June 23, 2005
The Modern Hong Kong Triad Film: Part III
The YOUNG AND DANGEROUS series
Not unlike Chow Yun Fat, Ekin Cheng was a TV actor who had done some films, mostly romantic comedies, but shot to stardom playing Chan Ho Nam, a low level Triad boss in YOUNG AND DANGEROUS.
Andrew Lau was a cinematographer on some popular films in the late 80s and then turned to directing. He had steady work, but no real break out hits. Then he took on YOUNG AND DANGEROUS, a Triad story based on a popular comic book.
YOUNG AND DANGEROUS was different from John Woo’s Heroic Bloodshed in several ways. The hero, Chan Ho Nam, did not seek redemption. He never tries to leave the Triads. He is simply a heroic character, and some opposing Triad force is the antagonist. Also, Lau didn’t use the slick and stylish camera work that made Heroic Bloodshed so famous, preferring instead for very realistic fights scenes, which sometimes he even blurred for effect. It was a gritty and street level approach instead of beautiful one. Also, his characters were every day Triad members trying to make life work -- these film do not generally have the operatic themes, melodramatic scenes, or gunfights of Woo’s films. In fact, guns are rare in these films, as they are in reality in Hong Kong. The characters often use machetes and other such easy to get weapons.
Although a hero-based story, YOUNG AND DANGEROUS does show both the glamour and ugliness of being involved in the Triads. Chan Ho Nam always ends up on top, but the sheer number of people who die in the six movies shows that while Chan Ho Nam wins, he loses a lot of people he loves.
While YOUNG AND DANGEROUS never quite reached the success of A BETTER TOMORROW, it was popular enough to spawn five sequels, a prequel and several spinoffs. Also, the interest in the films was far reaching. There was an instance in Australia when some kids were arrested and when asked who their boss was they claimed ‘Chan Ho Nam’ and that they were part of the fictional Hung Hing Triad group of the film.
While the YOUNG AND DANGEROUS films didn’t cause a filmmaking revolution, they kept the genre alive and popular. They also spanned the time period before and after the Hong Kong turnover, attempting to chart a difference in the attitude of Hong Kong.
There are things you can expect from a Young and Dangerous film. Someone Chan Ho Nam loves will die. There will be at least one funeral a movie. The funerals often escalate to violence.
Also, if a major character dies, there is a 50% chance the actor will return playing a different character. This is a trait I often find to be confusing.
The most common element of these films is that bad things happen every time Chan Ho Nam leaves Hong Kong. Really, just about every time. I don’t know why he hasn’t figured this out yet and stopped leaving Hong Kong.
All the films are directed by Andrew Lau (INFERNAL AFFAIRS) and written by Manfred Wong.
Note: Despite the fact that each movie builds off each other, I am going to do what I can to not spoil anything for you.
YOUNG AND DANGEROUS (1996)
We meet Chan Ho Nam (Ekin Cheng) and his gang made up of Chicken (Jordan Chan), Pou Pan, Chou Pan and Dai Tin-Yee. His boss is Bee (Frankie Ng). And the head of the Hung Hung group is Mr. Chiang (Simon Yam).
The first film is relatively simple and really just sets up the characters and situations for further films. It also has the most decidedly evil bad guy.
Ugly Kwan (Francis Ng) is a mid-level Triad boss like Bee. Everyone knows he’s a loose cannon but they tolerate him and brush him off. But he goes seriously off the rails in this film. In charge of the ‘blue magazines’ aka porn, you’d think he wouldn’t be the most serious of enemies. But Kwan is simply a bad guy who has it out for Bee and his boys.
The film sets up the structure of most of the films where Nam gets in trouble (usually for things he didn’t do) and then has to dig himself out of it to end up on top. It has all the scenes that pop up again in the other films such as bad things happening when they leave Hong Kong, Chicken not showing up for a fight, a funeral that doesn’t go without some trouble and more.
But the first film has a youthful energy. At this point the boys are still having fun in the Triad society. And as lower level members, their lives are simpler.
Take when they meet Smartie, who will become Chan Ho Nam’s girlfriend. They play a prank on her and as a punishment they make her eat buns. There is a lot less goofing around in the following films and the stakes are always to high for such silly punishments after this.
The film is occasionally accented by comic book pages -- something that doesn’t last much longer than the first film since the films get farther and farther from their source material. It ads to the light atmosphere of the first film.
Watching the film you both want to be one of them and don’t. It’s constantly glorifying and vilifying Triad life. But the bond between the characters is the strength of this and all the subsequent films.
YOUNG AND DANGEROUS 2 (1996)
The story of Chicken and what he was doing during that time in the first film that he disappears and returns with a bunch of guys.
