Teaching East Asian Film as a Writing Course at Boston University
/For the last ten years, I’ve been teaching writing in the Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences, Writing Program. I usually teach two sections of the same subject. One section is for students who are native English speakers and the other for English as a Second Language (ESL) students; that class is usually made up of international students. At the heart of the Writing Program, we have the “big tent principle”. Teachers use their various academic focuses as the source of their teaching materials. Students read, or in my case, read and view materials pertaining to the course theme. Since my academic background was in East Asian, specifically, medieval Chinese intellectual history, I focus on themes in that culture. That means I use Chinese, Japanese, and Korean films and associated reading materials. But since this is the movie review section of my website, I will focus mainly on the course themes and their associated films. I’ll give the course description and some of the films I use in the particular course. Usually I feature six to eight films per course, but I’ll list a lot of the films I’ve used over those ten years as sort of a general film introduction with a link for more information.
Course Description: Woman Warriors in East Asian Cinema and Fiction. Traditional East Asian society has long been based on patriarchal values. Until recently, women have been seen as an oppressed gender with little or no recourse to assert their values. However, recent scholarship on the role of women in traditional Asian society has shown that theory doesn’t always reflect reality. It now seems that traditional Asian women had found ways of dealing with and even thriving under the so-called “Confucian" patriarchal system. We consider the reality of women in East Asian society as they managed to cope with their male “counterparts” by looking into the academic scholarship, some of the traditional fiction, and a number of movies to better understand how women became heroes for their gender. Our focus will range from the filial wife and mother to the swordswoman and beyond!
Films Used (in the order of their presentation in the course):
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2011) - Based on the partial use of Lisa See’s novel of the same title. The film, however, contrasts See’s traditional Chinese female protagonists with their 20th century Shanghai counterparts played by the same actresses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Flower_and_the_Secret_Fan
Raise the Red Lantern (1991) - Another gorgeously filmed and acted Zhang Yimou film. This one is about the horrors that women in traditional China went through. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raise_the_Red_Lantern
The Joy Luck Club (1993) - Another film based on a novel, this one by the great Chinese-American writer, Amy Tan. A thoughtful look at several generations of Chinese women in America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joy_Luck_Club_(film)
Ran (1985) - The great Akira Kurosawa does Shakespeare’s King Lear. It is considered one of the best interpretations of that work. And female power is shown in all its intensity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ran_(film)
Bride with White Hair (1993) - A Hong Kong cult classic that represents the wuxiashenguai genre (heroic fiction combined with paranormal elements) - actually, the genre that I claim to write in. This is one of the few Chinese wuxia movies where the woman comes out on top, not needing to depend on the male. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bride_with_White_Hair
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds (1984) Another of Hayao Miyazaki’s anime masterpieces. This is a science fiction/fantasy epic about climate change done in 1984! Partially based on his huge manga of the same title, this one is his first feature length film. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nausica%C3%A4_of_the_Valley_of_the_Wind_(film)
Ex Machina (2014) - What is this doing in the East Asian section??? Remember my course description above, “…to the swordswoman and beyond!” ? Well, this is the “beyond” part! A great science fiction tale about women of the future??? Useful in class discussions about contrasts between past and future ideas about the female gender. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_Machina_(film)
* Course Description: The Good, The Bad, The Stranger: The Paranormal in East Asian Cinema and Literature
We will explore the traditional Chinese concept of the strange (Chinese, yi) and its evolution in East Asian cinema and fiction. More than two thousand years ago, the Chinese began keeping accounts of strange beings, places, and events. In these “anomaly accounts,” ghosts, magic, dreams, and other paranormal occurrences were recorded. These traditional accounts greatly facilitated the 9th century rise of Chinese short fiction. In order to gain insight into this unique perception of reality, we will consider the history of ghosts and the paranormal in Chinese culture. Along with historical, literary, and academic readings, we will focus on a sampling of East Asian genre cinema from China, Japan (including Anime), and, perhaps, Korea. From our academic understanding of this traditional genre, you will create your own original paranormal short story.
