Agent J (film)
| Agent J | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by |
|
| Written by |
|
| Produced by |
|
| Starring | |
| Cinematography |
|
| Edited by |
|
| Distributed by | EMI |
Release date |
|
Running time | 70 minutes |
| Country | Taiwan |
| Languages | |
| Budget | NT$33 million |
Agent J (Chinese: 特務J) is a 2007 Taiwanese action romance film. It was directed by Jeff Chang, Marlboro Lai, and Kuang Sheng and stars Jolin Tsai, Kim Jae-won, Stephen Fung, and Carl Ng. It is composed of three unrelated chapters about stories between agent J and her three boyfriends.[1]
Plot
Chapter one
Jolin and S, a pair of lovers, were traveling in Paris, France. S just asked the passers-by nearby for directions, then he turned around and found that Jolin disappeared but he searched frantically nearby in vain. It turned out that Jolin has long been spotted by a secret organization. After the organization kidnapped her, they brainwashed her and trained her as an agent, letting her to perform missions for the organization as J in the future. Her boyfriend S stayed in Paris in the three years after Jolin disappeared, and became a private bodyguard specializing in witness protection. He also wanted to track down the agent J who appeared shortly after his girlfriend disappeared and looks exactly like his girlfriend. This time, J's latest mission was to assassinate the Korean private bodyguard who has been tracking her. She followed him to a rooftop and pulled the trigger mercilessly as usual, but S showed her a smile before dying. The smile made her very confused, so she came to S's apartment with doubts, and discovered her own past.
Chapter two
Jolin was spotted by a secret organization in a prison in London, England, and the organization offered her freedom in exchange for completing an assassination mission. This time, Jolin's assassination target was Blue Beard, but on the other side Blue Beard had already sensed that someone was going to assassinate him, so he also sent his own people to arrest Jolin at the same time. One day, Jolin found herself being followed by two men in black on the street. She got help from a photographer Lu Hsiao-tung while evading, and they fell in love at first sight. During their relationship, Jolin accidentally discovered that Lu Hsiao-tung's real identity was actually a secret agent entrusted by Blue Beard. One night, when Jolin was following Blue Beard, Lu Hsiao-tung unexpectedly appeared in front of Jolin, and the two looked at each other speechlessly. At this moment, Blue Beard suddenly shot Lu Hsiao-tung in the back. Although Jolin finally succeeded in assassinating Blue Beard, Lu Hsiao-tung died on the spot.
Chapter three
Jolin received the latest mission from a secret organization at a train station in Bangkok, Thailand. This time, she had to get close to a gang boss and rescue Vince who is performing an undercover mission, and Vince was her boyfriend who was supposed to be died from a bomb years ago. One day, Jolin turned into a nightclub singer and tried to get close to the boss, and she saw Vince sitting beside him in the box. The identities of the two were exposed by the gang boss, so the two sides started shooting, and Vince got shot in the body. Jolin took Vince back to her apartment and helped him take out the bullet. The two who hadn't seen each other for many years rekindled their love. The next day, Vince sent Jolin away and went to assassinate the gang boss alone. Although the assassination was successful, he got shot in the chest by the gang boss from behind. On the other side, Jolin found that he was also being followed by gang members, so she drove to try to get rid of the gang members, and she informed Vince to meet at the agreed place. Vince dragged his shot body to the agreed place, Jolin beat his body hard to wake him up but was unable to recover.[2]
Cast
- Jolin Tsai as Agent J
- Kim Jae-won as Bodyguard S
- Stephen Fung as Lu Hsiao-tung
- Carl Ng as Vince
Production
The film was divided into three chapters, and it was filmed in Paris, London, and Bangkok, which took one month to complete and cost more than NT$33 million.[3]
Soundtrack
The film was released to accompany Jolin Tsai's 2007 album Agent J, so all the songs appear in the film are from the album. In addition, except for "Neron" which comes from the British label Bruton, all the film scores appear in the film are from KPM Music.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Agent J" (特務J) |
| Ooi Teng Fong | Adia | 3:35 |
| 2. | "Alone" (一個人) | Al Kuan | Eric Ng | Paula Ma | 4:41 |
| 3. | "Fear-Free" (怕什麼) | Cheng Shu-fei | Paul Lee | Paul Lee | 4:35 |
| 4. | "Ideal State" (桃花源) | Alang Huang | Kaede Chang | Paul Lee | 3:32 |
| 5. | "Sun Will Never Set" (日不落) | Luke Tsui |
| Michael Lin | 3:48 |
| 6. | "Metronome" (節拍器) | Jolin Tsai | Jamie Hsueh | Derek Lin | 4:38 |
| 7. | "Golden Triangle" (金三角) | Issac Chen |
|
| 3:02 |
| 8. | "Tacit Violence" (冷·暴力) |
|
|
| 3:01 |
| 9. | "Priceless" (非賣品) |
| Tam Jung Chen | Michael Lin | 4:33 |
| Total length: | 35:25 | ||||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Running Battle" | Lorne David Roderick Balfe | 2:03 |
| 2. | "Neron" | Inon I Zur | 1:36 |
| 3. | "Men of Steel" |
| 0:58 |
