Sunday’s HONG KONG EPIC ADVENTURE NIGHT was set to be a blast-n-a-half! The night filled up the place and the special extra seats on the side.
As everyone filed in you saw the well rested faces of those that almost universally slept till mid-afternoon due to the all-nighter… They had all just had breakfast about an hour before arriving, and Quentin has done a good job of completely screwing their entire body clocks like they were living in Bangladesh.
As he took the stage this night, he was charged. "You might notice that I’ve got a preponderance of Hong Kong films on the schedule this time, and the reason is, I now own a preponderance of Hong Kong prints!"
He then went into this bit about what is popular here, in regards to Hong Kong cinema, and what is popular there. Here in the U.S. we go all googily eyed over Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat, etc… but in Hong Kong, apparently they are flipping like flapjacks over a bloke named Stephen Chow aka Sing-Chi Chow. Quentin says that for 20 years now Chow has been the single biggest money maker in Hong Kong proper. "Jackie Chan is the Hong Kong Mickey Mouse to the world, but Stephen Chow has out-grossed Chan, Fat and Li 3 to 1. He has movies out every 4 months, and has even taken to shooting 4 hour epics, cutting them in half and issuing them months apart as sequels. However, there has been one barrier to his cross-over to success in the states. It’s that Danny Kaye ‘The pellet with the poison’s in the flagon with the dragon, the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true!’ nonsense comedy double talk nonsense shit, which is apparently uproariously funny in Cantonese, but loses something in translation."
Then he told us of some strange weird flick that Stephen Chow has made called SHAOLIN SOCCER which, as best as I could gather, is about a monk that inherits a soccer team and in order to win it all recruits other members of the Shaolin order to kick it. Apparently this thing has broken all box-office records in Hong Kong by a great deal and audiences are falling down laughing at it.
He also suggested checking out the SIXTY MILLION DOLLAR MAN, which he admits is rather week, but that it has a 20 minute PULP FICTION gag that is basically at the Jack Rabbit Slims and he rather digs it.
Now the film we were going to see is called THE KING OF BEGGARS aka WU ZHUANG YUAN: SU QI ER… ahem… Man I speak the language good don’t I? Hehehe
Apparently KING OF BEGGARS will be in the style of FONG SAI YUK or ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA. This was Stephen Chow’s first large scale epic movie, and Quentin ended telling us that he felt that Stephen Chow was the best actor in Hong Kong.
THE KING OF BEGGARS…
Ok, first off this movie is just the whole package. Originally when Quentin and I were talking about 2 weeks ago (remember that interview) he and I discussed the list of films he would be showing and when he mentioned this and THE BLADE, I had severe doubts about it being able to hold its own opposite Tsui Hark’s THE BLADE which I dearly love. Well Quentin being the sly programming devil that he is decided to use the old sucker punch technique... I walked into this one expecting serious ass-kicking and instead wound up laughing my ass off and strangely being moved by the film.
It is a story of a Father and Son that were spoiled rich. The son was very lazy but knew some pretty damn fine Kung Fu of his own. The father completely supportive of him, there was one exchange in particular that went something like this…
Son – "I will study to become a Kung Fu Scholar"
Father – "Oh Great I have always wished this for you"
Son – "I am doing this for the love of a woman"
Father – "Oh that is wonderful, who is this lady?"
Son – "She is a prostitute from the brothel"
Father – "You have different tastes than mine… You are so GREAT!"
This is the type of verbal back and forth that you will find throughout the film. Some really fun stuff. However, the film is only OK while we are doing this stuff… After Chow’s legs and hands become broken and he is forced with his father to become beggars for the rest of their lives…. That’s when the movie becomes great.
These scenes are very much Chaplin-esque… very pathos filled. The humor is toned down and the characters become incredibly endearing.
However, there is one thing that makes this film a joy beyond belief…. Lazy Fu… aka Sleepy Fu… The ability to whup ass while snoring. GENIUS! The audience was wheezing from laughing at this.
Very very funny.
I’ve seen THE GOD OF COOKERY before and loved it, and now with this, Stephen Chow is someone that I will begin to check out more often.
Up next was Tsui Hark’s THE BLADE…
As Quentin took the stage he was quite happy with the audiences reaction to the first film and promised to bring ROYAL TRAMP by Stephen Chow for next year… Apparently Chow plays a pimp in that one. I can’t wait.
Then, he launched into Tsui Hark’s THE BLADE… "This movie has some of the Greatest Action captured on film. This isn’t opinion, this is FACT. Tsui Hark reinvented the Hong Kong film with PEKING BLUES and ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA, was reinventing it yet again with THE BLADE. This is very much like what was happening in America for years with the westerns, until we became too cool to make them and Leone had to reinvent it for us. Now the problem with THE BLADE was it was a complete Box Office Fiasco in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong it is a complete Capitalist Nightmare that makes Hollywood look like art for art’s sake. They demand instant gratification, and this is even reflected in the filmmakers themselves, no matter what the reviews are. In the U.S. if you make a movie and it gets great reviews, but doesn’t make any money, it is the studio’s fault for not knowing how to sell it, well that just doesn’t cut it in HONG KONG. With THE BLADE, Tsui Hark was rethinking the whole Kung Fu genre, going back to the beginning which really started with the incredible ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN with Wang Yu"
"That and the whole Shaolin Monk stories were the stables of the genre, but the one armed swordsman stories were completely the Archetypal Hero of the genre. Tsui Hark took that and made beautiful poetry out of it that is right up there with what Leone did. Now this film stars Wen Zhou Zhao who was the bad guy in FONG SAI YUK. You know a lot of people give Keanu Reeves shit, I know I was one of them until I saw the MATRIX then I just wanted to apologize for everything that I had ever said about him, he was just working away at his goal not listening to any of the assholes like me, and he fucking did it man.. I just love the MATRIX, and Zhou Zhao looks like Keanu if Keanu was less AWESOME and more INTENSE…"
After that laugh he basically just handed the film over to us and started it up.
