'Fearless' is about real-life early twentieth century Chinese folk hero and martial artist Huo Yuanjia (Jet Li). The film begins in Yuanjia's childhood, when he practices martial arts, behind his disapproving father's back. It is during this time that he has two pivotal experiences: seeing his renowned martial artist father Huo Endi (Collin Chou), seemingly defeated in a fighting contest and experiencing his own defeat at the hands of Zhao Jian (Shang Yapeng), an obnoxious neighbourhood child, shortly afterwards. He swears that he will never be defeated again. As a man, blindly fuelled by these two experiences, and having acquired impressive martial arts skills, he defeats numerous opponents, eventually acquiring the title "Champion of Tianjin".
After Yuanjia hastily fights and kills Chin (Chen Zhihui), the head of a rival martial arts school, who had severely beaten one of his students Liu Zhensheng (Yi Shixiong), Yuanjia's family is butchered in retaliation. Yuanjia goes on to kill… the butcher (Jacky Heung). When he finds out that the cause of all the bloodshed is trivial -- Liu Zhensheng's having a secret love affair with Chin's wife -- Yuanjia leaves Tianjin, grief-stricken and ashamed. He ends up in picturesque rural China, a place that looks like something out of a fairytale, and it is while there, that he finds healing and returns to Tianjin, to right his wrongs.
'Fearless' was beautifully shot, the cinematography was absolutely stunning. It was a feast for the eyes! I enjoyed the rich, vibrant colours and evocative lighting. Of note are the scenes set in the aforementioned picturesque locale, that Yuanjia ends up in. And the images at the end of the film, of Yuanjia gracefully practicing his art, while a magical light illuminates his face and shoulders, against a stark, dark blue background, lending a 'heavenly' quality to the images. Absolutely stunning.
There were hints of 'The Last Samurai' -- a warrior who has gone off the rails, finds his way back to the light, with the help of a beautiful female with whom he has no sexual relations, in a picturesque, somewhat secluded country setting. And Masato Harada, who played Japanese diplomat Omura in 'The Last Samurai', was present as Mr. Mita, also a Japanese diplomat.
There are three qualities that I look for in a screen fight -- grace, power and clarity. The fights in 'Fearless' had all three. They were a pleasure to watch. Fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping is like the postman -- he always delivers. Although, there's one fight that takes place on a wooden platform elevated very high up from the ground, that was somewhat dodgy. Parts of the fight didn't transition smoothly into each other, it was jerky, as though some footage had been unskilfully excised. And the fight wasn't quite 'natural', the wire-assisted moves were rather too apparent.
I enjoyed the restrained but impactful interactions between Yuanjia and Moon (Betty Sun), the lady who helps him heal. In some instances, Li and Sun conveyed much without speaking, but merely with the look in their eyes. It was beautiful.
I watched 'True Legend' (2010) before I watched 'Fearless' (2006), and so the advantage of hindsight or is it foresight, or both?… came into play. It seemed to me that 'TL', which debuted several years after 'F', was somewhat a retread or remake of 'F'. I find it interesting that both films were scored by the same composer, the talented Shigeru Umebayashi; Yuen Woo-ping choreographed the fights in 'F' and on 'TL', he directed everything, the fights and all other aspects; the theme of re-igniting Chinese pride by trouncing invading foreigners in the 'ring', runs strong in both films; and the set design, in both films, of the area where the bouts take place, is similar. And I wonder if Collin Chou, who played Huo Endi, Yuanjia's father in 'Fearless', is related to Jay Chou, who portrayed the 'god of wushu' in 'True Legend'. If 'True Legend' was intended as a remake of 'Fearless', then the former wins, hands down!
'Fearless' isn't the best entry in its genre, but it's definitely worth a look.
Jiéshù
(Images: blu-ray.com)
