Kicking (and punching) it old school

Kung Fu Cinema’s list of Top 10 Classic Kung Fu Movies is up. A lot of the standard classics, I own half of them myself. It’s a pretty good list, although I don’t know if I’d rate Drunken Master quite that high. Also, where’s “Invincible Pole Fighter”? It’s got some Shaolin staff dentistry at it’s finest.

Actually, it’s interesting to watch these films from a modern perspective. The storylines can be quite crude and occasionally exploitative. “Magnificent Butcher” has a disturbing assault scene in the middle of it that lasted long enough for me to fast forward through it. These are not the polished glossy films some might be used to.

At the same time though, it’s an essential part of the appeal. This period of kung fu cinema was the point of transition between classic Peking Opera and modern filmmaking. Directors like Lau Kar-Leung got their classical training in opera and stagecraft, and learnt to apply those lessons to the strange and different medium of film.

Of course there’d be some missteps along the way, but fans cherish them more as the first stumbling steps of an industry as opposed to condemning them. The common themes of revenge, brotherhood and chivalry never really grow old, they just get retooled.

Non-serious advocacy: That dude just punched that other dude in the junk and I swear it exploded. And that is awesome.

- Patrick

~ by testbuddha on April 10, 2007.