He joins the Taiwan Triads, supported by his cousin. But he falls for his boss’ woman - a mysterious, older and as it turns out, ill-intentioned Japanese woman.
Each successive movie usually introduces a new regular character or two. This film ads Banana Skin to Nam’s gang under the sponsorship of Pou Pan. He rarely ever speaks in the series but is a good addition nonetheless.
The other new character is Tai Fai (Anthony Wong), a member of Hung Hing, who is Nam’s new nemesis this time around. The long haired nose-picker competes with Nam for Causeway Bay and often provides some needed comic relief. One of Nam’s fellows is dating Tai Fai’s sister KK adding to the complications.
But the film is really about Chicken. And in Taiwan, the Triads run differently. His boss, Lui, is trying to get into politics because it’s what Triad members do -- it’s how they control things. In the Hong Kong Triads no one is interested in politics so it provides a different look at corruption than the first film.
In the tradition of the first one, Chicken gets dug into a hole and has to pull himself out of it. In the end he of course has the help of his buddies. Chan Ho Nam deals with his rivalry with Tai Fai, but never abandons Chicken in his time of need.
This film has a lot going on and is a bit more interesting than the first film but what always ruins it for me is the Japanese woman played by Chingmy Yau Suk-ching. I really dislike her and she’s the crux of the whole movie. She was cast because she’s sexy but she’s very blank and not a good foil for energetic Chicken.
But the ending is big and exciting in what will become the YOUNG AND DANGEROUS trademark, and if you like Chicken better than Chan Ho Nam, this is the film for you.
YOUNG AND DANGEROUS 3 (1996)
The Tung Sing is the rival gang whose territory overlaps with Hung Hing’s. In this installment, one of the member of Tung Sing, Crow (Roy Cheung) has it out for Chan Ho Nam and the boys.
When Chan Ho Nam goes to Amsterdam, he is framed for a murder. Once again he must prove himself to end up on top again.
This is one of the more operatic films with Chan Ho Nam falsely accused and an over the top climax -- which is easily the most tear inducing and ‘damn!’-inducing finale. This film builds and builds and gets bigger and bigger and brings in a lot of emotion which the previous films didn’t have.
The love stories are strong in this film. There is a twist to the Chan Ho Nam-Smartie relationship which is a welcome shot of adrenaline for them. They get a lot of cute, touching moments in this film. And Chicken starts to fall for the Priest’s daughter (Karen Mok). The Priest has been a reoccurring character since the first film. He both tries to bring religion to the Triad fellows and also shows his old gangster style occasionally.
This film doesn’t really have an over all theme like some of the other movies and tries mostly to return to the strategy of the first film with Chan Ho Nam versus a very evil guy and accused of things that weren’t his fault. But it tries to raise the stakes on the first one with bigger emotional impact and twists.
But one theme that is represented is that of fatherhood. The Priest and Mr. Chiang represent different kinds of father figures and an attempt is made to explore this at least tangentially. And it relates to how Nam begins to understand the pitfalls and stress of having more power and moving up in the ranks.
YOUNG AND DANGEROUS 4 (1997)
This film is really the down point in the series in my opinion. Nam and the other branch leaders go to Thailand to meet with Mr. Chiang. Sister Thirteen (Sandra Ng) is introduced as the leader of Portland Street and the prostitute trade. Her interaction with branch leader Ben is one of the best parts of this and subsequent films. But she’s really introduced so they can make the spin off film PORTLAND STREET BLUES. But the problem with this film is that it rehashes a lot of things from previous films instead of reinventing them.
This time around Chicken is back in the Hung Hing group and he’d like to go out for branch leadership. But Nam doesn’t support his bid because he’s learned that more power only brings more pain. Chicken is nominated nonetheless along with the lieutenant of the branch up for new leadership, Barbarbian. So once again, we have two people competing for territory -- sabotaging each other and trying to one up each other. It’s pretty similar to Nam and Tai Fai in 2. But Barbarian is an idiot and would never beat Chicken if he wasn’t supported by a secret friend.
Roy Cheung is the bad guy again playing a different character. This time he’s a reserved man who likes to listen to classical music and see people fall from buildings. He’s attempting to orchestrate all that happens but as the bad guy always does, he underestimates Chan Ho Nam. Cheung is from the competing Tung Sing gang. Again.
Chan Ho Nam is clinical depressed the whole film. He doesn’t have much to do at all and spends all his time thinking, reflecting and talking about the downers of Triad life. They try to give him a new love interest in Michelle Reis (a generally beautiful actress who doesn’t look her best in this film) who is a normal mild mannered teacher. But a Triad member and a teacher can’t be.
