Dragon Boys

Dragon Boys

CBC Mini-Series
Written by Ian Weir
Directed by Jerry Ciccoritti
Starring Byron Mann
Eric Tsang
Lawrence Chou
Tzi Ma
Lauren Lee Smith
Steph Song
Darryl Quon
Christina Ma
Jean Yoon
Simon Wong
Chang Tseng
Theme music composer Tim McCauley
Country of origin Canada
Hong Kong
Original language(s) English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Khmer
Production
Producer(s) Michael Chechik
Howard Dancyger
Ian Weir
Cinematography Danny Nowak
Editor(s) Jane Morrison
Running time 240 minutes
Distributor Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Budget $4,000,000 CAD
Release
Original release
  • January 2007 (2007-01)
Website www.dragonboys.ca

Dragon Boys (Chinese: 龍在他鄉) is a CBC Television (CBC) miniseries starring Eric Tsang, Byron Mann, Lawrence Chou, Tzi Ma, Lauren Lee Smith, Steph Song, Darryl Quon, Christina Ma, Jean Yoon, Simon Wong and Chang Tseng.[1] It aired on CBC on January 7[2] and 8[3] of 2007.

Synopsis

The film focuses on several stories about Asian Canadian organized gangs, set mostly in Vancouver[4] and Richmond, British Columbia,[5][6] Canada. One of them involves an Asian-Canadian Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer, Tommy Jiang (played by Mann), who is seeking to bring down two Asian gangsters named Willie the Duck and Movie Star (played by Tsang and Chou, respectively), in the process risking losing everything, including his marriage,[7] as he goes deeper into the criminal organization.[4] Eventually, the final showdown occurs between Movie Star and Jiang.[8]

Another story focuses on the Wahs, an immigrant family from China. The parents in that family (played by real life husband and wife Tzi Ma and Christina Ma) are concerned about their son Jason (played by Wong), who is constantly the victim of racial bullying. Jason soon receives help, but from a Chinese-Canadian youth with gang connections. They attempt a robbery but fail, and Jason is forced to flee for his life while his father Henry tries to save him.[4]

The third story is about an illegal Cambodian immigrant named Chavy Pahn (Steph Song) who comes to Vancouver to seek a modelling career but is instead trapped in Canada with no friends, no passport and a $30,000 debt.[4] Forced into prostitution at a senior gang member's wife's massage parlour because she cannot pay her debts, she seeks the help of a gang-enforcer (Quon), who befriends her,[9] as means of escape.

Cast

Non-triad members

Triad members

Pre-filming preparation and research

Before filming for the miniseries began, Mann spent several weeks with Richmond's RCMP detectives to prepare for the role. Besides that, a year was spent researching Asian Canadian gangs in the Vancouver area, in cooperation with the RCMP.[7]

In addition, the series' writer Ian Weir immersed himself in Asian Canadian and Asian American culture before writing the script. He also worked with some in the Chinese community during the script's writing, checking to see what worked and what didn't. This resulted in some of the tongue-in-cheek references made about Chinese stereotypes by some of the characters, such as Jiang, in the miniseries.[7]

Critical response and viewership

The critical response for Dragon Boys have been overwhelmingly positive, in large part due to its depth and realism resulting from the performances of the internationally based cast from Hong Kong, Canada and the United States. According to CBC executives, the producers of the miniseries have been given permission to start a sequel to Dragon Boys.[10] The writers have already started writing the script, and the production is hoping to start filming in the fall of 2007.[11]

However, the viewership numbers fell short of expectations on the first night, with approximately 383,000 viewers.[12] It did slightly better on the finale the next night, with 391,000 viewers.[13]

Controversy and community involvement

Before the miniseries aired, there was concern from the Chinese Canadian community about possible backlash from other communities; the villains in the miniseries are predominantly Asian Canadian, leading to possibly racist implications. Some Chinese Canadian film and television personnel even threatened to boycott the miniseries.[14] This led to the producers hiring several prominent Asian Canadians in the community to look over the script to filter out what could be insulting.[10]

One of the changes made to accommodate Asian Canadians more was the omission of the character of a Caucasian police chief; it was decided that going with a white boss would be counter-productive to the story, and a senior Asian Canadian officer was added instead to add complexity to the script.[10] Another change that was made took previously submissive and weak Asian female characters in the miniseries and making them outspoken and stronger. More Asian characters were also added to the protagonists' side, so not all the "bad guys" are Asian.[14]

Despite the content of the miniseries, the writer and the director are both Caucasian. Steph Song (who plays Chavy Pahn) found that to be an advantage, in contrast to the alleged racism accusations made by the Chinese Canadian community before it aired. Song claimed that if the miniseries was written and directed by Chinese Canadians, there would be too much sympathy on the part of the Asian characters, and that the "truth" about the Asian drug dealing industry would not have been exposed in an adequate manner.[10]

Filming locations

The film was filmed in the Vancouver, Richmond[5] and Langley, British Columbia[15] area, but takes place in Richmond, a city famous for its Golden Village Asian district on No. 3 Road, as well as its large Asian community which makes up 60 percent of the city's population.[16]

Some scenes were shot at one of the malls within the Golden Village, Parker Place.[17] Because of the area's high concentration of Asian Canadians, Eric Tsang (a very well known actor in Hong Kong films) was mobbed by fans who recognized him.[17]

Partly due to the setting of the miniseries, some of the songs on the series' soundtrack were performed by Asian Canadian musicians from Richmond.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Dragon Boys cast". DragonBoys.ca. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
  2. ↑ "Programming schedule". CBC.ca. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
  3. ↑ "Programming schedule". CBC.ca. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "About Dragon Boys". DragonBoys.ca. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
  5. 1 2 "Business section briefs". Richmond News. Archived from the original on 11 January 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
  6. ↑ "CBC drama on Asian crime in B.C.". Our Public Airwaves. Archived from the original on 10 October 2006. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
  7. 1 2 3 "Thrilling CBC miniseries, 'Dragon Boys,' delves into Asian organized crime". CBC.ca. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
  8. ↑ "Enter the Dragon". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
  9. ↑ "Behind the scenes". DragonBoys.ca. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Will Dragon Boys fall to stereotypes?". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
  11. ↑ "Dragon Boys shoot for truth". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 12 January 2007.
  12. ↑ Menon, Vinay (9 January 2007). "Little Mirth on Prairie". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
  13. ↑ "Hot Box: TV to talk about". The Toronto Star. 10 January 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
  14. 1 2 "Crime and controversy: the story behind Dragon Boys". Ricepaper. Archived from the original on 13 December 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2007.
  15. ↑ "加拿大制作Dragon Boys 曾志伟父子演出 (in Chinese)". TRJ.com (唐人街). Archived from the original on August 8, 2007. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
  16. ↑ "Dim sum meets cellphone nirvana". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2007.
  17. 1 2 3 "Richmond stars in gangster movie". The Richmond News. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2007.
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