The Traitorous (1976)

The Traitorous (1976)
Aka: Shaolin Traitorous
Chinese Title: 大太監
Translation: Great Eunuch

 

Starring: Carter Wong, Polly Shang-Kuan Ling-Feng, Chang Yi, Sammo Hung, Huang Feilong, Hou Po-Wei, Lin Hsiao-Hu, Li Ying, Hsieh Hsing
Director: Sung Ting-Mei
Producer: Yen Wu-Tong
Writer: Chang Hsin-Yi
Action Director: Chan Chuen, Ko Pao

 

The Traitorous is one of not two, not three, but a whopping fourteen movies that Carter Wong made in 1976. That definitely should set some sort of a record for a leading man. Carter Wong is a beloved figure among genre fans, and American moviegoers may recognize him as the Elemental who famously inflates himself to death in John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China. But before he took that role, he had been a fixture in kung fu films since the early 1970s.

Some martial arts movies fans like to talk about “who is the real deal?” Carter Wong definitely fit that description. He started studying Southern Shaolin kung fu both Wudan Qigong when he was kid. He also practiced Karate, Hapkido, and Muay Thai. That last one was notable because he was a champion kickboxer is Asia during from the late 1960s up through the mid-1980s. He also served as a martial instructor for the police in Hong Kong, New York, and São Paulo, Brazil. He founded his own kung fu style, Chung Hop Kuen, which is a synthesis of all the different styles he studied over the years.

Carter got his start in film in 1972 with Golden Harvest. His first film was opposite Angela Mao and Sammo Hung in Hap Ki Do, where he plays one of the three main protagonists. He would also star with Angela Mao in both The Tournament; When Tae Kwon Do Strikes; and Deadly China Doll. He worked with Golden Harvest until 1975, at which point he became a free agent. From that point on, Carter mainly worked out of Taiwan, although he did have a notable supporting role in Chang Cheh’s Marco Polo. Wong remained a regular presence in Taiwanese martial arts films until the early 1980s, at which point his career slowed down and he started focusing on teaching kung fu. His most beloved films to this day include Joseph Kuo’s Born Invincible; the 18 Bronzemen movies; and Hap Ki Do (although that’s more for Angela Mao’s performance than Wong’s).

The Traitorous is set during the Ming Dynasty and purports to be based on real events. The crux of the story is that there is a eunuch, Wei Zhongxian (a real-life historical personage), who has accumulated quite a lot of power thanks to the Emperor’s tendency to delegate too much of his job to in favor of worldly pleasures. Wei has given a lot of power to his second-in-command, Tin Erh-Kang (Chang Yi). When we meet Tin, he and his entourage (including Sammo Hung as a captain) are visiting a little shack in the country inhabited by the exiled General Shang. Tin and his men slaughter Shang, his daughter, and his son. The only survivor is Shang Yung, the general’s grandson, who goes to Shaolin. After a powerful demonstration of stoic devotion, Shang Yung is accepted at the temple as a pupil.

Ten years or so later, Shang Yung has finished his training and is allowed to leave the temple. He heads into the town where Tin Ehr-Kang is established and makes an unholy nuisance of himself, beating up officials wherever he can. His first victim is Tin’s third-in-command (Huang Feilong). This catches the attention of Tin’s adopted daughter, Tso Yun-Lan (Polly Shang-Kwan), who is just the kung fu bad ass that Shang has become. The two have a few showdowns together until it becomes clear that Tso’s allegiances are questionable. We later learn that her parents were unjustly murdered by Tin (at Wei’s request), so she has blood debt to pay. The two eventually team up to defeat the wicked eunuch.

Storywise, The Traitorous is a very simple film. It does resemble movies like The 18 Bronzemen in terms of its story, but is a lot more streamlined. The training portions only take up the first act or so, after which the film is non-stop fighting up through the protracted finale between our heroes and the evil Tin Ehr-Kang. Unlike some of those contemporary Joseph Kuo films, like the Bronzemen movies and Shaolin Kids, this film makes expert use of both Carter Wong and Polly Shang-Kwan, giving both performers ample opportunity to demonstrate their skills.

Carter’s focus in this film is Shaolin kung fu, which was part of his original training in real life. He performs a lot of animal styles in his fights, especially the panther style, which is refreshing. Carter gets flack from some fans because, despite his off-the-screen fighting pedigree, he did not always look great on film. His larger and more muscular physique made him look stiff in a lot of his fights. I personally found that less of a problem in this film, and choreographers Chan Chuen (who’d worked with Carter during his Golden Harvest days) and Ko Pao (who choreographed Carter in The Rebel of Shaolin and Dragon Gate) get a good performance out of Wong.

As usual, Polly Shang-Kwan puts in a great fighting demonstration in her role as the feisty Tso Lun-Yan. She plays down her Taekwondo skills, which had been the focus of her fighting in her earlier basher films, and focuses on handwork, no doubt taken from her Karate training. She punches the living hell out of everyone in her path and threatens to steal the show from the Carter, as she was wont to do at the time.

Joining them are two more genre favorites: Sammo Hung and Chang Yi. The latter plays the second-in-command to the main villain. Sammo uses the praying mantis style in his fights, with low stances and his index fingers extended. In a memorable scene, he kills Carter Wong’s mother by gouging her eyes out with his mantis skills, despite the fact that she was a defenseless woman. When Carter faces off with Sammo near the end, the latter does get to fight briefly with the 3-section staff. Chang Yi, now entering the villain phase of his career, uses what appears to be a mixture of different animal styles, including the praying mantis and the dragon style. He would return to the mantis style for a few more of his films, including The Secret of the Shaolin Poles and Eagle’s Claw.

The Traitorous also appears to be one of the earlier films of this vintage to have people fight in formations. In this case, it is not the Shaolin monks, but the guards of the Eastern Depot—sort of like the Ming Dynasty NSA or FBI—who have a special attack formation set to the beating of drums. The fighters circle their opponents and sometimes form a human wall with the fighters standing on each other’s shoulders. Once in a while, the men at the top will attack with a net to ensnare their opponents. While certainly making for some visually interesting fights, the idea of characters fighting in formation doesn’t make a lot of sense outside the Shaolin Temple. If you’re trying to capture rebels and traitors, you don’t want to have to set up a drum set to get your men fighting: your targets can just run away!

All things considered, I think The Traitorous can easily hold its own with anything Joseph Kuo was making at the same time, or even with Chang Cheh’s concurrent Shaolin films—at least on a pure choreography level. And unlike Chang Cheh’s The Shaolin Temple (made the same year), this film doesn’t waste the talents of its female protagonists. It embraces and amplifies them; it reminds us that Polly Shang-Kwan was one of the fighting divas of the 1970s. Add that to Carter Wong’s Southern Shaolin showcase and some strong villains and you got an indie fu film that deserves more attention.