Lunar New Year: 12 Asian Film Characters to Celebrate

Excluding Indians, of course, as they don’t celebrate Lunar New Year? To celebrate the Lunar New Year with those who … celebrate it, instead of looking at films from the East, we thought we’d look to the colourful film characters that we’ve seen instead. The list will only include notable characters (as opposed to performances or actors) of the following ethnicity:

Koreans, Mongolians, Nepalese, Bhutanese, Vietnamese, formerly the Japanese before 1873, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand.

(Wikipedia, I love you.)

Let’s get to it, shall we? In no particular order (list compiled by FLEA and Aurelle, based on what we have seen, which, unfortunately, was not everything).

Top row to bottom row:

Wong Fei Hung – Once upon a time in China (HK) / Lai Yiu-fai – Happy Together (HK)

He may not mean much to the North American audience, but Wong Fei Hung is a revered name in Asia, so much so that they made movies after movies based on his supposed legend. This would not be a complete list without the character that inspired legions of fans and made a household name of anyone who played him, most notably Jet Li. More than an ordinary film character, Wong was a folk hero, a doctor, and a martial artist rolled into one. I’d probably compare him to James Bond, without all the womanizing and the gadgets, though that would probably take away the appeal of Bond to the Western (more specifically, North American) culture. He’s the straight face hero who kicks a lot of arse, and looks better than you doing it. That’s important, I think. – Aurelle & FLEA

Lai Yiu Fai, on the other hand, is not as famous a name, even if the actor playing him (Tony Leung) is. This character is as different from Wong Fei Hung as one can be. First of all, he’s gay. Second of all, he cooks and knows nothing of martial arts. Third of all, he’s got a tumultuous affair with a dude who is, in effect, a self-destructive, indecisive playboy. He is no folk hero, but a complex, modern man facing the uncertain complexion of relationships as they are on the brink of structural changes, giving voice to the much maligned gay subculture in the East in the process as well. – Aurelle

Yuddy – Days of being wild (HK) / Ryunosuke Tsukue – The Sword of Doom (Japan, Samurai time)

Quick, think of a sexy Asian male character! You got it? Good. Now, give us the name. Is he played by Takeshi Kaneshiro? Leslie Cheung? Is it the character that’s written as a sexy one, or is it because it’s played by good looking men? See, I’d argue that sex appeal is not always emphasized in the portrayal of Asian men, which is unfortunate. Thank goodness for Yuddy, the unabashedly sexy – and tragic – character painted in languid colours and caressed by the whispers of lazy electric fans in Wong Kar Wai’s Days of Being Wild. He’s hot. Consider yourself warned. – Aurelle

Tsukue can also be considered a sexy man, if you’re into animalistic, aggressive mad men. In The Sword of Doom, his descend into madness is slow and hypnotically so. Tsukue as a character is a fascinating examination of the macho, self-destructive culture of manhood, Japan, circa samurai era. The film’s anti-hero take is refreshing, and its ending is an operatic piece of film making designed – albeit unintentionally – to shock, or at least, provoke you. The face of this anti-hero may be a good looking one, but let us have no doubt of its rotten core underneath the facade that would come to the surface in fireworks of blood and horror. – Aurelle

Lian Nichang – The Bride with White Hair (HK) / Songlian – Raise the Red Lantern (China/HK/Taiwan)

What’s with the vengeful ladies, you ask? I’m not sure. The legend of The Bride with White Hair tells of a female assassin who belongs to a martial arts cult, falls in love with a swordsman from the rival Wu-Tang clan, and of course, like any star-cross tale, tragedy ensues. The difference is that Lian does not drink poison and die off like the woeful leaflet Juliet. Instead, she would go on to avenge in the name of love, and in the process, her hair would turn, uh, white, because she’s sad and stuff. She is as strong as any of her opponent, in a picture that’s carried by her narrative alone. Her legend is really awesome in the all important wuxia genre, and you know how influential she is to Quentin Tarantino in making Kill Bill. – Aurelle

Songlian’s life is like an opera. After all, she is the fourth mistress in a weatlhy household that treats its women like nothing more than dates on a calendar. She must try to maintain her dignity and status, sometimes one must be sacrificed for the sake of the other. She is imprisoned in her life, destined to either wither and die, or compete in an almost ruthless fashion with other women for the chance at some sort of affection. In some ways, she embodies a lot of the struggles straight women have, symbolically, in the past, the present and very likely the future as well. Of course, one could also read into the film and her character political dissent from the filmmaker (it was banned in China for a while). In any case, Songlian is an important character for her struggle, and for her eventual recognition that it is fruitless as they are all fated to live and die as caged birds under the tyranny of the status quo. – Aurelle

