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Comment by TV Plus on January 14, 2023 at 10:02pm

陳明發〈故事：心靈真正的大新聞〉

～～ 我看電影《讀報人》（News of the World）

63歲的傑斐遜·凱爾·吉德退伍上尉是個故事人。

他曾經擁有印務館、報社，第一時間在最接近的距離內看著世態的演變。他說，那是故事，一行行墨字印刷在紙張而成的故事。

一場解放黑奴的南北戰爭捲過，他從戰場上回到平民生活，發現自己什麽都沒了。最痛的，是妻子於他不在身旁時因霍亂死去。


屬於戰敗投降那一方的他放下戰鬥，雙手還可以拿起什麽；眼神落在何處？

他再次拿起的，是其他報館印行的報紙；重要的，他用筆把它圈上來，那是他覺得有價值的故事。

可是，生活要怎麽過下去呢？

他於是成了遊吟詩人般的讀報人。騎著馬從一個地方到一個地方，為19世紀中的美國大小鄉鎮，似乎與世隔絕的墾殖民讀新聞。

這種情景我能理解。小時候翻《林肯傳》連環圖，看過他常常為了讀一部書，走老遠的路去向人借。那是文字、知識珍貴而不易得的年代。

吉德上尉的工作，我也深有感觸，從1980年代初起到新世紀前十餘年，三十幾年中很大部分時光，我都在大城鄉鎮和人分享故事。

講到這裏，還只是故事前的上尉。故事的震央，是命運把他扯進了一樁義舉：護送孤女喬翰娜到她數百里外的阿姨家。

原來護送她的黑人官員途中遇劫被害。他的屍體被掛在大樹上的情景，是美國內戰後還是無法繞過的族群關係符號。

就像女孩的親生德國移民父母被印第安人殺害，撫養她長大的印第安家庭後來也送了命，這樣的遭遇在銀幕上幾句話風輕雲淡而過，實際上是族群衝突錯綜複雜的黑洞。

一般大敘事所處理不了細節，卻是糾纏著個人與個人、群體與群體最真切的際遇。

吉德和喬翰娜路上碰到封閉的墾農、鎮民；退伍流落街頭的變態惡棍；剝削非亞移民勞工、製造假新聞企圖迷惑人心的工業家；本意善良但根據自己的理解與方法處理問題的男女；事務煩冗只求公事公辦的官員；同是天涯淪落人的旅棧老板娘……，串起整個故事吸引了我們。

但真正把我們捲進故事正中央，最棘心也是最釋心的，是占了電影大部分時段的西部荒野景觀。

情感地理學此時若在場說了話，它是借那看似無盡頭的荒野說的；假使綿延理論此時也在場有所表達，那它在大地表層下延生的根莖，便是原為陌路人的上尉與約翰娜，相遇與相處於語言隔閡、遭遇殊異而且前路模糊的那種狀態。

