martial arts films: Clans of Intrigue, The Shadow Boxing, Martial Arts of Shaolin, Battle in Red Temple

Martial Arts Films I have recently watched:
(Please note: films that I have watched that are part of the Melbourne International Film Festival have been prefaced with MIFF)

Clans of Intrigue (Shaw Brothers, 1977) starring Ti Lung, Pei Ti, Nora Miao, and directed by Chu Yuan. This is a wuxia film filmed in a historical setting with a nod towards James Bond. Our handsome hero (Ti Lung) lives a glamorous life as a Master of Thieves on a houseboat surrounded by a bevy of beautiful female martial artists. He finds himself involved in a complicated plot to try and uncover the identity of a masked assassin who is trying to frame him for a series of murders. The sets and costumes are elaborate and colourful (even for a Shaw Brothers wuxia film), the action is suitably graceful and there are those little bizarre touches (such as simulated cannibalism and some discreet lesbian sex in a pastel hued papier mache cave) that all of us who love kung fu movies have come to expect from the genre. I come in from a dull job in a grey world and I rely on movies like this to take me to a happy place. This is good escapist viewing and I really enjoyed this film very much.

The Shadow Boxing starring Wang Yu and Gordon Liu and directed by Lau Kar Leung. This is a sequel to The Spiritual Boxer, which I own and love. Wang Yu reprises his role as an apprentice vampire / ghost wrangler and Gordon Liu… also has a part (don’t want to spoil the plot by saying too much). This film was a lot of fun. It had a good plot and the performances were great. As you would expect Lau Kar Leung does a terrific job of directing. I highly recommend it.

Martial Arts of Shaolin starring Jet Li and directed by Lau Kar Leung. Jet Li kicked off his film career (pun unintended) in 3 films revolving goings on in the Shaolin Temple. This film was the 3rd of the 3 and is notable for being directed by the legendary Lau Kar Leung. I enjoy all 3 films immensely although I think they are as camp as a row full of tents. For me this one was the gayest of the lot. Like the others it is high in energy and has lots of really flamboyant fight scenes. A young and pretty Jet bounds through the films and demonstrates the charisma and athletic ability that all his fans know and love. A great supporting cast features such wonderful performers as Hu Jian Qiang, Chau Yin Wong, Cheng Hui Yu and Hai Yu who were all in 2 or 3 of the Shaolin Temple films with Li.

Battle in Red Temple. Starring Chia Ling, Delon Tan, Tung Li, Lung Fei. Directed by Karl Liao Chiang Lin. Standard historical kung fu / sword play type of thing. Didn’t really grab me.

MIFF Chocolate, Thailand, 2008, directed by Prachya Pinkaew. This film was really good fun and quite well made. It is an honest to god martial arts movie with the structure of the film revolving around a beginning section (in which we are introduced to our characters and the plot gets set up), and then features 3 big fight scenes before being resolved in a final showdown between our heroine and her supporters and the baddies. I liked the way that the 3 fight scenes in the mid part of the film were each set in a different type of factory – I thought that a nice visual theme was set up here. The final, climactic fight is a good looking set piece which takes place in a restaurant and then on the walls and balconies of buildings overlooking a small laneway in a busy Thai city. In this last fight scene I enjoyed the way the choreographer creatively responded to the architecture of the setting to give the movement sequences structure and originality.

What is it about martial arts films? Only in a martial arts film can you get away with a plot premise which is so politically incorrect – an autistic girl has a genius savant gift for learning physical technique and because of this learns martial arts from watching Bruce Lee films and Thai boxing. She becomes a debt collector to help her ailing mother (as you do). At the end of this film she even gets to fight another physically disabled youth in a showdown that had the audience cheering.

Also:
The Magic Blade
Lone Wolf and Cub – Baby cart at the River Styx
The Prodigal Son
Kung Fu Hustle
Revenge of the Dragon
The Spiritual Boxer
The Trail of the Broken Blade
Human Lanterns
Duel of Fists
Dragon Swamp
Duelist
Sword of Doom
The Lizard
Tai Chi Master
Project A.
Golgo 13: Kowloon Assignment
The 12 Gold Medallions
Shaolin Hand Lock
Ong Bak.
Sex and Fury
Female Yakuza Tale
Lone Wolf and Cub – Baby Cart in the Land of Demons.
Bruce Li in Snake Island
Bichunmoo
The Bride with White Hair 2
Duel to the Death