Michelle Yeoh both produces and stars in this good looking, enjoyable action film by Peter Pau, the Oscar-winning cinematographer of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But as possibly the first Hong Kong/Chinese production entirely in English, does it work?…
The Touch is something of an intriguing gamble. Probably the first wholly Asian production (rather than co-produced with the west) to be filmed in English it’s aim seems clear. Producers Michelle Yeoh and Thomas Chung want to capitalise on her own success and that of it’s director Peter Pau. A mandarin dubbed version has done fair business in Asia, but with no foreseeable release in the west, has the experiment backfired?
Enjoyable as the film is, it’s no Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The story is slight and highly derivative - particularly of the Indiana Jones series. It follows Eric (Ben Chaplin, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, The Thin Red Line, Birthday Girl),a master thief who has stolen a medallion on behalf of unscrupulous entrepreneur Karl (Richard Roxburgh, Mission: Impossible 2, Moulin Rouge). With it Karl can unlock the secret to the legend Sharira, the crystallised remains of an ancient monk that will make whoever consumes it infinitely powerful. Eric steals the medallion back, however, to present his ex-girlfriend, Yin (Michelle Yeoh), a circus performer. For generations her family have held the secret of who to attain the treasures of the Sharira, hidden in their gymnastic performances. When Karl kidnaps Yin’s brother Tong (Brandon Chong) and his girlfriend, getting both the medallion but also a scroll that reveals the Sharira’s location, the race is on to Dunhuang to see who gets to it first…
Writers Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud (Running Out of Time) and J.D. Zeik (Ronin, Witchblade) give the dialogue enough humour to forgive it’s hackneyed plot. Particularly for Australian Roxburgh, who plays his dastardly businessman with such relish as positively to light up the screen. Some of the Asian actors occasionally seem to stumble into their dialogue, like not enough care has been paid to get the right tone and meaning to the lines. Even Michelle Yeoh, though we know how fluent she is in English. Most laughable is the Tibetan monk at the end, who speaks English so badly he gets subtitled.
For the main part, however, Yeoh proves she could carry the lead in a western movie as well as in an Asian film. Though the chemistry between herself and Chaplin is never really too convincing. Dane Cook (Mystery Men), who plays Karl’s cousin Bob, cuts a fine line on the comic relief - just this side of being really irritating - and Brandon Chong makes a fair debut with a very possible bright future ahead of him.
It’s much of the Asian supporting cast who seem to get overlooked. Veteran Hong Kong actor Kenneth Tsang, most recently seen as General Moon in Die Another Day and featured in countless films as far back as the sixties including The Killer, Rush Hour 2, Police Story 3: Supercop and A Better Tomorrow, is needlessly wasted in his role. Elsewhere Ang Lee favourite, the late Sihung Lung (The Wedding Banquet, Eat Drink Man Woman, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) is similarly under utilised.
Director Peter Pau quite deservedly received his Oscar for his cinematography on Crouching Tiger, after his acclaimed work on other classics such as The Killer, The Bride With White Hair and Saviour Of The Soul. Possibly the greatest cinematographer after Jack Cardiff (A Matter Of Life and Death, The Red Shoes, African Queen), you won’t have to browse this site a great deal to find out how much I rate his work. Understandably Pau is unwilling to give up his role, still acting as director of photography. The results show, few action films have ever been so well composed, so beautiful, so considered. However, like other cinematographers who made the same transition to director (such as Barry Sonnenfeld and Jan De Bont) it’s the content that gets neglected. It’s a criticism Pau’s going to have to watch out for in the future, now he has more responsibility than making the picture ‘look pretty’.
Without the plot, and without a believable romantic element, the film ultimately has to rely on it’s action. Here is where the flaw lies. There’s simply not enough of it! And it’s not epic, or inspired enough against the masses of competition. With each new action film taking the stakes a little further, and - in the west - liberally plundering Asian movies how can it rival them? There are some neat fight scenes choreographed by Philip Kwok (Brotherhood of the Wolf), particularly when Yin rescues Eric from Karl’s liar, flinging his own priceless treasures against him with her scarf. Yet the over reliance on CGI effects begins to detract, even though they’re pretty well done for a film of this budget. (Particularly when many multi million blockbusters, such as Die Another Day and Harry Potter, still have some decidedly ropey CGI sequences.) The answer seems to set them to drums to add tension, again echoing Crouching Tiger rather a little too closely.
Picking a recognisable (and marketable - particularly in America) cast is a definite improvemment on those unfortunate, not even third-rate actors that usually appear speaking English in Hong Kong films - even though its at the expense of the Asian cast. A shame, since despite its western slant the film manages to genuinely capture a little of the charm of China, and not just in how Pau uses his locations. (Though his filming of Lhasa may do a hell of a lot for the Tibetan tourist office.)
So financially speaking filming in English seems to have been something of an unfruitful gamble. Not only is there no set release in the west, but it has also in part risked alienating it’s core Asian audience. But the film itself is by no means a disaster, and as co-production work begins to increase in Asia we could see a lot more films like this. The Touch could be marketed in the west. It’s fun, beautifully photographed and unashamedly undemanding, it still has something to offer against the competition. Just don’t expect Crouching Tiger…
DVD details
Distributor: Optimum Home Entertainment (UK)
Released bearly a couple of months after the films theatrical debut in Asia, this double disc set was probably rushed out to combat the pirate DVD widely available throughout China and the rest of Asia. It's a top quality transfer (probably because the pirate was of such good quality), with both a Dolby and DTS 5.1 soundtrack. It also has the Mandarin dub, and a commentary by Michelle Yeoh and Peter Pau in Cantonese - which could be interesting for those of you who are fluent!
The bonus disc isn't exactly overflowing with extras. There's a 'Making of' - in reality a four minute montage of behind the scenes footage - a trailer, music video, and cast notes. More interesting is a featurette behind the scenes on the promotional tour for the film.
