Ronny Yu is a criminally under-appreciated director, although this may be due to his own doing, as he tends to work slowly and he tends to stay under the radar of most film fans and critics alike. Never one to reside comfortably in a single genre, Yu has had a very strange career to say the least. His work during the 1980’s was hit or miss with a handful of romantic comedies, dramas and action films, the best being the Chow Yun Fat vehicle The Postman Strikes Back. Then in 1993, he crafted The Bride With White Hair starring Leslie Cheung and Brigitte Lin as two tragic lovers, a film that is one of the finest examples of the wuxia genre to ever grace the silver screen. In 1995, he tried his hand at musical melodrama with The Phantom Lover, a Chinese take on the phantom of the opera tale, a decent film made better by Peter Pau’s excellent cinematography.
In 1997 Yu came state side with an odd choice: a children’s fantasy entitled The Warriors of Virtue which features kangaroo-type creatures performing wuxia martial arts and saving the world – a underrated gem of childhood fantasy. After this was Yu’s strangest period yet. Following Warriors came The Bride of Chucky, the fourth installment of the not-so-good Child’s Play franchise. Here Yu injected his wacky sense of humor and his impeccable eye for beautifully shot action and sets, and crafted one of the craziest and most endearing horror-comedies ever made. He followed this with the European gangster film Formula 51 starring Samuel L. Jackson and Meat Loaf, and then went on to inject new life into two dying franchises with Freddy vs. Jason. F v. J is pure brilliance and is not just the best looking Freddy or Jason film, but it is also the best film in both of these franchises.
In 2005, Ronny Yu returned to Hong Kong, and the announcement of his next film set the cinematic world on fire. Not only would Yu be returning to the martial arts genre, but he would also be working with none other than Jet Li, who told the press that the project would be his last martial arts film. The name of this historic film is Fearless, and the film does both its star and its director justice, as it is a finely crafted motion picture on par with any that have come before it. Fearless is a martial arts biopic of Huo Yaun Jia, a famous Chinese kung fu master during the early 1900’s. China during this time was in a state of constant turmoil as the Europeans were trying to indoctrinate the Chinese culture with Christianity and imperialistic views often turning into cruel and ugly racism. Yuan Jia, played by Jet Li, was seen as a national hero of sorts, although his early days as a fighter were full of angst, death, and loss.
Jet Li is no stranger to playing real life martial arts heroes. He made Wong Fei Hong into a semi-common household name (at least amongst genre loving households) with his portrayal of the hero in Tsui Hark’s Once Upon a Time in China series. However, in Fearless, Li’s portrayal feels more three-dimensional as he turns in a performance of a lifetime. Unlike Fei Hong, Yuan Jia did not start off as a virtuous and upright man. Yaun Jia was a man full of rage onset by his father, who was the inventor of the Wu Fist, refusing to teach him martial arts and his constant bullying as a child. Once his father dies, Yuan Jia returns to his old home town to become the number one fighter in a series of to-the-death tournament style fights that set up a chain of events leading to the eventual death of Yuan Jia’s family, his exile, and his inner discovery of morality and humbleness.
Fearless is a very angry and violent film offset by moments of extreme beauty and quietness: a trait typical in Yu’s work. During the first half of the film, Yu showcases many brutal and surprisingly violent fights with enough bone-breaking and blood-spurting connections to make even Tony Jaa jealous. Here, Li is playing a man consumed by rage and vengeance and his fighting style exemplifies these traits, while his pompous attitude almost makes his character unlikable. Li’s acting abilities shine here, as this character is the natural evolution of Li's work in Hero and Unleashed. The second half of the film finds Yuan Jia on a sojourn from violence as he tries to escape his tumultuous past and devotes his life to peace and tranquility in a small farming village. Here, his spirit is taken by the wind, as he learns quietness and patience. Here we see another side of Jet Li’s persona, the quiet and contemplative qualities of a man totally at peace with his life. Soon, Yuan Jia feels the call to return to his life as a martial artist, but this time with a newly found sensation of righteousness and maturity.
Jet Li’s acting is not the only thing about Fearless that stands out; Yuen Wo Ping’s action choreography is also in top form, as he crafts some very violent, yet beautifully shot action set pieces. The best of these scenarios takes place in an upscale, multi-storied Chinese restaurant between Yuan Jia and Master Qin, as they fight to the death using swords, tables, pots, stair rails and anything and everything else not nailed to the floor. During this sequence, the filmmakers attain martial arts cinema perfection. The two combatants are in top form as the blows feel heavy and full of power, while Wo Ping’s creative mind works overtime in ways to add to the feeling of chaos. Stairs are broken, the floor is destroyed, walls smashed, furniture mangled, and flesh is cut during this fight for the ages. It is also here that Ronny Yu injects his own sense of cinematic style and energy as he uses extreme lighting and skewed camera angles to add a sense of the fantastic to the reality-bound fisticuffs.
Ronny Yu is not only capable of capturing kinetic and chaotic energy in his films, but he is also a master at crafting quiet moments full of introspection and thoughtfulness. After the blood-soaked showdown in the restaurant, Yuan Jia’s life completely falls apart and the film switches tones in drastic, but not jarring fashion, again exemplifying Yu’s skill behind the camera. Once the film moves into more dramatic territory, the filmmakers can no longer rely on the martial arts to carry the film. Many martial arts films fall apart in this scenario, as the absence of action coupled with poorly executed narratives and pacing bring these films to a grinding halt. However, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon before it, Fearless excels during these sequences to such an extent that one does not miss the action and revels in the feelings of tranquility that radiates from the screen. It is in these quiet moments of contemplation that we see a real change in Yuan Ji’s character; a change that feels neither forced nor contrived, but comes across as a natural evolution.
Fearless is epic in scope and economic in running time, as I was amazed at how much Yu crammed in during the film’s 100 minutes. Not only does Yu tell an epic story with brevity, but he also does so in a way that never feels convoluted or makes the viewer question whether or not something was cut – a fault that hinders films like Tsui Hark’s Seven Swords. Every moment of Fearless is needed, it is as trim as can be, and every moment is crafted to near perfection. While watching Fearless, one gets the feeling that every single person involved in the making of the film gave one hundred percent of his or her skill and talent. Fearless comes highly recommended and is a film that will not soon be forgotten. As a martial arts film it excels in delivering hard-hitting and finely crafted action, seeped in angst and violence, and as a dramatic film it offers believable and three-dimensional characters with moments of heartbreaking beauty and tranquility. Fearless is a film for the ages, and I hope a film that sees Ronny Yu gain the critical admiration he so rightfully deserves. We may be saying good-bye to Jet Li as an onscreen martial artist, but what a send off it is: he could not have asked for a more perfect swan song for a career that defined a genre.
