Review Examples
On page 47, there is a still from the 1972 movie 5 Fingers of Death. The photo is of the star, Lo Lieh, who is mentioned in this section on Hong Kong martial arts movies, but the caption doesn't let us know who it is. I may know who it is, and so might many others, but somewhere, someday, someone will pick up this book who won't know. They deserve better.
(Also, as long as we are speaking of Lo Lieh, he actually had a terrific role in one of Jackie Chan's movies, shouldn't that be mentioned somewhere in this "encyclopedia?")
- On page 93, the photo is captioned "Peking Opera performers from Farewell My Concubine". This is incomplete and could be misleading.
In actuality, this is a photo of Leslie Cheung Kwok Wing, and Zhang Fenyi the two stars of Farewell My Concubine playing their roles as Peking Opera performers. It should have been made clear that this was a picture of the stars and not actual Peking Opera performers who might have been performing in the movie.Also, as long as we are speaking of Leslie Cheung, the book has a filmography which lists many of Jackie's movies. The list includes movies that Jackie has produced, along with some of their cast members. One of these movies is Rouge, and a star of this movie is correctly listed as Leslie Cheung.
Having a photo of Leslie, one of the finest actors in the world, but not mentioning him in the photo caption, is tantamount to declaring either that the author doesn't know Leslie Cheung when he sees him, or he doesn't think you need to know. That does not meet my definition of encyclopedic.
- An example of a caption being uncoordinated with the text is with the Lo Lieh photo mentioned above. The accompanying text merely includes Lo Lieh in a list. While in the mention of 5 Fingers of Death, it doesn't say that Lo Lieh starred in it. The novice reader is left without sufficient information to make even an inference that this might be a picture of Lo Lieh. Again, not what I would want from an "encyclopedia."
- Numerous photos have no credits at all.
A list of those that I believe are deserving of inclusion would far exceed the list of those who were mentioned. Some belong here because the role they played, in one or more of Jackie's movies, was such that movie viewers would want to know more about them.
Another reason for a more extensive listing of cast members is that Jackie has helped many young Hong Kong actors and actresses over the years, and some of them have gone on to become major stars in their own right. This would be of interest to Jackie Chan fans and something one might expect from an "encyclopedia."
Here are just a few that I think deserved an entry:
- Leon Lai who played the card sharp in City Hunter. He is one of the most popular Hong Kong recording stars and a famous Hong Kong movie star as well.
- Rosamund Kwan played in Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars, Armour of God, Project A, Pt. 2. She is a very well known Hong Kong actress. Her roles in many of the HK films popular in the US would have made her of interest to readers.
- Andy Lau, is another major Hong Kong star of both films and records. (When Andy won the HK Film Award's Best Actor Award in 2000, Jackie was on the podium with him.) Andy played in Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars, Island of Fire, and had a cameo in Drunken Master 2.
- Brigitte Lin was in Fantasy Mission Force and Police Story. Brigitte is one of the most famous Hong Kong actresses. She too has had many roles in Hong Kong films seen in the US which would make her of interest to readers.
- Bill Tung was in all four of the Police Story series, Project A, Pt. 2, and played Uncle Bill in Rumble in the Bronx. Wouldn't we have loved to have learned more about Bill?
- Mars has been with Jackie almost since before the beginning and is featured in Dragon Lord, Project A, and Police Story. Many of our members have met Mars during visits to see Jackie. But few of us know any details about him. A Jackie Chan encyclopedia is just the place where one would expect to be able to go to fill in those blanks.
In fact only a few of the great villains have entries at all and they are generally Westerners. But even when actors who played the bad guys are listed, they are not necessarily identified as having played the villain. For the Hong Kong actors, often no photo is included to help the reader identify the name with the face. And no names in Chinese characters means the reader can't use this book to dig deeper into the subject. What's an encyclopedia for anyway?
