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April 01, 2006

No Retreat, No Surrender

Jean-Claude Vagina Dentata

By Ben

Martial Arts films have traditionally been relegated to being considered "cult films." Films of no artistic merit but entertaining to those who have a sense of irony calibrated to enjoy them. With this in mind, filmmaker Corey Yuen sent shockwaves through the industry when he unleashed No Retreat, No Surrender [1986] upon the film world like a roundhouse kick to the face. Still reeling from the impact twenty years later, film critics have failed to recognize this seminal work of art that ushered in an environment in which "art house" martial arts films such as Hero, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Beverly Hill's Ninja could thrive.

For a film as important as NRNS, it's only fitting that it would open over an image of the Godfather of martial arts, Bruce Lee, printed in the color of revolution, red, over a black background, a blank canvas on which Yuen is about to reveal his opus. As the credits fade in and out, the traditional oriental music we first heard gives way to the sounds of students in a dojo practicing in perfect synchronization. We then fade in to a room full of students throwing punches and blocking with pinpoint precision. We soon learn we're in Los Angeles, the city of angels, the city where cultures come together. Sometimes for the worst (the riots of the early 90s) and sometimes for the best (ridding the world of racism via Crash).

It's curious then that in a city as diverse as Los Angeles that the entire class is Caucasian. Yet, it's not that curious when you consider the fact that Yuen is very clearly trying to set up a dialectic with the opening of his film. Yuen is aspiring to do more than entertain, he wants to open our eyes to the fact that our world operates through conflict a reality that Yuen shows to be productive at the beginning but ultimately destructive. Nevertheless, it's how our world works and Yuen is uncompromising in his depiction of that truth.

The film opens with an image consisting of two colors in stark contrast to one another working together to form the likeness of a god. This is followed by an ancient Asian art being taught and performed by a class of Caucasians students. This juxtaposition of two such vastly different worlds results in the almost mechanical yet beautiful sense of harmony that we find in the classroom. But, Yuen's film isn't a dialectic of a perfect world, it's the real world.

This destructiveness is best exemplified in the opening sequence when Jason Stillwell, brilliantly portrayed by soap opera heart throb Kurt McKinney, isn't happy just being a foil to his ancient Asian counterparts. Instead, he wants to be Bruce Lee and the way he manifests that desire is by hurting a fellow student while playing too rough. A Freudian reading of this particular scene is interesting because Jason's father is the Sensei at the dojo and thus, by injuring a student he's threatening his father's livelihood. Furthermore, from a Freudian perspective, in overstepping the boundaries of his role within the world he's quite literally opened up the doors for evil and corruption to enter for this is when we're introduced to the antagonists in the film: the Russians.

No strangers to revolution themselves, the Russians setup an interesting thread throughout the film and that is of a film at odds with itself. Ivan the Russian (Jean-Claude Van Damme¹) is NRNS personified within itself. Like the film world upon viewing the judo chop that was NRNS, Jason and his father run like hell when Ivan arrives on the scene. It's a cowardly move. Instead of coming to terms with or battling that which had been repressed and personified in the form of Russians, they run.

Seattle is their new destination and it's clear from the beginning that it's not going to be an easy transition. When Jason, first arrives in Seattle he's immediately befriended by an overly enthusiastic but not unfriendly African American teen by the name of Redford Jefferson Madison III (J.W. Fails). But, Seattle in the 80s was a tough town and it comes as no surprise that right on the heels of making a new friend, he's also making some enemies.

Enter Scott, overweight and messy, he leans against a car watching Jason and R.J. unload martial arts equipment. This is when Scott remarks, "Bruce Lee freak, just what Kingswood needs, why me?" With the utterance of that classic line Yuen takes the film from an exercise in dialectics to a psychoanalytic study of cultural xenophobia and provincialism.

