South Shaolin vs. North Shaolin (1984)

South Shaolin vs. North Shaolin (1984)
Aka:  North & South Shaolin; North Shaolin Vs South Shaolin
Chinese Title: 北少林南跆拳
Translation: North Shaolin and South Tae Kwon Do

 

Starring: Casanova Wong, Eagle Han Ying, Huang Kuan-Hsiung, Ma Chin-Ku, Chiang Cheng, Kim Dong-Ho, Nam Po-Dong, Lee Jae-Yeong
Director: Wu Chia-Chun
Action Director: Casanova Wong

There are some very significant differences between kung fu in Northern China and that in Southern China. Northern kung fu styles tend to focus on kicking and acrobatics, and use higher stances. Southern kung fu styles, including those practiced at the Shaolin temple, tend to have low stances and more hand-based techniques. Naturally, those differences tend to be a bit general, but frequent enough to exploit in a number of kung fu films made over the years.

There have been at least three films whose titles (or alternate titles) contain the words "North", "South", and "Shaolin". The first is Invincible Shaolin, a Venom mob film about a rivalry between three Southern masters and three Northern masters instigated by an evil Manchu (is there any other kind?). There's the Jet Li film Martial Arts of Shaolin (alt. title: North and Shaolin Shaolin), which tells the story of a Northern monk and a Southern layman teaming up to take on yet another evil Manchu. Finally there's this obscure Korean/Taiwanese production that is, not surprisingly, the least of the three films I mentioned. If for nothing else, the movie never really plays the South/North Shaolin angle all that much (if at all).

An opening narration tells us that a group of bandits, presumably the Manchu's attacked the Ming palace one day, causing the Ming Emperor to commit suicide. However, his sons were able to escape (or were taken away) and the traitor General Ma (Eagle Han Ying, Death Duel in Kung Fu and Shaolin Drunken Monk) went after them. After a short battle in which the Emperor's supporters are killed, the sons are separated and one of them is found by a monk from the Shaolin Temple (the Northern one).

The son grows up to be Mao Wah (Casanova Wong, Warriors Two and The Master Strikes). Mao is pretty good at kung fu and has been chosen to represent the Northern Shaolin Temple in a contest against its Southern counterpart. (obs: the test to see which candidate would participate consisted of the guy carrying a very hot cauldron up a hill with his forearms)

Before going off on his journey, he comes across a bunch of Ming Patriots getting beat down by some Qing killers. Mao steps in and saves one of them, who turns out to be the prince, his brother (don't worry, the film does almost nothing with this particular subplot). While the prince is being nursed to health by the monks, Mao goes to the Southern Temple for the tournament, which I'm not even sure was actually shown in the film. When he comes back, the monks at the Northern Temple, including the abbot have all been murdered by General Ma and his lackeys. Mao swears revenge.

Mao eventually falls in with a group of Ming Patriots who plan on leading a raid on General Ma in order to save the prince. They're all captured offscreen and Mao is attacked and wounded by fire-breathing ninjas. Mao recovers and goes to the South Shaolin Temple to train. He goes back and has to fight ghosts and flying coffins to save one of the female revolutionaries, only to discover that General Ma has gone to the Southern Shaolin Temple to cause trouble. Cue final fight.

To be very honest, the general story of the movie is pretty easy to follow. However, in the way everything is presented (and edited), it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I think that has a lot to do with the way the film was either cut for Taiwanese release. Either that, or the editor was smoking some high-quality crack while doing his job.

For example, in the film, the distance between the two temples seems like only a two days' journey, when the real distance was most likely quite a bit longer. Mao goes to the Southern temple to fight in the contest, but the film shows him arriving, lighting some incense, hitting some poles with a staff in the dark, and then immediately cuts to him running back to the Northern temple to find his dead comrades. What sort of contest is that? We want North and South Shaolin fighting! Bad b-movie titling there, guys.

But it doesn't stop there. Mao goes to the Southern Shaolin temple in the last act to train, telling the abbot up front that it's for revenge, and the abbot lets him! After two interesting training sequences, including one dealing with bamboo and wing chun, the film cuts to him walking around some underground chamber and fighting female ghosts and flying coffins. I thought that was part of his training until the ninjas appeared and I figured out that the sequence was rescue mission for the female revolutionary and her father.

It is a really bizarre movie because these gaffes in continuity and transition between scenes. Moreoever, the prince, who's supposed to be Mao Wah's brother, disappears after his eventual capture and basically becomes an offscreen McGuffin. We're told that he was taken by the General to South Shaolin, but we never actually see him, nor is there anything resembling a family reunion, nor do we see him actually getting rescued.

The fight scenes are pretty good, generally speaking. They're let down by the occasional undercranking and below-average wire techniques. There is a fair amount of weapons combat in the film: spears, sabers, tonfa, three-section staff, and some other long-handled weapons. Despite the fact that we're dealing with Manchu soldiers, none of the soldiers actually fight. Casanova spends most of the film fighting against killers dressed as ninjas, which I assume was to both cash in on the ninja craze of the early 1980s and to probably disguise the fact the he's fighting the same stuntmen over and over again. Also, the Shaolin monks are pretty crappy fighters here; I can understand them being beat by Han Ying, but by his lackeys, too?

Casanova Wong is often referred to as the Human Whirlwind (or Human Tornado...or is that Rudy Ray Moore) become of his fast spin kicks, but he actually does more hand-based fighting here. Nonetheless, he does get in a neat kick where he jumps in the air, does the splits to hit two people, and then comes down in a front kick to hit a third (Donnie Yen was well-known for doing this kick, too). The best fighting comes from villain Eagle Han Ying, who does some really good kicking, complemented by a mixture of the mantis, eagle, and snake styles.

Some other bizarre observations: Casanova Wong has two comic relief monk friends who think nothing of eating meat. In the final battle, Eagle Han Ying uses ninja magic(?) to make fire-shooting ninjas appear out of nowhere. The female revolutionary (who's not that attractive) gets killed in the final fight with no attempt at wringing any drama out of her death. The film literally stops as Casanova jumps into the air to deliver the final blow. And best of all, early on I hear some familiar music playing in the background. I try to put my finger on what I'm hearing and then it hits me: It's the opening music to Ghostbusters!

This is a bad kung fu movie with some decent-pretty good fighting on display.