Who Am I? (1998)

Who Am I? is a 1998 Hong Kong action comedy film directed by Benny Chan and Jackie Chan, who also starred in the lead role. The film was released in Hong Kong on 17 January 1998. It is also Chan’s second film to be scripted and shot in English, the first one being Mr. Nice Guy.

Plot.

Somewhere in the jungles of South Africa on Thanksgiving 1996, a multinational military unit named the Special Force Unit ambushes a convoy and kidnaps several scientists working on a highly-volatile compound extracted from a recently discovered meteorite. Among the operatives is a Hong Kong national identified as “Jackie Chan”. The CIA assigns Morgan Stollman to investigate the incident, unaware that he and newly retired General Sherman orchestrated the abduction for their personal profit. At the same time, the CIA assigns another operative in South Africa for a more covert operation. Jackie wakes up in a tribal village somewhere in the African veldt, still recovering from injuries sustained in an accident he cannot remember. When asked for his name by the natives, he does not remember who he is and repeatedly asks himself, “Who Am I?”. He is referred to as “Who Am I?” by the natives, as they think it is his name. The tribesmen show him the remains of a crashed helicopter and graves of those who perished aboard.

He spends weeks recuperating from his wounds and learning about the tribe’s culture. After spotting rally cars from several miles away, “Who Am I?” bids the village farewell and ventures on a journey back to civilization. He befriends Japanese rally co-driver Yuki after saving her brother from a snake bite and offering to help them finish the race. When they reach Johannesburg, “Who Am I?” meets Christine Stark, a journalist sent to interview him about his rally adventure. However, Morgan hears of “Who Am I?” and sends a hitman team to kill him. Morgan also pretends to be his ally, telling him to contact him if he is in danger. After escaping from the hitmen, Christine cracks a secret code written on a matchbook found on one of the dead operatives, which leads them to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. “Who Am I?” and Christine bid Yuki farewell and head for Rotterdam to find more answers to his identity.

In Rotterdam, “Who Am I?” discovers that Christine is actually an undercover CIA agent who tapped his calls. Not knowing whom to trust, he battles Sherman’s hitmen and sneaks into the Willemswerf skyscraper alone, where he discovers the masterminds behind the kidnapping of the scientists. It is revealed that Morgan and General Sherman are about to sell the extraterrestrial compound to a powerful arms dealer named Armano. While waiting for the online wire transfer to finish, the three men leave the conference room for a coffee break – giving “Who Am I?” time to sneak in and steal the disc containing the compound information. He also cancels the transaction and sends the money to a children’s charity, which infuriates Armano. Sherman and Armano send several men after “Who Am I?” to get the disc back. While in the process of escaping, “Who Am I?” defeats several hitmen and is found by Morgan.

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Production notes.

Who Am I? was shot on locations in Namibia, South Africa, and Netherlands between February and March 1997. The film features several landmarks such as Sun City in South Africa, Erasmus Bridge in Rotterdam, the Beurstraverse (which was portrayed by the film makers as being in Johannesburg), the Cube houses and the Willemswerf building (which served as the headquarters of the villains and from the side of which, “Who Am I?” escaped by sliding to the ground). Dutch city Dordrecht was also used as a location on the Voorstraat, de Vleeshouwersstraat as well as the fountains by Hans Petri in front of the former Refaja hospital.

Box office.

In Hong Kong, Who Am I? grossed HK$38,852,845 during its theatrical run. In China, it grossed CN¥80 million at the box office.[3] In Taiwan, it sold 155,211 tickets and grossed NT$35,540,820. In South Korea, film sold 193,293 tickets in Seoul City[5] and 579,879 tickets nationwide, grossing US$2.2 million. In Europe, the film sold 157,427 tickets in Germany, and 73,101 tickets in other European countries. est. US$19,154,137 (equivalent to $32,000,000 in 2021)

United States.

The U.S. DVD release is cut by 9 minutes with the following changes and omissions: Unlike the original HK version of the film, the scene where Jackie Chan and his unit are double-crossed in the helicopter is shown immediately after the helicopters take off. This takes away the “big reveal” effect of what actually happened with Jackie and his men. “Who Am I?”‘s interaction with the African tribe has been reduced dramatically. Cuts include a scene in which he asks the tribal boy, Baba, how many days it takes to walk to civilization; a scene where he and Baba run away from a lioness after he picks up a lion cub; a scene showing the tribe’s farewell ceremony for “Who Am I?”‘s journey; and a scene in which he performs an interpretation of the tribal dance. The rally race scene has been shortened.

A scene where “Who Am I?” recovers feeling in his mouth (as he chewed herbal leaves into an anesthetic to cure Yuki’s brother’s snake bite) and explains his situation to Yuki has been cut. All but two instant replay shots (where Yuki, “Who Am I?” and Christine drive through a fruit stand, and where “Who Am I?” narrowly misses falling furniture in Rotterdam) have been deleted. Unlike other domestic releases of Jackie Chan’s films, this version of Who Am I? retains the film’s original musical score. Also, the U.S. release is the only cut which contains Jackie Chan’s original spoken English during his time with the African tribe. The uncut HK releases have dubbed it in Cantonese.

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Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Universe Laser DVD (now out of print) contains the film as it was originally intended. The “double-cross” scene is not shown until during the interrogation scene as a “revelation flashback.” It is meant to be a mystery as to what happened until the viewer sees these flashbacks. It also contains “Who Am I?”‘s full interaction with the African tribe. However, his English dialogue during this interaction is dubbed into Cantonese during this part. There are English subtitles provided for the whole film. The presentation is not anamorphic, however.

Japan.

Warner Bros. Japan has released two DVD editions of the film: the single-disc DVD contains the original Hong Kong cut of the film with an anamorphic presentation, but with no English subtitles, and it retains the Cantonese dub of Chan during the African tribe scenes. The two-disc anamorphic edition contains both versions of the film, with English subtitles for the U.S. cut.

Cast:

Jackie Chan as Jackie Chan / Who Am I?
Michelle Ferre as Christine Stark
Mirai Yamamoto as Yuki Ohsato
Ed Nelson as General Sherman
Ron Smerczak as CIA Agent Morgan
David Vlok as Morgan’s head assassin
Mike Ian Lambert as Peter (Morgan’s hitman)
Ron Smoorenburg as Morgan’s taekwondo hitman
Kwan Yung as Morgan’s Cai Li Fo hitman
Yanick Mbali as Baba
Washington Sixolo as village chief
Tom Pompert as CIA chairman
Glory Simon as CIA secretary
Chip Bray as Armano
Frank Opperman as Internal security

Who Am I? (1998) Biography, Plot, Production, Box office, Fight.