The South Shaolin Master (1984)

The South Shaolin Master (1984)
Aka: Red Dragons of Shaolin
Chinese Title: 南拳王
Translation: Southern Boxing Champion (South Fist King)

 

Starring: Yau Gin-Gwok, Zhong Xiao-Zhen, Li Yan-Long, Suen Gen-Fa, Xu Xue-Yi, Xu Li, Li Zhong-Ru, Pan Wei-Xing, Ku Guo-Xing, Xu Qi-Cheng, Zhang Ke-Jian
Director: Siao Lung
Action Director: Yeung Wah, Brand Yuan Bo-Nan

 

When I was planning this review, my original angle was to discuss the general crudeness of Mainland Chinese fight choreography in the early 1980s and how the presence of imported Hong Kong talent would often raise the overall quality of the film. The South Shaolin Master was to be exhibit A, as a lot of sources pointed out that the fight choreographer was none other than Brandy Yuen of the Yuen Clan. I think that idea was perpetuated by the opening credits who mention “Brand Yuan” as one of the two action directors. After all, “Brandy” isn’t exactly a common anglicized name in Hong Kong, and typos in names are rather common in these things, so it’d make sense to associate the two.

However, the HKMDB has Brandy Yuen and Brand Yuan listed as two separate individuals. This is supported by the fact that they have different Chinese names. The more famous Brandy’s Chinese name is Yuen Jan-Yeung, while this movie’s choreographer is Yuan Bo-Nam. So, if they really are different people, then my angle is ruined, right? Well, not quite.

The other choreographer is a fellow named Yeung Wah, whose name probably won’t be recognizable even to many hardcore fans. Sifu Yeung, however, was a very busy stuntman throughout the 1970s, showing up as a thug in movies for both major studios (Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers) and indie productions, too. His career as a fight choreographer was a lot more limited, but his credits as Assistant Martial Arts Director on beloved kung fu comedies like Snake Deadly Act and Daggers 8 suggest that he picked up a few good pointers during his career. So, maybe my original point is saved.

The film is set in the Qing Dynasty during the Taiping Rebellion (1850 – 1864). A circus troupe is travelling through China and stop in a province for a performance financed by a local nobleman. The troupe’s martial arts instructor, Su (Ku Guo-Xing), has some debts with the nephew of the local magistrate. So when their boat arrives in town, the prince’s men show up to shake Su up for money and inform the troupe leader, Master Liang (Pan Wei-Xing), that he has to perform for their lord instead. This leads to a fight between the nephew’s men and Master Liang’s son, Liang Shao-Jia (Li Yan-Yong). Shao-Jia is no match for the two men and their monkey fist skills, but he receives help from a Good Samaritan named Lin Hai-Nan (Yau Gin-Gwok, of Once Upon a Time in China and Don’t Fool Me). Lin Hai-Nan is the Shaolin master of the title and helps make short work of the flunkies.

Lin Hai-Nan is later on his way to a Buddhist temple somewhere on the Yangtze River (I assume), where he’s supposed to hand over the Chinese equivalent of a money order to the abbot to finance the Taiping movement. That is a little strange, considering that the Taiping Rebellion was a Christian movement, so why would the Buddhists be involved? They probably just liked the idea of new nation separate from the Manchus. Whatever. Turns out that all the monks (including the Abbot) are Qing agents in disguise. Lin Hai-Nan is wounded in the ensuing battle, but is able to escape with his life.

Meanwhile, the troupe is holding their planned performance when the magistrate’s nephew, Lord Zhao (Xu Li, of Ninjas and Dragons), shows up with his men to make a mess. A big fight breaks out (this happens on a regular basis in this film) and the troupe’s benefactors call off the whole thing for fear of their own safety. However, rather than perform for Prince Zhao, the opera troupe just packs up shop and leaves. Before setting out on the river again, they find a wounded Lin Hai-Nan and decide to take him with them.

