In my review of
Collateral
Damage I lament the rise of kung fu in movies
over good old "normal" fighting. Kung
fu as depicted in Hollywood movies is pretty
poor. In America it is impossible to insure
the stuntmen who will do the job properly. This
is because those stuntmen - who work in the
Hong Kong movie biz - are nutters.
Wire fu, for those who've not heard that
expression, is the term used to describe how
many western (and, increasingly often, eastern)
movie makers cheat when filming kung fu. It
works like this: an actor is suspended from
wires and executes his combination kicks or
whatever whilst dangling in the air like a puppet.
We've seen countless shots of someone kicking
an opponent repeatedly in the chest whilst in
the midst of a mid-air jump - almost as if they
are walking up their ribs - and then they usually
finish off the move with a backwards somersault.
That's
wire fu. The wires are either
too thin to be seen or are removed using computers
in post prod. Using this technique, kung fu
artists can perform physically impossible mid-air
feats. (This technique is also used in movies
like Starship Troopers, but it is used most
often for kung fu).
Wire fu is dismal because it can kill suspension
(pun intended) of disbelief. Bullet time (extreme
slow motion where you can see the bullets hurtle
through the air) is another lamentably cheesy
gimmick, but at least it allows for some amusing
special effects in
The
Matrix). And it's a fantastic innovation
in the computer game Max Payne.
Even without wire fu, movie kung fu is unrealistic,
you would never see real martial arts combat
like that. It is there to look pretty. But it
still takes incredible skill to do well. The
classic Hong Kong movies featuring actors like
Jackie Chan are often wire-free. Those guys
use fight choreography that is incredibly fast,
and they perform remarkable stunts. You see
guys literally getting hurt in those stunts.
In Police Story, for example, Chan uses a car
parked across the road to stop a bus full of
gangsters. The bus driver slams on the anchors
and the stuntmen tumble out of the top windows.
The tarmac road breaks their fall. They were
*supposed* to land on the car! (even then the
stunt looked suicidal). The true professional,
Chan continued acting the scene regardless so
as not to waste a good - if fucked up - stunt,
while his mates lay on the ground in agony and
of decidedly dodgy mortal condition. (They were
taken to hospital, apparently). Those Honk Kong
stunt guys are mental. One feels vaguely uncomfortable
watching the pain, but knowing how utterly insane
the stunt work is adds a new dimension of interest
to those movies. Just as well, as the non-fighting
parts of such movies I have seen are a ghoulish
vortex of stiff acting, laughable romance and
toe-curling, twee "humour". The unintentional
humour is a laff though and there's oodles of
that.
Sooner rather than later even wire fu will be
obsolete as computer graphics will free fight
choreography from the pestilent shackles of
human anatomy and the laws of physics. Already
stuntmen are being replaced by the ultimate
enemy: the digital chip. It knows no fear and
it feels no pain. It will eat your lunch, kick
yer ass and then jump out of the tenth floor
window. Welcome to the lily-livered world of
digi fu.
A marshal arts expert and friend, Declan
Chellar writes the following on Movie Fu. I
have taken his words out of context, but it's
an informative read anyway.
The Matrix:
Not a "Kung Fu" movie because it does not feature
any actual "Kung Fu" practitioners. Fishbourne
and Reeves received 6 months training at best
and so do not qualify.
Blade: Not a "Kung Fu" movie because
it does not feature any actual "Kung Fu" practitioners.
Snipes practises Karate and Capoeira.
Watch any Jackie Chan film, particularly [
Hong
Kong movies] Police Story, Police Story
2 or Dragons Forever and you will see no "motionless
stooges".
Jet Li is a Wushu bod, which means he trained
with sport/performance in mind rather than combat.
As a Wushu athlete, he would have learned various
styles. By the time he was 18 he had already
won the All China championships five times.
As for his thumbs being extended, it depends
on what he is doing. Extending the thumb is
an energy thing to do with opening the channels
into the palm of the hand (unless, of course,
you are extending the thumb so as to jam it
into somebody's eyeball).
Martial arts movies are fine for entertainment
and I love seeing someone's skill demonstrated.
I highly recommend Fist of Legend (minimal "wire-fu",
Jim!) as Jet Li's last good film. However, although
the techniques are genuine, the tactics are
rarely realistic, so there is little to be learned
from the movies.
The "wire-fu" in Crouching Tiger was necessary
because, traditionally, sword movies are distinct
from "hand-to-hand" movies in that they tend
to feature supernatural or super-powered characters.
Thanks to Declan for the above
Screaming Death to wire fu!
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| From: |
not that important | Subject: | 2004-12-05 07:06:40 |
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| From: |
marc | Subject: | 2006-05-14 16:35:51 |
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