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Remembering Japanese Martial Arts Star Sonny Chiba, Who Died Of COVID At 82
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MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Sonny Chiba was a prolific actor known for his Japanese martial arts movies. His movements were brutal, his facial expressions fearsome as he punched and kicked his way through more than a hundred films. Chiba died this week in a hospital in Japan due to complications from COVID-19. He was 82. NPR's Andrew Limbong has this appreciation.
ANDREW LIMBONG, BYLINE: You know how in the movie "Pulp Fiction," Samuel L. Jackson has that big speech that goes...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "PULP FICTION")
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SAMUEL L JACKSON: (As Jules Winnfield) And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious...
LIMBONG: Well, writer and director Quentin Tarantino cribbed it from a 1973 Sonny Chiba movie known in the U.S. as "The Bodyguard."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE BODYGUARD")
SONNY CHIBA: (As Chiba) And they shall know that I am Chiba the bodyguard when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.
LIMBONG: There, Chiba plays a vigilante, who shares his name, pummeling Japan's drug overlords.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE STREET FIGHTER")
CHIBA: (As Takuma Tsurugi, vocalizing).
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LIMBONG: Chiba's follow-up movie was 1974's "The Street Fighter," his big international debut and a violent and bloody one at that. Scenes like the one where he punches a guy so hard on the head that the movie cuts to an X-ray shot of a skull cracking and then back to the guy spurting blood earned "The Street Fighter" an X rating in the U.S.
Sonny Chiba was born in 1939. He studied martial arts and started working onscreen for a Japanese kid's TV show. He went on to have a prolific career in action movies and TV shows in Japan, and he got / recognition in the U.S. when Tarantino continued to pay tribute by casting him as swordsmith Hattori Hanzo in the "Kill Bill" movies.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "KILL BILL")
CHIBA: (As Hattori Hanzo) You must have big rats if you need Hattori Hanzo steel.
LIMBONG: For many fans of the genre, Sonny Chiba sits comfortably at the top of a mountain of broken bones. Andrew Limbong, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF HIROLA'S "PERPETUAL LIGHT") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
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