The Magnificent
Butcher (1979)
Chinese Title: 林世榮
English Translation: Lam Sai-Wing
Starring: Sammo Hung, Kwan Tak-Hing, Lee Hoi-San, Fan
Mei-Shang, Chiang Kam, Yuen Biao, Wei Pai, Fung Hak-On
Director: Yuen Woo-Ping
Action Directores: Yuen Woo-Ping, Sammo Hung
In
the wake of the monumental success of both Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and
The Drunken Master, dozens and dozens of copycats and rip-offs crawled
greedily from the woodwork. Most of them were generic kung fu comedies that
simply repeated those films’ plot structure but replaced the featured style to
set their film apart from the rest. Some studios were able to hire Simon Yuen
to play an old master, giving their film an extra “Me Too!” quality. In the
case of Yuen Woo-Ping, who had directed and choreographed those films, his
follow-ups the following year expanded upon the Wong Fei-Hung mythos that was
the centerpiece of The Drunken Master.
The
first of those was Dance of the Drunken Mantis, which continued the
story of Beggar So/Sam Seed. The second was The Magnificent Butcher,
which focuses on the hijinks of one of Wong Fei-Hung’s students, Lam Sai-Wing.
Produced by Golden Harvest and starring Sammo Hung, who had been working as a
supporting actor and fight choreographer with the studio since 1971. This was
Yuen’s first directorial effort with a major studio—he had previously done
action direction on a handful of Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers movies.
Both Sammo and Yuen brought in their respective teams and favorite
character actors for what turned out to be one of the better post-DM
kung fu comedies out there.
The
general gist of the Lam Sai-Wing character is that he’s a talented martial
artist, and his good intentions tend to be eclipsed by his impulsive nature and
inability to let someone finish a sentence once he thinks he knows what’s going
on. This gets him in trouble early on, after beating up some random guy over a
disagreement with his chess partner. The poor sap happens to be the student of
one of the local kung fu teachers, Master Kao (Lee Hoi-San, who plays the
villain in other Sammo movies like Dirty Tiger, Crazy Frog and Incredible
Kung Fu Master). Master Kao takes afront to this, and goes to Po Chi Lam,
Wong Fei-Hung’s clinic and kung fu school, looking to settle the score.
So
now Butcher Wing is on Kao’s blacklist, and his master (played by Kwan
Tak-Hing, who had played Wong Fei-Hung all throughout the late 40s, 50s and
60s, who had retired the role after his 1974 film The Skyhawk) isn’t
very happy either. Kao himself has problems with his own, in the form of his
wastrel son, Kao Tai-Hoi (Fung Hak-On, who had played the villain in other
Sammo movies, like Warriors Two). Tai-Hoi is not only a layabout and a
bully, but he’s a blossoming rapist, too. He initially sets his sights on his
father’s goddaughter, but then sets her aside after laying eyes on Yuet-Mei
(Tong Ching), the new bride of Butcher Wing’s estranged brother, Lam Sai-Kwong
(Chiang Kam).
Unfortunately,
Ah Wing doesn’t know that his brother has come to town. So, when Kao Tai-Hoi
kidnaps Yuet-Mei and invokes Lam Sai-Kwong’s wrath, Wing immediately helps the
former when the latter is trying to club him to death in a lonely alley. Lam
Sai-Wing is a better fighter than his brother—whom he doesn’t know is his
brother—and the resulting whalloping that Sai-Kwong receives is enough to drive
him toward suicide. Thankfully, Sai-Kwong is saved by the intervention of the
local drunken master (Fan Mei-Sheng, of Hitman in the Hand of Buddha
and, believe it or not, Michael Cimino’s Year of the Dragon). A few
fights later, Yuet-Mei is saved and Kao Hai-Toi’s lecherous designs are
exposed. But some more impulsive behavior on the part of Lam Sai-Wing puts
other characters in harm’s way and Lam on a collision course with Master Kao.
Structurally,
this film follows most of the same beats as its predecessors, although it
really takes its sweet time to get where it’s going. Unlike The DrunkenMaster, which had four fights in the first 12 minutes, this one takes ten
minutes just to get to the first real scuffle, and after that, it’s another 15
minutes before we get another one. Most of the first and second acts are
focused on establishing the characters and building up the conflict between the
protagonists and the young Kao Tai-Hoi. The action doesn’t explode until well
past the hour mark, in such a way that by the time we get to the obligatory
training sequences, they are just that: an obligation imposed by the example
set forth in Yuen Woo-Ping’s previous films. The quality of the action and
Sammo’s inherent likability help lift this above more forgettable fare, like Story of the Drunken Master and Kung Fu of 8 Drunkards.
The
action is simply phenomenal. One good thing that both Yuen Woo-Ping and Sammo
Hung do here is make sure that each act of the story has one great defining set
piece. In the first act, we have a clever calligraphy duel between Kwan Tak-Hing
(as Wong Fei-Hung) and Lee Hoi-San (as Master Kao). By this point, Kwan was
already 74 years old and had come out of retirement for this particular film
(he would show up in two more films as Wong Fei-Hung over the next two years).
The idea is that Wong is trying to practice his calligraphy, while Master Kao
is trying to disrupt his work, either by painting on his paper, or by
destroying the table. The two men exchange blows, often disguised as ordinary
movements or calligraphy strokes. It’s a very clever fight and one of the great
“object-fu” sequences out there.
