Fearless

Jet Li's movie, Fearless, is an interesting insight into how some Chinese want to develop Capitalism in their country. They fear the foreign domination that existed in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

The movie is about pre-revolutionary China and the humiliations that the Chinese suffered under foreign domination. The message is that the Chinese have the strength and knowledge to take on the rest of the world. However, the relationship between China and Japan is portrayed as ambivalent.

This movie is a nationalistic propaganda film about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huo_Yuanjia">Huo Yuan Jia who defeated four (4) opponents in an epic martial arts contest in Shanghai on 14 September 1910.

According to this article at WikiPedia, this movie distorts the life of Huo Yuan Jia.

Interpretation

I am not interested in the factual nature of this movie but rather in its political interpretation. There are two (2) main classes of actors in this movie: Capitalists and fighters. These are presented as the driving force behind the events of the movie. These classes of actors are further divided by ethnicity. This classification scheme is in itself interesting because these actors are the only ones portrayed as shaping events. Everyone else is at their mercy or lack thereof.

Yet in spite of their passivity, these others create the major turning point of the movie. It is when the competitive nature of Huo Yuan Jia confronts the stoic nature of the Chinese peasants, that Yuan Jia grows spiritually and is then able to begin the journey to redeem China's honour. Action through being not doing.

Classification

In the movie, there are three (3) types of Capitalists presented:

1. The Chinese are represented by the restauranter;
2. The Europeans and Americans are represented by the three (3) members of the Shanghai Trade Federation;
3. The Japanese business-man.

And there are four (4) types of fighters:

1. The Chinese;
2. The American O'Brien who called the Chinese the weak men of the East;
3. The Europeans with their swords, lances, and fists; and
4. The Japanese Tanaka.

Note that the Americans are perceived as independent fighters but undifferientated Capitalists with the Europeans.

The Chinese

The Capitalist

The Restaurant owner despairs over the constant fighting between Chinese which has allowed the foreigners to dominate the political and economic life of China. When Yuan Jia returns and announces that he wants to fight O'Brien, it is the restaurant owner who finances the challenge. When Yuan Jia wants to form the sports federation to unite all Chinese martial arts bodies, the restaurant owner sells his business to finance the project.

The Chinese capitalist puts country and honour before profit. Only he has the knowledge and wisdom to do the right thing: to be patriotic.

The Fighter

The Chinese fighter is Huo Yuan Jia, the hero of the movie. He starts out as a highly competitive individual who reaches the peak at a terrible cost to his family, his honour, his friends, and his self-respect. It is not until he healed by the Chinese peasants that he reorientates his life away from competition and to service.

In his final fight, he fights to reclaim Chinese honour at the cost of his own life.

Summary

Since this is a Chinese film, the Chinese are the heroes for their patriotism and self-sacrifice: the capitalist surrenders his wealth; and the fighter his life.

The Japanese

The Capitalist

It is the Japanese capitalist who conspires with the white capitalists to humiliate the Chinese by arranging for the fight to be fixed through the rules and through treachery. It is to be four (4) against one (1): English; Spanish; German; and finally, Japanese. If all else fails, Yuan Jia will be poisoned.

The Fighter

Tanaka is presented as a sympathetic character. He has the wisdom to see that Huo is being set up.

When Tanaka concedes the fight to Huo, Tanaka is confronted by the Japanese capitalist. Tanaka is asked why he ceded the match to Huo. Tanaka replies that he knows, in his heart, that he lost. Tanaka accuses the capitalist of not being a true Japanese because he prefers profit over honour.

Summary

This is an interesting juxtaposition between the Japanese capitalist and fighters. The latter is portrayed as more honourable than the former in spite of the brutal occupation of Manchuria and other parts of China from 1932 until 1945. The Rape of Nanking was not done by the capitalists but by the military. The Japanese were afflicted by the same racial prejudice against the Chinese as were the Westeners.

The Americans

The Capitalist

The cast lists an American capitalist but his presence has no influence on the movie. Could this be a calculated insult?

The Fighter

O'Brien is an American boxer who has proclaimed that the Chinese are the weak men of the East. This insult propels Huo on his journey of redemption to restore his country's honour. The fight ends in O'Brien proclaiming Huo to be the winner. This is similar to what Tanaka does at the end of the film.

Summary

Jet Li portrays the Americans as brawn but no brains. However, the Americans will gracefully accept defeat at the hands of the superior Chinese. I don't think so.

The Europeans

The Capitalists

These are portrayed as a cabal who act at the instigation of the Japanese capitalist. Even they balk at some of the methods of the Japanese captalist.

The Fighters

The European fighters are presented as one-trick warriors. Tanaka and Huo would several rounds with the weapons used by each European: fists, sword, and lance.

Could Jet Li be saying that Westeners can only do one thing whereas the Orientals (Chinese and Japanese) can master all of these?

Summary

The Europeans are presented as bit-players in the titanic struggle between two Oriental cultures.

Conclusion

The fading of American influence with the collapse of its Capitalist economy will only leave its military might. Even this can be overcome by the Chinese.

The conclusion could be that China can take on the world and win by using competition to find out its own weaknesses. This is the arrogance one finds among nascent Capitalist powers.

There is still the complexity of the relationship between China and Japan. The brutality of the thirteen (13) year war by Japan against China is a gaping wound between philosphical allies. The message of this movie could be that the love of money caused the Japanese to behave dishonourably.

But this is an unresolved conflict within Capitalism: how to behave honourably while making money? Jet Li is naive if he thinks that Chinese Capitalists can put the national interests above their own. A Capitalist does what is best for him not for the rest of us.