Jade Warrior (Screen Daily Review)

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Jade Warrior (Jadesoturi)

Dan Fainaru in Toronto 08 November 2006

Dir: Antti-Jussi Annila. Fin-Neth-Chi-Est. 2006. 100mins.

Making a kung fu film in Finland sounds so bizarre that it might just work, especially when it combines the Scandinavian epic tale Kalevala, about valiant warriors unhappy in love, with Chinese mythology. But expecting a first-time film-maker to tackle such a task is asking too much – and certainly martial arts devotee and director Antti-Jussi Annila looks lost on the evidence of full-scale epic Jade Warrior.

Much closer to the dark, brooding mood of the northern lights than the lightning-fast chop socky of Asia, Jade Warrior over-relies on narration to tell its story and images to decorate it but fails to deliver enough of the genre’s requisite excitement and visual inspiration. It also lacks the necessary humour to pull it out of tight corners.

Jumping back and forth between ancient China and present day Finland, the plot is muddled and hesitant, while Tommi Eronen, who plays the lead in both time periods, is one of the screen’s gloomier kung-fu masters. For most territories it will be more of a curio item than a fully-fledged feature, although it is could get some traction in Asia thanks to its martial arts theme.

In ancient times the mythical Seng-pu, the Chinese blacksmith, forged a machine he called the Sampo, which was supposed to bring eternal happiness and wealth to all. But a demon stole it and turned it into a gate of hell. Only the smith's son, Sintai (Eronen), a monk in a remote monastery, can ever hope to retrieve the loss - but he is too busy falling in love with a village girl, Pin Yu (Zhang Jing Chu), to fulfil his mission.

Sintai, when his love is denied, assembles an army of monks, goes after the demon, cuts his head off, entrusts it to his faithful wolf and sends it, in a sealed box, to the northernmost reaches of the world. So long as no one will find the box, Sintai will be reborn time and again. Every time he is reborn, he will try to conquer his girl's heart.

Cut to present day Finland, when a mummy holding a mysterious box turns up at the shop of Berg (played by Kaurismaki veteran Markku Peltola), a Kalevala scholar. At the same store Ronja (Kosonen) leaves all her just-dumped boyfriend Kai’s (again Eronen) belongings. Berg takes the whole lot to the inconsolable lover, who lives in a remote shack and also happens to be the son of a blacksmith.

The evident conclusion is that Sintai is now Kai, that Ronja is a later incarnation of Pin Yu and, by association, Berg can't help but be the modern version of the ancient demon.

To complicate matters further, the present and past stories are told at the same time, since Kai is supposed to relive his memories of the past as he is longing for the absent Ronja. Between long stretches of studious dialogue and explanations, there are a few expositions of kung-fu, but none of them is either elegant or imaginative enough to parlay with the genre’s best.

Lightness in all senses of the word is one thing that Jade Warrior badly needs, both in the director's approach to the material and the luminosity of the images on screen. Though evident efforts have been made to ensure the production looks as opulent as possible, neither the production design nor the CG effects make much of an impression. Certainly it is no match for the grand spectacles offered by Chinese cinema in recent years.

While there may be some crossover between the Kalevala and Chinese myths, no effort is taken to elaborate any further, save for the similarity between the Finnish and Chinese words for “happiness”.

Of the support, the only one who seems to enjoy themselves is Markku Peltola, who is allowed a whole gamut of martial arts moves which are usually reserved for much younger performers.

Production companies/backers
Blind Spot Pictures
Fu Works
Film Tower
Ming Productions
Finnish Film Foundation
Troika Entertainment
YLE TV1
ZDF
Arte

International sales
Rezo Films International

Producers
Petri Jokiranta
Tero Kaukomaa

Screenplay
Antti-Jussi Annila
Petri Jokiranta
Iiro Kuttner

Cinematography
Henri Blomberg

Editor
Iikka Hesse

Production design
Jukka Uusitalo

Music
Samuli Kosminen
Kimmo Pohjonen

Main cast
Tommi Eronen
Markku Peltola
Jingchu Zhang
Krista Kosonen
Taisheng Chen
Elle Kull
Hao Dang