That the suburban area Jason moves into is called Kingswood screams the fact that it's an area stuck in the ideals of the past. The idea of a martial arts loving kid from L.A. moving in is just too much for Scott to handle. Scott aligns himself with a long tradition of Xenophobic vigilantes, his most recent descendent being the Minutemen Project, by taking it upon himself to protect his city from cultural and provincial imperialism. As he asks "why me," He smears cake across his cheek in a gesture that evokes images of Native Americans applying war paint, a group of people not unfamiliar with the predicament that Scott has unwillingly been thrust into.²

The tension between the two is further amplified by Yuen's taking advantage of the L.A./Seattle rivalry that's always existed on the west coast. This becomes quite clear when Jason and R.J. go searching for a new dojo. When they do find one, it turns out that Scott is a bit of a hypocrite and actually practices martial arts there. Upon noticing Jason he begins to stir up anti-Los Angeles Karate sentiment in the room by claiming that Jason badmouthed Seattle Karate. One thing leads to another and soon Jason is forced to prove himself against one of the top students in the class who happens to be black. Things don't go too well for Jason and R.J. comes to the rescue and the two run off as the leader of the class, Dean, sarcastically remarks, "L.A. Karate? I'm impressed." The soundtrack swells up with laughter and the stage has been set for an all out battle between Los Angeles and Seattle Karate.

Or has it?³

By the end of the film we see a return of the repressed. A Karate tournament is being held in Seattle and the surprise opponent turns out to be Ivan the Russian. Jason is merely a spectator at the event but through a series of flashbacks we're assured that he hasn't forgotten. Ivan further taunts Jason by metaphorically displaying his vagina dentata during a moment in which he rests by spreading his legs and doing the splits while supporting himself on the ropes of the ring.

Ivan's opponents in the tournament are Dean and some others from the dojo at which Jason was humiliated earlier in the film. As Ivan dispatches his opponents one by one Jason realizes he must do something. The final straw is when Ivan hurts the girl that Jason has been romantically involved with (a subplot of the film which serves no purpose other than to use Kelly as a device with which to anger Jason). Jason realizes that there's no retreat and no surrender from his demons (R.J. reminds him of this by yelling it while Jason and Ivan fight). As a result, he leaps into the ring for the final battle.

Because Ivan eventually loses the battle, the film could be read as a reactionary (to borrow from Robin Wood) product of 80s cold war propaganda. Jason battles that which he had repressed and he defeats it by putting it away and effectively re-repressing it using Karate. Based on this, Robin Wood would have read the film as a conservative film in which patriarchy, nationalism, and the general status quo has won out. Jason comes to the rescue of Kelly and defeats the Russian threat. The ultimate flaw in Wood's theory though is that he doesn't take into account irony. It's a flaw that tainted Wood's readings of David Cronenberg's films and it's one which viewers should take caution not to fall victim to when watching NRNS.

The fact that Jason came to the rescue of his rivals and as a result ended up repressing the demons he should be coming to terms with says a lot about the destructive nature of settling international and provincial quarrels through violence.

The film ends as Jason is carried off on the shoulders of those he just "saved" but the scene is drenched in irony and dread. Yuen's film is not a celebration of Jason's triumph but a warning. A warning unnoticed by critics and unheeded by governments. Because Jason chose to fight off Ivan instead of working things out in a more humane manner, who knows when Ivan will return? Maybe it'll be in the form of a lightening fast punch to the back of Jason's skull.

For every tickertape parade thrown in celebration of soldiers that have traveled to far off lands to protect our freedom, thousands have returned carried on the shoulders of others. Will Jason also be lying in a coffin the next time he's carried off on the shoulders of his friends? Yuen leaves these questions unanswered⁴ and, because the film was effectively packaged as a feel good martial arts film, the viewer is left complicit in Jason's mistakes because, like the crowd, we too were cheering Jason on as Ivan was put in his place.

NOTES:
¹ In 1986, Van Damme was a bit of a unknown commodity and although this film was doomed to obscurity (that is until this write up of course), Van Damme's career went into overdrive and he was launched into the stratospheres of superstardom. His oeuvre is replete with classics, Bloodsport and Street Fighter: The Movie being amongst them.

⁴ The unfortunate sequels to the film also never had the guts to address such pertinent issues.

A trailer for the film that I put together:

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