Hello Shaw Brothers fans,
This is Edgar Chaput, regular contributor to Sound on Sight and head honcho of Shaw Bros. Sat., writing to you, the astute and dedicated readers. This is my voice, uncensored and from the heart.
Here’s to the man who helped bring movie goers 36th Chamber of the Shaolin, Five Deadly Venoms, Crippled Avengers, One-Armed Swordsman, Come Drink With Me, The Lady Hermit, Heroes of the East, The Swift Knight,
Village of Tigers Written by yip Yat-Fong Directed by Griffin Yueh Feng and Wong Ping Hong Kong, 1974 In a lonesome little tavern one of the patrons is brutally attacked by a hoard of violent thugs. The target of the onslaught defends himself as best he can before ultimately being undone by a fatal stab …
It is nice to see Shih Szu in a starring role (both beautiful and a solid actress) but one cannot help but feel a little confused by how the old directing pro Griffin Yueh Feng concludes his movie, much like how the fuse of a bomb fizzles out rather than produce the anticipated fantastic explosion.
Korean import directors, rare as they were at the time, have a phenomenal track record when applying their trade within the Shaw Brothers studio system. Jeng Cheong-Woh’s stamp is far and away the most noteworthy, two of his films standing out as among the very best of the entire studio cannon (The Swift Knight from 1971 and Five Fingers of Death from 1972).
It should come as no surprise that family is as important a factor in character relationships and motivations in Shaw studio pictures. What better variables are there to stir passionate acts of benevolence, friendship or vengeance than love and family?
Killer Darts Written by Tu Yun-Chih Directed by Ho Meng-Hua Hong Kong, 1968 What a difference a week can make. Last Saturday, the film under review was The Black Tavern, which earned the highest of praise for originality, creativity, and a willingness to go in the deep end by mixing things up in some demented …
The Black Tavern Written by Yip Yat-Fong Directed by Teddy Yip Wing-Cho Hong Kong, 1972 Sometimes, it’s best for filmmakers to toss all their eggs into one basket, to throw everything into their picture save the kitchen sink, to go out all guns blazing. When the opportunity presents itself to make something really out of …
In some special cases, films win a viewer over for a reason that cannot be singularly attributed to just the direction, the acting, the screenwriting, the look, or the sounds. For these movies, it is the attitude they exude that carries them over the hump.
Writer-director Jeng Cheong-Woh was the instigator for one of the most important films to have ever been produced by the Shaw Brothers studio, Five Fingers of Death (also known as King Boxer). Not only is said film widely considered to be among the very best kung fu pictures ever made, it played a pivotal role for the unparalleled popularity of martial arts films in the United States since the 1970s.
The Lady Hermit Written by Yip Yat-Fong Directed Ho Meng-hua Hong Kong, 1971 ‘Always two there are. A master and an apprentice.’ Such words replete of knowledge are not uttered by anyone in director Ho Meng-hua’s The Lady Hermit but rather by the greatest Jedi master who ever lived, Yoda (Frank Oz), in 1999 oft …
Shaw Brothers films are not exactly at the top of many film buffs’ watching list. For one, there has not been a traditional Shaw film, opening fanfare and all, in close to 30 years and a hefty portion of the public do not give catalogue films the time of day. Even for those who do, …
The divide between good and evil can be very thin, almost imperceptible to those who prefer painting the world in grand, all-encompassing strokes. The same goes for film, wherein some stories are told with clearly delineated sides while others adopt more nuance. Experienced director Ho Meng-Hua and screenwriter Patrick Kong Yueng cooperated in 1973 to make The Golden Lion, a movie in which the alignments within firm camps of good guys and bad are not well-defined, providing its story more texture than typical martial arts fare.
Ronny Yu’s journey as a director of feature films is eerily reminiscent of that experienced by John Woo. After early success in their native land, Yu and Woo, albeit at different times in their careers, ventured into the Hollywood system with mixed results at best. Action movie legend John Woo returned to Hong Kong and made an extraordinarily grand scale period piece in the mainland, Red Cliff. After Bride of Chucky and Freddy vs Jason, Yu headed back home and made one of Jet Li’s greatest films, Fearless. Now, after a seven-year wait, he returns with a epic period story of his own, Saving General Yang.
Thinking about the brand of comedy championed in older martial arts pictures causes one to realize that more often then not, slapstick and extremely obvious tomfoolery is preferred over anything with a grain of subtlety. If such a style is not the viewer’s cup of tea, then they best stay away from most of the Shaw films that were either outright comedies or dabbled in lighthearted fair in the midst of their action epics.
The Wandering Swordsman Written by Ni Kuang Directed by Chang Cheh Hong Kong, 1970 A hero need not be impervious to error. The most noble of heroes can in fact lack gravitas because they are too clean cut, too perfect. A character that can be led astray and commit errors in judgement will often make …
Mystery and intrigue inspire an intrepid, confident sleuth to decipher the many machinations behind a series of appalling, loosely motivated murders, all of which are tied in some fashion or another to a bigger event, one with possible political motivations. The protagonist is an bright, analytical fellow who often has a snappy quip or two that lightens the tension of scenes involving great danger.
Battle Wizard Written by Ni Kuang Directed by Pao Hsueh-Li Hong Kong, 1977 Articulating one’s thoughts and emotional response to a film can be an unexpectedly challenging task. If a movie’s thematic and emotional texture is deeply layered, ambiguous or produces conflicting reactions then the redacting process poses a problem. Other instances present an entirely …
Every so often one watches a film that simply must be accepted on its own terms if said viewer is to gain anything out of the experience. It has become all too facile to criticize a film for not being what the viewer wished it had been as opposed to analyzing what it is aspiring to and how.
The Bells of Death Written by Yau-Daai On-Ping Directed by Griffin Yueh Feng Hong Kong, 1968 In action film cinema, sometimes the chances of a movie’s success rest on what the filmmakers want to do in order to visualize the mayhem suggested in the script. It is one thing to have the camera rest …
The Knight of Knights Written by Chang Cheh Directed by Sit Kwan Hong Kong. 1966 Among the many amusing commonalities between Shaw Brothers studio films are kinetic nature of the scripts which so often have their characters venture from place to place in a series of episodic adventures whose connective tissue is, all too …
The Killer Snakes Written by Ni Kuang Directed by Kuei Chih-Hung Hong Kong, 1975 The story of a man or woman pushed to the edge of endurance by pressures of their socio-economic status, prejudice, personal enemies, their own past mistakes and plain bad luck and who opt to fight back with disproportionate force has been …
Judgement of an Assassin Written by Ni Kuang Directed by Sun Chung Hong Kong, 1977 Vengeance, lust for power, bruised egos, noble desire to remain true to one’s better judgement, none of these carry any meaning in when people are the subject of a trial. In the court of law, justice is blind, or should …