Attended the Academy screening with Jet Li. I haven’t known of him but my first impression was that he was really charismatic, and a down to earth guy. He told us about the time he was affected by a tsunami in China and how that experienced pushed him to open a relief for natural disasters victims. As I was listening, I couldn’t help about how I perceived Jackie Chan—which was how I thought about analyzing this film using the star theory.
Immediately the film foregrounds Li as the martial arts par excellence, with his body twisting in the air and his feet landing lightly on the ship’s ropes. Throughout the film the camera focuses on his Li’s body a lot, even emphasizing how cool it was through slow motion. There were a lot of shots of his feet too which draws the spectator’s attention to his legs during fight scenes, since he was known for his kicks. The ladder scene in particular drew my attention. Prior to the film Li was talking about how that scene took so long to take as it was the last scene they shot after he recovered from a foot fracture 8 weeks prior. So immediately everyone knew that this scene was going to be epic. Li maintained a calm and composed frame throughout the scene. He keeps his movement contained whereas those around him had big movements that affect their surroundings. He practices his principles in the scene, opening his hands to say “I’d rather talk” versus Master Yi who has his hands clenched into fists to say “I’d rather fight.” The awe for Jet Li is exacerbated by Master Wong as the character’s charisma, humbleness, and willingness to help others is paralleled with the actor.
Also, this could be studied with a post-colonial theory too. And gesture omfg, the sea line INSANE.
Attended the Academy screening with Jet Li. I haven’t known of him but my first impression was that he was really charismatic, and a down to earth guy. He told us about the time he was affected by a tsunami in China and how that experienced pushed him to open a relief for natural disasters victims. As I was listening, I couldn’t help about how I perceived Jackie Chan—which was how I thought about analyzing this film using the star theory.
Immediately the film foregrounds Li as the martial arts par excellence, with his body twisting in the air and his feet landing lightly on the ship’s ropes. Throughout the film the camera focuses on his Li’s body a lot, even emphasizing how cool it was through slow motion. There were a lot of shots of his feet too which draws the spectator’s attention to his legs during fight scenes, since he was known for his kicks. The ladder scene in particular drew my attention. Prior to the film Li was talking about how that scene took so long to take as it was the last scene they shot after he recovered from a foot fracture 8 weeks prior. So immediately everyone knew that this scene was going to be epic. Li maintained a calm and composed frame throughout the scene. He keeps his movement contained whereas those around him had big movements that affect their surroundings. He practices his principles in the scene, opening his hands to say “I’d rather talk” versus Master Yi who has his hands clenched into fists to say “I’d rather fight.” The awe for Jet Li is exacerbated by Master Wong as the character’s charisma, humbleness, and willingness to help others is paralleled with the actor.
Also, this could be studied with a post-colonial theory too. And gesture omfg, the sea line INSANE.
