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kiss of the dragon - the theme
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As I said in my essay on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, "My film career is only one aspect of my life. Relationships are more important. And I believe that keeping one's word is one of the most basic principles of human conduct."
And that's why I chose to make my last film, Kiss of the Dragon -- because the theme of the story also revolves around one man's promise to a woman. The protagonist is not an earth shaking hero who saves the day, but instead a very professional and dedicated worker. What happens is that he inadvertently makes a promise to a woman. In fact keeping his word may not be in his best interest, but in the end he decides that a man must keep his word. In order to fulfill this promise, though, he might have to violate the rules of his work, the orders of his superiors and possibly even the laws of his country. This is exactly the kind of thing that he has been indoctrinated not to do. But he feels that his integrity as an individual must come first.
Call me a very traditional Chinese guy, but I feel very strongly about these things. When I had discussions with the writer and Luc Besson, we immediately decided that this was the movie we wanted to make -- a movie about a simple, subtle promise. Of course, the action sequences in Kiss of the Dragon are very realistic and grounded like those in Fist of Legend and Besson's The Professional. It is an action movie -- it has this packaging -- but it's not purely about action. There's a strong flavor of something else inside.
