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Rob_Hugo@PortNWI listened to an interview in Asia Pacific Arts about Stephen Chow. Stephen Chow recently published his new movie "Kung Fu Hustle" in America. Before the release of this film, his other film, "Shaolin Soccer," did extremely well not only in Hong Kong but also American box office. According to the article, Chow is "called the "best actor in Hong Kong" by no less an authority than Quentin Tarantino." Chow is also a man of many abilities considering he directed, produced, and starred in "Kung Fu Hustle."
With the Chinese film industry slow growth, Chow adds a burst of senstation into the film industry. I personally am familiar with Stephen Chow's work even before his fame arrived in America. Movies such as "God of Gamblers II," and "God of Cookery," were both great humorous films. The rise of Stephen Chow as a star is very unexpected by me though. Similar to Jackie Chan, Chow's films have their own feel. Chan's films follow a routine good guy struggling to defeat the bad guy in the end, while Chow's films seem like a giant slapstick comedy filled with actions and nonconventional humor. Even though this interview compares the success of Chow's film with the success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," the two films are in complete different categories and I believe can not receive the same credit. Chow's movie is focused to generate nothing more than a laugh from the view audience or an awe of inspiration from the amazing effects. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" though, has a great storyline, was beautifully directed, and focused on the constant struggle of human beings to deal with emotions.
Overall, I can see how Stephen Chow's films can be a big success in the United States; his style of humor is unforseen and takes the audience by surprise. His films are original and filled with his creative genius. Even though his films does no more than induce laughter from the audience, maybe what the Chinese film industry needs is a good laugh from Stephen Chow. Ratjer than having other directors trying to put togther an expensive complicated film that is only going to genrate buzz but no revenue, Chow might be the next best thing since Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.
AnonymousI also read the article "Stephen Chow: Let's Do the Kung-Fu Hustle" which talks about the release of Stephen Chow's film "Kungfu Husle" in the US. I think that the article's praise of Stephen Chow as the "best actor in Hong Kong" is fairly understated considering how much the man is actually capable of not only in acintg, but in writing and directing and producing.
I grew up watching a lot of Chow's films even before his success with "Shaolin Soccer", so I'm am excited to see that he is crossing over to the states and having success. However, i feel that a lot of the humor and sarcasm which he put into the movies are lost in the American versions. I thought the dubbing of "Shaolin Soccer" was so horrible. All the jokes and puns which i found funny and critical to the film were either mistranslated or non-existent or badly rephrased in English. It was no wonder that "Shaolin Soccer" only did so-so in American box office because so much of the comdey was lost in translation.
Hopefully "Kung -fu Huste", without the unfortunate bad dubbing which butchered "Shaolin Soccer", will do much better in the states. However i must say that the film is a lot different from the classic Stephen Chow movies which i grew up watching, with more of a focus on action and Kung Fu and special effects than comedy.
AnonymousThe article on Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle praised him as China's greatest actor, but in the film his directing and production skills must be mentioned. Like Queenie, I also grew up watching numerous Stephen Chow movies, but in Vietnamese translation. His unique approach to comedy always got me laughing until tears came out of my eyes. He's been around for a while, and i think his hard work finally paid off. His films are very creative, and with the rise in film technology, i see him utilizing everything in his reach. I would consider Kung Fu Hustle to be the Chinese "Matrix"..haha..well special effects wise.