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Wednesday, August 16, 2017

The King Of Comedy

There are people and things in life that have special places in your heart, thanks to the good times they brought. I, for one, have that imaginary pedestal for the pantheon of the all-time greats. Some, such as the Beatles and Bruce Lee, you already know. I had also written about the King of Monsters and the King of Pop. Then of course we, too, have the King of Comedy.

The name is Stephen Chow. I first saw him on TV3, a Malaysian TV channel, when I was in primary school. It was an old Cantonese drama series and Chow was portraying this underdog character. I liked him immediately, for he was unusually funny. Then I realized that he also acted in several movies that were shown in the cinema. That was when my Stephen Chow cinematic experience really began, and it started with All's Well, End's Well, where he acted as the youngest brother of Raymond Wong and Leslie Cheung.

Chow was funny in that movie, alright, but he had to share the screen time with others. It was the next one, Royal Tramp, that established him as my all time favorite. He was Wai Siu-bo and his character knew no kungfu, so what he did to survive the ancient China throughout the whole movie was to talk his way thru. His antics, his expression, his nonsense and the way he laughed were totally unseen in 1992, so it was extremely hilarious. I didn't really understand Chinese (yes, in Pontianak, it was screened in Chinese instead of Cantonese) and had to rely on subtitle, but Chow was so engaging that I couldn't help it but laughing all the way.

The Laser Disc era came not long afterwards and I had my chances to catch the movies that I missed or wasn't shown in theaters. I remember watching My Hero only to find out that it wasn't a comedy. It was weird to see the funny man acting seriously, like it was so out of character for him to do so. I eventually realized that he actually started as a quite serious film actor, so with the exception of some movies such as Dragon Fight (which was more of a Jet Li movie with Stephen Chow in it), I naturally skipped his earlier flicks.

From the left: CJ7; Tricky Brains; Justice, My Foot!; The Lucky Guy; Out of the Dark; The God of Cookery.

As the 90s was flooded with Stephen Chow movies, you either liked him or hated him. I was always fond of comedy, so with nonstop hits such as the God of Gamblers series, Flirting Scholar, King of Beggars and many more, Stephen Chow was my hero. It was actually an odd choice, considering that many of my friends would prefer the so-called good looking ones, such as Andy Lau or any of the Four Heavenly Kings, but to me, Chow was simply the best. I remember how happy I was when I managed to find Out of the Dark, a rather rare Stephen Chow movie, and I cycled back that night to my grandfather's house with one hand carrying the Laser Disc, a very bulky item for one who rode a racing bike! We also had good memories watching a couple of movies at Endrico's house, most notably the God of Cookery (the scenes where he was beaten up by 18 Luohans were classic!) and the Lucky Guy (the floor sweeper who transformed into an idiotic looking Bruce Lee was memorable).

Chow was also the main reason why I bought Tangan Dewa, a Hong Kong manhua series that was translated into Bahasa Indonesia. To be able to see all these stars appeared together was pretty much unthinkable, so the manhua was an absolute godsend, though as it progressed, the quality of the story actually deteriorated over time, haha. Nevertheless, I must have been inspired by it that I wrote my own fan fiction many years later. I called it Hong Kong Heroes, with Stephen Chow as one of the main leads (Andy Lau, Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Chow Yun Fat were also in the story). It was as good as compiling the best elements of their movies into a book, while pitting our heroes against the Hollywood actors, with Stephen Chow using his card rubbing technique in the final showdown. But of course I had to mention his famous sleight of hand, didn't I?

The admirable thing about Stephen Chow was, he didn't stay where he was. As I grew older, his movie grew deeper, too. I tend to think that the turning point was the God of Cookery. It actually had a rather dark theme, but it was cleverly sugarcoated with comedy. His next attempt as both director and screenwriter, the King of Comedy, went to show that he was halfway there. By the time Shaolin Soccer arrived, it felt like, for the first time, a Stephen Chow movie. The result was really something that only Stephen Chow could think of and do. The comical story that combined soccer and kungfu was a stroke of genius. The CGI was brought in, not to compete with Hollywood, but to enhance the storytelling. At the same time, he still played the naive loser that we all knew and loved, with jokes that made us laugh so hard that some could really end up crying those happy tears. Just when I thought that would be his best film ever, he brought it to another level with Kungfu Hustle. That would be his ultimate masterpiece. It didn't shy away from introducing everything Chinese to the world, but at the same time, it was universal enough to be accepted by the non-Asian audience.

