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China Girl (1987)

Dir: Abel Ferrara

Ferrara's very loose adaptation of "Romeo and Juliet" (actually more of a non-musical version of "West Side Story" than of Shakespeare's play) sees the story of forbidden romance transcribed to 80's New York with the opposing forces now becoming the warring Chinese American and Italian American factions of that city.

Tony (Richard Panebianco) lives with his older, fledgling gangster, Brother Alby (James Russo, who went onto co-star in Ferrara's ill-fated "Dangerous Game"), in a predominantly Italian neighbourhood.
One day a Chinese restaurant opens up in their street and causes friction in the community, as the Italians see the Chinese as taking over much of the traditionally Italian areas.

With tensions high, Tony meets a pretty Chinese girl named Tye (Sari Chang) at a club and they instantly fall for each other.
But Tye is the Sister of Yung Gan (Russell Wong, "New Jack City"), a young and upcoming Triad gang member, and he orders her to stay away from Tony.
At the same time an equally incensed Alby warns Tony to stay away from Tye.

As violence flair's up between the two rival gangs, the Italian's led by Alby and including the rabidly anti-Chinese Mercury (David Caruso, "King of New York") and the Chinese led by a reluctant Yung Gan and his psychotic Cousin Tsu Shin (Joey Chin, "King of New York"), Tye and Tony find themselves caught in the middle……….

 

"China Girl" may be Ferrara's most accessible and mainstream work outside of the TV arena but it's still fresh with Ferrara's inner city style, has some interesting observations and in fact appeared two years before Spike Lee covered much the same ground in "Do the Right Thing" (minus the romance/criminal gang angle and making it the Italian Americans versus the African Americans).

Music and fashions date the film of course (as with all inner city, culture explicit dramas of their time) and when you look at this (and the earlier though far more explicit "Fear City") you can see why Ferrara was chosen to direct episodes of "Miami Vice". He has the artistic skills to certainly make so much more than just a 'hip' movie, but still has those skills needed to create something that has got it's finger on the pulse of what styles are popular at the time.

Talk of the music brings up some nice links to Ferrara's other work.
Once again Joe Delia ("The Bad Lt.") provides the original score and some songs (sadly not his best work) but we also have contributions from Douglas Metrov ("The Driller Killer's" Tony Coca Cola) and Peter Yellen (the burglar/rapist from "Ms.45") alongside some more well known songs/artists.

Religion, sometimes a key aspect of Ferrara's work, is kept to a bare minimum here, but an iconography filled funeral late in the film provides one of the movie's best, most dramatic and emotionally charged sequences and also brings up the acting in the movie.
This funeral scene is prime Ferrara, with some biting dialogue and excellent performances and you wish some of the actors gave this kind of intense performance more often in the film.
In fact the otherwise rather bland Richard Panebianco comes alive in this sequence, as well as in an earlier confrontation with Caruso (yet another great turn by that underrated actor. Ferrara seems to bring the best out in him in fact as "Crime Story" and especially "King of New York" show), and it proves that when given some real passion to convey Panebianco can do a fine job. Sadly though, in his far more frequent quieter moments, he makes little impression and nor does the pretty but vapid Sari Chang as Tye.
And it's really left to Caruso, Joey Chin and Russo to add energy to the movie.

The Cinematography by Bojan Bazelli, who went on to do fantastic work on Ferrara's iconic "King of New York", captures the neon reflected wet streets of New York to perfection and once again you know Ferrara is at home on those streets, providing some razor sharp chase and fight sequences.
When a Director of Abel's stature is working in his favourite environment, with an equally astute eye looking through the camera lens to capture on screen what's going through his mind, the film can't help but look and feel marvellous. And "China Girl" does indeed look great and has bags of inner city atmosphere.

That is not to say the film is perfect though. Far from it, as it's basically far too conventional in far too many ways and actually fumbles it's important forbidden love plot.
But the film is still full of interesting observations.
On the dance floor (and the less said about the really bad dancing the better!) the animosity between the cultures is basically non-existent as Whites, Blacks and Asians all dance next to each other…it's only when the dancers specifically mix (when Tony dances with Tye) that trouble starts. It's frustrating and tragic to see something so insignificant as dancing next to each other changing to dancing WITH each other cause so much hate and violence.
It shows up perfectly the teeth grinding absurdity of the racism from all sides.

In fact despite the main idea of the film being the clash of cultures, Ferrara and his semi-regular script writer Nicholas St. John deliver many explicit references to just how alike those cultures, and the people living in them, really are;

The patriarchal cultures that are so at odds are never the less very close in many of their attitudes. Yung Gan's attitude to Tye when he tells his little Sister that she will not see Tony again (or even leave Chinatown at night) is the mirror image of Alby's when he tells his little Brother not to see Tye again and on a more general level is the same scene more commonly played out in movies featuring Italian American Families when younger Siblings are kept in line by male Family members if they are going against what is seen as 'right'. And in both Chinese and Italian groups tradition, and suitable behaviour that respects that tradition, plays a big part.

The arrogant young turks on both sides are also seen being warned by their elders and 'Bosses' against causing trouble that would be bad for 'business'. All the young gang members want to move up in their corresponding criminal organisations yet all are warned that constant fighting is going to jeopardise that.
And many of the younger gang members on both sides are shown to have exactly the same 'they don't give a shit about us' opinion towards those aforementioned elders and Gang Bosses as they struggle to make their own mark and keep face.

St John and Ferrara also show up the hypocrisy and irony of this antagonistic set-up and the petty criminals involved
The owners of the Chinese restaurant are in fact attacked (literally and very violently) by Chinese, when Tsu Shin come looking for protection money, and not by the, admittedly disapproving of their presence, Italian Americans who never physically do anything.
The Triads prey on their fellow, hard working, Chinese as much as the Mafia preys on the Italian's trying to make a living for themselves and their Families.

But St John's screenplay spends too much time on these flamboyant gang troubles than on the central romance, with the film being nearly an hour gone before the lovers sleep together (in a nicely subdued and reverential scene) and in fact up to that point they had only been shown together twice anyway!
Ferrara has stated this is perhaps his favourite film (surprising given how mainstream it is and his negative comments made towards the comparatively big budget and again more mainstream "King of New York" on it's DVD audio commentary) and it's obvious when he does have Tony and Tye together that he does have a great affinity with them and their plight, and yet for most of the film they do seem to play second fiddle to the gangster angle and you have to wonder why Ferrara chose to damage the film this way given his love for it.
Basically Tye and Tony's story, and the characters themselves, seem to be more symbolic than emotionally real and engaging and there is quite simply not much of a spark between them (or the actors) to back-up their steadfast decision to go against the immovable wishes of their family and friends and carry on seeing each other.

So There is much to like and admire in "China Girl", like it's overall look, the cultural details of the gang warfare and some of the acting, but it's also deeply flawed by the unconvincing and sidelined romance and the general cinematic 'normality' of it's construction and content.