Shanghai Affairs (1998)

A gang in early twentieth century Shanghai tries to force poor villagers to leave their village until Tang Shan (Donnie Yen) and Bond Lao, two doctors who are also kung fu experts interfere on the village’s behalf. Yue Lo-Chi (Yu Rong Guang), the leader of the Axe Gang sees Tang as an obstacle until his sister’s throat is healed by Tang who has fallen in love with her. Now Yue is torn by indebtedness towards Tang and his employer’s gruesome intentions for the children of the village. After Bond is killed, Tang discovers the truth. Its up to him to put an end to the town’s oppression but the costs will be high for both Yue and Tang.

This is a film with solid choreography, a great cast and a potentially compelling plot that suffers from weak pacing and clichéd character development.

Donnie Yen, directs, choreographs, and stars in one of his last Hong Kong films before moving on to German television and Hollywood. Being the protégé of master choreographer Yuen Woo Ping has helped Yen develop and act in terrific fight scenes. Yen’s character has several clashes with the Axe Gang’s leader played by a Yu Rong Guang that involve a lot of grappling and kicking. The highlight is the final match that involves an axe being tossed on the end of a chain. Donnie keeps the fight scenes exciting with the use of various camera techniques and warped perspectives. Unfortunately, Hong Kong’s use of talcum powder to accentuate the force of a hit is way overdone here. In the opening melee, half of the participants are covered in this mysterious white powder shortly after the first punch is thrown.

I’m a big fan of Yu Rong Guang who definitely had the best role in the film and really plays it well. He is Yue Lo-Chi, leader of the Axe Gang and typically ruthless. What allows his character some depth is the fact that his sister played by the lovely Athena Chu has a condition where she hasn’t been able to speak for 15 years. Of course our hero, Tang Shan played by Yen is a doctor able to cure her and Yu who loves his sister greatly is grateful. As a filmmaker, Yen is smart enough to let Yu run with the conflict, not in so many words or actions but in body language and facial expressions. While the plot does sabotage itself by being too predictable and at times overly dramatic, if anyone makes it work its Yu. He plays the heavy the way Robert De Niro snarled his way through The Untouchables. Yu plays to the camera, cocky and supremely confident. Although seen more recently by American audiences in Jackie Chan’s Shanghai Noon as one of the guards who travels to the States, its Shanghai Affairs that gives Yu one of the best roles he ever had.

Getting back to the plot, Yen has a good one on his hands but the tension and fight scenes are too sporadic. After an opening brawl in the small village the film focuses on the relationship between Tong and Shen, the gang leader’s sister and her recovery. The few martial engagements that do take place seemed forced as the tension between Tong and Yue fizzle. One unintentionally humorous scene has the Axe gang busting into the hospital where Tang is operating on Shen. It’s attempts to add gripping tension is defused by the improbability of the situation. Only when the focus shifts back to the disappearance of children in the village and Bond’s death do we see a more plausible tension return. But even then, I felt cheated because the real villain who has the Axe gang do his dirty work is written out as if it were an afterthought. This is where one of Hong Kong’s greatest weaknesses shows. Hong Kong filmmakers are notorious for crafting scripts on the fly and sometimes just making things up as they go along. Although it can add a fresh blast of spontaneity to an action scene, dialogue and other dramatic elements suffer as a result.

If the story had been written with the various subplots tied more closely and the action more evenly paced this film could have been much better. As it stands, Shanghai Affairs is a showcase for some great Donnie Yen martial arts action if you don’t mind waiting for it. Yu Rong Guang keeps the villains credible while the compelling theme of a poor village exploited by supposedly benevolent powers is should have been more fully exploited.