MovieChat Forums > Xin shao lin si (2011) Discussion > Where are the foreigners supposed to be ...

Where are the foreigners supposed to be from?

posted 13 years ago by Snakeprophet
11 replies | jump to latest

When they introduce Peter I kept trying to look at his uniform, and couldn't figure out where this guy was from. At first I thought he was supposed to be American because of the eagle on his cap, but I noticed a British lion on the right side of his chest, then I noticed Teutonic crosses on his lapels, also his officers all had Aussie accents. I can only deduce two things about that villian: 1. Peter might have been king of all the world. and 2. Peter really really liked treasure, since building a railroad would probably have been more profitable.

[–] piedex 12 years ago

Peter seemed to represent a generic Western plunderer of Chinese culture. The beard made him look European (German, Austrian or Russian) but I couldn't figure out was his nationality was either.

[–] 12 years ago

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[–] Snakeprophet 12 years ago

Where only the most important people are named Peter? Peterland? Petoria?

[–] Keyser_Soze_Is_Here 12 years ago

Judging from his attire and calling him Sir Peter, I'm guessing he was British.

[–] Snakeprophet 12 years ago

They weren't really calling him "Sir" Peter, they were translating the Mandarin honorific as Sir. Kinda like Don Corleone in the Godfather wasn't really an Italian nobleman, they were simply using the honorific of Don before his name. Did you notice they used the word elsewhere in the movie but weren't referring to Chinese royalty. Peter's uniform was also completely all over the place with British, German, and American insignia all over it so when you say his uniform was British that doesn't explain the Teutonic crosses or Bald Eagle that he also wears.

[–] Oblivion14 11 years ago

ROFL. That was my reaction too. He passed on building a railroad in favor of treasure. And apparently you can just dig anywhere in China and find treasure! :D

The pinnacle of his silliness though was when he let out the "MWAHAHAHA" during the bombardment of the monastery. Facepalm moment. -_-

[–] rwsmith29456 10 years ago

I thought they looked Russian but I'm sure they were meant to be 'generic' foreigners.

[–] gothic_a666 10 years ago

I'd say British considering that at the time the British empire had quite an interest in China and had already quite a lot of trouble over the opium wars. I've noticed that in Asian movies the Western actors tend to be really, really bad. Even in spetacular movies like Aftershock of Kim Ki-duk's Address Unknown, the Westerners are just so awful that it's as if the casting director posted an ad for 'Western person apply' and picked the first person who walked through the door.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] keep-flying 9 years ago

It does not matter at all.

[–] harrier2569 8 years ago

Every major European country, as well as America, Russia and Japan, had their hooks in China at that point. For a more accurate representation of who was doing what, check out the film "55 Days at Peking".

Back to Shaolin, that guys uniform seemed to be an amalgamation of all the insignia found on the foreign military in China at that time, which was likely the film makers intent. The fact that the foreigners only seemed to be interested in treasure reflects the general Sino perception of what the 'gwai lo' were doing there.