John Lone did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Henry in Shadow of China.
Shadow of China follows a former revolutionary who had to flee to Hong Kong whose life is upended again as his old love from that time comes back into his life, meanwhile, China itself is going through the attempted democracy reform movement that ended in the Tienanmen Square massacre.
John Lone plays Henry whom we first meet near the end of the end of the cultural revolution where he must flee with his seeming fellow idealist and potential romantic partner Moo-Ling (Vivian Wu). This first sequence is indicative of the rest of the film where the setting and ideas are interesting yet you always wish it would dive a bit deeper and a bit more effectively. Here we’re in a rush to separate the pair to set up the present day story without nearly enough time establishing them in their young relationship and in their time as more revolutionary sorts. Lone is good in the scene in playing the lack of confidence of a scared younger man where the fixation is on survival, something only shaken by his anguish for really the death of any hopes of revolution. Lone conveys that quickly along with just a bit of ardent, uncomplicated, sincerity in his chemistry with Wu in this sequence. Lone is good but the film doesn’t truly let him explore this version of Henry beyond a basic setup point. Lone delivers on that, makes us believe the plight for the few minutes we’re in it, but we’re gone very quickly. Lone does what he can but what he can do is only so much.
We then flash forward to the present day where we find Henry now a powerful Hong Kong businessman. Lone of course excels with this new type of Henry, and does very much bring that powerful presence we saw earlier in Year of the Dragon. Although a key difference is the level of darkness that Lone brings here. Henry is a bit lighter overall but Lone has that dominating quality within his work. He just has that strength of presence where you sense the power innately of Henry and Lone also just controls scenes with such natural ease. Lone nicely avoids being one note as well as we briefly have a flirtatious moment with his white girlfriend where Lone pretends it’s a business call. Lone so naturally switches to a different color of still that dominating power but with just the right undercurrent of playfulness in every delivery where you can sense the flirt even as he is pretending otherwise. That is in contrast to the pure businessman moments, where we soon learn that Henry isn’t just a legitimate businessman either, where Lone brings such sharpness in his eyes of a man truly looking for essentially the killer stroke to become a more powerful man in the world.
Henry’s ambitions are complicated when Moo-Ling comes back into his life along with her companion Akira, a Japanese journalist. Lone is great in any scene with Wu in playing so naturally the layers of Henry in this situation. As his physical manner eases up away from the calculating businessman, his eyes are a bit wider, he’s altogether more expressive and from it all you instantly are granted a sense of the old love between them. When the conversation ever turns to the changes Henry has undergone, Lone is excellent in the way you see the shield of that man quickly reestablish itself right within his delivery that goes from warm and loving to cold and exact. Lone though is so great in the way then he brings an in-between smile of Henry catching himself and trying to still be the old Henry she knew even as you see him in his mind working that tension all the same. The chemistry between the two is remarkable as you are granted such a natural sense of the connection do share but also that specific separation between Henry who has become a far more cynical man against Moo-Ling who still has those old idealistic beliefs that once brought them together and apart.
The film’s progress is a little repetitive as we go from Henry moving in a dark path of power but broken apart with Moo-Ling’s optimism as well as her friend Akira who becomes keenly aware of the real nature of Henry’s business. Going back and forth between the two in a way that never quite goes deep enough in either. Lone however stays captivating as he can be within the limitations of the scenes he’s working with regardless. We get for example a great scene, for Lone, where he controls an auction where the power exuding off of Lone is unquestionable as there is such an incisiveness in his eyes and every delivery has such innate yet wholly effortless force about it. Lone dominates with such ease that frankly reminded me a bit of Pacino in The Godfather Part II, unfortunately he’s not working with even half as good of a script. I found the ending in particular sloppy where spoilers Moo-Ling is killed during a gun fight between Henry and his rivals, then essentially Henry is fully reformed and gives a hopeful promise about a new revolution. It all feels a little rushed to say the least. I’ll give credit to Lone in that he conveys the initial conflict within himself with emotional nuance in their final conversation then his reaction to her death is heartbreaking enough to convey it maybe as the reason for the fairly swift reform. A reform that is at least sold well because Lone’s final firm hopeful delivery is truly great. Unfortunately the power of all it is a bit diluted because the writing makes it all so spotty. Lone delivers a very good performance that elevates everything he’s working with, I just wish he had to do a bit less elevating overall.