The biggest problem with this film is that Nam and his group have been through so much and risen so far but in this film they are routinely brought down by a gang of ridiculous children throughout this movie. Chan Ho Nam has brought down Triad leaders and rival gang members but when it comes to annoying teenagers (who are also part of Hung Hing, his own gang) they are utterly defeated! This just annoys me.
As always, someone dies, and it seems pretty forced this time. They are brought down by these snobbish children? Please! Nam’s gang is better than that.
But there are some good things in this movie and I certainly don’t think it should be skipped or anything. For one, Pou Pan gets the most interesting story he has in any film. He falls for a girl, and he’s never had a girl in any of the movies, but the question is whether she’s really with him or set to betray him. I was happy to see his character have some narrative importance.
So, as you can tell, this film was a little disappointing to me, but the filmmaking expertise of Lau shines through and the actors like Ekin Cheng and Jordan Chan are so comfortable in their roles that it’s enjoyable to watch their effortlessness.
YOUNG AND DANGEROUS 5 (1998)
This film has one of the most forgettable plots of all the films, but it’s one of the most interesting thematically. While 2 started to explore the Triad-Political relationship, this film focuses on the Triads and ‘legitimate’ business. What’s interesting about these films is that they span the 1997 turnover of Hong Kong from the British to the Chinese. And this is the first film in the series made under Chinese Hong Kong -- a fact Lau cannot ignore.
Interestingly, the turnover to communist China means a new kind of capitalism for Nam and the boys -- one with businessmen and lawyers. But when I saw Nam and the boys, there are significantly less boys than their used to be. Several have been killed off and I’m sorry to announce Chicken simply isn’t in this film. They don’t mention him and I assume it was some sort of problem getting the actor. The film feels the loss, but still manages to stay interesting.
This film introduces a cop character played by Danny Lee in a nod to the 80s powerhouse Triad films he starred in. He always offers Nam Chinese tea. Nam notes that he finds the Chinese tea bitter -- setting up the mainland parallels that director Lau will attempt to explore. The cop character is not a do-good, he understands how Triads work. He allows them a certain leeway but also tries to assert his authority over his territory.
Nam gets into business with the foreign Datuk -- running his gambling cruise ship and buying into his housing development in Macau. Datuk is a ‘legitimate’ businessman who shows he does not care for politics within the Triads and notes that “money goes first”. In a telling scene, when Datuk gives Nam the contract to sign, Nam has no idea what he’s signing. He came up through the streets and doesn’t understand this world of lawyers.
This film builds heavily off of characters and situations from YOUNG AND DANGEROUS: THE PREQUEL. The film is perfectly understandable without it but viewers may wonder -- who is the Big Head character and why does he get so much screen time? The beautiful but annoying actress Shu Qi returns from the prequel to be the love interest.
The bad guy in this film is Ho Nam! Szeto Ho Nam that is, of, you guessed it, the Tung Sing group. He also has business interests but is a little smarter about business than Chan Ho Nam.
‘Legitimate’ business brings big problems for a lot of our characters. Big Head just wants to run a newspaper stand, but everything is run by Triads. Hung Hing branch leader Ben has also lost a lot of money in business. Not to give away part of the ending, but let’s just say whatever they lose in ‘legitimate’ business, they manage to make back through good old semi-legitimate gambling.
So throughout the movie, everyone wears suits instead of Nam’s classic black wife beater and jeans. Nam is even arrested....for white collar crime! It’s easily the best irony in the movie.
In the end, the two sides settle their differences in a charity boxing match. Chan Ho Nam and Szeto Ho Nam take off their suits and have their own street fight behind the scenes. This scene is narratively laughable, but thematically interesting -- that in the end, the Triad bosses lose the legitimate business image and settle it the only way they know how.
YOUNG AND DANGEROUS 6 (2000)
This film is generally considered a real return to form. A fitting ending for the series. Filled with dynamic scenes and great twists, it’s as thrilling as the earlier installments.
Chicken returns for a film that largely focuses on him. Evidently during 5, which he’s not in, he rejoined the Taiwan San Luen gang and broke up with the priest’s daughter who is never mentioned in this film. Now he’s set to marry a Japanese woman to build ties between his Taiwanese San Luen group and the Japanese yakuza.
That would make his father-in-law a powerful Yakuza boss who is played by Sonny Chiba. But Chiba’s lieutenant is, you guessed it, Roy Cheung again, and he’s, you know, the bad guy, again.
The new head of the San Luen gang is Lui, the son of the old head, who has spent the last dozen years in America (his lieutenant is an actor from the series who was killed off at some point).
