Jet Li as Transnational Actor - Essay Example

?(Jet Li as Transnational Actor) By (Insert Presented to Location Due Jet Li is one of the renowned Chinese multinational actors who have become famous not only in bollywood but also in Hollywood movies. He was born in April 1963 in Beijing. However, later he became a Singaporean citizen by naturalization. His real name is Li Lianjie but he has come to be known by his stage name Jet Li after some people who he met in were unable to pronounce his real name and this name came to be born and stuck. He has taken different career paths such as martial arts, film production, martial arts and acting. He started training for martial arts when he was still a young boy. He trained rigorously in Wu Bin and this helped him in winning a championship in the Wushu competition. This was the turning point of his life. He retired from Wushu when he was 19 years old (Meyers, 2009: 319). He now started acting in several Chinese martial arts film. Later he performed in other Hollywood movies the Expendables being on of the movies that hit the box office movies list. This article is review of Jet Li development in his career an actor, how his various roles in varied cultures have grown him and the overall public reception he has had. Jet Li Careers in Martial Art at Wushu Li was born the last born of a family of five children. When he was only two years, his father died leaving his mother with the huge responsibility of raising the children alone. Jet Li joined Wushu when he was very young. At the age of 8, his trainers realized the talent that he possessed and he was enrolled for classes. He participated in the sports performed by the Wushu teams. This team would perform in the all Chinese games and this gave him the exposure he needed in martial arts (Yu, 2012: 271). During this time, he was coached by Wu Bin and Li Junfeng. The coaches realized the talent in this young man and would even go an extra mile to ensure that he did not miss on practice and that he performed well. Jet Li came from a poor family background. The coaches would buy Jet Li family meat as this was the diet recommended for a fighter. A diet with meat as a predominant content was crucial to keep an athlete physically fit. As a member of the wushu team, He traveled to 45 different countries to perform. In 1974, he performed together with the Wushu team before the former president of America Richard Nixon. Nixon was deeply impressed by Jet Li prowess that he requested him to be his personal body guard. Jet Li turned this offer down because he said that he was not meant to protect an individual but hoped that when he grew up he would be able to protect a billion Chinese citizens. During this performance, he won the All Round National Wushu Championship a title he continued to hold for the next five consecutive years. When at Wushu, Jet Li trained on several Wushu martial skills. Among them include praying mantis fist, drunken fist, eagle claw fist, shape intent fist and northern long fist style (Ushan, 2011: 182). He retired from Wushu when he was just seventeen and this is the time he began his acting career. Acting Career Chinese Films Li releases his first film in 1982 and it was called the Shaolin Temple. This movie became a hit in china and opened him to Chinese film. He later relocated to Hongkong where he acted in several Chinese martial arts movies. He got his screen name in 1982 when a publicity company in Philippines though that his real name was hard to pronounce. They likened his new career with a jet which takes off very fast. The name jet Li was born and was placed on his movie poster. Soon, people started referring him with his new name which is stuck and he has used it ever since. In 1991, he acted in another Chinese film called the Once Upon a Time in China. Here, he assumed the role of a legendary hero who fought against invaders thereby safeguarding and protecting the lives and property of his countrymen (Leon, 2005: 216). Later he acted in the movie fist of Legend which was a revised version of Bruce Lee. He is the first actor to play the role of Bruce Lee with great proficiency. He also starred in another Chinese folk hero film called the Fong Sai Yuk. In 1995, he took a role of a captain who after his wife is murder become disillusioned and takes part in several battles in many storey buildings. This film is similar to the Die Hard were Jack Chan was starring (Chris, 1993: 241). The director if this movie Wong Jing was getting back at Jack Chan after they had had a fall out by creating a character that satirized Chan. Li however later apologized to Chan for taking this role. After this, jet Li focused more on