Customer Reviews

Red Trousers

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Red Trousers is a fantastic work of art, intertwining a full-feature documentary with an action short. It transports the audience into a world of life-endangering stunts and uncovers the hardships and motivations that are the driving force for these Hong Kong stunt men. The documentary includes interviews with well-known martial artists such as Sammo Hung, Lau Kar Leung, and writer/director/actor Robin Shou as well as aspiring "red trousers" from a Peking Opera school in China, who all have heart-warming stories to share. "Red Trouser: The Life of a Hong Kong Stuntman" is a truly fascinating look at stunts as an art, a career, and a way of life.

The career of Robin Shou isn't widely studied. Sure, he'll always be recognizable as Liu Kang from the Mortal Kombat movies and a few folks might recognize him in Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li, but good luck finding many people who've heard of his work in Hong Kong material like Death Cage or Interpol Connection. It'd seem natural that in-between stints of his sagging US career, Shou would return to the east to practice his trade...which he did, albeit as a director, and not of a high-octane action movie, but of one of the most singular documentaries you've ever seen venerating the hitherto-unsung heroes and innovators: the stuntmen of Hong Kong cinema.

Granted, the red trousers (the name given to practitioners of Chinese opera, because to their traditional red training/performing uniforms) have received some mention in documentaries like The Art of Action: Martial Arts in the Movies, but nobody has gone the whole ten yards with a camera the way Shou does. With a bit of backstory on the origins of stuntwork in the Beijing Opera, Shou examines the lives, working conditions, work process, and personal drives of the people regularly seen risking life and limb for the sake of an exciting movie scene.

Shou interviews a lot of people in his attempt to piece together the gist of what it is to be a stunt worker in Hong Kong, and a few names are more recognizable than others. There's Sammo Hung, legendary big brother to all red trousers and authority on the differences between stuntwork in Asia and America. There's the ever-animated Sifu Lau Ka Leung, director of Jackie Chan's The Legend of Drunken Master, who will tell you in minute detail how grueling it was to be a stuntman in the '50s. Let's not forget Ridley Tsui, stunt director of plenty of films but best known to us as "Smoke" from Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, who specializes in the subtle art of cussing at stuntmen to inspire them to perform death-defying feats. They all have a lot to say, but it's testimonies of the guys in the field that validate them: Jack Wong, who performed an obviously painful falling stunt repeatedly just so it would look right; Jude Poyer, a British national who braved culture shock just to live out his dream in Asia; Wang Hua, who was gravely injured in an accidental 3-story fall but still aspires to get back in the game. The highlighted sacrifices made by these people who simply want to be the best at their unique occupation is the major calling card of this documentary.

Shou hasn't made a documentary about exploitation and tragedy, but rather what it means to the Chinese to dedicate yourself to something. It's more of a legitimate inspirational tale than anything else about careers that begin as early as pre-adolescence and last as long as there's a film market...if one can keep their nerve and save face. Harsh realities of the expectations of directors and the price of failure are examined but not made the centerpiece of the movie, which manages to convey a message of optimism even during scenes in which the younger generation of opera students demonstrate their appreciation of time and the working world by tearfully professing their need to work even harder than they already are to survive in the tough movie environment; it's an emotion-capturing feat that director Robin should be commended for.

The only thing that's downright bad about the film is the scenes of the mini-movie "Lost Time" inserted at intervals throughout the flick. Also directed by and starring Shou, it should serve as a visual aide and validation to proclamations made throughout the documentary, but it just plain stinks. The storyline is nonsense, the production values are disappointing, and most damningly, the tight-shot, over-edited action scenes are not at all in tune with the Hong Kong style. While I'm not so naïve as to expect a top-tier production from a half-hour movie that was obviously shot on limited time and budget, Shou's vision as director doesn't at all reflect the points made by the documentary...not to mention that his long-awaited rematches with fellow "Mortal Kombat" alumni Keith "Reptile" Cooke and Hakim Alston are beyond disappointing. This alone keeps the movie from obtaining a 5-star rating.

With a production that's remarkably clean, well-paced, and engaging throughout (not to mention featuring plenty of DVD extras), this is one hidden gem that you ought to definitely adorn your collection with. Shou fans in particular ought to take notice, of course, but it really is necessary viewing for anybody who's enjoyed Hong Kong movies from any era just for the sheer amount of ground it covers - more than I've been able to fit into this review. Get it!

I'm so impressed by this film. Not only did it manage to cover the history of stuntmanship, and how the field led to so many action heroes, but it was so touching to see how children today are completely dedicated to the art. Robin Shou is super impressive as Evan in "Lost Time"...remember this short film is to facilitate the documentary, I was so suprised the first time when everyone rushed onto set! This is a MUST SEE for anyone who considers themselves a martial arts or action film fan. It's really amazing to see these lean Chinese stuntmen risk their necks to get the effect right..and not use padding and other CGI effects like Hollywood actors do.

It is a rare doco of Hong Kong stuntstaff, their performing-related problems and a way this industry works.

Second disc is just for a volume mostly.

The documentrary is very esoteric in nature. Not everyone is going to like it or get it. I did enjoy this immensley. It caught a neat fraterntity of men, the fratnernity (soriety) of the "Red Trousers" from the chinese oprea these articles of clothing originated from. I enjoyed the interviews, thoughtful commentary and I enjoyed the silly movie interwined with the documentary. It was meant to show off the skills of the stunt men, otherwise I would have made fun of it horribly. The depth of realtions in this group of people was displayed and were often used to spur others onto excellence or awareness of doing better, for themselves. Very dedicated to their schooling, a hint of chinese culture. If you are not into 'reading' your documentraies or movies then you won't like this, but if you like hearing from a very disctinct group of professionals in a very unique and HIGHLY dangerous profession, you might enjoy this. I as a North American was surprised at how little the protections were for these stunt men, but they did it anyways and learned on the job. WOW! Dedication or foolishness? Not sure which. But I felt for many of them, in their quest for excellence, it is not easy and few support you along the road, something Robin Shou does point out without being maudlin. I think anyone who has an intrest beyond the pedrestrain would really enjoy this documentray. I know I did.

This is a compilation of many film segments on the Hong Kong kung fu stunt man's life. It is much harder and demanding than its Hollywood counterpart. Many stunt men start when they were little kids. The schools that train them were shown as well as footages of incredible stunts. There are many interviews of people in different stages of their careers; from young students to retired stunt men. The package comes with 2 DVDs and a book. I recommend this for those interested in martial arts, Chinese fighting opera and kung fu action flicks.

Well i'll tell you the bad... The high light of this movie, Lost Time, is probably only about 20 minutes in length through out the whole movie. You get little 2 minutes teases of it through the film and only when the last 10 minutes hit do you get some decent story telling.

The documentary part is interesting, but rather boring. You can't help but want it to speed up so you can see some more Lost Time.

The special features are nice, but don't make up for this great delay we had. The CGI and lighting is terrible in Lost Time and is almost like watching some cheesey sci-fi channel show at times.

Bottom line, if you're a Robin Shou fan get it, anyone else won't be that impressed though... In my opinion.