"Shinjuku Incident" - A Sacrifice of Ambition

Scarlett 2022-02-04 08:01:13

"Shinjuku Incident" is an ambitious work, just like "The Disciple" before Er Dongsheng: in terms of structure and scale, it is more ambitious than "The Disciple". But this kind of ambition eventually became the sacrifice of Er Dongsheng's overpowering and underpowered, exposing the director's lack of control, and ultimately making the film a montage of chaotic carnivals.
The film's most obvious structure is the scene, which is revealed at the end of the film: when Jackie Chan and Naoto Takenaka meet again in the sewers where they first met, the reincarnation of fate manifests. Others are the log cabin where the Chinese first came to Japan and the building they later built. Like "Mong Kok Night", Er Dongsheng chose the high-density, prosperous and filthy district of Tokyo's Shinjuku district as the triggering place, which is sensitive and tricky. But Er Dongsheng did not make the most of these scenes. There is no shortage of shocking reenactments of the various illegal events presented in the film (such as garbage dumps), but these do not underline Shinjuku's presence. The mini-structure of "Mong Kok Night" is more successful by comparison, thanks to the director's close relationship between the characters and the scenes (such as the Christmas city events, and the impact of these city events on the characters). But in "Shinjuku Incident", not only Naoto Takenaka, the inspector of the jurisdiction, did not interact well with "Shinjuku", but also the protagonist Jackie Chan began to stay away from this crucial scene in the middle of the film. Er Dongsheng's intention was to describe Jackie Chan's hope of bleaching, but he paid an unnecessarily high price: it seriously decomposed the attraction of the story's focus, making the "Shinjuku Incident" not in Shinjuku for a long time! This makes the structure of the scene he painstakingly disintegrate in the middle, only to get back on track at the last minute. However, looking back, the rhythm is chaotic and even procrastinated.

The reason for the confusion in the structure of the film is also the characters. Compared with the overwhelmed scenes, Er Dongsheng completely walked into the quagmire of characters this time. Too many characters, and their complex relationships, make the film's parallel narrative ultimately a nightmare for the editing desk. The film actually describes three forces: Japanese police, Japanese gangsters, and Chinese gangsters. Although the Japanese police have the role of Naoto Takenaka, in fact, their presence is almost zero. This is reflected in the fact that they are completely familiar with gang affairs, and even do not have any intersection with Sanhehui for most of the film. The existence of such a gang has not been strengthened, but has fallen into a confusing situation: because the power of the gang needs to be rebounded by the opposite police as an object, in order to be manifested. And because of the lack of pressure from the police, gangsters lose their sense of reality in the movie.

The second is the fight between the two factions of the Japanese yakuza. This joint is the real focal point of the film, because all the forces are gathered at this point. But this passage is like a child's play: earlier, Jackie Chan killed a president and a team leader and was quickly taken over. Later, although the defection of the gang leader's men was not too abrupt, it directly led to the loss of one party's strength. It is really too child's play to describe power. In the infighting of gangsters, Er Dongsheng added elements such as Japan's black gold politics, but it seemed abrupt and illogical: several politicians suddenly appeared and suddenly disappeared. Their influence was not fully exploited, and they fell victim to a faithful reproduction of the script. Jackie Chan's transformation from a gangster to a gangster's deputy is not unreasonable from the process. But judging from the character of his character, it is a joke, which I will talk about next. As for Xu Jinglei's role, in the end it just provided a reason for Jackie Chan to come to Japan.

