- Impetuous Fire
Infobox Film
name = Impetuous Fire
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director =John Law
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released = 1977
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language = Mandarin
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imdb_id ="Impetuous Fire" is a 1977
Hong Kong film [ [http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/movie.asp?id=6741 HKcinemamagic.com] ] .Impetuous Fire is a 1977 Romance film produced in Hong Kong, with intended audiences in
Taiwan . It is directed by the masterful Lo Ma (John Law.) It starsAlan Tang (Tang Kwon-Wing,) one of the leading men of Chinese Romance andMartial Arts movies at his time, and a very young Candice Yu (Yu On-On,) later the first wife ofChow Yun-Fat , in one of her earliest projects in her career.Title
Its Chinese title, “Jin Shung Jin Shi,” literally means “This Life, This World.”
Plot
Young Iris (Candice Yu,) diagnosed with an incurable disease, has her parents’ consent to travel the world before the end. Accompanied by her governess Mrs. Hsia, she comes to Hong Kong for only seven days. She runs into a convicted killer Tai-Lun (Alan Tang) upon arriving, and as telepathy will have it, they fall deeply in love. Tai-Lun, who has just broken out of jail, is an orphan brought up by Father Ma. He is sentenced to death for accidentally killing three people in a fight.
The two lovers, each facing a mutual plight, choose to love the moment and hide the truth from each other. Their guardians, Mrs. Hsia and Father Ma, find out about their love and decide to confide in each other and help the pair keep up their fantasy. There Iris and Tai-Lun are able to enjoy their bitter-sweet love for only the seven days.
Critique
Most critics find the plot to be a little lame and unrealistic, and rightfully so. However, most agree that Candice Yu looks very good in this film. While Tang was an established heart-throb, Yu, only a teen at the time, gave a matching performance. The love scene in this movie is worth a special mention, as though Tang and Yu do not actually make love in the movie, they have a very passionate kissing scene in which they genuinely tongue-kiss, a very rare act for Chinese films at the time. The fact that both bare half-naked in the scene is also much ahead of its time. One critic has described the scene as “unbelievably hot” and “over-the-edge steaming.”
The 1994 Remake
While not a well-known fact, but this film was remade into a made-for-TV mini-movie for a Chinese TV sub-network in the US in 1994. The low-budget remake, starring local Chinese idol Tim Chang, and introducing a very young, sweet-looking singer-actress Sandy Wu, became a surprising instant hit among the Chinese-American community. It was directed by H. C. Tang, a successful producer-director in the Chinese-American entertainment industry.
The remake followed pretty much the exact storyline as the original, with the only major change being its location-from Hong Kong to the US. It also focused more on the love story of the leading couple and paid less attention to the supporting roles. Whereas comparing to the fighting scenes in the original, leading man Tim Chang did some singing instead in the remake.
Chang gave a strong performance and looked handsome as always, while Wu was simply an angel. The “feel for love” in the remake was beautifully crafted, and the love scene by Chang and Wu was every bit as steamy and real, it surpassed the original. The remake has not been released world-wide.
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
