World Movies' Martial Arts Marathon!
30 hours of Asian Action
from Sunday 26 January 8:30pm
Preview by Alison Jobling |
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The next film, Encounters Of The Spooky Kind, represents
what I'm calling Historical Comedy Fu. Yes, not an appealing
title, but it's mine, so there. This film and a later, Dragon Lord,
portray historical China inhabited by, respectively, Sammo Hung and Jackie
Chan. Since both films were made in the early eighties, the fight
choreography is comprised mainly of fast combats between contestants using
classical martial arts moves and lots of acrobatics, while the comedy is
fairly broad and visual: think Chinese slapstick and you'll be almost
there. The first also features some Taoist activity, with duelling Taoist
masters throwing gouts of flame at each other and inviting various gods to
inhabit their disciples, and is considered a classic (it's also fairly
rare, so take the opportunity to see it while you can).
Then we have probably the finest martial arts films in existence: the Once
Upon A Time In China series. Well, the first three, since the rest
aren't often considered to be properly part of the set 'cos they're
bollocks. But these three are the goods, oh lordy lordy yes. For starters,
they feature Jet Li in his prime, and the man is simply a force of nature,
like a tiger or lightning or magnetism or summat. Watching him in action,
I'm reminded of the lyrics of an old David Bowie song, "Suffragette
City": I think that Jet does indeed "move like tigers on
vaseline". Rrrowwwrrrr. The fights are choreographed exceptionally
well to capture him in his full glory, and if you don't have an urge to
learn martial arts within about 10 minutes then you're made of stone.
The other fine aspect of these films is that Jet is playing an
historical Chinese hero, Wong Fei Hung, who is also a respected doctor as
well as master of a martial arts school. Apparently many masters had some
knowledge of medicine, since they often needed to deal with injuries, but
Wong was well-respected in the community as both a doctor and a master. So
we're treated to a picture of the turbulent history of China under British
rule, an intelligent and capable hero, as well as Jet Li kicking some butt
in the most impressive way possible. If you haven't seen it, you must, or
you'll never be able to hold up your head as an action film buff. There is
some debate among Asian film fan circles as to which is better, but all
three are cracking good martial arts action.
The Baby Cart series is up next, but I've already covered that, so I'll
move on to the next: Project A I and II, which I'm tempted
to call the Project A collection, but you might well hit me, so I shan't.
These films are historical action flicks set in British-dominated Hong
Kong, and featuring the superb stunt talents of Jackie Chan at his best.
Jackie here is young, flexible, and fearless, and these two films contain
some of the finest stunts known to man. One in particular, the clock tower
scene, was problematic: Jackie was required to dangle from the hands of a
clock tower, then fall through a canvas awning to the ground. Splat. The
poor man couldn't bring himself to do it, and take after take apparently
ended with the director shouting "Cut" and Jackie still clinging
limpet-like to the clock hands, until he got so knackered that he slipped.
Both films are chock-full of amazing stuntage, and I recommend them
heartily.
World Movies Martial Arts Marathon:
