REVIEW: ‘Mr. Canton and Lady Rose’ (1989)

Jackie Chan plays down-on-his-luck Kou Chen-wah, a native of Canton trying his fortune in 1930’s Hong Kong. After being swindled out of his remaining cash Jackie witnesses a gang confrontation and gets involved, rescuing one of the bosses. After accidentally injuring the boss further, the dying boss orders his men to let Jackie “have it.” However the gang misunderstand and Jackie is made the new boss of a prominent triad gang.

[minislides]
[rating:5.0]

HOME VIDEO REVIEWS
• na
AKA
• The Canton Godfather
• Ji ji
• Miracles
• Qi ji
• 奇蹟
GENRE
• Comedy
• Period Action
ORIGIN
• Hong Kong
LENGTH
• 139 minutes
FIGHT TIME
• na
STUDIO
• Golden Harvest
• Golden Way Films
RELEASE DATE
• 1989.06.15 (HK)
RATING
• I (HK)
DIRECTOR
• Jackie Chan
ACTION DIRECTOR
• Jackie Chan
WRITER
• Jackie Chan (screenplay)
• Barry Wong (screenplay)
• Edward Tang (screenplay)
PRODUCER
• Leonard Ho
CINEMATOGRAPHER
• Arthur Wong
MUSIC
• Su Cong
CAST
• Jackie Chan
• Anita Mui
• Gua Ah-leh
• Wu Ma
• Michael Chow
• Fung Fak-on
• Ricky Hui
• Ray Lui
• Mars
• Richard Ng

Jackie Chan’s affinity for classic Hollywood cinema has been increasingly documented, especially the similarity between his visual comedy style and persona and that of the silent comedy era stars, especially Buster Keaton. However it would appear that Chan’s interest in reflecting this affinity in his own work has been somewhat surpressed. Chan did recently manage a nod to Singing in the Rain during Shanghai Knights but such tributes have been few and far between. Regardless, Jackie Chan did already manage to direct his own personal ode to classic movie making with Miracles released in 1989. Miracles is essentially an epic remake of Frank Capra’s POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES (1961), itself a remake of Capra’s own LADY FOR A DAY (1933). Chan pays tribute to the classic Hollywood era, combining elements of the comedy, gangster and musical genres, appropriating 1930’s gangster film iconography to create a glitzy and stylish Hong Kong backdrop for a farcical comedy complete with musical numbers, elaborate settings, lavish costumes and sophisticated camerawork.

The plot of MR CANTON AND LADY ROSE is balanced between the ongoing gang war between Kou and rival boss Tiger, and the charitable makeover of a local, elderly rose seller who Kou befriend. Kou helps her ‘become a lady’ so as not to disappoint her returning daughter, her fiancé and his wealthy farther. On top of this there is also the dissension in Kou’s gang led be the shifty Fei, the developing relationship between Jackie’s character and the late Anita Mui’s, and other subplots featuring Richard Ng’s police captain and Bill Tung’s sneaky conman. All plots and subplots are well handled and intertwined, and while Chan’s character is central to the narrative, he does not over dominate, allowing his co-stars ample time to shine also. In some respects the film is not really about him. His character is very much swept up and taken on a ride. Miracles is one of the films that really mark the shift in Chan’s persona from a confident hero from the outset to a more accidental one, a fish out of water who in this case relies heavily on the advice of his consiglieri played by Wu Ma. While the PROJECT A and POLICE STORY films prior to MR. CANTON AND LADY ROSE depicted Jackie as a policeman and a defender of Hong Kong, this film depicts Jackie as the unwilling leader of a triad gang which he tries to reform. Consequently Chan’s character is often at his wits end trying to balance business with all his ethics and other responsibilities, he often finds himself in need of help which allows the characters of Bill Tung and Anita Mui to come into play.

The casting of the film is superb with Anita Mui especially appropriate as the club singer and love interest Yang Luming, lending both her voice and radiant glamour to the production. Her chemistry with Jackie is evident in every scene they share, including a spot of comical ‘accidental abuse’ (in the tradition of Chan and Maggie Cheung in the POLICE STORY series) where Jackie pleads with her to stay, accidentally tearing her clothes and accidentally tripping and dropping her. The musical sequence featuring Anita Mui singing the catchy song, “Rose, Rose, I Love You,” is an excellent montage of Mui in a variety of costumes. As well as conveying the narrative, this lavish and lovingly filmed sequence makes for a fitting tribute to Anita who lost her brave battle with cervical cancer in 2003. Here she is at her arguable best and during this performance sequence there is a excellent tracking crane shot (just one of many) which moves up from the stage of Kou’s club up to the office window where Jackie Chan surveys the proceedings, smiling approvingly as both character and director. Fans of 80’s comedy regulars Bill Tung and Richard Ng will be pleased to find they are on typically good form in their supporting roles, while Ah Lei Gua is delightfully charming as, in some of the films titles, the titular “Lady Rose”. Their is also a huge number of other supporting roles and cameos for people to look out for including Jacky Cheung, Billy Chow, Lau Sui-Ming, Simon Yam, Yeun Biao and Lei Siu-Tin.

Lei Siu-Tin should be given additional credit for his work on the superb jazz inspired soundtrack which complements each occasion perfectly and is truly one of the films pleasures, as is the direction of Chan himself and the cinematography of Authur Wong. Part of Chan’s decision to make Miracles was to address some of the criticism he had received which suggested that he could not direct drama or shoot a film with any artistic or stylistic prowess. In response Chan built huge lavish sets and brought in camera equipment from the West, treating the audience to beautiful continuous tracking shots and crane shots which, although taken for granted in Hollywood, were still rare in Hong Kong at this time. As well as this, elements of the seamless editing of the classic Hollywood era have been incorporated as well as occasional camera tricks, clever reveals and a variety of viewpoints and camera positions. Fans of Jackie Chan will be pleased however to see that the film is a concoction of both old Hollywood and Jackie’s own distinct film making. Despite the action taking a back-seat to the comedy and drama, Chan and his stunt team still turned out award winning action choreography complemented by the periods music, props and settings, with, in my mind, the restaurant fight as the standout piece making use of the banister, the spiral staircase, tables and chairs. Likewise, Chan conversely lends his sense of timing, framing and editing to aspects other than the action, especially the musical montage sequence mentioned earlier. Subsequently while posing as an early Hollywood film, Miracles retains enough of the Jackie Chan sensibilities, both aesthetically as well as thematically.

As with Jackie Chan’s rebellious streak in POLICE STORY, the film poses the question of how far can one go outside the law with the best intentions as Jackie is forced to kidnap reporters and assault/distract police in order to keep the charade going. As well as ideas of honesty and deception the film addresses the theme of superstition through Jackie’s dependence on his lucky charm; a red rose which acts as a signature motif throughout the film. Through his relationship with the rose seller the film expresses the sentiment of ‘one good turn deserves another’ as Chan feels obliged to help her after she initially helps him early on in the film. While more celebrated directors make such sentiments subtly, Chan openly puts his message across underlining MR CANTON AND LADY ROSE as a ‘feel good movie’ most Jackie fans should appreciate. More casual Jackie Chan fans may feel a little alienated as this film is long reach from the likes of Rush Hour as the film dares to run for relatively long periods without much action. Still this film may be useful to introduce non Hong Kong film fans to the genre through its classic Hollywood era similarities. For die hard Chan fans though, this is a must. MR. CANTON AND LADY ROSE is Jackie Chan’s most self-indulgent film which ranks in his own words as one of his favorite films, as well as mine.