- Chinese name order
- The Chinese names in this book are put in the Western format of given name, family name, although not with 100% consistency. By doing this, the author has made most of the Chinese names incomprehensible, both to those with knowledge of Chinese names and Hong Kong actors, and to those who will be learning these names for the first time. Those new to the genre will be faced with having to relearn the names in the correct order as that is how they are used almost any and everywhere I have ever seen.
I mean, what was the last Yun-Fat Chow movie you saw?
The author states that Asians, as he refers to the Chinese here, put their first names last and their last names first, when of course, he means they put their family names first and their given names last. He describes his decision as putting first names first and last names last without apparently having any idea that we in the West call them first names and last names merely because of the way we have decided to order the family and given names, not because they have some sort of innate quality of firstness or lastness.
Part of being a Jackie Chan fan is having some sensitivity and awareness of cultural differences and knowing that just because we Westerners do something one way, doesn't mean that that is the "right" way.
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- Inaccuracies
- The book refers to Jackie and his "former wife," Lin Feng-Chiao in one place, and then in another, says she is his "first wife"and that they are separated. It should have been clear to anyone proofing this, that they both couldn't be correct. Divorced, or separated, or neither, but not both. As it turns out neither is correct as Jackie and Lin Feng Jiao are still married and Jackie has made several statements to that effect, and his commitment to her, up to and including this year.
The book also says that she was also called Fung Yu Lung. There is no source or attribution for this claim. There are other, correct and well documented names for Jackie's wife, including Lam Fung Giu, in Cantonese, Lin Feng Jiao, in Mandarin, as well as her English name of Joan Lin or Joan Lim, none of which are listed in this book. But no matter which way you mix it up, Fung Yu Lung, or Lung Fung Yu just doesn't cut it.
- Under the entry for Wong, Fei-Hung, it says that Jet Li played Wong Fei-Hung in four of the Once Upon A Time in China films. Technically yes, but misleading in so far as Jet played in the first three and then not again, until Pt. 6, Once Upon a Time in China and America. Someone new to Hong Kong films could easily think from this that the Jetster was in the first four.
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- Filmography
- All in the Family is not a great Jackie Chan movie, or great anyone's movie for that matter, but the inaccurate description given here is the same as ones that have already been published elsewhere. It makes me wonder if the author has actually ever seen this movie. Not that it is a requirement to have seen every obscure movie, including those which may be impossible to obtain, before you can write a book about a subject. But if an author hasn't seen a particular movie, I think that that fact should be noted. Or at least the commentary should be framed so as to say that "this movie is reportedly about..... ."
If the author had watched this movie, he would know that Jackie does not "seduce both a mother and her daughter ." Yes, there are two women, and one is a daughter, but she is somebody else's daughter. Her parents are even shown with her and then later looking for her, so even with the non-subtitled video, it is patently clear that there is no mother/daughter hanky panky going on.
The second woman is the boss's wife. And it is very clear that she is seducing Jackie, not the other way around.
Because this is entitled an "unauthorized" encyclopedia, one might have hoped that the author would have done his own investigation instead of relying on inaccurate second-hand sources. Even if your source is Jackie's own autobiography, it is important to keep in mind that Jackie may not have seen this movie since 1978, if indeed he ever watched it at all. Had the author gone to the original source, and actually watched this movie, he would have been in a position to set the record straight with respect to this movie.
Because the author seems either not to have had access to the original movie, or else had access and chose not to watch it, my reaction is to wonder how much else in the book is merely repeating secondary sources which have perhaps even less accuracy than this one.
I think it is fair to note that John might have been hampered by the ban on giving him assistance that was directed to all of the fan club presidents by the JC Group fairly early on. That closed off an avenue of potential information and access to original sources that might otherwise have been available had he requested it.
- The movie that I "discovered" last month, No End of Surprises is not included in the filmography. (See September 2002 issue of the Jackie Chan Fan Club, USA newsletter for more details about this little known movie.) Although it is obscure, it did exist and is listed in at least two online film databases and should at least be mentioned in an encyclopedia even if no further information is available to the author.
- Jackie had a very prominent cameo role in Chiau Sing Chi's 1999 movie King of Comedy and in Gen X Cops, 1999, which Jackie also had a hand in producing. Neither are listed in the Filmography.