A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) - A Hong Kong cult classic based on a story by the great Chinese writer of the paranormal, Pu Songling (1640-1715 CE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pu_Songling). This movie has the classic elements of a traditional Chinese ghost story, plus all the classic Hong Kong zaniness - too much fun! But don’t bother with the 2011 remake. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Chinese_Ghost_Story
Ugetsu Monogatari (1953). A black and white Japanese film, that some have called one of the most beautiful films ever made. Its scenes of fog and night are breath taking, as are its scenes of ghostly intrigue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugetsu
Legend of the Mountain (2016 Full length restoration, 191 min.). This is a classic Chinese ghost story done by one of the great Chinese directors, Hu Jinquan, better known as King Hu, which is the Cantonese romanization of his name. It is more on the horror side of such tales, but beautifully filmed. There are numerous reviews and bits and pieces of it on YouTube. If you want the “full effect” make sure you see the 2016 restored version. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_the_Mountain
Kwaidan (1965). This is a very well done Japanese anthology of four ghost stories - probably the scariest of all the films listed here, and according to my students! The stories are based on Lafcadio Hearn’s short stories - he was born in Greece, but ended up living in Japan and writing about Japanese culture.
Paprika (2006). Another beautiful film. This Japanese anime film was done by the great artist and director, Satoshi Kon (1963-2010). So what’s the paranormal aspect, you might ask? The film deals with dreams, a favorite subject of Pu Songling, and in that it questions the nature of reality, much as does the paranormal.
Rashomon (1950). And another beautiful black and white film! This one is by the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. And like Paprika it questions the nature of reality and, further, the nature of truth.
*Course Description: Memories of the Sword: East Asian Heroic Cinema and Literature
This course is a selective inquiry into the heroic cinema and literary traditions of East Asia. We will consider the historic tradition and the ideas that evolved and manifested in subsequent literary and cinema traditions. If someone is selfless in the cause of their family or a stranger, we might call them a hero. But others might consider them vigilantes or law breakers. How do these distinctions play out in the East Asian heroic tradition – the traditional world of the swordsman and swordswoman? The heroic tradition in East Asia rose over 2000 years ago in China and developed into the heroic fiction genre known as wuxia (or martial arts fiction), which then crossed into the cinema tradition. In this course, we will consider primary source material (cinema and literature) and secondary source academic readings to better understand the nature of the East Asian male and female heroic tradition. On the cinema side we will look at Chinese, Japanese, and Korean films. On the literary side, we survey the development of the Chinese literary tradition. Our travels through cinema, fiction, and academic studies will consider the nature of the hero, the idea of the vigilante, feminism, masculinity, romance, loyalty, and the role of violence in this genre.
Note: I will list films that I’ve used in this course over the years that I’ve taught it, not just one semester of films.
Sword Master ( 2016, not 3D version). The film is a very traditional Chinese wuxia story and thus useful in class to set sort of a base line for the film genre. It is a retrospective of a 1977 film, Death Duel, which is based on a novel by the famed wuxia novelist Xiong Yaohua (pen name: Gu Long https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu_Long ). One of my Chinese students had read the original novel and said that the film is quite different from the novel.
Kungfu Hustle (2004) Billed as an “action comedy” this is another Stephen Chow comedic masterpiece. Like his equally hiliarious Shaolin Soccer, Chow takes aim at the wuxia genre and never looks back. I am interested in seeing this genre grow and this is an interesting direction.
