sign in sign up
<<
Home , A Better Tomorrow, Come Drink With Me, Donnie Yen, Dragon Inn, Drunken Master, Heroic bloodshed

10 HK | CULTURE Friday, November 16, 2018 DAILY KONG EDITION

In their heyday fi lms captured the Movie meter 1920s – First martial- world’s imagination and gave cinema a unique arts fi lms are produced in , including the wildly Asian hero in . Mathew Scott seeks popular The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple series, a franchise that stretched to 16 out the reasons behind their lasting appeal. editions.

1949 — The True Story of Fei Hung directed by H Wu Pang is the fi rst of ’s many martial-arts fi lms centered on their eponymous folk hero.

1958 — The is set up in Hong Kong by brothers Runme and Run Run and begins churning out martial-arts hits (One- Armed Swordsman, The 36th ust like the generations in 1978’s that In a career spanning five joined Zhang in Busan at E Chamber of Shaolin) as well as stars (Cheng Pei-pei, Jimmy of Chinese boys who still to this day proves box-o ce decades, the 73-year-old has this year’s festival, where Wang) from its Movietown came before him, Max gold. arguably changed the course of he also took time to refl ect base in Clearwater Bay. Zhang grew up fascinat- In the , was the . He trained in Chinese on the history of edJ with martial-arts movies and adapting martial arts into the opera and went to martial-arts cinema. 1970 — Producer Raymond the larger-than-life who gritty “”-style school before joining films as “You can use martial arts Chow leaves Shaw Brothers performed in them. fi lms (), while an action choreographer and to show feelings and to look to set up Golden Harvest and “They seemed to me to be like the great visual stylist director. at how characters embrace turns his attention to a rising heroes and I just couldn’t under- kept the embers burning with Internationally, Yuen’s legend their emotions,” says star named Bruce Lee. stand how they did what they films like Zu Warriors from was secured through his work on Yuen. “I think that mar- did,” says Zhang. the Magic Mountain (1983). In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon tial-arts fi lms are full 1972 — Bruce Lee releases a A rising star of martial-arts Chow Yun-fat, Hong Kong had (2000), and it was his work on of humanity and R string of hits, including Fist of cinema, Zhang now knows exact- found a martial arts action man the Hollywood-produced Matrix I hope to con- Fury and The Way of the Dragon. ly what those action scenes are for the ages. and Kill Bill franchises that tinue to share all about. The turn of the century took Hong Kong-style martial that with the Zhang started out as a star brought with it a fresh look at arts into the mainstream. These world.” exponent before becom- old traditions thanks to ’s fi lms inspired other Hollywood, ing a -body double for the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and even , directors to likes of in the 2000 (2000). It won four Oscars — incorporate mixed martial arts Oscar winner Crouching Tiger, including one for “Best Foreign into their action scenes. Hidden Dragon. Eventually he Language Film” — and hundreds Yuen directed Master Z: took his own turn under the of millions of dollars in global Legacy and O Shaw Brothers Studio made spotlight with roles in hits such box-o ce returns. In the decades superstars of actors like Jimmy as Wong Kar-wai’s The Grand- since then, a new generation of Wong in . COURTESY master (2013) and Wilson Ip’s martial-arts stars including Ste- CELESTIAL PICTURES . phen Chow () and Zhang’s latest project — the (Ip Man and Star 1973 — Bruce Lee passes Yuen Woo-ping-directed Master Wars: ) have kept the away at 32 after su ering a Z: Ip Man Legacy — is set for faith. cerebral edema. Since then many Hong Kong release next month. While mak- 1978 — ing it, the 44-year-old was fi lmmakers have moved north emerges with a unique mix conscious of inheriting a legacy. to make the most of the boom of comedy and action, and a “You look at all these stars and in the mainland’s fi lm indus- E monster hit in Drunken Master. the impact they made on people’s try. lives,” says Zhang, speaking at 1985 — Jackie