Getting mixed up with the Japanese underworld

MANILA, Philippines – In most of his big-screen assignments, Jackie Chan has played to perfection the part of the tough action hero, as in the box-office hit Forbidden Kingdom. But in his latest movie, Shinjuku Incident — which opens June 10 in theaters, Jackie plays against type as Steelhead, an honest, hardworking tractor repairman who gets mixed up with the Japanese underworld and Chinese gangs.

Shinjuku Incident marks Jackie’s first time to portray such a character. He will present a side of him audiences have never seen before in any of his films. The movie, directed by Derek Yee, features talents from Hong Kong, mainland China and Japan. It takes the audience to exotic locations in China, Japan and gives them a glimpse of the world of the Japanese mafia.

Steelhead is a vast departure from Jackie’s other onscreen characters. When the woman he loves marries an ambitious, upcoming Yakuza chief, Steelhead forms an uneasy alliance with the latter. But then Steelhead decides a gangster’s life is not for him and he tries to put things behind him to start a new life. But when he learns his former compatriots are being used to front the Yakuza’s drug business, Steelhead is seized by guilt. Feeling responsible for this turn of events, he tries to put things right. But the crucial question bugging him is this: Can one simple Chinese migrant take on the entire Yakuza alone?

Director Yee is excited about the film, which is one of the most important projects he’s ever made, especially because of the story, which he found completely absorbing. “Shinjuku Incident is the film that has probably taken me the longest time from the germination of an idea to the completion of a film but it’s more because the research was so fascinating and the story was evolving all the time.”

To be released by Viva International Pictures, Shinjuku Incident also stars Ken Watanabe and Daniel Wu.