Jumping Ash [跳灰] (1976)
Starring Josephine Siao Fong-Fong, Ga Lun, Michael Chan Wai-Man, Chan Sing, Nick Lam Wai-Kei, Lee Yin-Ping, Wu Fung, Lo Hoi-Pang, Lee Chi-Chung, Cheng Chi-Tun, Terry Lau Wai-Yue, Cheung Sek-Aau
Directed by Josephine Siao Fong-Fong & Po-Chih Leong
Expectations: Very interested. Don’t know what to expect, though.
Jumping Ash was a huge hit in its day, reaching #3 at the 1976 Hong Kong box office, but unfortunately I watched it faded, full-screen and dubbed. Hopefully it can be restored in the future and seen by fans in its original format, because in addition its success, Jumping Ash was also highly influential. It exhibited all the qualities of the Hong Kong New Wave, a few years before it really began in earnest. Some cite Jumping Ash as the first film of the New Wave, while others list it as a stylistic forerunner, but no matter what you call it, it’s a film that feels ahead of its time and far closer to what Hong Kong cinema would become than what it was in 1976. It’s hard to know from my position in 2018 America, but it also seems like it has its finger on the pulse of Hong Kong at the time, set in specific locations during May 1976 and then released just a few months later in August 1976.
Defining the style of the Hong Kong New Wave is a tricky thing to do. Like many film movements, it was something that happened organically and was only named and grouped together later on. Basically, the new crop of filmmakers in the late ’70s/early ’80s redefined what Hong Kong movies were, eventually taking over the industry from the fading studio-based model of Shaw Brothers. Location shooting and experimentation became the norm as this new generation of filmmakers put their artistic stamp on their films. Much of the previous generation thought of their work as nothing more than a job, so the emergence of singular talents like Tsui Hark, Ann Hui or Sammo Hung left a limitless impact on the industry. The films of this era firmly re-established Cantonese filmmaking as the dominant force of Hong Kong cinema, resulting in films that better reflected Hong Kong culture and society. It is also in this era where the genre-blending and multi-tone films took hold, bringing Hong Kong into what I consider its best and most fruitful period. This, too, is present in Jumping Ash, which deftly mixes drama, action and comedy on a moment’s whim.