Ah, Michiko... How many fans of martial arts films remember this fiery Japanese bodybuilder? In general, in the best Hong Kong action films, the villains were just as memorable as the main characters, which makes sense. A worthy hero needs an equally worthy opponent, and not just one with cool military equipment, but also charismatic, with his own characteristics, some catchy tricks.
At one time I was offended that, for example, such a mega-technical fighter (both in movies and in real life) as Hwang Jan-Lee plays villains, that is, initially he has fewer action scenes than the main character, which was frustrating, but on the other hand... I realized that there are actors who are simply more convincing and bright in the role of antagonists. And if there has never been a shortage of male actors with a similar role, then it’s more difficult with ladies.
Among the Caucasian women there were two “white devils”: Kim Marie Penn и Sophia Crawford who consistently acted as antagonists and had fight scenes with Asian heroines (sometimes heroes). Well, among the Mongoloids, she was the main one - the heroine of our review Michiko Nishiwaki. To be fair, Michiko-san was not always a villain on screen, but about 60/40, but I personally remember her for her bright negative roles. It seemed to me that the filmography of this pleasant madam deserves attention, so I decided to review selected films with her.
According to good tradition, there are several common features characteristic of her creative activity. There won't be much this time, since Michiko played mostly supporting roles and the films didn't focus on her personality, but there was something.
- Michiko is a basic bodybuilder, and a professional one at that. She also did karate, but did not have any really serious base in BI before filming. However, she is quite convincing in action scenes. Although this is rather a “Hong Kong theme”, especially characteristic of the 80s - an actor who does not give himself completely to the process is simply not tolerated, so everyone who wanted to act in films with an abundance of martial arts worked like hell. However, contrary to expectations that in every film she will demonstrate pumped trapezius and biceps-triceps, she does not always do this and often fights in closed clothes.
- Vibrant sexuality. If another Japanese film star of Hong Kong cinema Yukari Oshima always played a chaste heroine, Nishiwaki was not at all shy about showing her naked body and participating in sex scenes. Not only was she not ashamed of it, but on the contrary, she seemed to love it; in one documentary about action heroines she said: “Do you need a gentle girl? Call me!” In Japan, she even starred in a film of the pinku eiga genre - a kind of softcore porn. In Hong Kong, however, everything was a little more modest. By the way, not everyone likes female bodybuilders, since some representatives of this sport look downright masculine. This is not about Michiko: despite the distinct definition of her muscles, she had an excellent figure, and most importantly, she knew how to build an extremely lustful-bitchy expression on her face, such that it looked like she would rush at you and rape you... and then devour you. There is angelic beauty, and there is devilish beauty, but it is just as equivalent. Michiko had the second type. She differed from the classic “femme fatale” type in that she could not only manipulate using her natural beauty, but could also kick someone in the horns using her excellent physical form.
My Lucky Stars (dir. Sammo Hung, 1985)
First role and good luck! In fact, Michiko has a cameo character here, but what a brilliant performance! The whole fight scene with her and the heroine Sibel Hu interspersed with others, which involve the very juice of Hong Kong at that time, but is remembered more than the rest. The pathetic appearance of the villainess, who takes off her kimono and begins to strain her pumped up body to intimidate, the fight scene itself, where the positive heroine was specifically raked, and the finale with Sammo Hoon, knocking out with one hit.
I don’t know if it was originally planned this way or if there were simply problems with the choreography, but it turned out to be both original and funny. Plus the comedy was in the fact that the technical hand-to-hand combat at one point switched to a catfight, where two goitrous girls began to pull each other’s hair. Epic wines.
On Performance 3 (dir. Arthur Vaughn, Brandi Yuan, 1988)
Perhaps Michiko's best performance for personal taste. Firstly, the film itself is simply an excellent action movie, the quintessence of top Hong Kong with its hurricane action. Secondly, Nishiwaki is VERY good here: she has a bob haircut, is extremely cute, and shows off the various charms of her body. There is a love scene with her. And thirdly, a certain drama. I’m usually skeptical about attempts to make a frankly uncomplicated action movie with distortions towards some kind of wretched drama or, Ahura Mazda forbid, melodrama, but here it surprisingly worked. This is despite the fact that the heroine Nishiwaki here is negative.
A terrorist from the Japanese Red Army, by the way, a real organization. The truth is, in real life, these citizens were not even 1/10 as cool as in the film. Despite the frostbite, these figures had little training. Blowing up something or shooting an unarmed crowd is always welcome, but in a clash with the security forces there were failures.
In the film, the heroine Michiko and her lover shoot the police as if in a shooting gallery - in huge herds. The only ones who can resist them are the main characters. But the fact that there were women in the Japanese Red Army is not a movie theme, surprisingly, but the pure truth. And what’s more, the group was also organized by a lady. So, despite her belonging to such a wonderful organization, the character of our heroine evokes some sympathy and empathy.