producing Hollywood movies. However, in 2011, he produced two Wushu films the Flying Sword of the Dragon Gate and Sorcerer and the White Snake (Marx, 2012: 82). In 2012, he also starred in a film called Tai Chi, this was aimed at promoting Tai Chi martial skills. Hollywood films Li starred in the first English language movie in 1994. He moved to Los Angeles where he took intensive English language training. In the movie the Lethal Weapon $, he assumed the role of a Chinese Crime boss. This was his first role as a bad guy and won him a lot of fans among the American and the Hollywood movies fans. He was not very welcoming to the thought of taking this role considering his previous characters were heroes whose actions was aimed at achieving the good and not the evil (Chris: 2003, 152). He acted alongside other Hollywood actors Danny Glover and Mel Gibson. The movie was action packed and stole the hearts of many. He only agreed to take this role because the producer of this film, Joel Silver had promised to give him a key role in the next film Romeo Must Die. This movie was released in the year 2000 and Li acted alongside the famous actors, Rapper DMX and musician Aaliyah. Romeo Must Die hit the Box Office charts and was a great step for Li in building his Hollywood acting career. This movie was based on the classical romantic story of Romeo and Juliet. Li and Aaliyah took the role of two star crossed lovers who came from two families that were historical rivals. In the same year, Li turned down roles in two different films such he had made a promise t his wife of not being involved in acting when he was pregnant (Morrell, 2004: 98). In the year 2001, Li took roles in two other Hollywood films. The One where he acted alongside Jason Stantham. It was the first of the movies that Li acted with Stantham. Here he too two key roles, on one side he played as a Sherriff In California and in the other role was that of a killer who destroyed that works of the previous character. This movie was however criticized for its confusing roles and weak acting. He also acted in the film Kiss of the Dragon with the costar Bridget Fonda. The Kiss of the Dragon is about an FBI officer who tries to clear his name by using a prostitute (David, 2003: 317). A critic commenting on Li performance in this film said that his action was unique and consistently on high note throughout the movie. He said that this kind of action movie was a transformation of the Hollywood action films. These two also appeared on the box office list although were not as big a hit as the previous Film Romeo Must Die. In 2002, he worked with Yimou Zhang a Chinese film director in the movie Hero. Here, He acted as a warrior in China in the 3rd century. The film was released in 2002. It received a nomination as the best Foreign Film in the Academy Awards. In 2003, Li acted in a thriller movie together with the rapper DMX. The movie Cradle 2 the Grave was not enthusiastically received by the audience in comparison to the other movies that Li toke roles in. In 2004, Jet Li was in the coast of Maldives when a tsunami hit this location. There were rumors that he had been killed by this calamity but it turned out that he only sustained minor injuries in the foot as he rescued his daughter. In the year 2005, he took a major role in the movie unleashed. His character was that of a captive killer machine which would jump into action once the collar was removed. He acted as an adult with a child mentality but who had been raised up like a dog. He worked for one of the crime family. Taking this role involved him being trained and observing the behavior of wild dogs. He even stayed hungry for days in order to understand how they reacted when they were hungry and angry thus giving the role a realistic touch (Farquha & Yingjin, 2010: 26). In this movie there were major development sin Li acting techniques unlike in previously roles where he only had to showcase his talent in martial arts. The next key film that he starred in was in 2006 where he acted alongside a famous martial arts master Huo Yuanjia. The movie Fearless was based on a true story about Yuanjia life how he tragically lost his family and was in the verge of dying. It ends on high note where Yuanjia triumphs over his foreign enemy in a martial art competition. He said that this was the crowning of his martial acting career as he believed that he had given all he had as a martial star (Rachel, 2005: 49). However, it is evident that this was not the end of his acting career because he has taken roles in other movies since the year 2006. This movie became a major hit and was number 2 on box office list the week it was released. In 2007, Li