More Forgiveness, Less Aggression: Challenge of the Masters (1976) Review [Shawscope Volume 1 Boxset]

Director: Lau Kar-Leung

Notable Cast: Gordon Liu, Chen Kuan-Tai, Chiang Yang, Lau Kar-Leung, Lily Li Li-Li, Lau Kar-Wing, Ricky Hui, Chiang Tao, Wong Yu, Fung Hak-On, Wilsong Tong, Shih Chung-Tien, Cheng Kang-Yeh

 

Being a kung fu cinema fan often means that I have to explain why I thoroughly enjoy the genre to many people unaware of its merits. Just the other day, an associate of mine stated, ‘How can you watch so many of those? Isn’t it all just people fighting?’ Sure, that is a certain element to the films and for those who don’t understand how modern action cinema and blockbusters owe large portions of their cinematic DNA to kung fu films from Hong Kong of this era, it can feel like it's just a bunch of folks punching and kicking one another. 

 

Like any other genre, there is a spectrum of quality to their merits. In the case of so many of Lau Kar-Leung’s films, there is a dedicated sense of soulfulness and layered meaning between the characters and their relationship to martial arts. Although 36th Chamber of Shaolin may be his most famous film to explore this relationship and topic, Challenge of the Masters is damn near as effective in exploring its characters, a sense of justice, and how martial arts bridges the two. 

 

A One Man Warring Nation: The Boxer from Shantung (1972) Review [Shawscope Volume 1 Boxset]

Directors: Pao Hsueh-Li, Chang Cheh

Notable Cast: Chen Kuan-Tai, Ching Li, Cheng Kang-Yeh, David Chiang, Chiang Nan, Fung Ngai, Ku Feng, Tin Ching, Wong Ching

 

“I was sold out by my own man. There’s nothing more to say.”

 

It’s an obvious ambush at the Green Lotus Pavilion during the finale of The Boxer from Shantung. The audience knows it as the film directly shows all of the scheming by the local crime boss as he establishes the location, plants fighters throughout the crowd, and the sub-boss, played by an unhinged Ku Feng, buries his axe in a large vessel of peanuts. The villains know it, the audience knows it, and as if that wasn’t enough - the hero knows it. 

 

In the previous scene, the protagonist Ma Yongzhang, gives money to his loyal best friend and tells him to leave. To find a wife and settle down. He knows he’s not coming back from the Green Lotus Pavilion. If he’s lucky, he’ll achieve the revenge he desperately seeks from his corrupt boss and conniving cohorts before he leaves his mortal coil. 

 

It’s all as epic as it sounds. The final battle of the Green Lotus Pavilion is one for the books. The dynamic action works on a multitude of levels. The gore spills in bright red 1970s spurts. The carnage is visceral and shot with the incredible visual flair of director Chang Cheh. The star of the film, Chen Kuan-Thai, is soaked with sweat and blood. The scene has no score and it’s pacing is racked with tension. This is the Chang Cheh and Shaw Brothers brilliance in all its glory. 

 

The Final Master (2015/2017)

Director: Xu Haofeng

Notable Cast: Liao Fan, Song Jia, Song Yang, Jiang Wen-Li, Chin Shih-Chieh, Maidina, Huang Jue

Also known as: The Master

Xu Haofeng is the next big name in Chinese cinema as an artistic force to be reckoned with. In many ways, he already is as his most recent film, The Final Master, is an award-winning piece of cinema that is finally getting its US debut from our friends at Well Go USA. Yet he’s proven throughout his three films as a director, The Sword Identity and Judge Archer prior to this one, that he has an innate knack of being able to take classic Chinese cinematic traditions and inject them with a modern artistic merit that brings them to a new level. The Final Master is Xu Haofeng’s finest cinematic work to date. It’s not only a highly entertaining martial arts film that utilizes many of the wuxia foundations as a base to build itself on, but it’s a film that strikes out as remarkably diverse in its tone without ever sacrificing the fluidity or depth of its narrative for the sake of making something entertaining for the masses. It’s a film that rides the line between the two worlds of cinema as art and entertainment while capitalizing on the successes of both. The Final Master is a brilliant display of inventive navigation of the genre and remains a film poignant and enjoyable in the best ways.

Iron Monkey, The (1977)

Director: Chen Kuan-Tai

Notable Cast: Chen Kuan-Tai, Kam Kong, Wilson Tong Wai-Shing, Shut Chung-Tin, Leung Kar-Yan (Beardy), Chi Kuan-Chun

Also known as: Iron Monkey, Bloody Monkey Master, The Iron Monkey of Shaolin, School of Shaolin

The Iron Monkey is a film that always seems to come with the highest of recommendations from kung fu fans. However, my initial viewing of the film, some ten years ago, wasn’t one that left a mark on me. It was good, but your standard kung fu flick. So, it was high time to revisit the film and see if it would have improved over time, remain in the same echelon, or fall to being one of those overhyped flicks made popular by the will power of a vocal few. Fortunately, The Iron Monkey is a film that I found more impressive this time around than I did the first time as it plays its style loose and straight forward. It is not, however, the instant classic that belongs in the upper levels of the genre that I find so many fans claiming. If anything, the film is fun and shows a lot of interesting character depth that makes it solid watch and if a viewer goes into it with that mindset then The Iron Monkey is a film eager to please.