先別說族群與族群如何相處，先說好這蠻荒大地所表征的可能、可為與可期盼，再說其它的吧。

Comment by TV Plus on January 14, 2023 at 10:02pm

我們的相遇不在計劃之中，從相處、相知到最後相隨，更沒有劇本。這就是人的靈魂最深處的蠻荒狀態。

心靈世界不可見，大新聞（生命喜訊）何以具現？電影藝術在這裏所採用的，是外在的生態景觀與人際互動所擦亮的火光。

是一個能量最撼人卻出奇冷靜的關鍵詞：故事。

一直焦躁不安並嘗試逃走的部落白種孩子，在馬車上東搜西抄時翻到上尉的報紙。雖不認得那些文字，她卻一下子靜了下來好奇地盯着。

吉德上尉告訴她，一行行的文字湊合上來，便變成了故事。「妳要是乖乖的，我或許可以給妳講個故事。」 他補充說。

神奇的事情就在這一刻發生了。

此前對上尉不管說什麽都無反應的喬翰娜，第一次好好地看著吉德的臉，並且說出她對他說的第一句話：「故事？」

幾經波折，因為故事，一老一少的心靈開始有可能進入彼此。

盤據蔓延於土地下的根莖開始若隱若現。但距離長成亮麗的風景還很遠。

克服了一連串與人有關的事故，他們還得面對大自然的挑戰。馬車因山勢險峻失速墜崖，乾渴疲憊不知在曠野裏徒步走了多久，又遇上頓時間讓人完全失去方向感的砂塵暴。

在看似絕境的當兒，很意外地，神啟似地出現一夥路過的印第安人。喬翰娜本有機會跟他們一道走，卻決定留了在上尉身旁，還向族人討來了一匹馬方便繼續趕路。

終於，上尉把女孩送到她素未謀面的阿姨家。然後，孤身回到空蕩蕩已無人影的故居。

真的嗎；那就是他們的家嗎？

整個敘事的根莖此時頓然奪土而出，以我們一切知覺始料不及的速度，敞開了故事真正所要表達的美麗地景：

人海偶遇的你我在一起，那才是真正的家；因為在最艱險的處境中，我們一直都是最親近的人。

曾經憧憬過在戰後回鄉和妻子養兒育女而不果的敗兵，最後有了一位女兒；從空無一人而唯有斑斑血墻的舊居中找回玩偶的女孩，也找到了她應有童年依靠。

在內戰後五年仍然千瘡百孔的歲月，還有什麽地方比家更適合開始說故事呢？

而「家」的定義，是我們不管歷經了多少磨難，最後能珍惜彼此的相遇、相知與相隨的意思。

不管我們是誰，彼此的生命都因為對方而變得更完整、更美好，不也就是對民族關係最響亮而自信的仰望？

屏幕外的我們在追逐著社媒，分分秒秒想了解外面的世界，看看有何「大新聞」。對尋求自我復興的人，真正的「大新聞」，其實是我們內在世界的蛻變。

英文片名News of the World，內在外在的「news」，都是故事。故事可貴，因為它和我們的生命成長有關。（14.1.2023）

Comment by TV Plus on January 12, 2023 at 10:46am

楊紫瓊：第80屆金球獎影后

第80屆美國電影電視金球獎2023年1月10日舉行了頒獎典禮。楊紫瓊憑借在科幻冒險喜劇《瞬息全宇宙》中的精彩表演斬獲音樂喜劇類最佳女主角。

出生於馬來西亞的楊紫瓊在領獎臺上感嘆：「今天能站到這裏是一趟很棒的旅程、偉大的鬥爭，但是我想是值得的。」去年剛過了60歲的生日的她憑借在科幻冒險喜劇《瞬息全宇宙》（Everything Everywhere All at Once，也譯《媽的多重宇宙》）的精彩表演奪下第80屆金球獎音樂喜劇類最佳女主角，這是她首次獲得金球獎提名，就一舉「封后」。


當地時間1月10日，著名女演員楊紫瓊榮獲第80屆金球獎音樂喜劇類電影「最佳女主角」。

對於演員來說，能夠獲得該獎，是非常光榮的事，這個獎項的含金量很高。

獲獎後，马来西亚元首和文化體育及旅遊局局長楊潤雄先后向她道贺。馬来西亞與香港影界都分享了她的荣耀。

拿下該獎項後，楊紫瓊在舞臺上發表獲獎感言，她坦言，自己做演員近40年，過去的經歷是一趟很棒的旅程，也是一場偉大的鬥爭，如今她已經61歲了，但依舊幹勁十足。

楊紫瓊本次提名的主演電影為《瞬息全宇宙》，導演是the Daniels，搭檔為關繼威、許瑋倫等，楊紫瓊獲獎後，都一一對他們表達了感謝。

隨著年齡的增長，女演員們的戲路普遍越來越窄，楊紫瓊也不例外。

但本次獲獎卻給了她莫大的鼓勵，楊紫瓊稱本次獲獎為「人生的轉折」。

​據網傳這部電影在籌備時，原定男主是成龍，但成龍由於檔期原因無法出演，編劇這才將劇本設置為大女主劇。

為楊紫瓊量身定製了劇本，楊紫瓊能拿下本次最佳女主角，背後的劇組工作人員都功不可沒。

​舞臺上，她回憶了自己來好萊塢演戲的心路歷程，成為好萊塢演員，於她來說是「夢想成真」，如今她拿下「最佳女主角」，這也是對她演技的肯定。

楊紫瓊近年作品不少，演出過的影片包括漫威電影《星際爭霸戰》，《瘋狂亞洲富豪》等等。去年，她被《時代雜誌》選為2022年度人物（Icon of the Year）。

