Shinjuku Incident
It is easy to see throughout why this film was banned in China. A Triad culture rife in other countries, visceral violence and underlying political issues such as illegal emigration paint a damning picture of Chinese culture, one that certainly doesn’t fit in with the one created by the Communist Party of China.
When Steelhead (Chan) goes in search of his fiancé he travels to Tokyo illegally to meet with other Chinese immigrants. They show him how to survive in their world by means of smuggling, fraud and thievery. This leads him down a dark path which he never really comes back from when he finally meets his fiancé only to find that she has left him for a Yakuza boss. Cue the violence when the Taiwanese begin to assault the other Chinese immigrants. Beatings and dismemberments occur on a frequent basis from here all culminating in a very graphic finale.
Despite Chan playing the main character, I felt more of a connection with Jie (Daniel Wu) who was an unfortunate victim of circumstance throughout the entire film. This leads to his and, indirectly, the entire Chinese clan’s downfall. There is some empathy towards Chan as all he wanted for his compatriots is independence over their own territory but he ultimately led most, if not all, of them to their deaths.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable film and it is nice to see Chan flex his dramatic muscles for once. If you don’t mind reading subtitles and a lot of gore then this film comes with my recommendations. However if you are slightly queasy when it comes to the content mentioned above then stay away.
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