Jackie Chan wipes out piracy - well, sort of...

[Brian Thibodeau]

Caught this interesting brief at the Toronto Star website, about Jackie Chan smashing up fake displays of pirate goods and complaining that his industry used to make 300 movies a year and are now reduced to a middling 50 or less.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1117749018449&call_pageid=976600361453&col=969048864482

While I appreciate his efforts, and those of what must be a dwindling pool of Hong Kong talent to keep churning out stuff for the world to see, I have to wonder if anyone's got a chance of busting the piracy juggernaut this late in the game. One hope in time that countries like China and my own, Canada, might one day tighten up their laws regarding this issue, but even then, the mechanisms behind this illicit industry are so entrenched it could take years to run the problem out of town.

I use Canada as a specific example, where pirated versions of just about everything have flooded the country's Chinese communities, and where a recent high-profile bust of some 800,000 pirated DVDs by the Metro Toronto police squad had exactly the opposite effect to the one intended: sales of pirated goods increased probably five-fold within a couple of weeks. There they were, proudly touting their victory in every media outlet that would give them a mic so our friends in America could see we were getting tough on copyright infringement, yet at the same time too stupid to consider the consequences of their actions.

Thanks to their efforts, and those of the Canadian media, EVEN MORE pirate DVD shops have opened throughout Toronto's Chinatown districts (I suspect the same has happened in places like Montreal and Vancouver) and the customer base in nearly every Chinese Mall has taken a SHARP lean away from the majority-Asian it used to be. Almost as if to slap the authorities in the face for causing them even the slightest setback, the vendors now position high-quality bootlegs (dual-layered, DTS, extra features, CD soundtracks hidden on the discs as a "bonus") all over massive shelves that often stand right out in front of the store in some places. Inside, one sees a huge increase in the amount of Asian stuff being peddled as well, although the once-plentiful Anime sections have gotten decidedly smaller to accommodate the sheer onslaught of pirated western films.

And yes, I've been in these places. And yes, sadly, I've bought stuff from them. Thanks to the proliferation (and dare I say mainstreaming) of the pirate industry, at least in Canada, the places I used to go to buy legit DVDs have either closed down, of given up selling the format in favour of VCDs with their heavier weight, inferior picture, burned-in subs, etc. Not always a viable option, but one I still take when I can (in addition to cheaper online retailers like DDDhouse). Some retailers have abandoned entertainment media altogether. There's one Chinese Mall I went to a couple of weeks ago. Last winter, they had four boot shops and three selling legit stuff. After the intervention of RCMP Sgt. Goofy and the Toronto Keystone Cops, this mall now has SEVEN boot dealers and ONE store selling legit DVDs, and even then, the latter has only a handful of the latest titles, (and when these sell out, they usually don't restock them).

So Jackie Chan can punch out all the fake purses he wants, and the police the world over can stage media-savvy raids as often as they want to impress Big Daddy America, but I don't think any of them fully realize just how big this thing is, and how much bigger it gets every time they turn a large-scale sting into an episode of "Cops."

Hong Kong filmmakers should remember that many of the 300 annual movies during their golden years (and probably earlier) were funded by organized crime, and that without it, many of them wouldn't have worked in those heady days. Now they're reaping the rewards - mass exodus of talent to the mainland or Taiwan, cheap DV productions, lack of screens, you name it; it was only a matter of time before those ponying up the coin shifted their interests to the more lucrative market of international bootlegging.

For years, I used to laugh at how I was a minority when I would go into Chinatown in search of my latest heaps of HK and Asian cinema. A tall gweilo like me really stood out, and generally didn't care what anybody said about it. NOW, on the other hand, I walk into one of these bootleg shops (and don't get me wrong, many of these places also sell legit VCDs and a smattering of legit DVDs at closeout prices, just to be fair I suppose), and I see my parents. Well, not my ACTUAL parents, but people a lot like them; doddering old farts who heard about the Big Bust in the paper or on TV, and now head to the Chinese communities every Friday or Saturday to pick up the latest Hollywood blockbusters (often a few weeks before the legit DVD streets) or some Disney cartoons to feed their visiting grandchildren for a price several dimes less than the cost of a Blockbuster New Release rental.

So what was a big problem before, has now become an even BIGGER problem, and I have to wonder if anything can be done to stop it now.

[KeenanLijin]

You totally hit the mark on this subject. A very informative read

[Brian Thibodeau]

Thanks. Nice to see someone responding to my babblings.

While I realize some folks could argue some of my points, I can safely say that the situation has not changed much since I wrote that piece.

I was in Toronto last weekend for a vacation with my girlfriend and once again we ventured into the Chinese neighborhoods in support of my HK cinema cravings. Found some legit DVDs in a gift shop going for $5/$25 (about same as the boots) but it was mostly lesser Mei Ah and Universe catalogue product. But I bought it all anyways. Grabbed about 10 VCDs at another place (price on these have really declined in recent years). But the latest Hong Kong movies were nowhere to be found on legit DVD, which left me with few options.

