By Lubna Abdel-Aziz Are you a fan of Asian films? Perhaps not, but even if your answer is in the negative, you probably have seen one or more Asian films spoken in English. Hollywood is undergoing a dramatic process of "Asianisation", widening its horizons, by blending the lure and mystique of the Orient with the skill and techniques of the West. This trend of globalisation is not random or accidental. A string of profitable Asian remakes has inspired Hollywood's men to go East nowadays for inspiration. Yet Asia is so vast, so old, so far, how can it wield such power on the young, modern, frivolous, Hollywood! The reality is that, it is wise old Asia that has the younger, fresher, ideas, and Hollywood is getting old. While the trend is hot of late, it goes back to the days of the legendary Bruce Lee in the 1970s, when his kung fu showmanship fascinated viewers around the world and promoted the awareness and appreciation of marital arts. Since then, cinema's fight scenes have never been the same. Choreographed and modelled after martial arts standards, even fist fights are now more exciting, more graceful, more entertaining. Students of film believe the Asian trend goes even further back to Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung, a chivalrous martial arts master of the 1800s, celebrated in Peking Opera and early Hong Kong cinema. Over 100 Hong Kong films have embellished the exploits of Wong Fei Hung, considered by many a far more influential force "than all the combined contusions and bruises administered by Bruce Lee". Stuck on remakes of past hits, which were rapidly becoming stale and sour, Hollywoodians are riding the Asian wind, and "sailing on a slow boat to China". It was the great Akira Kurosawa who first inspired Hollywood in the late 1950s. Several vintage classics of the period were inspired by the Japanese master -- The Magnificent Seven (1960), a remake of Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954). Serge Leone's popular spaghetti Western A Fistful of Dollars (1964) a remake of Yojumbo (1961). Even the characters of the Star Wars saga, were based on Kurosawa's The Hidden Forest (1958). Borrowing talent from across the seas, in front and behind the camera, is old hat for Hollywoodians. By artfully elevating foreign ethnic themes to universal status, they gave the film- hungry world its perfect "cup of tea". The original home of the finished work becomes immaterial, insignificant and irrelevant. What the world cheers and applauds is the new face retouched and gussied up by Hollywood. Asian star power is also on the rise. Bruce Lee was the first Asian international superstar, but now several male and female actors are headliners in American-made films, like Jackie Chan, popular for his martial arts comedy and death-defying acrobatic stunts. Chan has captivated international and American audiences in such blockbusters as Rush Hour 1&2, Shanghai Noon, and Shanghai Knights. Taiwanese director Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, winner of four Oscars, made a fortune in the United States and beyond. Moreover he won a Best Director Oscar for the controversial, yet purely American cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain (2005). Cross-cultural success can work both ways. Lee was recently named among "100 people who shape our world" by Time magazine. The radiant Zhang Zi Yi beguiles on all continents, and Michelle Yeoh, Lucy Liu, Gong Li, are enchanting Asian screen beauties. Chow Yun-Fat as king of Siam, was the perfect leading man opposite Jodie Foster in Anna and the King (1999). Japan's contribution to Hollywood is immeasurable. The lore of the Samurai is infinite, and the remake of several Japanese classics, translated in "Americanese" have won critical and public acclaim. Dark Water (2005), The Ring 1&2 (2002, 2005), The Grudge (2004 ). Shall We Dance (2005), are only some of the English speaking hits, born in Japan. With Chinese and Japanese concepts translating so well, Hollywood went searching further inside Asia. Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, starred in Lake House (2006), a remake of the South Korean Il Mare (2000). India's Bollywood, has also left its mark on Hollywood spectacular musicals, as seen in Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge (2001). Film lovers are well familiar with the art of director Martin Scorsese. Three of his films are on Time magazine's list of 100 best films of all time, making him the director with the most entries. Within the confines of his "Little Italy" in the heart of New York city, he found inspiration for his complex plots and characters on screen. We have driven with his Taxi Driver (1976), raged with his Raging Bull (1980), were startled by his bad Goodfellas (1990), and shocked by his Casino (1995) criminals. This rich tapestry of traditional Catholic/ Italian/Sicilian/American mélange, displays a scintillating pageant of the many colours of his roots. Tired of the sameness in taste and theme, Scorsese has also looked Eastward for fresh inspiration. His recent production The Departed (October 2006), screenplayed by Siu Fai Mak, is a remake of a 2002 Hong Kong film, " Internal Affairs" that loses nothing in translation. Scorsese assembled a cast that directors can only dream about. Three matiné idols, Leonardo di Caprio, Matt Damon, and Mark Wahlberg, are teaming with the maestro himself, Jack Nicholson. The film still revolves around cops and robbers, mafia and police, but the novel twist is that they have both invaded each other's camps with disguised identities. It is only a matter of time, before the truth is revealed and the bloodshed begins. Nominated five times for Best Director Oscar, the golden statuette has regularly managed to elude Scorsese. The wisdom of Hollywood, or lack thereof, places him in the same category with the likes of Britain's Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick, Italy's Federico Fellini, Sweden's Ingmar Bergman, and Japan's Akira Kurosawa, who also never won a competitive Oscar award. This may well be Hollywood's ultimate compliment. Film fans await this Asian-inspired film, translated by a Hollywood genius into an international work of art. Is the world getting smaller, or is Asia getting bigger, stronger, richer and even wiser?! Great artists have no country Alfred de Musset (1810-1857)