Nak – Nang- Nak (Thailand) / Lady Kaede – Ran (Japan, Samurai time)

Nak is one of the most tragic villains in recent Asian horror cinema. Based on a Thai legend, she is a devoted wife who dies at child birth , while her husband is away at war. She refuses to accept her own death, and she chooses to haunt (along with her dead child) her home, awaiting her husband’s return. He finally returns, ignorant of the fate of his wife and child. Much to the horror of the other villagers who are aware of her demise, the young family resume what seems to be a normal life. Unlike most Asian horror tales, where the drive for their evil is almost senseless and purely malicious, Nak acts out in the name of love, albeit a twisted kind of love. She kills anyone who threatens to expose her secret and take her beloved husband from her. I grew up with similar versions of Nang Nak, and they were without a doubt the number 1 boogieman from my childhood. They were always vicious, banshee like, foul creatures that preyed on men. Nak on film made me feel such sympathy, and you can almost feel the pain of her yearning. So points for making the scariest creature from my bedtime stories feel human. – FLEA

Lady Kaede is perhaps the evilest of all evil women in films, which is quite impressive, really. She has absolutely no conscience, no remorse, no compassion of any kind. Her motivation for vengeance is absolute and non-negotiable. Others may have gone through a lot more to exact their revenge, but the bloodshed caused by her can not be confined to just her small knife. She is the fox and the serpent, both important symbols in Japanese culture. There’s no finer evil character in Kurosawa films. – Aurelle

Su Li-zhen / Mrs. Chan – In the mood for love (HK) / Geum-ja Lee – Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Korea)

Repressed desire finds a faithful muse in Su Li-zhen, a betrayed wife searching for an answer in her own affair. Of course, there is no satisfying answer. Sometimes, before you know it, you just fall in love. In spite of her own moral misgivings about infidelity, Su’s yearning for Mr. Chow gives way to a doomed, frakking depressing affair. To commit, one must forgive. In some ways, it speaks to a repressed culture afraid of its own desire, and is willing to live with the consequences only because, well, sometimes, there just seems to be no other way, and forgiveness is really, really hard to do. – Aurelle

While Su draws herself into a corner, Geum-ja Lee finds her way out of an impossible situation (namely, being imprisoned for a crime she did not commit) and goes on a cold rampage of her own. Lee is wily, talented, resourceful, and certain of her path. The difference between Lee and someone like Lady Kadae is that she is not just a killer. She has feelings, however icy cold they’ve turned. And she’s looking for redemption, justice, and most of all, forgiveness for herself. – Aurelle

Faye – Chungking Express (HK) / Apek – Madu Tiga (Malaysia)

Certainly, Faye’s adorable quirks and attentive nature would win over anybody looking for the pleasure of smaller thrills in life. An iconic character that is most associated with Wong Kar Wai’s wistful romanticism, Faye is also the most guilt-free and spirited of all. She breaks and enters her crush’s apartment at will to, uh, clean it and play with toy airplanes to the tune of California Dreaming. She’s like the ultimate wet-dream girlfriend for guys (and girls) who fantasize about having a really cute fairy maid looking after them without having to actually pay for her labour. And then you’d hold hands and watch she make your bed from behind, just like how Wong Kar Wai did, with his camera! It should be noted that she’s one of the very few happy characters in his illustrious but tragedy-filled filmography, and certainly, probably the only happy one here. – Aurelle

OK here’s a popular one. We have a bit character from and obscure Malaysian comedy, about polygamy. In black and white, and uh…. no subtitled version. The main character Jamil, has been a bit of a scoundrel and has secretly been married to different women at the same time. But we’re not here to talk about Jamil. Just watch this video, Apek appears around the 4:30 point, but I recommend the whole clip. Jamil has just been discovered, and it’s a car chase , with his three wives combining forces to beat him to a pulp. Apek who is just about to commit suicide from a failed love affair, appears at the end of a series of obstructions to Jamil’s escape and utters the memorable (well in Malaysia that is ) “Living is difficult, dying is just as difficult” , which kinda sums up the lose-lose situation (some say win-win) Jamil and his wives are in. – FLEA Madu Tiga video