My Young Auntie
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, King Boxer, My Young Auntie and One-Armed Swordsman on DVD
The Shaws, Runde, Runme, Run Run, and Runje (Can you imagine their alliterative parents calling the boys home for dinner?) started their film interests in the fifties and at one time controlled virtually all the distribution and production of films in Hong Kong.
In 1999, the Shaw family sold the copyrights to over 700 films to a Malaysian group for over 600 million Hong Kong dollars. That’s how big they were.
But most of all, we westerners thank them for their Kung Fu classics, four of which are now available on DVD, special features added.
Nineteen eighty-one, (the most recent of the four), brought us My Young Auntie, the only comedy of the three– more of a musical without the music– but with plenty of Kung Fu dancing. Kara Hui, the pretty young Aunt, entertains us with a bright display of backhands and elbows to keep the foolish young men at bay: a Shakespeare’s Kate, except her slaps to the face are real instead of verbal.
She and co-star, Hon Hsaio, her admiring nephew, battle each other, but then, join forces against a rival street gang: West Side Story meets the World Wresting Federation, although the Hong Kong gangs do their share of flying, leaping, and deft defense so that no one really gets hurts (despite the relentless sound effects). The exuberant and effervescent duo keep us entertained in an especially comical scene of a dance/masquerade/ Kung Fu party with all kinds of western themes, down to a side-burned Elvis impersonator.
Fast paced, fun to watch and PG all the way.
Not so PG is the first Kung Fu film to make it big in this country; King Boxer Five Fingers of Death, released originally in 1973 amidst the gritty movies of our western culture also making it to the screen at that time (eventually responsible for the movies ratings movement by Congress and the rise to stardom of Jack Valenti).
King Boxer is captivating example of the reluctant hero who operates out of a personal sense of loyalty, both to his elders and for the cause of the weak and unprotected. The camera shots and super-human fighting skills would influence films even up to the present: maneuvers that bordered on the fantastic, but still kept us believing in and pulling for our man.
We can overlook the simplicity of the sets (belonging more in a live theater production) and enjoy the clever and relentless martial arts, choreographed brilliantly and equal in quality to any dance sequence in the best of our musicals; but with bloodier consequences.
For more background in martial arts, the Shaw Brothers gave us The 36th Chamber of Shaolin in 1978. Chia Hui Liu enlists in a Buddhist monastery to learn the secret arts of Cantonese hand to hand fighting; a boot camp under the kindly supervision of sly and discerning monks.
Most of the action takes place in the training of kung fu fighters, inside the monastery (in between the meditation; Green Berets with incense and no side arms).
The 36th Chamber is a lesson in discipline and persistence; qualities of a true hero, admired then and sadly missing today. It’s a film that probes the soul of martial arts.
Of the four, One-Armed Swordsman is the most concerned with character and plot. Understandably, it’s also the oldest of the four (1967) where the moments of violence come sparely and with more shock effect. As the title hints, this film is about swordplay – the fights always have a fatal ending. There is a haunting and tragic quality to this film that gives it a feeling of an earlier era.
The Shaw Brothers combine revenge and forgiveness in this sad Shane-like hero (Lich Lo) that makes this film remind us of grander themes. The One–Armed Swordsman can easily stand on it’s own as an unsung classic in early independent film. It should be watched.
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