Reading this article by Jeff Yang (and if you don't already follow his articles regularly may I recommend them)
In this article (and please read the whole article) this statement is made:
"It's very challenging to do films that can reach a global audience," he says. "So far, the only common language we've been able to find that crosses over from East to West is action. So I make action movies. It's the only tool we can use to speak to both sides of the world."
And that got me thinking...action is essentially non-verbal communication like dance and like dance is therefore universal in its appeal which I can understand. But ... are East and West so far apart in their understanding of each other that the only universality of communication is non-verbal?
Are there no other universal themes or language that are common to all that cross the superficial divide between East and West or is the divide greater than it appears?
Perhaps this is also why Jackie's films have been so successful around the world in many different cultures and many different languages. He relies very heavily on physical comedy and a physical expression of the story through action.
Whether intentionally brilliant or not his focus on being a physical comedian in the tradition of the silent greats was perhaps the best career move he could have made. The language of action and physical comedy is indeed universal and there isn't a fan in any part of the world who doesn't appreciate Jackie's particular genius at expressing himself non-verbally.