​楊紫瓊滔滔不絕地講述自己的感言，直到催促她的音樂聲響起，她依舊自顧自地發表感言，還反嗆：「請安靜！」

遇到這種情況，其他演員都是唯唯諾諾的道歉，而楊紫瓊卻氣場十足，充分展現了中國女人的魅力。

楊紫瓊祖籍福建，出生於馬來西亞，4歲就開始學習芭蕾舞，而後就讀於皇家舞蹈學院。

1984年，楊紫瓊正式出道，陸續參演了《貓頭鷹與小飛象》、《警察故事3超級警察》、《臥虎藏龍》等電影，「打女」形象深入人心。

楊紫瓊接受采訪時表示，她「終於體會到了被看見的感覺」，本次獲獎也打破了觀眾們對她的固有印象，她也可以搞笑，可以真誠，可以悲傷。(部分材料来自2023年01月11日新浪網 ；作者：傳媒一班；原題：楊紫瓊榮獲金球獎，近40年的努力終被看到，現場霸氣發言獲好評)

Comment by TV Plus on December 30, 2022 at 3:45pm

馬来西亞立國一甲子（1963-2023）

天大樂事：古天樂要到大馬拍電影

古天樂近年成為香港新一代影壇大亨。

今年52歲的影帝古天樂近年成為香港新一代「影壇大亨」，旗下的天下一發行多部不同類型的港產片，其4億鉅作《明日戰記》本月更在netflix全球上架，成功躋身全球點撃率第6位，最近古天樂接受荷里活傳媒《Deadline》訪問，期間提及現時香港影壇目前情況外，更透露天下一下一步將會進軍荷里活及其他泛亞地區，甚至會在馬来西亞、泰國、韓國等地製作當地語言的影視作品。

古天樂近年創立天下一，公司規模越搞越大，目前已在泰國、韓國等地設辦公室。

天下一近年出產過多部港產片，題材由小眾的跨性別人士，到4.5億科幻鉅作都有 ——

余香凝、廖子妤主演的《骨妹》。

姜皓文主演的《翠絲》。

潘燦良、吳鎮宇等主演的《逆流大叔》。

楊千嬅、古天樂與一班老戲骨演出的《五個小孩的校長》。

吳君如主演的《媽媽的神奇小子》。

最近大破港產票房紀錄的《飯戲攻心》，天下一亦是製片商之一。

天下一近年亦有投資荷里活電影，包括《維沃的精彩生活》與《一家人大戰機械人》，更擔任執行製片人。

《明日戰記》有逾1900個CG鏡頭，古天樂也表示難度極高，充滿挑戰性。

其中最難的是機械人對戰的場口。

《明日戰記》是香港電影歷來投資金額最高的電影之一。

古天樂自己也是科幻迷。

《明日戰記》於英國倫敦東亞電影節特別放映，古天樂特地飛到當地分享。

目前天下一正製作《明日戰記》的前傳動畫。

古天樂旗下的天下一近年《媽媽的神奇小子》、《梅艷芳》、《飯戲攻心》、《翠絲》等多部電影，大作外亦不乏題材特別的小品，古天樂在訪問中坦言：「香港確實需要尋找新的編劇和導演人材，過去電影產業曾經非常成功，但沒有迎合本地香港年輕觀眾口味。」古天樂解釋指：「他們（香港年輕人）對我們在國際市場上為人熟悉的動作片或犯罪片不敢興趣，所以我們希望製作更多貼近他們生活經歷的電影。」

天下一近年投資兩部Sony動畫電影，包括《維沃的精彩生活》（Vivo）及《一家人大戰機械人》（The Mitchells vs. the Machines），古天樂更擔任執行製片人，他在訪問亦透露公司有意進運荷里活及泛亞地地區，目前更尋找更多投資機會，不過整體目標是希望透過合作計劃，成香港產業的技術能勁夠得以提升。

《明日戰記》涉及逾1,900個CG鏡頭，古天樂直言充滿挑戰，其中最困難的是機械人打鬥場面，目前《明日戰記》亦正在製作動畫前傳，身為科幻迷的他對AI感興趣。針對香港市場較小的局限性，古天樂打算在亞洲不同地製作當地語言的作品，包括馬來西亞、泰國、臺灣和韓國等國家，目前在內地外，於泰國、韓國已開設辦公司。

今年港產片香港票房大放異彩，其中古天樂天下一有份的《明日戰記》、《飯戲攻心》票房屢破紀錄，成為香港影史上票房最高的兩部華語電影，有人認為港產片市場正式復蘇，古天樂認為每個國家的電影業都有起有跌：「只是香港影業到達了最低點，現在反彈回來。這就是為甚麽現在是嘗試新事物的最佳時機，我們不能一直重覆相同套路。」（原題：古天樂投資荷裏活電影為影壇吸新技術 計劃進軍韓泰市場出當地電影 / 原載：16.12.2022 星岛網）

Comment by TV Plus on October 26, 2022 at 12:18pm

傳記片（英語：Biographical film）

將非虛構或基於真人真事改編至戲劇化的一種電影類型，与一般剧情片不同的是，在情节上會依据现有的历史資料描绘出當時环境背景，塑造人物形象，一定程度上能反映出当时的历史事件及過程。但在部分细节上可能會有所取舍，以突顯重点。（Biographical film）

Comment by TV Plus on October 14, 2022 at 9:19pm

破解敘事秘訣：為何韓劇能俘獲人心

原题：韓劇俘獲人心在於“正能量帝”

我們很多女性在社會上奔波，在生活的各種折磨之後，心靈其實是很脆弱的。而大多數韓劇的女主，都是一窮二白的灰姑娘，哪怕後來發現其實是個真公主，但是在身份還未暴露之前，生活就是各種苦，各種讓人心疼。

但就是這樣的——說得壯烈一點就是“身殘誌堅”的女主，無論遭遇什麽樣的磨難，生活、學習、感情、家庭等各種方面的不如意，女主依舊有她自己正能量的能源發電站，給自己灌輸源源不斷的正能量。盡管會哭泣，會傷心，但是始終如一的是她對生活從來沒有放棄過。一句話，她們都是生命力極其頑強的正能量帝。

她們就像一個萬能的機器貓一樣，總有自己的法寶解決各種問題。遇到問題就想辦法解決，別人不同意的就努力說服別人，直到無可奈何的時候，才會選擇被迫接受。但是依舊能在各種壓力與窮苦的環境中，擁有自己的小幸福，對生活永遠不服輸。

無論何時，都從內而外地洋溢出一種小小的幸福感。有時候可能是買枚發卡、壓馬路，或者只是吃一碗炒年糕、一份甜品，女主就覺得好幸福。這種隨時隨地滿足、從不掩飾的幸福感，很容易感染到周圍的人——電視機前的觀眾。

韓劇就是利用人人都向往美好生活，但是不一定所有的人都有那個物質條件，所以在一種平民大眾的生活裏，融入了這種甜蜜又美好的幸福感，從女性的角度表達出來給別人看，帶給了周圍的人許許多多的正能量。而這種正能量，就成為吸引眾多女性眼球停留在韓劇上的一大原因。

從二八原則而言，有80%的人生活在底層，我們都需要有一股力量推動我們繼續前進，但有時候真的好無力。而韓劇女主所帶有的正能量，自然會吸引那些缺少正能量的人。就好像身邊有些姑娘在累覺不愛的時候，會想要看韓劇找到一點愛的勇氣一樣。我們會被擁有我們所缺東西的人或事物吸引。

韓劇總是從各種女性觀眾的角度，挖掘她們需要的東西，然後填入電視劇中。“富二代”堅定不移的愛情，永遠打不敗的堅強如小強般的意志力，生活在最後都會變得很美好的向往……

突然想到非議眾多的於正，他作為“麻麻”（媽媽諧音），很大一部分的視角也是放在了抓住女性內心所渴望的東西，所以，他筆下的愛情，也是那麽唯美；他的女主，也各種善良，擁有很大的正能量。

Comment by TV Plus on October 10, 2022 at 10:45pm

The Impact of Kung Fu Movies on BreakdancingBy Eric Pellerin

Back in the mid-to-late 1970s, the earliest power moves of Breaking were created by B-Boy masters living in New York City. One of the biggest influences on the creation of moves like the “headspin” and the “windmill” was the Hong Kong kung fu movie. B-boys watched the amazing physical abilities of their favorite kung fu actors in films by Shaw Brothers, Seasonal Films, and Golden Harvest Studios. They imitated and expanded upon the ritualized combat they saw in these films, adding new moves to their dance.

