This is a classic martial arts movie from 1978, though I had never seen it. A remastered version with some good extras was just released by the Weinstein brothers’ Dragon Dynasty label and Netflix has it, though there was a long wait. Starring Gordon Liu in his prime, and opening with the ShawScope logo, you can see why Tarantino wanted to recreate some of its feel in Kill Bill.
In any case, it is very good. The plot line has a young rebel going to a Shaolin temple to learn kung fu in order to fight off the tartar hordes who have invaded China. 35 chambers teach elements of the art of kung fu, each more advanced than the one before (again, the scene in which the Bride is trained — by Godon Liu — in KB vol 2 explicitly harks back to this part of the movie). The 36th chamber involves a dispute over whether Buddhist monks should be training the masses to fight the invaders. Good, old-fashioned martial arts scenes with no wires and remarkably little cutting. Recommended.
ah, this was a crucial part of my early teens. it was a huge hit in india, especially in calcutta in the early 80s. i remember my mother taking me and a classmate to see it during vacation. we took a rickshaw from jodhpur park to the navina theatre where it was playing. it was the talk of our school when we got back and a lot of amateur kung-fu was inspired by it. liu’s next film to be released in cal, the drunken monk, was also a huge hit (at least that’s the title under which it was released in calcutta–i’m unable to confirm it’s existence on imdb). and up in darjeeling we would sneak off on sundays to “video parlours” in town to watch other masterpieces with names like snake in the monkey’s shadow. i can still do a mean snake fist pose.
I think it’s kind of disgusting that you guys are always watching marital arts movies. I understand that euphemism. Keep it to yourselves, smutty!
Well at least we ain’t proposing marriage to each other over here on the martial arts thread…
In another classic martial arts movie, The 36th Chamber of Wes Anderson, a quirky and emotionally distant family enters a Shaolin temple seeking to find some better way of connecting with each other. They (and we) endure 36 chambers, involving submarines, trains, rickshaws, tennis games, school clubs, and even a hotel in Paris. In every chamber they meet monks, who offer incomprehensible yet profound advice that helps them put their coddled lives in perspective. The family emerge from the 36th chamber a lot less quirky but every bit as awkward, cold and emotionally scarred as when they went in. But at least they now have kick-ass fighting skills.
I’d like to write a very long piece about an absolutely incredible Shaw Brothers movie I just saw: The Boxer’s Omen. But I don’t have the time or energy to do it right now.
However, I’ll say this may be the absolute best combination of Alejandro Jodorowsky, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Roger Corman and National Geographic I’ve ever seen (the fine liner notes also make comparisons to Raging Bull, John Woo’s early movies, and Universal’s original Frankenstein, none of which I’d argue against).
Stark raving bonkers. The night before we watched the one hour final episode of Twin Peaks, directed by David Lynch, which almost redeems the awfulness that series had descended into, and is nearly as unsettling as anything in season one.
However, it’s a Hallmark Holiday Special TV Movie compared to The Boxer’s Omen. Please, please rent it, watch it, be astounded.
Ah, holy crap! How had I never heard of Boxer’s Omen? This was flat amazing, and a roaring good time. I loved the intensity of the crazy-ass rituals everyone’s performing. I loved the acrylic-goo and cheesy-stop-motion clunkiness of the effects. I loved that every few minutes I’d think, well, that’s it then–I’ve got the film figured out, and then some new loop-de-loo go-for-broke shit would come down.
Thanks for the rec, Mark! Way fucking better than Inland Empire.
I’m still kind of dazed. I am pretty sure almost no one else is going to like this, but–hey, prove me wrong.
It’s near the top of my list, but I’m still slogging through ‘Sicko’ and ‘Blame it on Fidel’. Later this week, I hope.
Mike – did you get the DVD from Netflix?
If so, you didn’t get the liner notes which give a lot of info on why this movie is so little known; it’s place in the Shaw Bros. pantheon, as well as how it’s the culmination of what that director had building up to and how it was created to counter the state of Hong Kong movies at the time. In fact, I wonder if that essay is posted on the net anywhere. It’s great at putting that film into context.
Netflixed it, so–now I’m wandering around google looking for information. I did trot my way through the coming attractions on the dvd, many of which looked generically similar. Or at least somewhere in the same generic ballpark. But, no, didn’t have the comments.
I can’t stop talking about the monk’s head coming off and attacking the hero….
That scene with the head is based on some Asian folklore monster. The liner notes actually site half a dozen other movies in which a decapitated head attacks its foe with and without blood vessels hanging off of it. In one movie apparently the lungs are also attached if I remember correctly.
I love Asian ghosts. (see this thread and earlier Yokai Monsters thread.) Here’s a TV commercial from Thailand. Supposedly none of the ghosts in the commercial are “made up.” These are real ghosts, as far as the Thai are concerned.
I can’t believe this is real, but we can hope, can’t we?
Hilarious! I love sushi.
It’s real. It’s directed by Noboru Iguchi, who did Manji and Nekome kozô (Cat-Eyed Boy). The latter’s website is here