acted in another hit movie War 2007 and he teamed with Jason Stantham. Here he took the role of an assassin who sought the partner of an FBI agent that he had killed. This film did not do so well in the box office charts only making $23 millions. During this year, he also starred in another movie The Warlords under the direction of Peter Chan. In this movie, Li focused more on drama rather than martial arts (Freed, 2011: 82). This warranted him to winning the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. In 2008, he acted alongside Jack Chan another martial arts actor in the film the forbidden Kingdom. This film did not receive the reception that was expected. It was based on the Chinese folk story of the Journey to The west and he played the role of the Legendary Monkey King. Jet Li against starred in another fairy tale action in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Among his recent films include the Ocean paradise which is a father son dram kind of a film. In the expendables 2010, Li playing a supporting role alongside other actors such as Jason Stantham, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren and Mickey Rourke. Li was of the view that in order for one to succeed in martial arts, they should experience inner harmony. This is because the greatest enemy one can have is themselves (Berardinelli: 2003, 14). He is saddened by the fact that the current Washu champions move like machine without appreciating the religious aspect of martial art. Character Development of Li throughout his acting career There are various character developments that can be seen in the roles that Jet Li played in the various films. At first, when acting within the domain of Chinese films, he restricted himself to taking good guy roles mostly that of a hero who ends up saving his countrymen form danger. When he moved his career to Hollywood, we see him taking up bad guy roles as it was in Lethal Weapon (Sheldon, 1997: 362). After this he has taken more villain roles which are a major development. Initially, he restricted his acting to those informing martial arts. However, in the year 2000, it can be observed that his character has become more dramatic. A major development can be noted in his role as Danny the dog in the unleashed. Although this movie had a lot of action from the beginning to the end, it portrayed a deep dramatic character. This was a feature that had not been observed in his previous films (Elizabeth & Rowden, 2006: 61). After releasing the film Fearless in 2006, the next films that Li has had a role in has involved more of dramatization rather than exhibition of martial arts prowess. From the discussion above, it can be observed that Jet Li career in acting has greatly been influenced by his training in the Wushu martial arts. The introductions of Chinese martial arts in the Hollywood action movies have with no doubt transformed the nature of these actions films. It has introduced an element that has made this action more intriguing and interesting to action movie lover. Jet Li has been iconic not only in movies involving martial arts, but also in those that require dramatization. Reference List BERARDINELLI, J. (2003). ReelViews: the ultimate guide to the best 1,000 modern movies on DVD and video. Boston, Justin Charless. CHRIS B. (1991), Perspectives on Chinese Cinema, London, BFI. CHRIS B. (2003), Chinese Films in Focus: 25 New Takes. London, BFI. DAVID B. (2003), Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment, Harvard: Harvard University Press. ELIZABETH E. AND T. ROWDEN (2006) Transnational Cinema: A Film Reader. London, Routledge. FREED, J. J. (2011). Jet Li and the new face of Chinese cinema: nationalism, masculinity, and zhiji in contemporary wuxia pian. Thesis (M.A.)--College of Humanities, University of Utah, 2011. LEON, HUNT (2005) ‘Ong-Bak: New Thai Cinema, Hong Kong and the Cult of the Real’, New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film . MARX, C. (2002). Jet Li. New York [NY], Rosen Pub. Group. FARQUHAR, M. AND YINGJIN ZHANG (2010) Chinese Film Stars. London and New York, Routledge. MEYERS, R. (2011). Films of fury: the kung fu movie book. Guilford, CT, Emery Books. MORRELL, C. (2004). Jet Li, rise to honor: official strategy guide. Indianapolis, Ind, BradyGames. RACHEL D. (2005), 100 Bollywood Films. London, BFI. SHELDON HSIAO-PENG LU (1997) Transnational Chinese Cinema: Identity, Nationhood, Gender. Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press. USCHAN, M. V. (2011). Jet Li. Detroit, MI, Lucent Books. YU, S. Q. (2012). Jet Li: Chinese masculinity and transnational film stardom. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. Read More