John Lone plays Henry whom we first meet near the end of the end of the cultural revolution where he must flee with his seeming fellow idealist and potential romantic partner Moo-Ling (Vivian Wu). This first sequence is indicative of the rest of the film where the setting and ideas are interesting yet you always wish it would dive a bit deeper and a bit more effectively. Here we’re in a rush to separate the pair to set up the present day story without nearly enough time establishing them in their young relationship and in their time as more revolutionary sorts. Lone is good in the scene in playing the lack of confidence of a scared younger man where the fixation is on survival, something only shaken by his anguish for really the death of any hopes of revolution. Lone conveys that quickly along with just a bit of ardent, uncomplicated, sincerity in his chemistry with Wu in this sequence. Lone is good but the film doesn’t truly let him explore this version of Henry beyond a basic setup point. Lone delivers on that, makes us believe the plight for the few minutes we’re in it, but we’re gone very quickly. Lone does what he can but what he can do is only so much.
We then flash forward to the present day where we find Henry now a powerful Hong Kong businessman. Lone of course excels with this new type of Henry, and does very much bring that powerful presence we saw earlier in Year of the Dragon. Although a key difference is the level of darkness that Lone brings here. Henry is a bit lighter overall but Lone has that dominating quality within his work. He just has that strength of presence where you sense the power innately of Henry and Lone also just controls scenes with such natural ease. Lone nicely avoids being one note as well as we briefly have a flirtatious moment with his white girlfriend where Lone pretends it’s a business call. Lone so naturally switches to a different color of still that dominating power but with just the right undercurrent of playfulness in every delivery where you can sense the flirt even as he is pretending otherwise. That is in contrast to the pure businessman moments, where we soon learn that Henry isn’t just a legitimate businessman either, where Lone brings such sharpness in his eyes of a man truly looking for essentially the killer stroke to become a more powerful man in the world.
Henry’s ambitions are complicated when Moo-Ling comes back into his life along with her companion Akira, a Japanese journalist. Lone is great in any scene with Wu in playing so naturally the layers of Henry in this situation. As his physical manner eases up away from the calculating businessman, his eyes are a bit wider, he’s altogether more expressive and from it all you instantly are granted a sense of the old love between them. When the conversation ever turns to the changes Henry has undergone, Lone is excellent in the way you see the shield of that man quickly reestablish itself right within his delivery that goes from warm and loving to cold and exact. Lone though is so great in the way then he brings an in-between smile of Henry catching himself and trying to still be the old Henry she knew even as you see him in his mind working that tension all the same. The chemistry between the two is remarkable as you are granted such a natural sense of the connection do share but also that specific separation between Henry who has become a far more cynical man against Moo-Ling who still has those old idealistic beliefs that once brought them together and apart.
The film’s progress is a little repetitive as we go from Henry moving in a dark path of power but broken apart with Moo-Ling’s optimism as well as her friend Akira who becomes keenly aware of the real nature of Henry’s business. Going back and forth between the two in a way that never quite goes deep enough in either. Lone however stays captivating as he can be within the limitations of the scenes he’s working with regardless. We get for example a great scene, for Lone, where he controls an auction where the power exuding off of Lone is unquestionable as there is such an incisiveness in his eyes and every delivery has such innate yet wholly effortless force about it. Lone dominates with such ease that frankly reminded me a bit of Pacino in The Godfather Part II, unfortunately he’s not working with even half as good of a script. I found the ending in particular sloppy where spoilers Moo-Ling is killed during a gun fight between Henry and his rivals, then essentially Henry is fully reformed and gives a hopeful promise about a new revolution. It all feels a little rushed to say the least. I’ll give credit to Lone in that he conveys the initial conflict within himself with emotional nuance in their final conversation then his reaction to her death is heartbreaking enough to convey it maybe as the reason for the fairly swift reform. A reform that is at least sold well because Lone’s final firm hopeful delivery is truly great. Unfortunately the power of all it is a bit diluted because the writing makes it all so spotty. Lone delivers a very good performance that elevates everything he’s working with, I just wish he had to do a bit less elevating overall.
2 comments:
Louis: Ratings and thoughts on the cast.
Luke:
Wu - 3.5(She’s good in her scenes with Lone however the rest of the time her work borders on a little too simplistic in playing a naive note. She’s good with Lone because you do very much get that sense of history in every little interaction they have and find that emotional shorthand that makes them so believable together.)
Sato - 3(Just really a boring role that Sato is fine with but can’t make much of an impression. The role definitely needed to be fleshed out more than just concerned other guy.)
Neill - (He’s in the movie.)
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