While initially reluctant to house a fugitive, the troupe warms up to him when he saves them from another ambush by Lord Zhao and his men. He becomes more respected as martial artist than their current instructor, the weasly Su. That drives Su insane with envy, especially now that the troupe leader’s daughter, Liang Yu-Qing (Zhong Xia-Zheng, of The Magic Legs), has set her sights on Lin.  He gets so jealous, in fact, that he ends up ratting Lin out to the magistrate, Cui Zuo-Bang (Xu Xue-Yi). This has two consequences: first, Magistrate Cui send his soldiers to apprehend Lin and the troupe at a performance. Second, Prince Ha Er-Ci (Suen Gen-Fa, of Secret Imperial Edict and Ninjas and Dragons), who’s investigating the Taiping movement has his men slaughter the members of the troupe who had stayed behind on their boat. Lin Hai-Nan and Liang Shao-Jia confront Prince Ha, but are defeated and Shao-Jia is murdered.

So, what do you do when The Man keeps you down, murders your friends, and is too strong for you to defeat head-to-head? You go to Shaolin and refine your skills, that’s what! Lin Hai-Nan and several surviving members of the opera group head to the Shaolin temple to improve their skills for a final showdown.

For the most part, The South Shaolin Master is a solid tale of patriotism (well, sorta) and good martial artists teaming up to defeat the Qings. I guess you can call it patriotism: the Chinese Communist Party in recent years has declared the Taiping Rebels to be patriots who fought against a corrupt empire (i.e. the Qing Dynasty). Despite the Taiping angle, not much is really done with that premise. You could have switched “Taiping Rebel” with “Sun and Moon Sect member” or “White Lotus Society member” and the resulting film would have been exactly the same.

My main problem with the story is that some characters just disappear from the narrative. That weaselly bastard Su is never heard from again after he betrays the opera trope. I was hoping that he would show up at the climax to get the sound thrashing that he so much deserved, but no. The same goes for the arrogant Lord Zhao: after losing a fight to Lin Hai-Nan in the first half hour or so, you’d think he’d be waiting for a rematch at the climax, too. Nope. He’s no longer mentioned after his two big scenes. That makes the climax less cathartic than it should have been.

That said, the action direction of the film is top notch, especially Mainland Chinese standards. Even if Brand Yuan and Brandy Yuen are not one and the same, the former did show a lot of aptitude for this sort of work. It helped that a veteran like Yeung Wah was involved. The action is a lot more hard-hitting than a lot of wushu films of that era, complete with some devastating breaks and dislocations, plus a lot more blood spitting than usual. The finale between Lin Hai-Nan and Prince Ha Er-Ci is especially intense, add things like flying knee smashes and hard-hitting tumbling and falls to the usual fisticuffs.

The movie excels in the weapons choreography, which is not only expertly staged, but astonishingly varied as well. During the second big fight between the Opera troupe and Lord Zhao’s men, the latter’s flunkies arm themselves with all sorts of weapons: three-pronged forks, three-section staves, the Tiger’s Head Hooks, and best of all: a rare weapon called the chan zi dao, or Cicada’s Wing Blade. It looks like a short pole with two curved blades at both ends, plus crescent-shaped blades for handguards. I think this is the only film I’ve seen this particular weapon in, so kudos to the action directors for being so creative. The finale features no fewer than five pretty girls busting out the Tai Chi Sword forms against the villains, plus villain Suen Gen-Fa giving the audience a nice demonstration of the rope-dart. At that’s in addition to the usual poles, three-section staves, and sabers that show up in most kung fu movie group battles.

I suspect that this isn’t the best film to watch if you want a showcase for Southern Chinese Martial Arts. I mean, we know that the Communist Party diluted Chinese martial arts into a flowery performance art so that rank and file wouldn’t know how to fight for themselves—the martial arts with real combat applications were reserved for policemen and soldiers. So, it could be that a lot these actors in this particular film did study Southern martial arts, but they were the diluted version with more acrobatics and flashy kicks thrown in. Action director Yeung Wah worked frequently with Lau Kar-Leung, a grandmaster of Southern styles (specifically Hung Gar), so he probably knew a bit how to balance out their training with The Real Deal. And you can see it in a lot of lead actor Yau Gin-Gwok’s handwork: short, fast bursts of power, often with the intent to break bones and disable the opponent. But if you want a true showcase for Southern Kung Fu styles in a Mainland film, watch Martial Arts of Shaolin (1986) instead. But if you want lots of great choreography in a Mainland wushu film, look no further than The South Shaolin Master.