These films were seen in the US, but only in a limited number of theaters in major cities.

In the book Kung Fu: Cinema of Vengeance (1974), Verina Glaser said, “The basis for the success of the kung fu films in the States was the same ghetto audience that carried the wave of ‘black’ Hollywood action films a year or so previously.” In New York City, the two places to see kung fu movies were 42nd Street and Chinatown. Kung fu movies placed the majority of importance on the action, and less time on character development and production values seen in Hollywood films.

There was a big parallel between Hong Kong and NYC. Hong Kong and New York were both densely populated, with a large divide between the rich and the poor. Both cities had high crime rates and tough ghettos. These films were made as escapist fantasies for the people of Hong Kong, and they ended up serving the same purpose for the inner city youth in the United States.

Ken Swift said “Every kung fu movie was like styles, people got they ass whipped, and they went back and got revenge, and it was cool, and that was like something maybe we saw this as kids in the hood, as something we dealt with every day in our lives, you know what I’m saying, dealing with the way we had to live, in school and at home.”

The year was 1971 and America got its first taste of the exciting and dance-like choreography of Hong Kong martial arts films with the Shaw Brothers production King Boxer (AKA Five Fingers of Death) starring Lo Lieh. At this time, Hip-Hop as we know it did not exist. Street gangs like the Black Spades and the Savage Skulls fought each other in the streets of the Bronx for control of turf. Eventually, the pre-rumble dance of these gangs would be incorporated into the Hip-Hop dance known as Up-Rocking.

Trac 2 of Starchild la Rock, a legendary b-boy crew from the seventies, related a story about the gang origins of Up-Rocking. He said that the night before a rumble, the gang leaders had a dance off with each other, one on one. This let everyone in the area know who was going to be involved in the real deal the next day, and anyone else should stay out of the way.

During the time that street gangs in the Bronx were at their peak, kung fu movies became enormously popular in America. After Five Fingers of Death, the films of Bruce Lee were released to great success. The popularity of Lee and his films created a demand for kung fu movies in the United States. Bruce Lee was the most popular kung fu star in the world, and Golden Harvest became the second major studio in Hong Kong. Along with the Shaw Bros. they produced the vast majority of martial arts films made in the British colony.

Comment by TV Plus on October 10, 2022 at 10:44pm

After the death of Bruce Lee in 1973, Hong Kong produced kung fu films that tended to be formulaic until Lau Kar-leung began directing in 1975. He showcased authentic kung fu techniques with films like Challenge of the Masters, Executioners of Shaolin, and The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (AKA Master Killer)

While Lau Kar-leung was directing his debut film Spiritual Boxer, Hong Kong street gangs in New York City were giving way to a more positive counterpart known as crews. Many of the gangs’ former members turned to dancing and block parties as an outlet for their energy.

The most instrumental person in this change was former gang member turned DJ, Afrika Bambatta.

Instead of fighting each other in the street, the B-Boy crews like Starchild La Rock and Rock Steady Crew battled each other with their dance, known as b-boying, breaking, or rocking. Like rival Clans seen in kung fu movies, B-Boys would test each other to see whose style was the best. On the jade screen it was Snake Fist vs. Eagle Claw or Shaolin vs. Wu Tang. On the streets it was the Disco kids vs. Starchild La Rock or Rock Steady Crew vs. the Floormasters. With competition heating up, the next generation of B-Boys took inspiration from different sources to up the ante. According to Trac 2, Latinos added their own flavor to top-rocking, and footwork. He said in 1978 the foundation for modern B-Boy power moves were laid down.