| 4. | "The Urban Machine" | Alastair John King | 3:55 |
| 5. | "Soul Saver" | Aaron Frederick Laszlo Wheeler | 2:52 |
| 6. | "Fading Light" |
| 4:24 |
| 7. | "Alien" | Mark Revell | 1:00 |
| 8. | "The Beast Is Tamed" | Richard Myhill | 0:30 |
| 9. | "Race for Survival" | Tony Clarke | 1:28 |
| 10. | "Cool Killer" | Joe Henson | 1:33 |
| 11. | "Masked Diva" |
| 3:17 |
| 12. | "Adiós Al Amor" | David Savcic | 3:02 |
| 13. | "Un Amor Asi" | Luis Rios | 3:42 |
| 14. | "Still Life" |
| 1:00 |
| 15. | "Hear You Breathing" | Stuart Alexander Reid | 3:28 |
| 16. | "It's Over" |
| 2:32 |
| Total length: | 37:20 | ||
Promotion and release
On August 27, 2007, EMI released the trailer for the chapter one of the film.[4] On September 3, 2007, EMI released the trailer for the chapter two of the film.[5] On September 4, 2007, EMI released the trailer for the chapter three of the film.[6] On September 5, 2007, EMI held the film preview session in Taipei, Taiwan.[7] On September 13, 2007, EMI released the 12-minute version of the film.[8] On September 14, 2007, EMI held the film premiere in Taipei, Taiwan.[9] On September 20, 2007, EMI premiered the two-minute version of the film in Taipei, Taiwan, and broadcast it on 58 television stations, radio stations, and new media in Taiwan.[10] On September 22, 2007, EMI held a special screening event of the film in Tamsui, Taiwan.[11]
This film was released in conjunction with Jolin Tsai's 2007 album Agent J, so it was not released in movie theaters, but it was completely included in the limited edition of the album released on September 21, 2007.[12]
Critical reception
Wring for Tom.com, Mi San commented: "The Agent J trilogy contains gimmicks that can make a crowd to watch: men and women agents, bodyguards, foreign gangsters, assassinations, shooting, pole dance, aerial silk acrobatics, human subject research, church, prison, prisoners, lesbians, cars, drug trade, singing and dancing performances, sex scene...a Hollywood blockbuster can't even give that much in one single film. But it's like taking the lyrics out of a song and reciting them as a poem, it's 99.9% ridiculous, if you look at this trilogy as an independent film, it's hard to compliment. The film stocks were all used for the above-mentioned points and to arouse emotions, the close-up of roles and the inner monologue are overflowing, while the necessary temperament shaping and the plot narrative are only briefly illustrated. The rift between music and film is obvious, the album's songs have diverse styles, Jolin Tsai's roles are thus different, the film is eager to unify them, but the lack of transition makes the agent J seem particularly split. And if the album's songs are used as the film soundtrack, it is too overwhelming, in some cases, a string, electronic music, or sound effect that sets off the atmosphere is more appropriate than Jolin Tsai singing herself."[13]
Controversies
The film was classified as M18 (Mature 18) by the Singapore film rating system, mainly because of the three-second scene of lesbian kissing in the film's second chapter. Chen Xiangyun, the manager of EMI Singapore's Chinese Department, said: "Singapore can broadcast it, unless we allow some scenes to be cut, but every scene can drive the plot, just like Lust, Caution would become very boring if it were cut too cleanly."[14]
Because the word "agent" is a sensitive word, and the content of the film is somewhat pornographic, the film was banned from public broadcasting in China.
The film could not be broadcast publicly in Thailand because of restrictions on broadcasting foreign films on the grounds of "protecting local culture against too popular foreign culture."
References
- ^ "蔡依林新碟拍音乐电影 揭秘《爱情任务》剧情-搜狐音乐". music.yule.sohu.com. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "【音乐电影】蔡依林的《特务J:跨国超级任务》三部曲，魅惑演绎女杀手的情感世界_腾讯新闻". new.qq.com. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "Jolin 5000萬《特務》11曲全被盜｜蘋果新聞網｜蘋果日報". 2022-07-09. Archived from the original on 2022-07-09. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "巴黎街头调情 "全民杀手"蔡依林恋上金载沅？-搜狐音乐". music.yule.sohu.com. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "蔡依林挑战极限尺度 与冯德伦拍亲热戏面红(图)_影音娱乐_新浪网". ent.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ 网易 (2007-09-05). "蔡依林惊艳演绎变装杀手 抓痒不顾形象". www.163.com. Archived from the original on 2022-11-20. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "蔡依林《特务Ｊ》MV首映 KISS帅哥不要色狼(图)-搜狐广东". gd.sohu.com. Archived from the original on 2022-09-08. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "蔡依林烧5千万赢张惠妹 阿妹粉丝炮轰EMI不公平-搜狐音乐". music.yule.sohu.com. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "蔡依林生日夜办音乐电影首映会 新专辑预售飘红_影音娱乐_新浪网". ent.sina.com.cn. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "《特务J》超精华版播出 蔡依林热辣秀美腿(图)-搜狐音乐". music.yule.sohu.com. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "玩爆破 Jolin被呛". 星洲网 Sin Chew Daily. 2007-09-23. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "蔡依林 《特务J》（影音合体华丽特定盘）（CD+DVD）". 星洲网 Sin Chew Daily. 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "蔡依林《爱情任务》 唱片界的动作大片". www.ewen.com.cn. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
- ^ "蔡依林《特务J》一刀不剪 本地禁播". 2007-10-13. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
External links
- Agent J at IMDb
