Jackie Chan to Be Honoured at Locarno78
A tribute to Jackie Chan, as the legendary actor and stuntman receives the Pardo alla Carriera at the 78th Locarno Film Festival. A celebration of high kicks, high praise, and a career like no other.
Well, it’s about ruddy time, isn’t it? Jackie Chan – martial arts maestro, purveyor of perfectly timed pratfalls, and quite possibly the only man alive who can leap from a skyscraper, break three ribs, and still smile for the camera – is finally getting his flowers. The Locarno Film Festival, held in Switzerland and rather posh as film festivals go, has announced that the 78th edition of their shindig will feature none other than Mr. Kick-Butt-Himself as recipient of the coveted Pardo alla Carriera, or Career Achievement Award.
The announcement came via the festival’s official X page (that’s Twitter for those of us still in denial), proudly accompanied by a photo of the legend himself. And one must say, he doesn’t look like he’s aged a day since Rush Hour – must be all those somersaults.
The award ceremony is scheduled for 9th August, and if we know Jackie, he might just backflip onto the stage and karate-chop the mic for good measure.
Now, let’s not beat about the bush. Chan isn’t just your average action star with a penchant for high kicks and slow-mo explosions. No, sir. He’s a director, producer, actor, screenwriter, choreographer, singer, athlete, and daredevil stuntman rolled into one indestructible, grinning package. You’d be hard-pressed to find another bloke who could hang off a helicopter mid-flight, croon a ballad in Cantonese, and then rewrite the rules of action-comedy before breakfast.
As Giona A Nazzaro, artistic director of the festival, quite rightly put it, Chan has “continually reinvented martial arts cinema and much beyond it.” Starting out under the strict tutelage of Master Yu Jim-Yuen at the China Drama Academy (read: a training ground for future superhumans), Jackie took his first stumbles in the biz as a stuntman in King Hu’s magnum opus A Touch of Zen. And from there? Well, the rest is a dizzying history of jaw-dropping acrobatics, fractured limbs, and laughs per punch.
Let’s not forget his star turns in The Fearless Hyena, Police Story, Who Am I?, and the ever-popular Rush Hour series. If you’ve never seen Chan sliding down a 10-storey pole covered in fairy lights – well, you’ve frankly missed out on a formative cultural moment.
In recent years, Locarno’s Pardo alla Carriera has gone to a rather eclectic bunch – Bollywood royalty Shah Rukh Khan in 2023, the philosophical Malaysian filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang, Z director Costa-Gavras, and visual wizard Dante Spinotti, to name but a few. All very worthy, of course, but it’s nice to see someone who’s literally risked life and limb for our entertainment finally get a golden cat statue for his troubles.
Founded way back in 1946, the Locarno Film Festival is the sort of event where the avant-garde rubs shoulders with the utterly bonkers, and everyone speaks in subtitles. It’s hosted everything from noir classics to shorts that make you question your own grip on reality – but it’s also deeply committed to celebrating those who’ve shifted the cultural needle.
And Jackie Chan? He hasn’t just nudged the needle – he’s roundhouse-kicked it into next week.
So here’s to Jackie: a man who never needed a stunt double, never missed a comic beat, and never let a broken bone stop the show. May his trophy shelf groan under the weight of this latest accolade – though knowing him, he’ll probably balance it on his nose while walking a tightrope blindfolded.
Cheers, Jackie. You absolute legend.
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