Around the same time in 1978, filmmakers in Hong Kong were revitalizing the kung fu film with sub-genres like kung fu comedy. These movies accentuated more acrobatic movement in their choreography, influenced by the actors and directors training in Peking Opera. Yuen Wo-ping, Jackie Chan, and Sammo Hung all graduated from sifu Yu Jim-yuen’s Peking Opera school and went on to make some of the late seventies’ most dynamic films like Snake In the Eagles Shadow and Knockabout.

Going to see kung fu movies on 42nd St. became a ritual for the youth of New York City.

B-Boys especially took to the films, with their physically dynamic choreography, which was closer to dance than actual combat. Bruce Lee in real life was a Latin dancer. He was the Hong Kong Crown Colony Cha-Cha champion in 1958. In his movies, he does a form of footwork that is very similar to top rocking.

While serious filmgoers denounced kung fu films, the B-Boys took to the films as their own. Ken Swift explains, “42nd St. was like ‘wow!’, these are subtitled, they’re putting these English voices over, these movies aren’t even made in the States, that’s even more like ’wow!,’ you feel like you’re really a part of something.”

The DJ’s, MC’s, B-Boy’s, and graffiti artists would go to see these films together, and it was a participatory experience. They would get so hyped up during the film that they would argue and fight with each other during the film.

After watching the movie, the B-Boys would leave the theater hyped off the energy they saw on the screen from movies like Mad Monkey Kung Fu, Mystery of Chess Boxing, Crippled Masters and many more. Trac 2 and his brother Danny said that kung fu movies are a fever you catch. After seeing martial arts on the screen, they wanted to try it themselves.

Some early B-Boys studied martial arts. Trac 2 took Shotokan Karate for two years. He said that a lot of the early B-Boys studied karate.

Bust most of them just imitated the movements they saw without any formal training. As Ken Swift states,

“Realistically, [we] leave the theater and just want to kick the shit out of people. I mean we would walk uptown and sometimes just kick somebody… You know, we would do a demo on somebody, and start doing exactly what we saw in the movie, not knowing what we were doing, but just imitating it to the max.”

Comment by TV Plus on October 10, 2022 at 10:43pm

Besides just imitating the kung fu by fighting each other with a Mantis Fist, Monkey style, or Crane style, the kung fu started to find its way into the dance. B-boy KWON of Swift Kids said, “As far as the martial arts goes, that gave a lot of b-boys ideas as far as doing things on the floor and expanding their ideas for movement and bringing out their character.” B-Boys appropriated visually dynamic movements they saw on the screen, and made them their own. The fight scenes in kung fu films were choreographed following a specific rhythm between the performers. The kung fu actors had to follow each other’s movements like dancers. You can see fight scenes being choreographed like this in Jackie Chan: My Stunts.

It was only natural that B-Boys would be attracted to these movements that were close to what they were doing already. Lil’ Lep explained how the kung fu movies directly effected the dance and his crew, the New York City Breakers. “Kung fu movies were important, because we learned from them. You know Flip (Flip Rock AKA Bobby Potts), he does a lot of flips, and they do a lot of flips in kung fu movies. You know my man Chino (AKA Action), he does a lot of flips too. My thing is my swipes, headspins.”

B-Boys would take certain movements they saw in the kung fu films and work them into the dance. Lep brought his own innovation to the headspin. Instead of doing it from a standstill position, he went into the headspin from footwork. He calls this the pencil headspin. In the movies Drunken Master, Killer Army, and Shaolin Temple there are moves when an actor will spin on his head ½ or a whole rotation. Ras, AKA Ray from Floormaster Dancers ( Brooklyn ) said, “Kung fu played a part in my life. You see the styles they had, they spin on their heads, like b-boying, they had windmills, they were doing the helicopter, which is the swipe. We looked at these things, we used it as dance.

Ray learned Aikido in the marines, and loved the way he could manipulate an opponent’s body weight with the Japanese art. It is hard to say if the influence was always direct, or if it happened because of repeated viewing of similar movements and was appropriated subconsciously..

One thing that Ken, Trac, and Lep all brought up when asked how the films influenced them was routines. The elaborate choreography of Hong Kong martial arts movies inspired the B-Boys to choreograph their own routines with two or more dancers. In kung fu movies and B-Boy routines, creativity and constant practice is what makes the choreography. I asked Lep about the choreography he was involved with in the New York City Breakers. “If we didn’t’t do it right, we would have to do it over and over until we got it right, you know, that’s part of being a professional dancer.”

