Film Exposure

Hong Kong action cinema soared to unprecedented heights in the 1980s and 1990s, in no small part thanks to the risk-taking dedication of its stuntmen. As many action fans would attest, no other industry was on the same level then or has quite managed to outmatch it since in terms of how impressive and intricate (and sometimes dangerous) some of these stunts turned out to be. That was then of course, and now is different. Systemic, technological, and societal changes have deeply transformed the Hong Kong film industry, and much has been made (perhaps with good reason) of its decline in the last two decades. From its very first scene, Albert Leung and Herbert Leung’s Stuntman showcases deep reverence for the past, but also proves able to recognize its faults. Thus begins a heartfelt, passionate examination of the stunt profession within an industry fighting tooth and nail for its resurrection.

The opening action scene is short but sweet. Empty mall, broken glass, kung fu moves, and 80s electro music – it’s like seeing a version of Police Story from another dimension. Goons are dispatched down escalators or fall one floor down onto a retail kiosk. Soon, the hero must jump off a bridge onto a moving vehicle. That’s when we switch to the main narrative, with the crew filming the scene. Emphasis is put on how dangerous the stunt is, and its outcome becomes the starting point of the story, set nowadays… a few decades later.

Sam Lee (played by real-life, legendary action choreographer Stephen Tung Wai) is no longer an action director. The industry has moved on, and so has he. Until one day, an old friend asks him to help him make one last action film before retirement. “I don’t want Hong Kong cinema to die before I do” he says. Sam accepts despite how it might affect his already strained relationship with his adult daughter.

Part intimate drama, part erudite look at an often thankless, little-known, and highly competitive profession, Stuntman painstakingly puts its characters through many of the challenges real-life crews often have to face: tensions on set, generational differences in work ethics, budget cuts, overtime, lack of permits, and so on. The latter especially plays a crucial role in one pivotal and gripping sequence where Sam Lee orders his crew to film a shootout scene in the streets of Hong Kong without the proper permits, which of course does not end well. Earlier in the film, he takes over directing and forces his star and stunt person to film one particular kick over and over again – dozens of times, perhaps more – until breaking point. “We used to spend at least 20 days on a fight scene”, he explains to his producer, who replies “That was a long time ago. Nowadays, we get like 20 days to shoot a movie”. Like Stuntman for instance, shot in 19 days.

The film’s directors being stuntmen themselves, they’ve known firsthand some of these situations, and this experience allows them to find a pretty good balance between reverence and critical look. Sam Lee’s classic action films are celebrated, considered among the best to have ever been made, but his way of working clashes with modern expectations about safety and regulations. “What’s the point of doing it if you don’t go all out?” he shouts at the film’s younger star played by Philip Ng (seen this year as the memorable villain in the Hong Kong blockbuster Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In), while pushing junior stuntman Long (Terrence Lau, also in Walled In) to go the extra mile, to give the film his all. The protagonist is an embodiment of a passion for the craft that is so intense, it can become destructive on a personal and communal level. How much can one give to filmmaking before it becomes an obsession? The character of Long is a more modern variation on the theme, haunted with the possibility that it might be too late for him to live out his dream.

Does the film find the answer to the underlying question of how to carry on when the industry faces so many obstacles? Not exactly, but it sets out to illustrate the “Hong Kong spirit” and what it can do, how far it can take people with passion and hard work. The production Sam Lee is hired for in the film cannot be shot solely the way he wants, and it cannot satisfy the investors solely thanks to the younger generation’s ideas. To salvage it, they must all come together. In one scene, Sam Lee, Philip Ng’s character Wai and the film’s director are watching a rough cut of the movie. Sam knows what’s wrong with the sequence: it’s the rhythm. He goes over to the editor and asks him to make one change by adding an insert. They play the scene again, and Wai’s face brightens up – as if he had just understood the power of editing in action filmmaking.

Fans of Hong Kong cinema will recognize many familiar faces and locations, with every other scene bringing back memories of older films. The drama part, which mainly involves Sam Lee trying to be there for his daughter as she makes preparations for her wedding, is more conventional, with all the expected emotional beats falling in place a bit mechanically. It works well enough to support the main narrative however, and ties in perfectly with Lee’s portrayal as a man devoured by a burning desire to always go further on set. Some might say that the film does not feature any stunt as impressive as the ones we used to see from Hong Kong movies, and they’d be right… but Stuntman makes a point of showing us why that is no longer possible. For every eye-popping stunt of Hong Kong actioners (and there are many), there have also been tragic accidents: Moon Lee and Sibelle Hu nearly caught in an explosion in Devil Hunters (1989), Conan Lee falling off the streetlamp in Tiger on the Beat 2 (1990), a stuntman falling on his head and dying on the set of License to Steal (1990), or another one jumping down 7 meters and missing the cardboard boxes that were supposed to break his fall on the set of Angel (1987).

Hong Kong action films can no longer do stunts the way they used to. They can’t drive a car into Ridley Tsui or leave a little girl hanging out a car window anymore (thankfully), but what they can do is keep the Hong Kong spirit going, keep the flame alive no matter how strong the wind. The Leung Brothers deliver a poignant, compelling debut that will make Hong Kong cinema fans hopeful about the future and newcomers curious about its glorious past. We’ll keep an eye on their career.

Stuntman opens in UK and Irish cinemas on 11 October, 2024. Thanks to Trinity CineAsia for making this review possible.

Stuntman – In UK/I cinemas from 11 October
Directed by Albert and Herbet Leung
With Stephen Tung Wai, Terrence Lau, Philip Ng