Yojimbo (1961) Another great Akira Kurosawa film. The main character, Sanjuro, played by the great Toshiro Mifune, is a rōnin or masterless samurai, thus very similar to a xia (wandering Chinese swordsman/woman), who are the main focus of the wuxia genre. This black and white movie is extremely well done and a great hit in Japan at the time, Kurosawa made sort of sequel in 1962, Sanjuro, but rejected the idea of making it into a series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yojimbo
Hero (Ying Xiong) (2002) Zhang Yimou’s historical wuxia masterpiece. Zhang’s use of colors to tell the story, alone makes it amazing. This is a great example of imaginative creativity being used to further wuxia genre storytelling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero_(2002_film)
A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) - A Hong Kong cult classic based on a story by the great Chinese writer of the paranormal, Pu Songling (1640-1715 CE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pu_Songling). This movie has the classic elements of a traditional Chinese ghost story, plus all the classic Hong Kong zaniness and strong wuxia elements - too much fun! But don’t bother with the 2011 remake. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Chinese_Ghost_Story
Bride with White Hair (1993 version) Another Hong Kong cult classic and this is one of the few, if only, wuxia film where the woman truly does come out on top, not the “girl friend” of the male hero or in any way dependent upon him by the end of the film. And with the incomparable Brigitte Lin in a romantic relationship with the equally incomparable Leslie Cheung, how could you go wrong with this one! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bride_with_White_Hair
Memories of the Sword (2015) A South Korean wuxia film that I was so impressed with that I named my subsequent classes that involved wuxia cinema and literature after it. This is a film about the nature of wuxia justice that involves swordswomen; even the Korean title of the film involves the Chinese characters for female xia (xia nü). I think this film goes further than any Chinese wuxia film that I’ve seen in dealing with the xia concept of justice. There is a wonderful twist in the middle or so of the film that adds to the story. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memories_of_the_Sword
Princess Mononoke (1997) Yes, Japanese anime! This is basically a historical wuxia fantasy, wonderfully done by the amazing Hayao Miyazaki. It shows how the wuxia genre can incorporate contemporary, deeply relevant issues like the impact of human activities on the environment and the difficultly in dealing with these issues. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Mononoke
Seven Samurai (1954) Another great Akira Kurosawa film. For me, this is the greatest sword hero movie. The swordsmen in this movie are rōnin (浪人) they are masterless swordsmen. And the Chinese characters that represent that word, literally means “wave person” and has the meaning of “vagabond” or you could call them “surfers” ha, ha. But this is close to the Chinese term for the xia, youxia (遊俠) or wandering hero. Kurosawa shows us how swordsmen characters can be deeply developed beyond the stereotyped characters we see in a lot of this film genre.
Ashes of Time - Redux (2008, original version, 1994). Watch the Redux version! A lot of US reviewers don’t have a clue what this film is about and their lower ratings is more a comment on their own dismal understanding that the film itself. This is another wuxia film that goes very deep into the personalities, the minds, of the characters. Adding to the potential confusion for viewers is the fact that director Wong Karwai is riffing off of Jin Yong’s great wuxia trilogy The Legend of the Condor Heroes using some of the main characters as his film’s protagonists. Wong is sort of imagining these characters before their stories are told in Jin Yong’s novel. I understand the Jin Yong did not find this “amusing.” As for the film itself, it is drop-dead gorgeous, the actors are fabulous - some of the best working in Hong Kong, and the story not impossible to follow, but not your typical Hollywood actioner! In class, I hand out a chart showing the relationships among the characters to help in understanding the film. Otherwise, the filming and action is amazing, but not like the typical wuxia genre film. But then, this is what interests me, expanding the storytelling parameters of this genre.
Duelist aka The Detective aka Hyeongsa (2005). A South Korean martial hero film. I love this film! Set in the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897), it tells the tale of a female undercover police detective, Namsoon, and her encounter with a swordsman, “Sad Eyes,” who is part of a counterfeiting plot aimed at overthrowing the government. Police detective and criminal, fall in love and the ensuing story is marvelous, especially the fight choreography: Namsoon’s long knives vs. “Sad Eye’s” double edge sword done in the form of a tango dance! The music is amazing running the gamut from European classical, to rock to classic tango! And it all works! Amazing, dazzling, and such a beautiful expression of martial artistry as an expression of romantic love!
Rurouni Kenshin (2012). This is the first movie in a trilogy of live action films (Kyoto Inferno and The Legend Ends) based on the great Samurai X manga, which by 2019 had sold 72 million copies! The lead actor, Takeru Satoh, I believe, did most of the action sequences, and the sword choreography is nothing short of amazing. The story is about a ronin assassin who tires to reform his deadly killing ways roaming 19th century Meiji Japan with a “reverse blade katana” - a samurai sword where the bladed side faces the swordsman and the outward curved (or traditionally bladed) side is blunt. This is to remind him that he no longer kills with the sword. But the action scenes have to be seen to be believed. And this goes on through the trilogy. There is word that a prequel and final will be out in 2020; I can’t wait!
