who helped him revolutionize first the Hong Kong film industry and then, to a great extent, the rest of the world. The only guy willing to do the crazy stunts in Bruce Lee movies, then tagged as one of his many 'successors'. Finally emerging with an entirely different style, unique and original.

Jackie has just written his second autobiography, which I have not read. I do have the first, 'I Am Jackie Chan'. From the reviews that I have read, in this new one, Jackie focuses on both his childhood hardships and the more unpleasant aspects of his personality. There have been scandals, both personal, such as womanizing and drinking, and issues with his children, both legitimate and illegitimate. So what; do a quick reading of the lives of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton - even Harold Lloyd, the relative choirboy among the great comedians - and you'll find similar issues.

And if you want to put Jackie Chan in perspective, you have to go back to the great silent clowns, Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd. They too could communicate without language. It was when Chan was able to inject comedy into his action sequences that he broke free of the shadow of Bruce Lee, becoming a much larger and more influential figure in world cinema. He freely borrowed from or adapted material from all three, especially Keaton and Lloyd. It was never a steal, always an homage. He is as much a comedy star as an action hero.

Notice the typical Jackie Chan fight scene, which is much more likely to be a chase, with Jackie running for his life. The average plot isn't about him being a bad ass. Instead he is the little guy set upon by much greater forces, persevering through sheer determination, pluck, and a willingness to do crazy stunts. He hates to use guns and almost always tries for a squeaky-clean image.

From Chaplin, Chan learned two important lessons. First, create a character and stick with it. Jackie is always some version of himself, only in special cases playing outside of his friendly persona. Second, always get the audience's empathy. Fans around the world cheer on Jackie because he always plays the good guy beset by bigger and nastier forces.

Keaton was a major influence on the physicality of Jackie's work. In fact, there are only two guys who were capable of pulling off most of the action set pieces, and they lived about sixty years apart. They both had childhood training that allowed them to endure unrealistic amounts of pain. They both were willing to give up their bodies for a gag.

Harold Lloyd, who is only in the last five years or so getting a major re-evaluation due to a steady stream of releases from Criterion, was also a mammoth influence. He had a physicality almost the equal of Chan and Keaton, but he was immaculate in setting up his gags within the framework of a plot. In fact, all of modern comedy owes more to Lloyd, simply because he always played a relentlessly optimistic character. His plot structures were always more complex and thought out, less reliant on spontaneous bits, more structure oriented.

Jackie Chan injected bits of these personas into a very different movie world. Back in 1978, it was all period dramas, a very rigid set piece of traditional Chinese drama. Interjecting something as lunatic as the original 'Drunken Master', which sets all the notions on their head, was sheer genius. He re-invented the lead character from grim avenger into prankster. It exploded within the small Hong Kong film scene immediately, spreading across Asia.

Looking back today, it is obvious to see how dance-like the action choreography is in the early films; you can literally count the beats. It would takes years, plus Chan moving behind the director's chair, for a more fluid punch-by-punch shot sequence style to emerge. Moving into the modern era after his first attempt to break into the American market really put this new action choreography film style into focus. Then top it off with a long shot of an insane stunt.

He didn't do it alone. Sammo Hung was a few years older. For a heavy set guy, he could move amazingly well. The first into the movie business when they finished the Peking Opera, he hustled into becoming stung coordinator, hiring Jackie for those Bruce Lee movies. An excellent director, he's one of the few guys that Jackie trusts absolutely.

Biao Yuen was the third member of the trio, a few years younger. He was even more physical than Jackie, capable of incredible stunts. Watch 'Shanghai Express' and see Yuen jump off a four story building, land, and walk away. Never able to put together complete projects as well as his two 'brothers', he has worked mostly in Chinese television the last few decades.

There is also the changing political climate of Hing Kong during his career. It used to be part of the British empire, being turned over to the Chinese government in 1997, which coincides with Jackie's big push in America. When he went back, it was a different film industry, controlled by the government. I am sure the choice of material for many of his later movies was assisted by political forces. There was more money and all of China as a backdrop, but in exchange for the freedom of expression to do certain subjects.

Criterion has decided to release 'Police Story & Police Story II', the first of what I sincerely hope is a long line of new transfers. Made in 1985, it's not even the cream of the crop of early Jackie movies. It is famous for perhaps his most famous single stunt, jumping on a long metal pole in the middle of a mall, sliding down while crashing through countless lightbulbs and a roof, then walking away. Both are excellent, but I could suggest some others.

'Drunken Master' was his breakout hit, the first time the full comedic aspects of his persona flowered on screen. He did do a sort-of remake, 'Drunken Master II' in 1992, and for sheer enjoyment, it's my favorite Jackie movie. Maybe putting the two in the same package, fourteen years apart, with the right supplements showing the growth in his art would be a masterstroke. Criterion has done that kind of thing before, to good effect, such as two versions of Ernest Hemingway's 'The Killers'.

'Project A' is absolutely non-stop action, the first time it was becoming obvious how much Chan was borrowing from old silent comedies. It also has Sammo Hung and Biao Yuen, all three getting a chance to shine. Throw in some pirates and it's the perfect matinee movie. There was a follow up, also good, but without the other two brothers.

'Wheels on Meals' also has the three brothers, this time in Spain. Another excellent movie, this one has been mysteriously hard to find on DVD in the States, although it does show up on some streaming services. It has the most famous single fight scene in Jackie's career against Benny 'the Jet' Urquidez, an insanely brutal showdown, while remaining very funny. Just being able to get a good copy would be a service to mankind.

These are only the recommendations before 1985, when 'Police Story I' came out. There would be at least a dozen, maybe more, leading up to the current day. Jackie finally, after two unsuccessful tries, broke into the US market in 1995, with 'Rumble in the Bronx'. Hollywood proved problematic, restricting his ability to improvise and do dangerous stunts. He persevered enough to become a household name, but hardly doing the great and groundbreaking work that a cinema artist of his caliber is capable of creating.

Ultimately, Jackie is dealing with one foe that he cannot win the fight with; age. He'll be 65 this year, and his crazy stunt work has by necessity slowed down over the past decade. He still knows how to make a good film, and he still knows how to make you laugh. At a time in life when most people are contemplating retirement, he has ten movies either in post or pre-production.

It's a little thing, getting a Criterion release, but it warmed my heart. Sitting down to watch a Jackie Chan film transforms me into a pre-pubescent kid, open to the joy of sheer entertainment, no longer the rational, analytical critic. I treasure each one, even the early bad ones released under ten different names, even the later lame Hollywood movies. Jackie Chan is the greatest thing to even happen to action cinema because he knows how to put a smile on your face, plain and simple.