Like I said before I’ve seen this film once before at a jam packed screening at the Texas Union that Tsui Hark hosted back in 1995 when it came out, and I was completely gobsmocked by the film. I had been watching the Jackie Chan films at the time, and hadn’t seen any of the Jet Li stuff yet, so I was in no way prepared for the film. It kicked my teeth in hard.
Now it isn’t a film for the typical Hong Kong junkie’s taste… This is about as close to an artfilm in the genre as you can get. When Quentin called it Poetry, that is exactly right. The film feels like a Kunesada watercolor of Samurai action.
The whole, half man with a half sword learning from a half kung fu book… God I just love the thing. The audience was held in rapt silence… Staring in awe at the images, only verbally reacting to horrific violence on screen when the would all respond in Pavlovian unison with, "AAACKKKKK!"
I’ve been wanting a good solid DVD of this film for years now, but all that is available is damn VCDs!
Not only is this some of the best action ever on film, it is also one of the best superhero movies ever told. It is a film about mythology and how a once normal man can enter it for all time.
What a pure joy. I could watch this film repeatedly over and over and over again.
This is the print I envy Quentin for owning. Jeez, to be able to play this film at will on the big screen. What a friggin treat! And personally I have always looked upon Tsui Hark as being the John Ford of the genre. He’s the guy that loves the genre and just explores every nook and cranny of the genre either as Producer or Director. He’s a god.
I’ve seen THE GOD OF COOKERY before and loved it, and now with this, Stephen Chow is someone that I will begin to check out more often.
Up next was Tsui Hark’s THE BLADE…
As Quentin took the stage he was quite happy with the audiences reaction to the first film and promised to bring ROYAL TRAMP by Stephen Chow for next year… Apparently Chow plays a pimp in that one. I can’t wait.
Then, he launched into Tsui Hark’s THE BLADE… "This movie has some of the Greatest Action captured on film. This isn’t opinion, this is FACT. Tsui Hark reinvented the Hong Kong film with PEKING BLUES and ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA, was reinventing it yet again with THE BLADE. This is very much like what was happening in America for years with the westerns, until we became too cool to make them and Leone had to reinvent it for us. Now the problem with THE BLADE was it was a complete Box Office Fiasco in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong it is a complete Capitalist Nightmare that makes Hollywood look like art for art’s sake. They demand instant gratification, and this is even reflected in the filmmakers themselves, no matter what the reviews are. In the U.S. if you make a movie and it gets great reviews, but doesn’t make any money, it is the studio’s fault for not knowing how to sell it, well that just doesn’t cut it in HONG KONG. With THE BLADE, Tsui Hark was rethinking the whole Kung Fu genre, going back to the beginning which really started with the incredible ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN with Wang Yu"
"That and the whole Shaolin Monk stories were the stables of the genre, but the one armed swordsman stories were completely the Archetypal Hero of the genre. Tsui Hark took that and made beautiful poetry out of it that is right up there with what Leone did. Now this film stars Wen Zhou Zhao who was the bad guy in FONG SAI YUK. You know a lot of people give Keanu Reeves shit, I know I was one of them until I saw the MATRIX then I just wanted to apologize for everything that I had ever said about him, he was just working away at his goal not listening to any of the assholes like me, and he fucking did it man.. I just love the MATRIX, and Zhou Zhao looks like Keanu if Keanu was less AWESOME and more INTENSE…"
After that laugh he basically just handed the film over to us and started it up.
Like I said before I’ve seen this film once before at a jam packed screening at the Texas Union that Tsui Hark hosted back in 1995 when it came out, and I was completely gobsmocked by the film. I had been watching the Jackie Chan films at the time, and hadn’t seen any of the Jet Li stuff yet, so I was in no way prepared for the film. It kicked my teeth in hard.
Now it isn’t a film for the typical Hong Kong junkie’s taste… This is about as close to an artfilm in the genre as you can get. When Quentin called it Poetry, that is exactly right. The film feels like a Kunesada watercolor of Samurai action.
The whole, half man with a half sword learning from a half kung fu book… God I just love the thing. The audience was held in rapt silence… Staring in awe at the images, only verbally reacting to horrific violence on screen when the would all respond in Pavlovian unison with, "AAACKKKKK!"
I’ve been wanting a good solid DVD of this film for years now, but all that is available is damn VCDs!
Not only is this some of the best action ever on film, it is also one of the best superhero movies ever told. It is a film about mythology and how a once normal man can enter it for all time.
What a pure joy. I could watch this film repeatedly over and over and over again.
This is the print I envy Quentin for owning. Jeez, to be able to play this film at will on the big screen. What a friggin treat! And personally I have always looked upon Tsui Hark as being the John Ford of the genre. He’s the guy that loves the genre and just explores every nook and cranny of the genre either as Producer or Director. He’s a god.
"That and the whole Shaolin Monk stories were the stables of the genre, but the one armed swordsman stories were completely the Archetypal Hero of the genre. Tsui Hark took that and made beautiful poetry out of it that is right up there with what Leone did. Now this film stars Wen Zhou Zhao who was the bad guy in FONG SAI YUK. You know a lot of people give Keanu Reeves shit, I know I was one of them until I saw the MATRIX then I just wanted to apologize for everything that I had ever said about him, he was just working away at his goal not listening to any of the assholes like me, and he fucking did it man.. I just love the MATRIX, and Zhou Zhao looks like Keanu if Keanu was less AWESOME and more INTENSE…"
After that laugh he basically just handed the film over to us and started it up.