Kundo: Age of the Rampant (2014) Another well-done Korean period action film. Some have called it the “Korean Robin Hood” story. Set in 19th century Joseon Korea, tells the story of a group of outlaws who rob the rich to help the poor. The antagonist is an aristocratic swordsman (played extremely well by the same actor who was “Sad Eyes” in the Duelist) and the outlaws are an eclectic group of misfits, who have to be seen to be appreciated. Overall, a very engaging film.
A Battle of Wits aka Battle of the Warriors (2006). While this Hong Kong - China film is categorized as an “action war drama”, it is from a Japanese novel titled “Mohist Attack” and deals with the ancient Chinese Mohist school of thought. The Mohists have been historically linked to the rise of the xia (heroic swordsmen/women) in ancient China. Further, Andy Lau plays a Mohist who has come to help a city-state under attack by overwhelming forces in 370 BC, the Warring States Period. The Mohists were known, among many things, as expert defensive strategists, which is the focus of the movie. But the selflessness and other virtues that Lau’s character portrays parallels those of the xia.
Harakiri (1962) An amazingly powerful Japanese jidaigeki (period drama) set in 1619-1630 Edo (Tokyo). Directed by the brilliant Masaki Kobayashi telling the story of a ronin swordsman and his dramatic dissing of the samurai bushido (way of the warrior) tradition. Kobayashi has said that he has always challenged authority and this film has that in spades. Again, here is another link to the xia character. A great film!
*Course Description: Hayao Miyazaki: A Life in Art
Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. He is considered by some to be the “world’s greatest animator.” In this course, we will consider six of his films and read relevant works relating to his life, work, and philosophy. Although anime is a unique form of Japanese animation style, it has gained universal acceptance among the viewing public. Miyazaki’s films feature children, adolescents, and female characters as main protagonists, yet both his storytelling style and subject matter have the unique ability to touch all age groups and genders. His subject matter, though presented in a fantasy-oriented genre, involves interacting with a natural world that can be both benevolent and ruthless; emphasizes the need to fight corrupt leaders; and, yet, believes that human nature, at its best, will reassert itself. We will examine these aspects of his art and try to understand the basis of his creativity and its relevance, or not, for our times. Since this is a cross-genre writing course, we will write two academic essays examining the storytelling rubrics in Miyazki’s films for use in a final original short story written to reflect the “Miyazakiworld” genre.
To be continued…
Continuing on:
*Course Description: Japanese Anime: Beyond Miyazaki - Makoto Shinkai
This course offers a look at the works of the young Japanese auteur anime filmmaker: Makoto Shinkai. While the casual anime fan is familiar with the brilliance of Hayao Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli string of masterpieces, serious anime fans have long enjoyed the genius of Makoto Shinkai. He has been called “a director for the digital age” and, “the next Miyazaki.” Shinkai’s themes profoundly deal with love: the joy of love, the pain of love, and the loss of love. His art work has been called, “beyond drop dead gorgeous”! Along with viewing and discussing his films, like She and Her Cat, Voices of a Distant Star, The Place Promised in Our Early Days, Children Who Chase Lost Voices, Garden of Words, Five Centimeters Per Second and, the most successful anime film to date, Your Name, we will read various articles and movie reviews relating to the intellectual aspects of his films and finish up the course with an original short story reflecting Makoto’s storytelling approaches and themes.
*Course Description: The Films of Bong Joon Ho
Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite is the first foreign film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture – he also won Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Parasite is an insightful look at class disparities specifically in South Korea, but also has transnational significance. Further, Bong’s sense of social consciousness is evident throughout his film oeuvre, which spans multiple genres. He considers social class, gender, globalization, capitalism, the climate crisis, world hunger and more. We will reflect on his films, read related scholarly articles and film reviews discussing these sources in oral presentations and our own academic papers. Students will also write an original short story based on the storytelling rubrics and themes that we have discovered through our scholarly study of Bong’s filmography.