The wedding is a pow-wow between the Hung Hing group (led by Mr. Chiang), the San Luen group (led by Lui) and the yakuza group (led by Chiba’s character). They consider working together for Asian domination.
Also as a back drop are the presidental elections and political situation in Taiwan. Chicken notes that the state of his gang is not unlike the tenuous Taiwan political situation. The film directly addresses the reality of the Taiwan-China situation.
There are a lot of familiar faces in the film. Ho Nam and everyone who’s still alive in his gang. Sister Thirteen and Ben (called Hon in these subtitles for some reason) and even Chicken’s Taiwanese cousin who hasn’t shown up since 2.
While Chicken deals with his gang, political and marital issues, Nam has significantly less to do. He is given the leadership of Hung Hing without much problem. His biggest problem is his woman, still Shu Qi, who bugs him to get married. But he thinks about Smartie constantly and then meets a look-a-like in Taiwan who is a school teacher. For once, gang business is going good -- love life a mess. But mostly he shows up to back up Chicken in any number of scenes.
Anyway, Chicken, sporting the worst of his many hairstyles, has much to do. Halfway through the movie he is bombarded with some seriously bad stuff. But he finds he can always rely on his buddies when he needs to. He gets great scenes with his Japanese wife and good scenes with Chiba. The Japanese wedding brings a nice exoticism to YOUNG AND DANGEROUS.
With both boys in top positions it’s a great ending to the series. It’s like we saw them enter Kindergarten and now they’ve graduated college. You see Chan Ho Nam and Chicken’s journeys from being on the bottom rung of the Triad to the top. Truly a fitting and satisfying ending to a series I really enjoy.
YOUNG AND DANGEROUS: THE PREQUEL
The prequel shows childhood friends Chan Ho Nam (Nicholas Tse), Chicken (Sam Lee), Pou Pan and Chou Pan. They want to become a rock band. But after playing their music in school they are kicked out.
They live in Bee’s territory but in the playground they are often bothered by Ugly Kwan and his fellows. After a fight with these fellows over a girl that their leader and Nam are courting, the boys end up in jail (except Chicken, who isn’t there -- something that happens in many of the films). Chicken asked brother Bee to bail them out.
After jail, Nam tries to wash the ink (from the fingerprinting) off his fingers and it won’t come off. He’s forever stained by the implications of Triad life.
After being kicked out of school, bothered by Triads and kindly treated by Bee, Nam finds no alternative but to join up and his friends follow. He knows his music career is now over and they throw their instruments into the fire at their favorite spot which they vow not to return to. Their lives will be different now.
This film is interesting because more than an actual movie it’s a premiere for singing star Nicholas Tse. His career was carefully engineered and his handlers decided to premiere his movie career with a careful eye to the bad boy image they wish to present. They picked an already successful franchise and managed to work in half a dozen of his songs.
The film introduces a character named Big Head who is vaguely Nam’s rival in the gang. And Big Head’s girlfriend who Nam is interested in. This is mostly to set up these characters for YOUNG AND DANGEROUS 5.
Also, Lau tries to connect this film to real events as he has done before, in this case Tianenman Square. The parallels between those students and these one is tenuous at best, but his constant weaving of history into the lives of his characters gives them a reality and a sense of time and place that is valuable.
THE PREQUEL is a pretty good film, if not a little long and it feels distinctly different from the main series without disassociating itself from it. Little Chan Ho Nam pretty much gets beaten up and tortured through the whole film but he prevails and we learn more about what Chan Ho Nam is made of.
The Spinoffs
The successful YOUNG AND DANGEROUS series also spawned a number of spinoffs of various quality. There is PORTLAND STREET BLUES(1998) which focuses on Sister Thirteen. There is ONCE UPON A TIME IN TRIAD SOCIETY (1996) about Ugly Kwan and also THOSE WERE THE DAYS (2000) which focuses on Chicken. THOSE WERE THE DAYS is heavy on the flashbacks, which causes it to be thought of as Chicken’s prequel, but it features all the YOUNG AND DANGEROUS regulars and it’s heavy on the love story. If you manage to wade your way through those other 7 movies, feel free to give these ones a shot.
Conclusion
Watching all the YOUNG AND DANGEROUS films feels a bit like watching a season of a television show. You become very attached to the characters and when during the credits of YOUNG AND DANGEROUS 5, when they show clips from previous movies, you realize how many things have happened and how far you’ve come. There’s something about these films that I can’t explain. A feeling you get when watching them. You really feel like you’ve gone on this journey with these people. While these films aren’t quite art, they are very enjoyable mixes of drama, action and comedy.
For more blabbering check out Alison's movie blog.
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