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- Omissions, inaccuracies
Cheng Pei Pei is mentioned but not that she was the main villain in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, a movie most readers would be expected to know.- Omitted is the Incredibly Strange Film Show, of Jonathan Ross. If this is the same as the World of Jackie Chan, a Ross documentary, that is listed, then both names should be given. If it isn't, then something should be said about both and in such a way as to distinguish them from each other.
- Although Michelle Yeoh is mentioned in the cast of Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars, under the movie listing, it is missing from her personal entry. She was the martial arts instructor in Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars who gives, or tries to give Sammo Hung a lesson.
Michelle Yeoh is said to have starred opposite Jackie in two movies and the book lists Supercop and Project S. Michelle only starred opposite Jackie once. There are lots of us who would love to see Michelle star with Jackie a second time but Project S, fun as it is, isn't it. That is because Jackie didn't star in Project S, he had only a cameo appearance.
- It says that Jackie sang the theme song for Once Upon A Time In China. Well...., almost. Jackie did sing the song that is the theme song for OUATIC, but the only movie for which Jackie actually sang the theme song, was OUATIC Pt. 2. George Lam Ji Jeung sang it for the other movies. This is a well known piece of information to someone with knowledge of the wider Hong Kong film and music world beyond Jackie.
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- No Chinese language
- Jackie's name is missing!
Jackie's own name in Chinese isn't given, not in Cantonese, not in Mandarin!
Not his stage name, Sìhng Lùhng,or his birthname, Chan Kòng Sàng (these are the Cantonese pronunciations).
- Not having the Chinese characters or pronunciation is perhaps the most frustrating and inexplicable aspect of the entire book. This means that you can't go to Chinatown, or visit Hong Kong, Singapore, etc., and use this "encyclopedia" to find any of these movies, or CD's, or begin to track down information about them or Jackie. If you can't show a list to a shopkeeper or friend, you won't be able to find what other movies the supporting actors are in.
Without the markings to tell you the proper tones, you can't even begin to try to pronounce the names correctly.
The inexplicable decision to not use any Chinese is even more problematic in the music section. This has transformed, what could have been, one of the best sections of all, into something of much less value to the reader.
Although a few of Jackie's songs have English names given on the CDs, most do not. This means that the translations given are just one person's guess at the meaning. It may well be a great interpretation but without the Chinese characters, the titles given are pretty much unrecognizable. I can only try to guess myself which of the songs are which. And some songs I know quite well.
This criticism isn't intended to take any credit away from the fan who put the book's music section together. She did a fine job under the obvious restrictions within which she had to work.
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- just plain wrong
- Astonishingly, the book claims that Beverly Hills is Jackie's home. Why?? Because "according to the LA Times, Jackie bought a house there."
Sorry, but Jackie Chan has a lot of houses in many places, his home is and has always been, Hong Kong.
- The book claims that Stanley Tong directed A Chinese Ghost Story and Swordsman II. That just isn't so. Ching Siu Tung directed both of these movies. If there is any controversy about the director of Chinese Ghost Story, it is how much of the directing, producer Tsui Hark actually did himself. This is well known information in the world of Hong Kong cinema.
- The photo on page 156 says "Li also played the same character Wong Fei-Hung, in The Legend. Again, no.
The Legend, is a name given to a subsequent video release of what was originally called Fong Sai-Yuk. Jet Li did star in it. Fong Sai-Yuk was a legendary Cantonese hero, but he wasn't Wong Fei-hung. Anyone familiar with HK movies and culture would be expected to know this.
- And here is something that is bound to enrage fans of Jackie Chan and his movies. The author refers to the reedited and re-dubbed versions, released in the USA, of Jackie's movies, made originally for the Hong Kong market, as "upgraded."
"Degraded!!" would be a lot closer to what many Jackie Chan fans think is the truth. These movies include, Supercop, Rumble in the Bronx, First Strike, and Mr. Nice Guy.
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