If there was ever an official case to be made for Mui as the perfect complement to Chan’s brand of comedy, The Legend Of Drunken Master would be it. The beginnings of her comedic chemistry with Chan can be seen when Kuo, having been a little jealous and more than a little neglectful, begs an ungratified Luming not to leave, accidentally tearing her outfit to shreds and knocking her around in a chair in the process.
Likewise, Mui gets to flex her vocal muscles as the nightclub’s lounge-singer, with her cabaret performance showcased in a glamourous match-cut montage that sees her go from colourful outfit to outfit as the club’s success rises. Chan’s team’s ability is as evident as that of the man himself, with each member being given their own intricate manoeuvre or chance at taking down Kuo from increasingly dangerous advantages. Captured by a rival gang’s boss, Chan and his stunt-team work their way up the scaffolds of a rope factory and back down again (some quicker than others) while throwing punches and kicks every which way. Which is not to say Miracles is absent of fighting – in fact, the finale is one of Chan’s greatest sequences. Perhaps Chan’s grandest directorial effort, Miracles sees him strive to make a film more in the vein of the classic cinema he appears to love, as opposed to the kung-fu pictures that had become his trademark genre. What follows is a delicate balance of screwball farce and light-hearted crime as Kuo and Luming become entangled in a plan to pose as the wealthy family of the rose-seller when her estranged daughter visits with wealthy fiancé and father-in-law in tow. Enter Mui as Luming Yang, a singer and dancer looking to repay her father’s debt to Kuo’s gang-lord predecessor. Kuo, being the kind-hearted soul we’ve come to expect from Chan’s characters, decides to change the gang’s business direction from criminal activity to more legitimate means. After buying a rose from a street seller (Gua Ah-Leh), he quickly finds himself fighting for the life of a mob boss and unwittingly being chosen as his replacement. He plays a down-on-his-luck Kuo Cheng-Wah who arrives in 1930s Hong Kong and is immediately conned out of all his money. As ever, Chan spins a number of plates, serving as the film’s director, writer, stunt coordinator and lead actor as he creates his love letter to the golden age of Hollywood. Canton And Lady Rose in the native Chinese, and Black Dragon in America), a 1989 remake of Frank Capra’s Pocketful Of Miracles, itself a redo of his own 1933 film Lady For A Day. Their first onscreen collaboration came in the form of Miracles: The Canton Godfather (also known as Mr. Working with Jackie Chan, however, let the world see her funny side. Perhaps due to her harsh upbringing and longing for love, Mui proved adept at dramatic roles. She carved out her place on the Cantopop scene with her extravagant outfits and edgy personality, eventually making the oft-made transition to acting where she found even more success with award-winning turns in films such as Taylor Wong’s Behind The Yellow Line and Stanley Kwan’s Rouge. The ‘Madonna of Asia’, Mui began singing and performing on stages and streets at the age of four, going on to become the first winner of the New Talent Singing Awards. But while double-acts with Sammo Hung, Owen Wilson and Chris Tucker have given Chan notable success, perhaps Chan’s greatest match can be found in the late Anita Mui. Over the years he has taken endless hits, broken countless bones and worked with more stars than most could dream of in one career. An acrobatic perfectionist known for doing his own stunts (time and time again, as per the blooper-reels), his onscreen persona was laced with vulnerability, giving the Hong Kong-born actor the chance to create comedy out of his characters’ failings. Try three issues of Film Stories magazine – for just £4.99: right here!Ĭhan was always his own breed of action hero.