Miracles: The Canton Godfather 4K 1989

This magnificent picture is absolutely unique in its own way. After all, this is the first Jackie Chan movie, which became a full-fledged work of art, and not a set of tricks and jokes, stitched together with an almost meaningless script. No, in the movie Jackie has shown himself to be a strong and intelligent screenwriter, managing to build the movie on a strong and interesting scripted foundation. But that's not the only thing that makes the movie unique. This is a completely unusual for Jackie Chan's style, a kind of retro-film, a tribute to the American gangster sagas of the 50-70s, only filmed in the Chinese style. Chan managed to incredible - he mixed, it would seem, polar genres - American gangster saga with romantic melodrama, situation comedy and traditional Chinese action movie.

The movie proved the fact that Jackie Chan is not just a great stuntman, but also a great director, screenwriter, and, most importantly, a real actor. The bizarre mix of genres and styles did not harm the movie in any way, on the contrary, it is an amazing movie! Of course, it is far from being as exciting as the earlier ‘Armor of God’ or ‘Police Stories’, and there are no really serious things in it - everything looks like a semi-theatrical production, where charming and naive heroes, evil gangsters, brainless cops and beautiful singers act. This movie can not be taken seriously, of course. It is a witty comedy, in some ways even a parody.

Of course, Jackie Chan wouldn't be Jackie Chan if he didn't include some great fights in the movie, but he managed not to go beyond a gangster movie, skillfully preserving the atmosphere of the 30s. The movie includes Chan's classic scenes in the Hong Kong market, a whole series of original stunts, and, of course, the climax of the movie - amazing episodes in an old rope warehouse, rightfully considered one of Chan's best fights.

Keeping with the traditions of several genres, Jackie has created a wonderful coming-of-age and out-of-genre film that stands apart in his oeuvre, colored by brilliant acting work from Chan himself as well as Anita Mui, Yuan Biao, Billy Tang and other top Chinese actors. In addition, Jackie picked for the movie amazing music - light, funny - from American gangsta-dramas and westerns. A delightful movie - Jackie's most original work in the 80s.