Asian Hero 2003.
Image by: time.com

Sadly, that would be the last time he acted as the main character. The next one, CJ7, still featured Chow, but in a very much diminished role. The movie itself was quite alright, though. As I watched it at the Cathay, Singapore, I remember thinking that making this movie was actually a brilliant move. Kungfu Hustle reigned supreme that it was impossible to do anything to top that, so by switching to a different genre, there would be nothing to compare about. 

Chow totally quit acting afterwards. He did a full time behind-the-scene jobs instead, starting from producer, screenwriter to director. His last few entries had the look and feel of Stephen Chow, but having other people in his stead was just plain weird. He was so unique and original that his actors ended up looking like his wannabes, because you couldn't help thinking it should be him that played those roles. Let's just hope that he'll be back one day, because he's sorely missed!



Sang Raja Komedi

Di dalam hidup ini, terkadang ada orang atau hal tertentu yang benar-benar meninggalkan kesan mendalam. Bagi saya pribadi, ada banyak tokoh-tokoh yang saya kagumi. Beberapa di antaranya, seperti Bruce Lee dan the Beatles, sudah menjadi rahasia umum. Saya juga telah menulis tentang Sang Raja Monster dan Sang Raja Pop. Kali ini akan kita bahas Sang Raja Komedi.

Namanya adalah Stephen Chow. Saya pertama kali melihatnya di TV3, saluran TV Malaysia, ketika saya masih di Sekolah Dasar. Saat itu ia tampil di drama bahasa Kanton, memainkan peran pembantu yang tidak terlalu penting. Karena gayanya yang tidak biasa dan lucu, saya langsung menyukainya. Kemudian saya sadari bahwa dia juga membintangi beberapa film yang ditayangkan di bioskop. Film pertama yang saya tonton adalah All's Well, End's Well, dimana ia berperan sebagai adik bungsu Raymond Wong dan Leslie Cheung.

Chow tampil menggelitik di film tersebut, tetapi dia hanyalah salah satu dari tiga tokoh utama. Film berikutnya, Royal Tramp, adalah film yang membuat saya mengidolakannya. Dia adalah Wai Siu-bo dan karakter Cino kuno yang ia perankan ini sama sekali tidak bisa kungfu, jadi dia hanya mengandalkan omong kosongnya untuk mengatasi masalah-masalah yang dihadapinya. Sikap dan ekspresinya yang kocak serta cara tertawanya yang khas adalah hal yang tidak pernah terlihat sebelumnya di tahun 1992, sungguh lucu dan konyol. Saya tidak begitu mengerti Mandarin (ya, di Pontianak, filmnya ditayangkan dalam bahasa Mandarin, bukan Kanton) dan harus bergantung pada terjemahan Bahasa Indonesia, tapi Chow berhasil membuat saya terpingkal-pingkal.

Era Laser Disc tiba tidak lama setelah itu, sehingga saya memiliki kesempatan untuk menyewa film-film yang tidak sempat saya tonton sebelumnya. Saya ingat betul film berjudul My Hero yang lucu gambar depannya, tetapi ternyata bukan film komedi. Agak janggal rasanya melihat pria yang seharusnya lucu malah berakting dengan serius. Saya lantas menyadari bahwa Chow memulai karirnya sebagai aktor film serius, jadi selain beberapa film seperti Dragon Fight (yang lebih terasa seperti film Jet Li karena Chow hanyalah pemeran sampingan), saya dengan sengaja melewatkan film-film yang diproduksi di awal karirnya.

Tahun 90an dibanjiri film Stephen Chow karena dia bisa merilis dua sampai tiga film per tahun. Karena saya menggemari komedi, dengan film-film seperti serial God of GamblersFlirting ScholarKing of Beggars dan masih banyak lagi, Stephen Chow jelas menjadi bintang favorit saya. Di masa itu, mengidolakan Stephen Chow mungkin terasa agak aneh, sebab biasanya teman-teman lebih mengagumi mereka yang lebih tampan, misalnya Andy Lau atau anggota Empat Raja Langit lainnya. Kendati begitu, bagi saya, Chow tetap yang terbaik. Saya ingat betapa girangnya hati ketika saya berhasil menemukan Out of the Dark di tempat penyewaan Laser Disc, film Chow yang tergolong langka, dan saya bersepeda di malam itu, pulang dengan satu tangan membawa piringan laser yang sebenarnya terlalu besar untuk pengendara sepeda balap. Selain itu, kita juga memiliki kenangan menonton beberapa film Chow di rumah Endrico, misalnya the God of Cookery (adegan dimana Chow dihajar berulang kali oleh 18 Lohan betul-betul klasik!) dan the Lucky Guy (penyapu lantai yang tiba-tiba berubah menjadi Bruce Lee bertampang idiot itu takkan pernah terlupakan).

