Rich and Famous/Tragic Hero (1987) Heroic Bloodshed’s Strength in Depth (Review)

Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan had become the faces of Hong Kong cinema, delivering a brand of action cinema that was both thrilling as it was technical in its execution, we’d never seen anything quite like it here in the West. And whilst it may have been Cheng Chang-Ho’s 1972 hit King Boxer (aka Five Fingers of Death) that had started the Kung Fu craze, by the time the 80s had come around, there was something else brewing in Hong Kong. Something darker, meaner, more visceral and chaotic. No longer were high kicks and long training montages the order of the day, Hong Kong audiences were craving the flash of gun fire and the blood of heroes, and for us in the west to differentiate between this new brand of operatic violence and the balletic fisticuffs that had become come before, the godfather of Eastern Cinema, Rick Baker coined the phrase “Heroic Bloodshed”, and a new branch on the Hong Kong cinema tree began to grow.

Many will point to the John Woo directed, Tsui Hark produced A Better Tomorrow (1986) would be the film that would launch the genre for many, this tradition of story telling can be traced back further to Johnny Mak’s Long Arm of the Law (1984), and it is with Johnny Mak (who’s production company made both of these films) that we find ourselves with the latest release in a long list of great HK cinema from Eureka Entertainment, this being the expansive double header of Rich and Famous and it’s “sequel” Tragic Hero.

Both films were directed by Taylor Wong, who had famously directed Buddha’s Palm for Shaw Brothers in 1981 (yes THAT Buddha’s Palm), both Rich and Famous and Tragic Hero were released within three months of each other, but in a confusing turn of events, it was the sequel, Tragic Hero that was originally released in February 1987, with Rich and Famous being released in the May of the same year. From what little information that can be gathered is that it was thought that the more action oriented second instalment would be of a greater appeal to audiences, where as the more character based Rich and Famous would serve better as an desert to Tragic Heroes main course. Whilst in the context of the story this release schedule would make very little sense, it would turn out to be a prudent one with Tragic Hero taking HK$19m and Rich and Famous taking in HK$21m (for context, Jackie Chan’s Police Story took approximately HK$26m and is considered a smash success). 

Takings and release schedules aside, both Rich and Famous and Tragic Hero don’t have their guns on display at all times, because this is a story that spans the 70s and 80s in it’s telling, as we see siblings Yung (Alex Man) and Kwok (Andy Lau) in the employment of Brother Chai due to bad decisions and unfortunate luck. As it becomes clear of which of these brothers Brother Chai prefers, it’s the resentment and jealousy that leads to betrayal and murder. This isn’t to say that the flashes of violence are rare, far from it, when it hits it is chaotic and bloody, lacking the sheen of say a John Woo Bullet ballet or a Ringo Lam’s intensity, but neither film is here to show how much claret it can get on screen, it is here to tell a sweeping tale of honour and treachery, one that will tear a family apart.

There have been comparisons to The Godfather or Once Upon a Time in America, the nearest Hong Kong equivalent films would be something like Patrick Tam’s My Heart Is That Eternal Rose (1989) or John Woo’s epic Bullet in the Head (1990), each carrying their expansive stories and a cast of characters that easily reaches double figures but never feels over crowded. Rich and Famous and Tragic Hero both fit this mould perfectly, and whilst the execution isn’t as dynamic as the aforementioned films, they can both hold their heads high as it stands amongst greats, just temper expectations when it comes to shootouts.

As for Eureka’s release, it features a wealth of extras, ranging from commentaries on both films by Frank Djeng (New York Asian Film Festival), a feature on the English dubbing of HK films, including an interview with Simon Broad, the man who put English into Chow Yun Fat’s mouth, all with a 1080p presentation of both films, and having owned the DVDs of both films for many years, they have never looked better than this (and arguably a bit too good, as squibs and padding can easily be seen in many a shot).

It would be hard to argue that Rich and Famous and Tragic Hero belong amongst the greats of the Heroic Bloodshed genre, but to dismiss them would be doing yourself a disservice, because they are both great in their own right.

Ben’s Archive: Rich and Famous & Tragic Hero