*Course Description: Smart Girls and Strong Women in Japanese Anime
As a WR153 course, we will focus on creativity in writing and the most effective ways of discovering and communicating our original ideas. Our subject will be the tradition of “smart girls and strong women” in Japanese anime. We will begin with an investigation of how four of the greatest Japanese anime directors view female characters. Hayao Miyazaki (e.g., Spirited Away), Makoto Shinkai (e.g., Your Name), Satoshi Kon (e.g., Paprika), and Hosoda Mamoru (e.g., The Girl Who Leapt Thru Time) all feature female protagonists. We will pick films from each director’s collection, understand the nature of their female protagonists, and then write our own studies, culminating in an original short story featuring female protagonists. You will have an opportunity to design, research, and execute a sustained project with an emphasis on the stages of design thinking. Our overall goal is to understand creativity as learnable, iterative process that can be applied to any area of study…even anime!
Note: Prior to this course, all the other courses were WR120 level which is more or less introductory writing level courses. This semester, Fall, 2022, I’m moving up to our higher course level with WR153 where is a greater emphasis on individual student creative. Thus, I have not listed the movies to be featured, as that will be upto the students! Should be interesting!
Chinese TV Dramas
Chinese TV Dramas that are really good arranged in the order that I discovered/viewed them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_in_Fire
Nirvana in Fire is a 50 or so episode (as are most) TV drama series. This one is set in the Liang Dynasty (502-557 CE). VERY tense court political intrigue regarding a revenge plot against the reigning emperor. The other TV dramas listed here are set in unspecific dynasties.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_in_Fire_2
Nirvana in Fire, Season 2. Also Liang Dynasty and same military family, but generations later also involving tense Court political intrigue. A bit more action, as in fighting, but also great characters and tense plotting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Untamed_(TV_series)
The Untamed (陈情令). A truly amazing series, as with all of these, they start off as Chinese web novels and then are picked up by regional TV producers and make into drama series. This one went from web novel, to anime film, to TV drama and has been a HUGE hit in China. The original novel is in the “homo-erotic” genre; the Chinese call them “Boy Love” genre. But since “gay” arts are censored in China, it has been “toned down” for TV into what we might consider a “bromance.” Yet, the wuxia tradition does have an aspect of close (but not sexual) male relationships, as seen in this TV series. But just as interesting, the anime title is Modao zushi (魔道祖师), which roughly translates as “Master or Patriarch of the Dark/Evil/Heterodox Way” and the TV series is likewise. The novelist is a woman and there seems to be a number of these female web novelists writing in these genres. So at the keyboards of these female writers, the xia (martial heroes) are beginning to change, beginning to be more sensitive though just as deadly. Very interesting.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_Honor_(TV_series)
Word of Honor (山河令) another “Boy Love” genre tale. Again set in traditional China involving a retiring young master of a type of secret “censorate” organization. Tired of all the killing, the young leader retires to live his life wandering the “jianghu” (world of the xia) for the self imposed seven years he has left to his young life. He meets his “soul mate”, who, like many of these “boy love” dramas who has a diametrically opposite personality (sort of opposites attract?). It has also been a sensational hit in China.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handsome_Siblings_(TV_series)
Handsome Siblings (绝代双骄) isn’t necessarily a “Boy Love” series, since the two male protagonists are “twin” brothers and it is based on an original novel by the great wuxia writer, Gu Long. There is a very diabolical revenge plot at the core of the story pitting the unknowing brothers against each other. As usual, there is a very orthodox protagonist and a very unorthodox protagonist initially pitted against each other. Overall, a lot of fun and tension.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_of_Life_(TV_series)
Joy of Life (庆余年). I just finished this 46 episode series that ended on an immense cliffhanger!!! They are filming a season two and three; like the others, this has been immensely popular in China. The special aspect here, actually there are two special aspects: 1. the humor is intentionally quite frequent and, in some cases, will be beyond non-native Chinese speakers; but there is help in the form of the TV drama critic AvenueX, whom I will subsequently introduce. 2. There is a bit of science fiction involved here - done in a subtle and humorous way. It quite an amazing mix. Nor is is a “boys love” genre, but has an endearing male-female romantic thread.