Tangan Dewa.
Image credit: tokokomikantik.com

Chow juga merupakan alasan utama kenapa saya membeli Tangan Dewa, serial komik Hong Kong yang diterbitkan di Indonesia. Hanya di komik inilah kita bisa melihat para bintang tenar berkumpul, jadi ini komik wajib punya (walaupun kualitas ceritanya makin lama makin parah, wahaha). Bertahun-tahun kemudian, mungkin karena dipengaruhi oleh komik ini, saya juga menulis cerita fiksi yang bernama Hong Kong Heroes. Bintang utamanya tentu saja Stephen Chow dan empat bintang besar lainnya, Andy Lau, Jackie Chan, Jet Li dan Chow Yun Fat. Cerita ini boleh dikatakan kompilasi dari berbagai elemen terbaik dalam film masing-masing aktor. Lima tokoh ini pun diadu dengan para bintang Hollywood. Puncaknya adalah Chow melawan Al Pacino dalam pertandingan kartu, dimana ia menggunakan teknik menggosok kartunya. Sebagai penggemar, tentu saja saya harus menulis tentang teknik judinya yang tersohor ini, bukan?

Menarik untuk dicatat juga bahwa Stephen Chow adalah satu dari segelintir bintang yang selalu berusaha untuk maju. Seiring dengan bertambahnya umur, film Chow yang saya tonton pun terasa berubah alurnya. Saya cenderung berpikir bahwa semuanya bermula dari the God of Cookery. Tema ceritanya agak kelam, tapi dengan pintar dibungkus dengan komedi. Upaya berikutnya sebagai sutradara dan penulis naskah, the King of Comedy, terasa mulai agak matang, tetapi belum sempurna. Baru ketika Shaolin Soccer tiba, penggemar pun merasakan seperti apa rasanya menonton sebuah film Stephen Chow.

Karya monumental ini memiliki kesan yang kental bahwa hanya Stephen Chow yang bisa memproduksinya. Ya, hanya Chow yang bisa menggabungkan sepak bola dan kungfu menjadi sebuah cerita komedi. Efek yang dipakai di film tidak dimaksudkan untuk bersaing dengan Hollywood, tetapi pas untuk menguatkan kesan komedi yang ada. Di film tersebut, Chow berperan sebagai pecundang polos yang sudah kita kenal baik dan sukai, lengkap dengan leluconnya yang membuat kita terbahak-bahak sampai meneteskan air mata. Shaolin Soccer sudah bisa dikatakan sebagai karya terbaiknya, tetapi bukan Stephen Chow namanya kalau ia berhenti sampai di situ saja. Ketika Kungfu Hustle dirilis, kita disuguhi dengan tontonan yang tiada duanya. Film ini memiliki nuansa Cina tempo dulu, tetapi dibuat dengan memikirkan penonton asing sehingga orang non-Asia pun bisa menikmatinya.

Sangat disayangkan bahwa Kungfu Hustle menjadi film terakhir dimana ia menjadi bintang utama. Film selanjutnya, CJ7, masih menampilkan Chow, tetapi hanya sebatas pemeran pembantu. Film tersebut lumayan bagus. Ketika saya menyaksikannya di bioskop the Chatay di Singapura, saya sempat berpikir bahwa keputusan untuk membuat film ini sebenarnya sangat bijak. Kungfu Hustle boleh dikatakan sebagai sebuah adikarya sehingga sulit untuk melampauinya. Dengan beralih ke tema yang berbeda, kritik film pun tidak akan bisa membandingkannya.

Chow berhenti berakting setelah CJ7. Perannya pun kini sebatas produser, sutradara atau penulis naskah. Tidak bisa dipungkiri bahwa beberapa karya terakhirnya masih memiliki kesan film Stephen Chow, tapi sepertinya ada yang kurang saat melihat orang lain memainkan peran yang seharusnya ia lakoni. Masalahnya adalah Chow sangat identik dengan komedinya yang khas, sehingga siapa pun yang kemudian membintanginya akan terlihat seperti penjiplak. Semoga saja suatu hari nanti dia akan kembali, sebab sudah hampir sepuluh tahun lamanya kita tidak melihat dia beraksi!

Hong Kong Heroes.




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