Twin Dragons
From Zanecorpwiki
Work in Progress; I fell asleep while watching the film and have to find it again.
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Summary
Wow! What can I say. It may not be a truly great movie, but while I'm watching it, it feels like the most awesome movie ever. Just fun.
Even while playing comedic, essentially surreal characters Jackie's enthusiasm infuses them with a realistic vitality.
For some reason I just want to gush over this movie. It's not normally in my nature, and on 9 out of 10 viewings, I probably wouldn't be nearly as impressed, but tonight this film has me in awe.
Notes and Details
In this movie, more than any other, Jackie has, for me, the feeling of a live actor. Like when, as the rich brother, he's playing the piano, it's clear that he's not actually playing. But he does sell it and I thought very clearly, If this were live action, I'd be buying that he plays the piano.
The Piano Scenes
Normally, such scenes are shot by cutting between waist up and hands only. When we see hands playing, it's not the actor. It's just too rare to have a great actor that is also an elite concert pianist. Good actors are a study of body movement and can mimic the movements so that they'd be convincing from behind, but for anyone that's ever seen a real concert pianist, a simple view of the hands is sufficient to know it for a show.
Yet, because Jackie has such presence (and maybe because not many Chinese in 1991 had seen a concert pianist?) they show plenty of full body shots. Knowing the number of movies and the kind of schedules Jackie has always worked under, it's certain that he did not have much time to practice the movements. Certainly not the months it would have taken to prepare. Nor would it have been necessary because Twin Dragons is not a movieoe about piano playing.
I honestly think it would have been better to use a double. It's not hard, you just put the character in gloves. I have no idea whether they really do or not, but the idea that concert pianist wear white gloves is sufficiently ingrained in the cultural consciousness that it doesn't seem like a contrivance.
The Sexual Tension
And the sexual tension rich brother has with the women... I don't know what it is-- though I do I recognize it's silly--but I find these scenes both humorously endearing.
Craft of the Cut
The twin effect in the movie is believably created with almost no technology. I'm almost half way through and there hasn't even been so much as a blue screen.
When the Twins Split
I'm not laughing out loud or anything, but when the brothers accidentally swap girlfriends--hilarious.
