Chicago Tribune du lieu suivant : Chicago, Illinois • 85

1 1 IE i 1. 1 I 3 -I MOBIL MASTERPIECE THEATRE PRESENTS 4 DISRAELI Chuck Norris in "Forced Vengeance" left gives face and groin kicks and little more; with Toshiro Mifune left and Scott Glenn in The Challenge." martial arts takes an intellectual and cultural trip. New kicks in martial arts films By Gene Siskel Movie critic PORTRAIT OF A ROMANTIC "Ian Mr Shanes performance as Disraeli is itself worth the price of slaying home." York Times Begins Tonight at 9 pm Channel 11 PBS Host: Alistair Cooke Mobil 1982 Mobil Corporation ver since the death of the charismatic Bruce Lee in 1973, filmmakers have sought a variety i of ways to pump new life into the martial-arts adventure-film genre. Arthur Murray's Take A Few Steps And Discover A Legend Over the years Arthur Murray instructors have taught millions of people to move with confidence, on and off the dance floor. We've taught kings, movie stars and most importantly, anyone who wants to learn to hold a partner-touch and move as one.

Our popular and affordable methods allow anyone to express Of -course, the racism in such a film may be motivated by commercial concerns; films with Americans in major roles sell best around the world. There are many other things wrong with "Forced Vengeance" a goofball story, lackluster fights but the cavalier way the film treats the culture it wishes to exploit leads the list. Whereas even Bruce Lee's low-budget adventure film seemed to come from a different culture, "Force Vengeance" is merely an American punchout in front of an Oriental screen. Not so with "The Challenge," the latest film directed by John Frankenheimer, the once boy-wonder creator of "The Manchurian Candidate," "Birdman of Alcatraz" and "Seven Days in May." "The Challenge" at its core is a story of culture, the way the Japanese culture has been split by Western influences. Scott Glenn the sullen rival of John Travolta's in "Urban plays an American boxer hired out of a grubby Los Angeles gym to serve as courier for a priceless Japanese sword.

The sword, it turns out, is one of a matched set of two swords that has been in a Japanese family for centuries, having been passed down from father to son. Now, however, the swords are apart and two brothers, one a powerful businessman, the other a traditional martial arts teacher and modem samurai the great Toshiro Mifunel, are battling for control of the weapons. Glenn has been hired by Mifune intially as a cheap distraction, but during the course of the film, Glenn our American surrogate) increasingly becomes infused with the Japanese culture and, eventually, he becomes very much a part of Mifune's family. Indeed, Glenn's ultimate triumph in this surprisingly good aventure story is a simple nod of respect and appreciation from Mifune. This sort Of scene has great impact on us In the audience.

It reminds us that a martial arts adventure can be more than a series of kicks and chops; it can take us on an intellectual and cultural trip as well as on an emotional ride. Scott Glenn's character to a changed man as a result of his experiences in "The Challenge." The pug fighter, who lived in a downtown Los Angeles flophouse with a broken TV set, is now a full-fledged member of a family with a storied history. He has been transformed, If you will, from a dangling man to a man with a new set of roots. This to most satisfying emotionally, and "The Challenge" begs for a sequel that would explore new adventures between Mifune's and Glenn's characters. Also, "The Challenge" points in a new direction for those filmmakers who hope to play to the audience that Bruce Lee and the "Kung Fu" TV series built.

Such filmmakers are advised to follow director Frankenheimer's lead in intergrating their combat scenes with a story that reveals aspects of the culture in which they take place. Someone walking into a martial arts adventure movie obviously has an Interest In the culture as well as the fights. A film that pays attention only to the latter Invariably will come up short. At first, producers tried subterfuge, offering Bruce Lee look-alikes and even spell-alikes. Bruce Li was a popular star's name.

And fragmentary footage of Lee himself began DODDing uo in what amounted to a mini-series of films billed as "Bruce Lee's last movie." Today, however, there are two films in current release "The Challenge" and "Forced Vengeance" that represent two other approaches to the martial arts genre, and one is much better than the other. And where it succeeds and the other fails offers a valuable lesson about moviemaking. That's because whereas "The Challenge" genuinely attempts to infuse the martial arts genre with Oriental culture, "Forced Vengeance" is little more than an American gangster film set against a travelogue of the East. "Forced Vengeance" stars Chuck Norris, the diminuitive American martial arts champ who without his mustache would bear an uncanny resemblance to VNightline" TV anchorman Ted Koppel. Norris has made a career of playing karate-champs-turned-detective who typically break up an Oriental drug ring.

In "Forced Vengeance," however, Norris' assignment is to protect the interests of his adopted Jewish-American father who operates a Hong Kong gambling casino under fire from a decrepit Chinese godfather and his illegitimate son. Norris' protection efforts amount to a lot of kicks in other people's faces and groins, tie also squeezes some hands very hard. The principal visual in the film it serves as backdrop for a major fight sequence as well as the opening credits is a shot of Norris and a thug locked in a karate fight in silhouette in front of a huge, red neon sign in presumably downtown Hong Kong. imagery is appropriate to the entire tone of the film. The Orient Is merely a canvas for what to little more that an American hoodlum story.

Also, if you care to think about it, "Forced Vengeance" treats the Chinese characters in the world of film with even less thought than the film's locations. In fact, there is almost a direct -relationship between evil of a character and the amount of Oriental blood in his or her body. For example, Norris' character, called Josh Randall Steve McQueen's character's name In TV's "Wanted Dead or to a pure American, and so to his adopted father. They are the film's two unqualified good guys. The casino owner's son, however, is half-Oriental, and he to a gutless, chronic gambler.

His similarly half-breed sister ICamlla Griggs) to also a dissolute type as compared with Norris' girlfriend Mary Louis Woller) who to a pure American. And, of course, the film's principal bad guys are the Chinese godfather and his gangster son. DOWNTOWN: 225 N. Wabash MORTON GROVE: 8846 N. Hartem (HrtntOmpitt) himself and be more outgoing.

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