The third-party power of the film is the Chinese gangster whose point of view is highlighted in the film. There are several layers in it: first, the stowaways represented by Jackie Chan, secondly the Chinese underworld played by Gao Jie, and finally the overseas Chinese businessmen who are in the middle of these two classes. Due to the particularity, let's leave aside the first category of people. The second type of people is the sub-ecology of the dark world of Shinjuku under the Japanese yakuza. They are used by the Japanese yakuza, and they are also attached to the Japanese yakuza to find a sense of security. This kind of parasitic relationship is most reflected in the Tainan Gang boss played by Gao Jie: he originally ran a venue belonging to the gangster Eguchi Group, but was turned against by the hostile Watanabe Group because his price was the most consistent with Watanabe Group. At the same time, he has no mercy for the emerging Chinese gangster forces. It has to be said that among all the characters, Gao Jie's role is the most convincing, except for Jackie Chan and Wu Yanzu, who are constantly emphasized. His own old-fashioned aura shows full domineering, dedicating a rare oppressive performance in the whole film. As for overseas Chinese businessmen, as a gray area, they are the link between "white" overseas Chinese and "black" overseas Chinese. However, since this is after all a police and gangster storyline, such a gray bond loses its function and becomes a sacrifice of "truth for the real".

Now let's go back to the first type of people, the Chinese smugglers who opened the story in the film. The most successful scene of the film is the beach at the beginning: after the smuggling ferry ran aground, the stowaways sat on the beach one by one in ragged clothes. After seeing the police, they swarmed up and ran away. There is an apocalyptic metaphor here, and it also sets the tone for the film's tragic undertones. But it is a pity that Er Dongsheng was not able to deepen this mass image into a "character" image. As the protagonist, Jackie Chan is really attentive. But his intention to preach goodness ruined the role. I surmised that there are many elements in this role that Jackie Chan himself requested. Because this is really not like Er Dongsheng's character setting habits: the characters in "Disciple" are almost all gray, even the whitest Wu Yanzu also volunteered to help Andy Lau. However, in "Shinjuku Incident", Jackie Chan's role is unexpectedly clean. What's even more ironic is that he sacrificed his life for the Eguchi group in order to raise the Chinese forces, and then he was able to talk about big truths and live a normal life with peace of mind. It's a joke at all! The loss of this character's logic makes his tragic nature decrease as the film progresses, and even the final night scene that resembles Leon's death didn't resonate with me. In contrast, Er Dongsheng's beloved general, Wu Yanzu, took on the burden of the film's tragic synthesis: the character was beaten, then chopped off, and finally died with a broken stomach. And he has the most drastic psychological changes in the film, which can be written about. However, Er Dongsheng's excessive character settings make this possibility to be diluted to invisible. If you reduce one or two Chinese roles and focus on Wu Yanzu, it may make the strength more concentrated.

The film explores the process of Chinese smugglers in Japan from being suppressed, to venting at the top, and finally self-destructing. The topic is placed under the dual context of the Japanese government's indulgent attitude and the Japanese gangsters contributing to this, and it must be said that it is extremely rich. But this richness also means more complex structures and more subtle characterizations. From the beginning of unity to seek food and clothing, to the end of self-mutilation in pursuit of wealth, Er Dongsheng only has gorgeous structures and concepts, but no convincing writing. In contrast, Chen Kaige's transformation of Ying Zheng's character in "Jing Ke Assassinating the King of Qin" is much more natural and ingenious. This is of course thanks to Chen Kaige putting all his energy on this character. And Er Dongsheng's lack of control makes a large number of characters form an ecological map, but at the end of the film, it still makes me stay in the impression of the crowd on the beach at the beginning of the film, which must be said to be the biggest flaw. At the end of the film, all the clues could have been aggregated and exploded, just like the multi-party duel in Canton Road in "PTU". But the parallel narrative is like a runaway horse, and it is out of control. Many characters disappeared from the story without explaining the results at all, leaving the audience with doubts and distractions at the last "critical" moment.

Of course, I still have to say, this is a really sincere work. Er Dongsheng continued his skilled black night style and contributed a wonderful gluttony visually. And his previous works have at least one three-dimensional role: Cecilia Cheung in "Mong Kok Night", Andy Lau in "Disciple". This miss, or because of too much appetite. Is this also because Erdao has more and more resources for him to start "venting"?

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Extended Reading
  • Luciano 2022-03-25 09:01:23

    【Three and a half stars】

  • Brent 2022-03-26 09:01:15

    Nice action movie, very direct