Chan’s Police the fi lm’s world premiere at the The legacy of Lau Story helps take martial arts 23rd Busan International Film As the CEO of the Inter- into more contemporary urban Festival in . national Guoshu Associa- settings. “People love these films tion, Hing Chao is helping because of the heroes, but also to preserve Hong Kong’s 1986 — John Woo’s A Better because they can often relate to rich martial-arts heritage Tomorrow mixes gun-play the problems the characters face. for future generations. — and Chow Yun-fat — with I am proud to be a part of this It’s a passion fuelled by martial arts-style action history which goes back so many his own training and the S sequences and the “heroic years.” belief that Hong Kong bloodshed” movement is should celebrate Chinese launched. As old as Chinese cinema martial arts as an intrinsic — Martial-arts Indeed it’s a genre that dates part of the city’s cultural heri- 1990s movies mostly take a back back to the very beginnings of tage, and that includes the role seat to urban thrillers that use Chinese-language cinema in the it has played in cinema. kung fu for their action scenes 1920s when the major Shang- “Ten years ago when I started — a trend Hollywood is quick hai fi lm studios looked to local my work people would ask, ‘well, to embrace. martial-arts exponents for inspi- what has martial arts got to do ration and to legends fuelled by with culture?’” he says. “The ! 2000 — Ang Lee’s the wildly popular novels perception has changed. The Crouching Tiger, Hidden of the time. When martial arts Hong Kong film industry was Dragon wins four Oscars and fell out of favor across the post- responsible for making martial becomes an international box- WWII Chinese mainland, fi lm- arts popular all over the world.” o ce sensation, helping to makers in Hong Kong saw an He says that until the 1990s, relaunch the genre. opening in the market and in Hong Kong actors were mostly the genre’s potential in terms of thoroughbred martial-arts pros. 2001 — ’s the crowds it drew at home and “They grew up as martial artistes. Shaolin Soccer hits box-o ce across Asia’s Chinese diaspora. People like Lau Kar-leung truly gold with a soon-to-be much Backed by the likes of the understood martial arts and imitated blend of action and mighty Shaw Brothers studio, people could see that and they slapstick (mo lei tau) comedy. directors including wanted to learn. But the fact that () and martial arts is disappearing from 2008 — leans (One-Armed Swordsman) pro- Hong Kong society makes it less on veteran choreographer/ duced sweeping martial-arts accessible. So maybe we need to fi lmmaker and epics that made superstars fi nd more Lau Kar-leungs.” star Donnie Yen to produce the fi rst of the hit Ip Man franchise out of the actors Cheng Pei-pei Lau passed away in 2013. fi lms, about the man who () and Jim- His infl uence remains through trained Bruce Lee. my Wong (The Chinese Boxer), his work on such films as The among others. 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978), By the end of the 1960s, a new widely acknowledged as one of generation of fi lmmakers — and the greatest kung fu movies ever stars — had begun to adapt mar- made. tial arts to suit more contem- porary tales and also to mixed- Making genre productions. Bruce Lee’s Any discussion about the his- star power drew audiences from tory of the martial-arts genre Yuen Woo-ping had a role in taking across the globe to films such invariably leads to the life and Hong Kong-style martial arts to as (1972) and The times of the multi-talented Hollywood. COURTESY MANDARIN MOTION Way of the Dragon (1972), giving Yuen. PICTURES international cinema a uniquely Asian hero. Meanwhile in Hong 2010s – The kung fu Kong, Jackie Chan and director fantasy genre soars once again Yuen Woo-ping developed with various takes on the a kung fu-comedy for- Monkey King fable including mula, fi rst seen those by Cheang Pou-soi (The Monkey King) and the Stephen Chow-produced : Conquering the Demons.

Max Zhang in Master Z: Ip Man Legacy. He says the heroes in martial-arts fi lms are highly relatable. COURTESY MANDARIN MOTION PICTURES DESIGN BY BILLY WONG, GUN MOK / CHINA DAILY