While we were in a shop that used to deal largely in legit box sets of Chinese, Japanese and Korean TV shows but which has now joined the pantheon of full-line boot shops in the same mall mentioned in my earlier post (the one with seven such places already!), we noticed that this particular place was selling so-so-quality DVDs of movies that just opened LAST WEEK in the theatres (Madagascar, Star Wars III, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Batman Begins, etc). Now, from what I gather, in the U.S., this level of quality is what bootleg buyers almost expect when they buy illicit product: VHS quality dupes, mono or faked-2-channel sound, no extras, etc. Another customer in this store had asked the saleslady to spin a couple of the discs so he could see how they played, and sure enough, the films looked like they had been duped from VHS or, at worst, sourced from those pixelly internet downloads that seem to pop up within moments of a movie's first performance on opening day, but at the very least, you got a high-quality printed sleeve featuring the films' poster art and the usual mish-mosh of conflicting text and stats on the back (just enough to look authentic to the less informed). Nontheless, this stuff was pretty average, even in comparison to the high-end boots of American films bursting forth from neighboring shelves. Some folks looked to be snapping them up anyways at $6 a pop tax-free, so desperate were they not to wait until the official DVD street date - or even the official BOOTLEG street date! The most amusing part of spending a few minutes in these shops is watching ridiculous suburban caucasian Torontonians (I'm not one, by the way) eyeing the storeowners with a mix of condescension and suspicion meant to imply they're gonna be oh-so-angry if the disc they're paying an exorbitant $6-and-change for doesn't work or freezes in their player.

The fact that these stores have now moved into day-and-date piracy of theatrical bookings is testament to the increase in traffic I detailed in the first post, and just one more sign of just how big and unwieldy this "industry" has become, mucho thanks to the Toronto Police Department. Again, I don't see a solution in sight short of sweeping government legislation that sets higher fines and harsher sentences, which could at least deter newer pirates and, undoubtedly over a long time, drive the veterans to the fringes (somehow I don't even see this working). By my being there in the first place, I'm contributing to the problem in my own small way, but as one of the few gweilos who threw mountains (and I mean MOUNTAINS of cash at the legit dealers when they were the only game in town, not to mention being a guy who loves hanging out in ethnic malls, I'm still prepared to buy legit whenever possible (American stuff does so little for me anymore, I'm more than happy to rent, so those boots stay on the shelves), though this usually means digging deep into stores that don't specialize in DVD while surrounded by gigantic stuffed Mashimoros and Winnie-The-Pooh tea cups, or internet shopping from trusted sellers (while suffering the potential for discs to pop off hubs during shipping from the other side of the planet) is the only way to get a good deal on factory-sealed product. The stuff's out there, but it's a real treasure hunt to find it.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Can you elaborate more on what you mean?

American stuff does so little for me anymore

And what do you think of the Fortune Star label? (of course for the more popular releases that are put out; it avoids the esoteric)

[Brian Thibodeau]

I've seen so many American films over the years that they've stopped challenging me as a viewer - even though they can still satisfy my cravings for overblown action scenes and special effects. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate them, I just find them less stimulating - and less surprising, than the European and Asian cinema I've turned to over the last decade-and-a-half or so (both newer films and catalogue stuff). I suppose the very opposite could be true of people in Europe and Asia, particularly local viewers of the increasingly rare cinema of Hong Kong.

I started branching out about 15 years ago, moreso when DVD became the dominant format and prices eventually dropped on import DVDs (particularly Asian stuff), igniting an interest that has only grown stronger with time. I'm sure a tonne of posters here are on the same page. I'm fully aware that the near-constant challenges and surprises I discover in the films of other cultures occur PRECISELY because I'm not a part of those cultures, but that's the very thing I found so great about seeking out such material in the first place.

As for Fortune Star, I have no complaints. I have a tonne of their HK stuff, plus many of the titles they released in the U.S. through Fox Home Video. The prints and mastering in general seem better than prior editions (especially my old laserdiscs - scary!), and whether or not the films are in their most complete forms, or the audio is in 5.1 or mono, I'm generally don't care, so long as I get to watch as many Hong Kong movies as cheaply as possible without buying a tonne of bootlegs (although a lot of the Fortune Star HK discs don't include trailers, which kinda sucks). Thankfully, at DDDHouse.com, the Fortune Star discs are all quite reasonably priced, usually working out to about $4-$5 each, while the American Fox Video releases often turn up for under $7 US.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

I cannot quite agree on the accessment of "American" films. There is much more to American films than "Hollywood". We have a huge independent market. (I've been watching Brakhage who is avant-garde, though he is the extreme opposite of the majority of filmakers; he mocks the narrative )

I agree that most American "Action" films are quite anemic compared to Hong Kong, but there is so much that has influenced the world (and Hong Kong just as Hong Kong has hugely influenced the American scene) that is not dross. But there is much more to cinema than just action. There are too many good films to mention. Directors such as Welles, Ford, Kubrick, Tarantino etc... have created a plethora of sagacious material.

