In an attempt to pay homage to Hong Kong stuntmen, director-actor Robin Shou created the documentary Red Trousers by picking apart his own 2001 short film, a dreadful English-language kung-fu contraption called Lost Time.
He combined that film's finished footage with behind-the-scenes stunt-work, clips and interviews. Shou (Mortal Kombat) interviews himself and several stuntmen, looking for their personal philosophies. He only sometimes gets them; mostly they seem afraid of looking bad and losing face in front of their peers. Of course, it's their boss doing the interviewing, and it's doubtful that anyone said anything off record.
With his years of experience, the legendary Sammo Hung (My Lucky Stars) provides the most interesting insights, talking about stuntmen's roots in the Peking Opera, but nothing helps us truly to understand this dangerous profession. The film is often rambling and confusing, Shou never identifies any film clips, and he too often returns to Lost Time. Still, Red Trousers has its revealing moments. We learn that often, when we see a HK movie stunt, special effects aren't involved. Someone is actually crashing through that glass roof and landing on those hard, wooden planks; there's pride in the fact that it's real. Not surprisingly, the documentary's few stunt sequences, both successful and failed, carry more weight than anything else.