Year Of The Dragon (1985) ***1/2
Year Of The Dragon (1985) is a neo-noir crime drama revolving around Vietnam vet police captain Stanley White (Mickey Rourke), on a personal mission to expose and clean up the triads of NYC's Chinatown. Dragon plays out a bit like an ‘80s cop version of the The Godfather (1972) with Italians swapped out for Chinese mobsters (though Italian gangsters do play a part).
The fact that our central character is incredibly selfish, racist, and sexist, along with some of the portrayals of Chinese people, makes for a conflicting viewing experience but director Michael Cimino (along with co-writer Oliver Stone) also make an attempt to comment on xenophobia, American expansion by Chinese workers, and, in this viewer's eyes, certainly doesn’t advocate Stanley's rampage.
For Stanley is one those guys whose fragile masculinity causes nothing but pain and suffering to those that care for him or anyone unlucky enough to work with him. He's a very Walter Hill type lead—exuding machismo in the name of what he thinks is right.
The explosive and extreme violence simultaneously adds a level of realism and an over the top quality that is intentionally jarring. Impressively, the film was shot on soundstages and not on location (it fooled me and apparently Stanley Kubrick too).
Dragon suffers a bit from ‘80s excess and its subject matter caused controversy back when it was released (and would be even more frowned upon in the current cinematic landscape), enough so that a disclaimer was added to the beginning of the film. But there is no denying that it's a compelling portrait of drug trafficking, gang violence, and police brutality.
Recommended for fans of The Long Good Friday (1980), To Live And Die In L.A. (1985) (review), and Mean Streets (1973).
The fact that our central character is incredibly selfish, racist, and sexist, along with some of the portrayals of Chinese people, makes for a conflicting viewing experience but director Michael Cimino (along with co-writer Oliver Stone) also make an attempt to comment on xenophobia, American expansion by Chinese workers, and, in this viewer's eyes, certainly doesn’t advocate Stanley's rampage.
For Stanley is one those guys whose fragile masculinity causes nothing but pain and suffering to those that care for him or anyone unlucky enough to work with him. He's a very Walter Hill type lead—exuding machismo in the name of what he thinks is right.
The explosive and extreme violence simultaneously adds a level of realism and an over the top quality that is intentionally jarring. Impressively, the film was shot on soundstages and not on location (it fooled me and apparently Stanley Kubrick too).
Dragon suffers a bit from ‘80s excess and its subject matter caused controversy back when it was released (and would be even more frowned upon in the current cinematic landscape), enough so that a disclaimer was added to the beginning of the film. But there is no denying that it's a compelling portrait of drug trafficking, gang violence, and police brutality.
Recommended for fans of The Long Good Friday (1980), To Live And Die In L.A. (1985) (review), and Mean Streets (1973).
Comments
Post a Comment