Krieg in Chinatown (1987)

Krieg in Chinatown: Directed by Abel Ferrara. With James Russo, Richard Panebianco, Sari Chang, David Caruso. A modern day Romeo u0026 Juliet story is told in New York when an Italian boy and a Chinese girl become lovers, causing a tragic conflict between ethnic gangs.

“It should be given that Abel Ferrara and his writer Nicholas St. John knew what they were doing with China Girl. The influence of Romeo u0026amp; Juliet would be first to come to mind, but I think it was even more-so West Side Story that must have loomed in their minds. Some of the influence is so painfully obvious as to seem like a rip-off (the main male character in love is even named Tony), and on a more immediate level of the period- the good olu0026#39; mid 1980u0026#39;s- things like hip-hop, synth-dance music, and of course Michael Jacksonu0026#39;s u0026#39;Beat Itu0026#39; are inter-connected with the film. I almost expected in some of these gang-fight scenes to hear Eddie Van Halenu0026#39;s wicked guitar solo to come up on the soundtrack.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOh, Ferrara does have his moments with the material, which is very basically about turf war between the Chinese in Chinatown and the Italians in Little Italy, with Canal street as the dividing line. There is some interest in how the conflict comes up when a Chinese restaurant pops up on the side of Little Italy – and yet the owner doesnu0026#39;t want to pay the usual protection fee to the Chinese gang just because heu0026#39;s Chinese. This spurs on some major problems, violence, and of course Tony and Tyan-Hwa at the center.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA flaw in the film is that weu0026#39;re never really sure why the two lovebirds are even in love with each other. Again, like Robbins/Wiseu0026#39;s film, they spot each other from across the dance hall and have a dance, and their curiosity in each other, the olu0026#39; u0026#39;love-at-first-sightu0026#39; thing. But it doesnu0026#39;t really gel as well with the gritty realism and street toughness of the rest of the picture; when Tony and Tyan-Hwa give each other sweet nothings (u0026quot;How do you say u0026#39;I love you in Italian?u0026quot; u0026quot;How do you say it in Chinese?u0026quot;) itu0026#39;s some of the corniest material youu0026#39;ve never seen. Itu0026#39;s not that the actors are bad in their parts- the actress playing Tyan-Hwa has some tenderness to her that is nice for the production.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBut thereu0026#39;s some inconsistency with how the story flows, sometimes scene to scene. Here and there a memorable moment happens (RUN DMCu0026#39;s Walk This Way is the only thing to never get dated, for a great dance number), and the fighting scenes are well staged and intense. Thereu0026#39;s a few fascinating supporting or minor roles, like James Hong as Gung Tu, the head of the Chinese crime family who, most wisely, wants just peace and quiet between the rivals. And yet thereu0026#39;s also some acting and writing that just doesnu0026#39;t work, period (what, for example, is David Caruso, a red-haired Irish guy, doing with a bunch of Italianos in this story, good as he might be), and the ending, while appropriately tragic and well-staged, doesnu0026#39;t fit the rest of the time Ferrarau0026#39;s after.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s as if, basically, Ferrara decided to make his comment on West Side Story, give it some importance in a present-time setting of 1987, and the little-seen angle of Chinese-vs-Italian gangs, and make it rougher, less cheesy than its influences. But really, who wants realism when youu0026#39;ve got love-at-first-sight? Itu0026#39;s an interesting experiment that is a very mixed bag.”