I pathologically hate the movie cliche from the series “look - terrorists (bandits, drug dealers, maniacs, killers) love SOMEONE,” but here it’s presented well, and most importantly, you root for the good guys, you just want the bad guys to sell their lives at a higher price. The only drawback is that Michiko is rather weak in hand-to-hand combat and actually outperforms the cooler main character in the performance Cynthia Khan. The only one who takes the rap in hand-to-hand combat for the Japanese - appeared towards the end Dick Wei, who is the real terminator here. In general, the movie is a must see, Hong Kong old school.
Outlaw Brothers (dir. Frankie Chan, 1990)
Just a wonderful action comedy filmed Frankie Chan and with him in the leading role. Frankie is generally a Swede and a reaper and a trumpet player: director, actor, screenwriter, composer. His most memorable role is the final opponent Yuen Biao in one of the best classic kung fu films "Prodigal son" (1981)
Everything is great here: a sane plot, a lot of well-choreographed battle scenes. Moreover, there are very few fights and shootings. Bright heroes. In the main female role Yukari Oshima, which is unusually humorous and lively here, unlike most of her other roles. Michiko plays the main villain - a coke-snorting eccentric lady who exudes intense sexuality, with an arrogantly lustful expression, black stockings and a fashionable hat a la Alsina Dimitrescu from Resident evil village. The only negative is that there is no full-fledged fight scene with her participation, only a rudiment of it. It's a pity!
Vengeance Quartet (dir. Stanley Win Siu, 1993)
A solid average, just take a look at it once. There are a couple of fanservice scenes, such as Michiko's fight with Yukari Oshima (both play villains) in a rocking room, where our bodybuilder is dressed in tight clothes. Nothing special.
Terminator Angels (dir. Lieu Wei, 1992)
A specific film. Thin action, but at the same time an unreasonably gloomy atmosphere. The only relative plus is that the crime is shown in its entirety. Some kind of endless cruelty, drug addiction, suffering as in the wheel of Samsara... There is a scene where the crime boss heroine Carrie Ng tries to plunge her face into the toilet, and then unzips her fly and... urinates on her head. Well... Michiko has the role of some kind of scoundrel, with virtually no normal action scenes.
Militant Widows (dir. Johnny Wang, 1990)
The exact opposite of the previous example. Not exactly “thieves’ romance,” but bullshit trying to say: “criminals are people too.” It’s interesting that now it seems possible to film something like this in Hong Kong, but to film it in mainland China is a blast. Censorship, that's all. So what about the relatively good triads (they were also in films John Woo) is out of the question.
The point is that the widows and girlfriends of the authorities killed in criminal disputes are taking revenge for them. Among the girls there is also Michiko - she has one fight scene. Overall, it's junk, but with relatively acceptable quality action.
A Premonition of Murder (dir. Kuo Chu Huang, 1992)
A VERY strange movie. If only someone had taken it off David Fincher in Hollywood, at least a strong thriller about a serial killer would come out. But the Hong Kong people turned out to be a sub-thriller, a sub-action film, but not uninteresting - about such a realistic maniac: not a charismatic genius who builds chess games in his head, but a crooked, notorious and vile one. Surprisingly, he is played by a performer of the roles of cool Shaolin monks Gordon Liu.
Michiko, which rarely happens, is the main character. Since the authors are never Hitchcock, they apparently decided to go not with suspense, but with some kind of action and made the main character a cool fighting lady, adding fake fights where she deals with a crowd of some tattered gopot. I wouldn’t have anything against it if it weren’t so forced and pointless. And most importantly, Michiko has nothing to play here. When she is a villain, she shows bright negative charisma, here she is replaceable by anyone. But at least she fought from the heart - and that’s good.
This is not a complete list of what I watched with this wonderful Japanese woman. It’s a pity that she stopped acting in films after a certain period, but she left her mark on history, at least for me.
Oleg MapintasBangis Chernenko
Especially for fight-films.info
Home » Reviews »
Tags: Gordon Liu, Michiko Nishiwaki, Sammo Hung, Sibel Hu, Cynthia Khan, Frankie Chan, Yukari Oshima
Tags: Gordon Liu, Michiko Nishiwaki, Sammo Hung, Sibel Hu, Cynthia Khan, Frankie Chan, Yukari Oshima
You can watch it once
The film is not bad, but the recent "City Hungter" is better in terms of action.
To be honest, there is no particular principle... when there is more time, an “old man” is added, when there is less time...
Not a bad idea. But I don’t understand something, on what basis are profiles added? And legends...