Shinjuku Incident (2009)

A simple Chinese immigrant wages a perilous war against one of the most powerful criminal organizations on the planet.

Director:

Tung-Shing Yee

Writers:

Tung-Shing Yee, Tin Nam Chun

Stars:

Jackie Chan, Naoto Takenaka, Daniel Wu

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jackie Chan	...	Steelhead
Naoto Takenaka	...	Inspector Kitano
Daniel Wu	...	Jie
Jinglei Xu	...	Xiu Xiu / Yuko Eguchi
Masaya Katô	...	Toshinari Eguchi
Bingbing Fan	...	Lily
Tôru Minegishi	...	Koichi Muranishi
Kenya Sawada	...	Nakajima (as Kenya)
Jack Kao	...	Gao Jie
Paul Chun	...	Uncle De
Suet Lam	...	Old Ghost
Hiroyuki Nagato	...	Hara Ooda
Yasuaki Kurata	...	Taro Watagawa
Kar Lok Chin	...	Hongkie
Ken Lo	...	Little Tai (as Kenneth Low)

Storyline

In China, the poor worker Tietou repairs tractors and misses his sweetheart Xiu Xiu, back in Japan, she having never sent any news to her family or him. While illegally emigrating to Japan, Tietou loses his Chinese documents and so cannot return to his country. He is welcomed by his countrymen who lodge and work in Shinjuku where they also help him to find illegal work. While running from a police raid through the sewage system where Chinese are illegally working, Tietou saves Inspector Kitano from drowning in the dirty water. Later, after an incident with his cousin, Joe, and a Taiwan gang, Tietou saves the powerful Yakuza boss Toshinari Eguchi. He is the husband of Xiu Xiu, who is now called Yuko and are parents of a little daughter. The mobster offers a dirty job to Tietou; in retribution, he promises to deliver the quarter dominated by the Taiwan gang to him. Tietou becomes the boss of the Chinese illegal immigrants. But his peaceful methods make him unpopular and Tietou starts to...

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Plot Keywords:

gratitude | chinese | gang | japan | immigrant | 

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Taglines:

Loyalty. Survival. Betrayal.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic violence, brief sexuality and drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to Director Tung-Shing Yee, this movie had been in the planning stages for almost ten years, and was due to start filming in May 2006, but because Chan was busy filming Rush Hour 3 (2007), filming for this movie was delayed. Yee didn't mind waiting until Chan's busy schedule had a slot, as the two are good friends, and because Yee felt Chan was right for the role. On September 26, 2007, it stated on Chan's website that filming was scheduled to begin in "a few weeks" in Japan. Filming began in November 2007.

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Goofs

Jackie Chan's character's name, Tie Tou, is translated as "Steelhead", but the literal translation should be iron head.

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Alternate Versions

Hong Kong theatrical version was cut to secure a Cat IIB rating. DVD release is uncut with a Cat III rating.

User Reviews

Jackie Goes Noir

The dark world of Film Noir, with its complex plots, shades of gray and evocations of unrelenting human evil, has long been one genre where Hong Kong cinema has lagged behind Hollywood. After "Infernal Affairs", however, things have changed, and Hong Kong cinema has finally gotten to this profoundly affecting and challenging genre.

Jackie Chan stars as Iron Zhao aka Steelhead, a truck repairman from China's poor but happy Northeast who settles down as an illegal immigrant in Tokyo, and after a series of run-ins with the Yakuza, rises to power as the Don of Chinese illegal immigrants. However, things get out of control when Steelhead is foolish enough to believe in clean getaways in a world that offers none, and soon comes to seal his own fate. A superb supporting cast rounds up this tale of a man's tragic fall from Grace against an unstoppable tide of greed, corruption and evil.

Derek Yee creates a grandly atmospheric, neat piece of work evoking the grime and grit of Tokyo existing under the glittery clean streets, to bring out an immortal tale that has existed as long as there were cities: a tale of hard-luck immigrants who fight their way to the top against all odds in the world of crime, and for the pursuit of money and power, damn their souls to hell.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Hong Kong] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin Japanese Cantonese English Min Nan Hokkien

Release Date:

2 April 2009 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Jackie Chan in Shinjuku Incident

Filming Locations:

China

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,461,200

Company Credits

Production Co:

Emperor Dragon Movies

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1