Fist Of Fury gets the feminine touch in this rediscovered old school kung fu classic…
In Japanese occupied Korea in 1934, three Chinese students have spent five years studying the martial art Hap Ki Do. When the trio move back to China to start their own school, they find it equally oppressed by the Japanese, as a local martial arts school, the Black Bear, intimidate and bully the villagers of Cheng Zhou.
That can mean only one thing, a full on confrontation between the schools. Can our three students hold on to their teachings that those who practise Hap Ki Do must ‘forbear’ all, or will their limits be broken?
Essentially a female version of Fist Of Fury with the Japanese once again at the end of some rather nasty character aspersions, Hapkido might be achingly formulaic, but more than makes up for the lacklustre story with stylish fight sequences and a high level of production.
What makes Hapkido special is the respect it pays to the martial art of title, unusual of films from this time. With its specialist, ‘joint manipulation’ style moves - which frankly look rather painful - it’s obvious the actors have indeed studied the martial art well enough to perform them. It stars actual Hap Ki Do trained fighters and its much revered Master Ji (even if the gruesome ends that most of the cast come to seem to completely contradict the arts teachings).
It’s great to see Angela Mao (Thunderbolt, Enter The Dragon) as the determined kung fu fighter doing a female Bruce Lee. Something of a dying breed, the feisty female lead was all but lost during the macho cinema of the 70s, not to be seen again until until the rise of stars like Michelle Yeoh and Cynthia Rothrock in the mid 80s. The leads performances are fine, if hammy, and it’s great to see an early lead performance by Sammo Hung (SPL, Eastern Condors, Master Butcher), before he appeared at the beginning of Enter The Dragon, and one of the first major roles for kung fu fave Carter Wong (18 Bronzemen, Born Invincible).
The supporting cast and stuntmen read like a who’s who of kung fu cinema. Future stars like Jackie Chan, Yuen Biao, Lam Ching-ying, Corey Yuen and Billy Chan can all be seen, though mainly as cannon fodder to be thrown from one side of the set to another. Director Huang Feng takes advantage of having both real and performing martial artists to help bring the story to the screen. Well-choreographed fight sequences combine the kinetic energy of Bruce Lee showed with the more balletic style of from Peking Opera. One-on-one combat is minimal, as set pieces take Bruce’s famous nunchuk scene from Fist Of Fury - where he takes on an entire dojo and wipes them out - as its standard.
Feng keeps that energy on the screen, using hand held camera and Zhang Che’s patented ‘extreme’ close-ups as well as mounted cameras. Shots are well composed and generally this early production from Raymond Chow’s Golden Harvest seems to have had a fair amount spent on it, even if it looks like it shares several sets with the studio’s last major film (which happened to be Fist Of Fury).
Of course, it is a shame to see such a cartoonish evil representation of the Japanese again, the master of the Black Bear school even sports a Hitler moustache! (It does, however, provide a neat excuse for showing hand versus samurai sword combat.)
So what if the story tenuously links one fight sequence to another, it’s surprising good fun and kung fu scenes are fantastic! Hong Kong Legends have uncovered a real gem this time.
DVD details
Distributor: Hong Kong Legends (UK)
This little known film has been given a superb transfer with excellent quality picture and nice newly mixed soundtrack. Hong Kong Legends have done themselves proud with a fine version of the film you won't find anywhere else, letterboxed and with its original soundtrack.
As you might expect, there are few extras, but the short documentaries on Hap Ki Do with instructor Tammy Parlour really are rather informative. Simply put, this is a must for kung fu fans!