The
second act is punctuated by a duel involving two of Kao’s men, played by Lam
Ching-Ying (Mr. Vampire and The Prodigal Son) and Yuen Miu, one
of the lesser-known of the Seven Fortunes. Wei Pai, best known as the “Snake
Venom,” squares off with Yuen Miu, who plays a master of the monkey pole
technique. Better than that is Yuen Biao’s scuffle with Lam Ching-Ying.
Initially Yuen Biao fights using the handwork-heavy choy li fut style,
while Lam Ching-Ying uses a fan. When that proves to be too much for Biao, he
starts using his legs, in an awesome display of bootwork and agility. Backed
into a corner, Lam Ching-Ying reveals a secret weapon: “Knives in the cuffs.”
But Biao’s flexibility and effortless high kicks keep Lam at bay.
The
film climaxes with a lengthy fight between Sammo Hung and Lee Hoi-Sang. The
former uses the Five Animals Form—said animals being the panther, snake,
dragon, crane and tiger—which is an integral part of the Hung Gar style that
the real Lam Sai-Wing practiced. Lee Hoi-Sang uses a five-element style, not to
mention the “Cosmic Crimson Palm,” a variation of the infamous Jiankang, or
King Kong, Palm technique. During the fight, Fan Mei-Shang sits on the
sidelines, telling Lam Sai-Wing which animal has the advantage of which
element, saying things like “A Dragon can control water.” The choreography here
is simply astounding and both men put on a great show. This is one of the best
fights ever filmed to show off all five animals in a single sequence, ranking right
at the top alongside the finale to The Martial Club.
If
I have any complaint about the finale, it’s that Master Kao technically was
never the main villain. It was his son, who by this point, has already been
dispatched. Kao Tai-Hoi was the rapist and murderer who committed more and more
crimes as the film went on. By the time we reached the final act, he had become
so loathesome that most viewers would want to see him die. But he’s treated
like a secondary villain in that respect. I suppose you can argue that this
makes Master Kao a tragic villain, a man so dedicated to preserving the honor
of his son that he never sees him for what he really was. Thus, the thrashing
he takes at the very end is, in some ways, undeserved. Or you might find him to
be a prick, too, and cheer for Sammo at the end.
Thus,
the moral of the story: Never challenge a man to a duel if he’s been trained by
a drunken master, especially if he was trained in the tiger style. That style
is definitely not good for one’s health.
Trivia:
-
The
same year, an independent film called Butcher
Wing was released. Lesser-known Seven Fortunes troupe member Ng Ming-Choi
(best known for getting his neck broken by Bolo Yeung in Enter the Dragon) was cast in the role, with Lee Hoi-San returning
as the villain and Wong Fei-Hung played by Jason Pai Piao. Piao had previously
played of student of Wong’s in Four
Shaolin Challenger (1977) and another hung gar master, Hung Hey Kwun, in Shaolin Rescuers (1979).
-
Yuen
Biao plays a well-known pupil of Wong: Ghost Foot Seven (or Gwai Geuk Chat).
Biao would also play him in Kick Boxer (1993),
a sort of spin-off of Once Upon a Time in
China. Other actors who have played him include Bruce Le (Rivals of Kung Fu), Bruce Liang aka
Leung Siu-Lung (Four Shaolin Challengers),
Jason Pai Piao (The Magnificent Kick)
and Xiong Xin Xin (Once Upon a Time in China III and more).
-
Fan
Mei-Shang was hired to play the film’s resident drunken master after Yuen
Woo-Ping’s father, Simon Yuen Siu-Ting, passed away.
-
Two
of Lam Sai-Wing’s pupils were Kwan Tak-Hing and Lau Cham. The latter was the
father of Lau Kar-Wing and Lau Kar-Leung, two famous martial arts
actors/directors/choreographers.
The Critics Rave:
“Sammo Hung
and Yuen Woo-Ping teamed up in The Magnificent Butcher and created a great
example of how the old-school kung fu genre should be done. There's nothing
fancy about this picture...[but] from beginning to end, The Magnificent Butcher
is a fine display of the upper-tier of the kung fu genre and should not be
missed if you consider yourself a fan. “
-
HK
Film Net
“While
certainly both Woo Ping and Sammo have made funnier films or films with more
impressive fights, they are the top drawer talent of the genre. Measured
against most of the films that came out around the same period and the number
of Drunken Master/Snake in the Eagles Shadow copycats
it is a far superior film.”
-
J.
Doylle Wallis (DVD Talk)
“Magnificent
Butcher is a classic movie on so many levels...Magnificent Butcher features
Sammo at his best and Yuen Woo Ping also directs some top notch action
sequences. This movie is recommended to those new to the genre as well as the
seasoned veterans.”
-
Love
and Bullets
“Featuring
light doses of comedy, an all star cast (including Lee Hoi-san, Yuen Biao, Lam
Ching-ying, and the late, great Kwan Tak-hing), and some of the best martial
arts battles you'll ever see, this is another old school masterpiece that I
wouldn't hesitate to recommend. “
-
Vic
Nguyen (City on Fire)
“Yuen Woo Ping again proves himself as a a master
director and the many fight scenes are filled with the kind of inventiveness
characteristic of his films. The fight between Wong Fei Hung and Master Kao,
both using writing brushes, is a perfect example. A classic of the genre.”
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