The B-Boys that started out imitating their heroes on the big screen eventually got to be in movies themselves, performing their own footwork, kicks and flips in films like Flashdance, Wildstyle, and Beatstreet. Beatstreet features the rivalry between RSC and NYCB prominently in the story line. Kuriaki is doing footwork, and Powerful Pexter says, “You’re biters, all you’re homeboys are biters.” Kuriaki responds, “I ain’t never stole no moves from you, your moves ain’t’ worth to be bit, so what’s up with that, punk?” After this exchange of verbal confrontation, the two crews agree to battle each other at the Roxy.

Ken Swift talked about going to Japan to promote Wildstyle on the Wildstyle tour in 1982,”We took Japan by storm, I think they were shook, that movie Wildstyle, was like hard, rugged, rough Bronx. They show burnt buildings, the whole shit, and I think these people were just blown away by this shit that came from those conditions.”

Comment by TV Plus on October 10, 2022 at 10:35pm

Ken was amazed that in Japan , American culture had already impressed the Japanese in a big way. He saw 20 Japanese Elvis impersonators where they were previewing the movie. He saw Japanese rock groups including a Japanese Kiss. While the Japanese were emulating American culture,

American youth was appropriating from Asian culture, and showing the result to an Asian audience for the first time. Ken Swift, “We had to really show the influence of kung fu, martial arts, of kung fu movies in a dance piece, when we went to the Akasaka blitz, in Tokyo , and be in front of Asians, that was strange. We were like, ‘Yo, we’re inspired by these people.’ It was strange, we were concerned, we’re like, ‘how are they going to react to this. ’ I don’t know, the audiences are funny, they can be quiet as hell through the whole show and then at the end, just (claps), and you’re like ‘OK, OK’, you thought they hated it. Some of the audiences are very reserved, everybody really enjoyed it.

After Beatstreet B-Boying, or Breakdancing as it was known to the general public, became a nationwide phenomenon. Two West Coast movies were released, Breakin’, and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo that featured popping and locking and some b-boying. These movies were produced by Golan Globus, who made movies like Ninja 3: The Domination and later Bloodsport with Jean-Claude Van Damme. Van Damme has a cameo in Breakin’ as a crowd member on the outside of the circle.

Breakin Movie 1.2 B-Boying’s popularity soared and “how to” books and records were released. The dance was exploited and mass marketed for two years, and became the “in” thing. Then in 1985, almost everyone stopped dancing. B-Boying was burnt out from overexposure. Diehard B-Boys kept dancing,

but to the rest of the country it was considered over. Co-incidentally, around the same time, production on traditional kung fu movies ceased in Hong Kong in favor of modern thrillers and comedies. One of the new films was a Breakdance comedy directed directed by Yuen Wo-ping, Mismatched Couples starring Donnie Yen. You can see the influence American culture had on HK at the time.

The moves that were inspired by HK cinema made their way back into the genre they came from in their American B-Boy form. B-Boying also shows up in Drunken Tai Chi and I Will Finally Knock You Down Dad, two of the last traditional kung fu films produced in the 80′s.

In the early 90s B-Boying and the traditional kung fu film both made a comeback. The movie that brought the kung fu film back was Tsui Hark’s Once Upon a Time in China starring Jet Li. The new wave of kung fu films following the success of this film featured different styles of camera angles and editing.

The choreography was enhanced with wirework, which allowed characters to fly. This style was previously seen mostly in swordplay films. Drunken Tai Chi / Once Upon a Time in China

While directors in HK were bringing the kung fu film back, RSC came together with the Rhythm Technicians and Magnificent Force to form Ghettoriginal. This unit produced and performed dance theater about their experiences in B-Boying. One production they performed was Shaolin Temple Hip-Hop that was part of the play Jam on the Groove in 1996.

Shaolin Temple Hip-Hop was a piece that Ghettoriginal put together not to educate people, but as Ken Swift said “It was a bug out skit, lets have fun with our inspiration, one of our favorite inspirations, as B-Boys, that meant so much to us coming up. ” 

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