Men from the Monastery (1974)

Men from the Monastery (1974)
Aka: Disciples of Death; Dragon’s Teeth
Chinese Title: 少林子弟
Translation: Shaolin Disciples

 

Starring: Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan Chun, Chen Kuan-Tai, Kong Do, Wu Ti, Wong Ching, Fung Ngai, Bruce Tong, Wu Chi-Chin, Tang Tak-Cheung
Director: Chang Cheh
Action Director: Lau Kar-Leung, Tong Gaai

 

In the 1994 documentary Cinema of Vengeance, director-choreographer Lau Kar-Leung states in an interview:

“I was the first person to use animal styles of Kung Fu on the screen. I remember director Chang Che once said to me, ‘What can we do to improve the standard of our fighting films? The audience is getting tired of the same old sword fighting.’ So we had a meeting and I said with great confidence, ‘Let’s make real Kung Fu films.’ He said, ‘Which kind of kung fu?’ I said, ‘Hung Style, Tiger and Crane Fist.’ I told him that I could guarantee a great-looking fight scene if we used my style of Kung Fu. He asked me what other styles we could employ on the screen. I said many: Dragon, Snake, Tiger, Leopard and Crane. So we wrote a script entitled ‘Five Shaolin Masters’ and we shot it in Taiwan.”

According to Lau Kar-Leung, Five Shaolin Masters was the first fruits of director Chang Cheh’s famous “Shaolin Cycle” of films, which centered their stores on the famous Shaolin heroes from the early days of the Qing Dynasty and whose action focused on traditional kung fu styles, as opposed to the style-less “basher” films or wuxia swordplay movies. We should point out that according the Hong Kong Movie Database, Five Shaolin Masters was the last of the four Shaolin Cycle films released in 1974. The first one was Heroes Two, which was followed by Men from the Monastery and then Shaolin Martial Arts.

Independent of which film came out first, it is enough to say that 1974 was the year that traditional kung fu forms, or “Shapes”, became a thing. We had seen their development in earlier productions like The Prodigal Boxer and The Master of Kung Fu. The trend had now solidified in Lau Kar-Leung’s hands and would set the standard for years to come.

The Men from the Monastery is essentially a Cliff Notes version of the 19^th Century novel Evergreen, which tells the story of the Shaolin laymen who rebelled against the oppressive Qing Dynasty. As a result of condensing an epic novel into less than 90 minutes, there is a lot of assuming that the audience is already familiar with the source material, as characters show up and disappear in the next scene, while villains are defined by their Qing roots and nothing else. It also makes the conflict less compelling than it ought to be, since we jump from one individual story to the next, without having enough time to really understand why the characters are fighting. What does Wudan, or Wu Tang, have against Shaolin in the first place? What is Wudan anyway? Who is this Pai Mei that killed the Shaolin Abbot? Why does he show up in the beginning and disappear for the rest of the film?

The first part of the film revolves around Fang Shiyu, or Fong Sai-Yuk in Cantonese, played by Alexander Fu Sheng. He’s learning kung fu at the Shaolin Temple and feels he is ready to face the Wooden Man Alley, a corridor filled with armed fighters and powerful boxers, that one must master in order to leave the temple. He successfully makes his way past the gauntlet and head back to town, where he challenges the wicked Tiger Li (Huang Pei-Chih, who did the choreography to The Prodigal Boxer) to a duel atop a series of wooden pools.

In the second part, we are introduced to Hu Hui-Chien (Chi Kuan-Chun, of Five Shaolin Masters and Shaolin Martial Arts). Hu’s father has just been murdered by the two instructors of the Jing Nan School, who also operate the local dye factory. Hu tries to get revenge against them, but gets his butt handed to him not once, not twice, but three times. He’s saved by Fang Shiyu, who directs him to Shaolin to improve his kung fu. Before he can complete his training and face the Wooden Man Alley, he sneaks out of the temple to get revenge.

Finally, Hong Xiguan, or Hung Hey-Kwun in Cantonese (Chen Kuan-Tai of Iron Monkey and A Life of Ninja), is a Shaolin student who is rallying up his brothers to arms against the Qing Government. The Qings, led by Gao Zhingjong (Chiang Tao), burn down the Shaolin Temple and hunt down the surivors. The Shaolin Heroes, including Fang Shiyu and Hu Hui-Chien, face off with the Qing forces for a final showdown.

The episodic nature of the film keep us from establishing an emotional anchor with any of the characters. Thus, the film is little more than a collection of fight scenes. Some viewers may enjoy that aspect of the film, but the action becomes less memorable since we have no investment in the characters. Hu Hui-Chien’s segment fares the best, since we see what the villains do to spur his ire and Hu has something of a character arc in terms of his growth as a kung fu fighter until he can defeat his enemies. His training at the Shaolin Temple is truncated: we see him fighting a few people and sneaking out, only to learn that he’s already been there for three years. Fang Shiyu’s section feels episodic in an already episodic film, so we don’t know the significance of his training at Shaolin nor his beef with Tiger Li. In the final segment, we never learn anything about Hong Xiguan save that he hates Manchus.

The action is pretty good, although it gets a bit repetitive after a while. That ultimately means that most viewers will enjoy the fights, but won’t find any classics because (sigh) it’s all the same. It revolves around hung gar, or the Tiger-Crane Style. Alexander Fu Sheng looks great in his fights. Chi Kuan-Chun is a little stiff, and does not use the Five Animals Form that he used in other films like Five Shaolin Masters. Chen Kuan-Tai, who trained in tai shing pek kwar, or the Monkey style, does pretty good in Lau Kar-Leung’s able hands. As everyone is using hung gar, the action suffers since neither Lau Kar-Leung nor fellow collaborator Tong Gaai make any effort to really highlight the Wu Tang kung fu and how it differs from Shaolin kung fu. There is some use of weapons for variety, but I found myself getting annoyed because the action directors failed to address an obvious detail: Why don’t the good guys ever try to disarm the villains and use their weapons? Maybe the finale would not be so tragic if that little detail had not been ignored. And maybe, just maybe, there would be a better, possibly even classic, final fight and the movie would rise a rung above “mindlessly entertaining” when all is said and done.