FATHER GEEK visits a JET LI film Festival.

Given the massive re-interest in Martial Arts films that the appearance of Darth Maul is bound to spark in the coming weeks ol’ FATHER GEEK here has decided to post some coverage of a lightly attended little festival that Austin’s Dobie Theater has been running at midnight for the pass few weeks. It’s a Jet Li fest (one dude that could defiantly kick Darth’s butt, IMHO) consisting of several of his better Hong Kong films offered up at the pace of one per week. Now FATHER GEEK, Harry , and Tom Joad have managed to catch a few of these genre classics so far and I must admit to having a hell of a time with them. These aren’t the best constructed films, nor are they big on character and plot development. In fact I would advise that you leave your pessimism at the house. These are looney, ultra-violent films. Prime examples of eastern Kung Fu ballet, operas of flying fists and soaring feet, of mystic martial movements and Cantonese combat crys. If you let yourself go they can transport you to another world every bit as strange and exotic as any in STAR WARS, but these worlds are/were here on earth just a few thousand miles away. You will see clothing and weapons that cannot easily be described in our western tongue, and the food and customs are truely alien to our sensative dispositions. That and the break-neck action are the appeal of these films to me.

Now, I must admit that I am no Jet Li expert. Only in the last few years has FATHER GEEK even become aware of his exsistence. I’ve witnessed tons of movies from the genre though. I attended UT’s film school with Tsui Hart years ago. I love Bruce Lee films and have them all on tape and some on DVD. We have 16mm trailers to lots of 70’s Kung Fu films like LIGHTNING SWORDS OF VENGENCE, BLACK BELT JONES, and FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH. We own an episode of the TV series KUNG FU with Harrison Ford in it on 16mm as well. When Harry was little (age1-10) we took him to drive-in triple martial arts features constantly. By age 8 he had his own collection of Hong Kong Kung Fu 1-sht movie posters (about 20 or 30). If you have old 70’s Martial movie posters look on the back, if scrawled in large letters are the words “Harry’s Poster” then you are the proud owner of a piece of one of the HEAD GEEK’S original collections. They were all so marked and he sold them all when he was in college in the early 90’s. They’re scattered all over the country by now (Tarantino has 2 of them). Any how FATHER GEEK may not be an expert on these films, but we here at Geek Headquarters are very very familar with the genre. And we love it in spite of the bad dubbing, under cranking, and implausibility of plotlines. They’re just toooo much fun!

The 1st of the Jet Li series that we caught at the Dobie was FONG SAI YUK II from 1993. It was projected in Cantonese with English sub-titles, not that I really bothered to read them. My eyes were busy enough just catching all the jabs and kicks Li was flinging at his enemies. I let the action propel me through the story, and propel me it did, like being shot from a cannon. This was a Period Piece, a historical drama/romance/adventure with explosive action. It’s got a few elements of Shakesphere’s Romeo and Juliet, I think, but this has definitely been ‘Hong Kong-cocted’. Jet Li plays the title character, a martial arts expert who is in love with a girl whose family opposes him. He’s a member of The Red Flower Society and he attempts to help the Han Emperor, but is frustrated at every turn by all manner of evil bad guys. His Mom comes to his aid and is one hell of a fancy Kung Fu fighter to boot. There are some of the most extraordinary fight arrangements ever filmed in this head hopping, high kicking sequel. On the walk to the Dobie garage at 1:40am it was all we could do to not attempt to run up walls, flip over backwards, and beat the snot out of each other.

The next one we encountered was 1994’s FIST OF LEGEND. Said to be a salute to THE CHINESE CONNECTION, (1973) a Bruce Lee film set in 1908’s Shanghai amongst similar circumstances that I’ve had on tape since 1978. While the plots are very alike I never felt like I was seeing a mirror of “Connection”. Screened in Cantonese this film had 4 outstanding individual fighters. This resulted in some of the best pair-offs I’ve ever seen in a single film. You see Jet Li plays a chinese student studying science in Japan when the sons of the rising sun invaded Shanghai in the late 1920’s. His Kung Fu master is killed by the Japanese and he returns to seek vengence. The problem is that he is in love with a Japanese girl. Full of high flying action and rapid firing fists of fury you should be glued to your seats for the 101 minutes this movie takes to tell its compelling story. There is also a killer mass sword fight thrown into the movie mix for good measure. The subplots of discrimination and jealousy give you a little more movie for your money here, and Li’s charismatic charms and magnificant fighting skills make for a marvelous spectacle of martial movie making. Once again we left the theater in the early morning hours jabbing at the air wondering why we could not create that wonderous whooooosing sound that accompanied every hand movement on the screen just a few minutes before.

Tonight we (Joad, Harry & I) were treated to THE NEW LEGEND OF THE SHAOLIN, another 1994 actioner. This is one stupendous hand-to-hand action film! Take elements of David Chang’s movies and add a dose of DRUNKEN MASTER and some of the ultra-intense swordplay from Japan’s LONE WOLF AND CUB series, and you just may be prepared for what takes place on the big screen before your unbelieving eyes. Jet Li is a rebel hunting treasure, in pursuit of a noble cause for sure, but the problem is that the map is broken into 5 sections tatooed on the backs of 5 young children. Shown to us once again in Cantonese we follow Li as he first searches for the children then fights along side them against a Kung Fu zombie, Tibetan monks, Imperial guardsmen, jailers, and all manner of deadly weapons. Speaking of implements of war there is one used in this motion picture that would get “Q” glowing green with envy. It’s a spear with more deadly accessories than we’ve seen in the last half dozen Bond flicks combined. As usual in his movies Li becomes romanticly entangled with a beautiful young woman, this time a thief with some capricious fighting skills of her own. This film was one bloated barrel of laughs and thrills. The martial fighting toddlers kicking ass, the deadly needlepoint, the dart throwing Grandmother, the bubbling cauldron of hell, the combination of blood-soaked escapades and goofy burlesque kept FATHER GEEK totally entertained, if some what thunderstruck from start to brawling finish.

I cannot recommend highly enough seeing these films larger than life on the theater screen with big sound. However I know many of you live in place where these will never be shown. In that case these 3 and about a dozen other Hong Kong produced epics of Jet Li’s are available on video tape, so go rent or buy them at your first opportunity.