I too fell in love with Asian cinema for various reasons several of which you have written (HK films have some of the best editing, not withstanding the early work of Kurosawa, I have ever seen, plus I am a huge fan of the Golden Harvest films). I do not discount American cinema because it is too vast and has too Titanic of a past (though I will acknowlege its faults, along with faults of most cinema centers.)

Maybe you are just watching the wrong American films?

[Brian Thibodeau]

I think I'm largely in agreement with you here, so I should probably rethink my last post a bit and say that OVERALL popular American cinema just doesn't grab me the way it used to, and this is probably because I've mixed in films from other cultures over the years that have significantly broadened my horizons. This doesn't mean I've written it off by a long shot. I still love going to the movies - ANY movies, and American films have not entirely lost their ability to spark my imagination.

I should admit to being a fan of popular and populist cinema, as well as exploitation films, which is probably why I've got over 2000 Hong Kong films sitting on my shelves. I don't think I've ever seen a more collectively populist cinema outside of perhaps India's. I'd watch more Indian films if I could, too, but my wallet forces me to draw the line somewhere, and the thought of a massive collection of three-hour Indian films is a daunting one at best. That said, I guess it's the populist American cinema that, at least to me, has lost me a bit over the past decade or so, and it's very likely to the fact that I'm so close to it from a cultural perspective.

Believe me, it's not a case of watching the wrong films; it's probably a case of watching TOO MANY films. I've seen plenty of excellent independent films of all genres and I suppose that's the one area of American cinema that really DOES still intrigue me on a regular basis. I haven't seen Stan Brakhage's stuff, so I can't comment, but many of my favourite U.S. pictures of the last ten years have been independent films. From what I've read about Brakhage, he probably wouldn't be up my alley, although I'd certainly give him a try if someplace local ever had something to rent rather than buy (like that box set they put out a couple years back).

Good points about directors like Welles, Ford, Kubrick, even though they're all dead. There's dozens more I'd add personally to that list, both living and pushing up the daisies. Interestingly, I'd have to admit Tarantino is one contemporary director whose work may indeed withstand the tests of time. Even though much of his output is just the synthesis of everything he's ever watched, he's definitely got that love of cinema that many of his imitators seem to lack. If I had to pick my personal favourite director, despite a slim resume it would be Terry Gilliam (except for Fear & Loathing, which I doubt anyone could have made into a decent movie - again, subjective opinion)

I would never argue that Hollywood has influenced virtually every form of cinema on the planet at some point in the last hundred years, if only for the sole reason that they did it first, and then laid the "ground rules," which other countries could then mimick, adapt, culturally contextualize and diverge into something altogether gascinating. And it's obvious, especially in recent years, when Hollywood has appropriated "flavouring" from those very same cinemas - in the form of talent, visual styles, locations, philosophical viewpoints, what have you - that the world of film has few definable borders beyond the country in which a particular film was made and those that people arbitrarily apply by NOT choosing to view films from countries other than their own.

Interesting discussion, although I have to admit I tend to ramble. Sorry for that.

[MrBooth]

if only for the sole reason that they did it first

They did? What, exactly?

There's plenty of good American films, but the mainstream Hollywood product has become increasingly commercialised over the past few decades, as the marketing departments and money-men have taken more and more control. The film-makers get access to more money & talent than they could find anywhere else, but then they get straight-jacketed by the studio system and the films rarely have that personal touch that makes cinema an expressive medium and an art form. There's still some great independent films (Bubba Ho-Tep is the only one I can think of recently, but I'm sure there's more), but they're effectively buried by the marketing might of the big studios.

[Brian Thibodeau]

They did? What, exactly?

They invented the medium, although is could be easily argued that it was quickly adapted and enhanced by arguably more talented people in other countries like France, the Americans still did the lion's share of form-shaping (if you will) of cinema as we eventually came to know it. I realize the Lumiere's and other progressive-minded Europeans like them did much more with the medium from a creative standpoint (and this while some folks, including some in Asia, I'm sure, were still afraid that cameras were stealing their souls), and American filmmakers no doubt picked up on this, but America still had, by virtue of it's size, population, available funding, etc., a much larger market and thus many more opportunities to experiment. Not to say people in other countries DIDN'T have the same opportunities on a smaller scale of course (even factoring in overseas distribution of early one-reelers and such)

I fully agree with your thoughts on mainstream American cinema, Simon. That's more or less what I was thinking when I rambled on ad nauseum in my last two posts. I just couldn't shorten the concept into anything more palatable at the time. I tend to think "independent" filmmaking is a much more tangible concept in countries where there are less commodified studio systems (in the American sense, at least, since it's all about making money ultimately), smaller studio systems (like Hong Kong, I suppose) or no studio systems at all (do countries in the middle east count?). Such places (take your pick), at least to me, are where the truly challenging, groundbreaking films are being made - it just takes longer for us to view them, although certainly the internet age has removed many of the old barriers as have, unfortunately, the pirates that got me started on this whole thing in the first place!