SHANGHAI SURPRISE
US, 1986, 97 minutes, Colour.
Sean Penn, Madonna, Paul Freeman, Richard Griffiths.
Directed by Jim Goddard.
Shanghai Surprise is one of the most popular vilified films from the 1980s. It was nominated for all kinds of negative awards, especially the Razzies, which Madonna won as worst actress of the year.
At this stage, audiences knew that Madonna was a celebrated singer but did not appreciate how successful she would be over the next quarter of a century. Sean Penn had the reputation of a reasonable actor but a rather rowdy type in real life. There was not the awareness that he would go on to be a distinguished director and a double-Oscar winning actor.
The film was a British production, a story of an adventurer in China, of a nurse who was interested in opium for the healing of her patients. They come together, have a number of adventures, encounters gangsters of all kinds in China. The film was directed by Jim Goddard, a television director of a number of interesting programs including Nicholas Nickleby as well as serials like The Bill.
Madonna and Sean Penn were married at this time – but that did not last long. The reputation of the film as a bad movie has lingered longer. However, in retrospect, it may not seem so bad now.
1. The reputation of the film? Critics and audiences considering it one of the worst of films? Its entertainment value, a caper? Sean Penn and Madonna in the 1980s? Later?
2. The Hong Kong locations, China, Shanghai? The re-creation of period, décor, atmosphere? The songs?
3. The tradition of films about Shanghai and trains? The 1930s? China, in itself, the antagonism with Japan? The feel of the Orient? Americans in China?
4. 1937, opium, the drug kings? The role of journalists, the warlords, the missionaries? Life and death?
5. Miss Tatlock, Madonna’s performance? Her interactions with Mr Burns? The mission? Her choice of Glendon Wasey? The needs of the mission? The visit and the rickshaw? The insect fight, the chases? The interactions with Kronk? Joe Go and the baseball? The China Doll? The role of the warlord and her interactions? The journalists? The range of adventures, complicity, the jewels, the chases? The explosions? The boat and the opium? The irony of Burns and her role in the caper?
6. Miss Tatlock and the mission, an American in China, the job, her dislike of people, going into action, the complications? The China Doll? Her playing up to Glendon Wasey? Smoking and drinking? The sexual blackmail? The build-up to the conclusion, decisions? The happy ending? A credible character – for this kind of caper?
7. Glen, the American in China, his drinking, his job, his knowhow, the contacts? China Doll, the sex, and his remembering? The warlord and the torture? His hands? The jewels and the chase? The encounter with Faraday at the end?
8. Faraday and the warlord, death, the irony of Burns and his role? The work, unmasking? The finale and loss?
9. Joe Go, supplying information? The basketball touches? The robbery?
10. The warlord, his role in China, the prevalence of warlords at the time? Torture, the hands, the end?
11. The touches with Willie, with Kronk?
12. China, the wars of the 1930s, the role of foreigners, race relationships, opium and smuggling, the role of Christianity and missionaries, issues of language?
13. How much does the film deserve its bad reputation?
