KIRK’S ENTERPRISE: Crime Story remembered.
Director Kirk Wong and I had a blast recording a DVD commentary for Jackie Chan’s Crime Story. It was the second such venture for him (his first was for his Hollywood debut, The Big Hit) and, for me, the latest in an apparently endless series. Some critics have asked why we don’t have more of the original off and on camera talents from the respective movies on our commentary tracks. I would love it if we did. Unfortunately, many of the suitable candidates either don’t speak English or are dead, or both. Kirk, thankfully, speaks perfect English and is very much alive. He seemed to appreciate that chance to set the record straight on one of the most underrated films in Jackie’s ‘cop socky’ canon.
Many of the books and articles covering Chan’s Hong Kong films dismiss Crime Story as another unsatisfactory collaboration between Jackie and a recalcitrant director. From Kirk’s perspective, though, the pair had a very happy working relationship, and certainly the film itself, and Jackie’s performance, especially, stands up very well today. We also shot an on-camera interview with Kirk, and, between this and the commentary, we detailed the evolution of Crime Story.
Inspired by a real kidnapping case, the film was originally conceived as a vehicle for Jet Li. Kirk describes how the project changed hands and how he convinced Chan to make the film by describing a scene that never actually made it to the finished film! He also provided fascinating insight into the connection between the real-life kidnapping of Teddy Wang and the fictionalized version in the film. Ironically, the week we recorded the commentary, the real case was very much in the news. Wang’s widow, Nina Wang, had passed away, leading to a potential legal battle over her will. It was particularly touching to see the screen versions of Nina and her husband reunited at the end of the film, something that never happened for them, at least not in this lifetime.
The director’s participation in this project also serves to answer the valid question: what happened to Kirk Wong? A past master of gritty crime dramas, Kirk made the move to Hollywood to direct The Big Hit, starring Mark Wahlberg and a bright, young ensemble cast. For my money, it was the best debut film from a Hong Kong director working in Tinseltown, and, as a fan, I eagerly anticipated Kirk’s follow-up project.
I was excited to hear that Kirk was attached to a big-screen version of the classic Marvel comics character Iron Fist. Though relatively obscure, this had been one of the favourite comic books of my youth, and I especially appreciated the Chris Claremont/John Byrne run on the book, the series that really established Danny Rand/Iron Fist and his world. The development process seemed to take forever. Ray Park, AKA Darth Maul, was attached to play the lead. Word was that veteran Hong Kong action actor Chan Wai-man would make his Hollywood debut in the film. Kirk himself remains rather vague as to how, why and when the Iron Fist project ran out of steam, but it evidently took up an inordinate amount of his time and creative energies.
I had met Kirk a couple of times, in passing, while he was working in Hong Kong, but didn’t see him during his American sojourn. It was at the Hong Kong Filmart a couple of years back that I spotted his familiar figure. (Lucky him. Kirk never seems to age. Would that I could say the same!) I introduced myself, and we’ve stayed in touch since.
Since returning to Hong Kong, Kirk has been attached to one of the most exciting remakes on the horizon: The Five Venoms. It would be hard to underestimate the impact this film has had on both fans of kung fu cult cinema and, bizarrely, the
urban music community. Five Venoms was one of the movies that informed the DNA of the influential rap collective The Wu Tang Clan, and the original movie is a forthcoming Dragon Dynasty DVD release.
I first saw the film on video, in the UK, when it was released on the Made In Hong Kong label. (‘Pick Your Poison!’, blared the cover art.) When I moved to Asia, one of of my first jobs saw me working with the wonderfully charming and eccentric Wing Chun (or, as he idiosyncratically spells it, ‘Ving Tsun’) kung fu master Leung Ting. I was editing his encyclopedic work on his chosen martial arts. Leung had also been the martial arts coordinator on Five Venoms, and I used to cajole him into regaling me with tales of how he conceived the various insectoid kung fu techniques. Hopefully, we’ll be able to shoot an illuminating rapfest with him for the DVD extras.
Kirk’s take on Venoms is that it’s a Hong Kong take on the X-Men, and he’s approaching a fascinatingly disparate array of talent to participate, and this is one of the most eagerly anticipated Asian action remakes in development.
Comments
- Functionally Literate, Book Learnin' Brooklyn, NYC | 2007-05-14 11:33:22
- Kraig Rasmussen, San Francisco, California | 2007-05-27 03:19:51
- Linn Haynes, Macon, Georgia | 2007-05-16 19:12:51
- CLINTON WILLIAMS, DEMPOLIS ALABAMA | 2007-05-14 20:03:51