Okay, so perhaps you are hooked by all of this. Where to go to learn more about this whole Chinese TV series phenomenon? AvenueX! A Chinese woman living in Canada who had/has a deep connection with the Chinese film/TV industry. I’ve learned so much from her web broadcasts (in English) https://www.youtube.com/c/AvenueX123 and am hoping that I can figure out a way to present some of this as a course in the BU Writing Program - problem is I’m not dealing with individual films, but 50+ episode TV series! We’ll see.
In the meantime, I hope I’ve interested some visitors to try out a few of these series; many can be found on Amazon Prime and some on Youtube. I’d enjoy starting a conversation about your reactions to this interesting aspect of contemporary Chinese culture. But beware, you could get hooked like me and find yourself up in the early dawn hours binge watching!
04/17/2023
NOTE: In an attempt to keep the site updated, rather than wait for gathering more info on all these TV dramas, for the time being, I will just list the (mostly “weirdly”) English translated titles of the TV series I’ve enjoyed with some random comments. When I have time, I’ll add the Chinese titles and their links to the relevant Wikipedia pages. Good sources to watch them with English subtitles are Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Viki.com; the latter site is an all Asian films and TV shows site - subscription fee is minimal.
Initial List of Show Titles with “Scattered” Comments
*The Blood of Youth - Too much fun! Harks back to wild and crazy traditional Chinese wuxia stories with lots of crazy, fun magical powers. There will be two more seasons.
*Snow, Sword, Stride - One of those “weirdly” translated titles, also will have two more seasons. I found the characters very engaging and a lot of fun. And lots of traditional wuxia “magical” fighting skills.
*Who Rules the World - I’m getting redundant here, but engaging and fun characters, especially the interplay between the male and female protagonists, who are both top martial artists.
*Alchemy of Souls -seasons 1 and 2 with promise of a 3rd season. This Korean series is great! Characters are engaging and the sense of humor, especially the female protagonist, is “fall off your seat” funny. Magic, swordsplay, “proto” zombies! and of course, romance! Easy access on Netflix.
*Love Between Fairy and Devil - Another “weirdly” translated title. Initial viewing put me off as being too “cutesy/sweet”, but based on AvenueX’s enthusiastic reviewing, I gave it another try and found it to be both very moving and in it’s own way, “profound.” But you have to deal with the initial “cuteness” of the female protagonist’s character, as she seems, at first, excessively naive about the nature of life - even in a fantasy world. But of course (!), what could you expect since she is a flower spirit incarnate. But your patience will pay off as we begin to realize how meaningful her view of life can be. “Flower Power”??
*Love in Between - Another “weird” translated title.
*Side Story of Fox Volant - This is on Viki.com and is a TV series version of Jin Yong’s novel. It is well done and has all the complexity of a Jin Yong novel.
*Longest Day in Chang’an - Production-wise, this is amazing as the young producers took a lot of time to recreate the ca. 8th century capital (Chang’an) of the great Tang dynasty. The story reminds one of the American TV series 24, where story was set in an actual 24 hour time frame in which the protagonist had to solve an impending terrorist attack on the US. Following a similar scenario, our protagonists have 24 hours to solve an impending terrorist attack (yes, the Tang dynasty also had “terrorists”) on the capital. If for no other reason, the settings are amazing.
*Handsome Siblings - Intricate and “devilish” plotting ends up pitting two siblings in a “revenge” driven deathmatch.
*Rurouni Kenshin - An action packed Japanese samurai trilogy - the sword fighting choreography is the BEST this humble (?) viewer has ever seen. I still can’t believe the level of the sword “play” and that the main actor did his own stunts and I think there was very little if any CGI involved…though I could be wrong. I think it is available on Netflix.
