The Big Fight (1972)

The Big Fight (1972)
 Aka: Blood on the Sun; World War of Kung Fu
 Chinese Title: 擂台
Translation: The Ring

 

Starring: Roc Tien, Chang Ching-Ching, Yi Yuan, Cheng Fu-Hung, Tsai Hung, Kang Kai, Jack Long, Kwang Yung

Director(s): Sun Ting-Mei, Sun Sheng-Yuan

Action Director: Chan Chin

 

The Big Fight may very well be the first film to exploit the success and themes of Fist of Fury. Sure, other films came out in the wake of the latter, like Bloody Fists and Five Fingers of Death, that featured Japanese villains. However, the story structure and portrayal of these villains seemed to be taken more from The Chinese Boxer. Much like Fist of Fury, The Big Fight posits that the greatest oppressive power that the Japanese possessed was political and not just, martial artistic. The Japanese is the other films mentioned above are more tools of an ill-intentioned Chinese character. In both this and Fist of Fury, the Japanese are evil not only because they brutalize the Chinese, but because they have political structures to protect them. In the Bruce Lee classic, it was the laws that governed the Shanghai International Settlement. In this film, the setting is the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Japanese occupation of the region means that they can get away with all sorts of atrocities.

 

The Japanese are occupying Northern China and routinely beat people to death at checkpoints, while the Chinese who suck up to them aren’t much better. We follow the exploits of Chou Hai-Chuen (Roc Tien Peng, last scene on these pages playing a villain in A Touch of Zen), a laborer and kung fu instructor who doesn’t think very highly of the Japanese. After murdering a squad of Japanese soldiers, he gets involved with a rebel movement led by Miss Liao (Cheung Ching-Ching of Kung Fu Mama). They head back to his hometown, where his senior brother and general sleaze, Brother Wu (Kwan Yung), is acting like he owns the place because his dad is the mayor and a Japanese supporter. Chou doesn’t agree with Wu’s attitude, but is willing to bide his time for the moment. Wu eventually has Chou Hai-Chuen thrown in prison for possession of salt (apparently a component of gunpowder), but is released at the request of Brother Wu’s current kung fu teacher (Cheung Siu-Kwan). Brother Wu then suggests to his Japanese superiors that they throw a tournament to “promote friendly relations,” but in actuality to kill off any kung fu master who may join the rebel movement in the future. Chou Hai-Chuen initially resists getting involved, but a series of violent tragedies eventually pushes him over the age.

 

Man, this was one violent and brutal film. Limbs are broken. Chests are caved in. Spinal cords are snapped in half. Little children take death palms to the face and die in bloody heaps. Our heroes kill one Japanese sympathizer by strangling him with barb wire. Dozens of people (on both sides) are hacked to pieces with katana blades or mowed down with rifles. About a whole hogshead of blood was spent just for people to spit up. And just to keep things sleazy, no fewer than four women get raped over the course of the film, though thankfully the movie fades to black before we get to see the deed done. One rape scene actually ends with the victim burying a pair of scissors in the assailant’s back before shooting herself in the stomach. I’m not sure if this is the most violent basher of the time period, but it’s certainly up there.

 

The action is quite frequent and generally solid for something made in 1972. Cheung Ching-Ching more or less steals the show as the Taiwanese answer (at the time) to Angela Mao, who exudes confidence as she karate chops all of her opponents into oblivion, including the oversized Cheng Fu-Hung (Guy with Secret Kung Fu), who plays a sumo wrestler. Cheung also has the film’s most unique weapon, a skirt covered on one side with razor-sharp metal discs that she lashes out at her opponents. Not far behind is Cheung Siu-Kwan, who plays the benevolent kung fu master and spars with the Japanese judo and karate (Ng Tung-Kiu and Hsieh Hsing, respectively) masters during the tournament sequences. His fight feels like a proto-shapes duel and is one of the highlights of the movie. Look fast for a young Jack Long and Choi Wang as tournament participants. The former looks especially acrobatic compared to his co-stars, and should’ve been given more room to shine. Also, there are two large-scale massacres in the final act where dozens of people are torn to pieces with swords, knives and fisticuffs, which should make some fans happy.

Let’s talk about the movie’s resident tough guy: Roc Tien. Uh…He’s not very impressive in this, even though he’s supposedly the most talented fighter in the film. His kicks don’t get any height and his handwork is nondescript. He frequently uses knives in his fights and is often saved from death because of hidden trampolines and “bionic legs.” Or in other words, he’s essentially a less-ugly version of Jimmy Wang Yu. I imagine this movie was made early enough that the action director and cast were still getting a hold of this new kung fu genre, so maybe it’s not completely Tien’s fault. But the fact of the matter is that he’s far from the most interesting character to watch during the fight scenes. Thankfully, there are so many fights that don’t feature him during the second half that his lack of martial charisma doesn’t detract from the rest of the movie. Now the brutality and misogyny, that may be another story…