Chinese films have always been tricky for me. I grew up watching old Chinese fantasy and wuxia films, but there were always issues with access and translations that made it difficult for me to really dig into them as an adult the same way that I did with other movie classics. I was staunchly against dubs, and dubs were mostly what was available in the U.S. for a long time. I don't think I'd even heard of King Hu until coming across "A Touch of Zen" in the Criterion Collection about a decade ago. I've since watched more of his films, little by little, whenever I could find them. My Shaw Brothers marathon a few years ago filled in several gaps. And I realized King Hu was not only a great wuxia director, he was arguably *the* great wuxia director.
The most famous of King Hu's films are "Dragon Inn" and "A Touch of Zen," which display his most notable influences, including Chinese opera, Zen Buddhism, and Akira Kurosawa's jidaigeki. He preferred an editing style that focused on the performances rather than a reliance on special effects or camera tricks. He was also instrumental in the rise of female-led wuxia films, starting with Cheng Pei-Pei's formidable warrior in Hu's "Come Drink With Me." However, the King Hu film with the most female warriors, and some of his best moments of comedy, action, and suspense, is "The Fate of Lee Khan." It's not his best film from an artistic standpoint, or the most representative of his output, but it is easily the one I enjoy the most.
"The Fate of Lee Khan" is a wuxia film set during the Yuan Dynasty, during the period of Mongol rule. It has plenty of action and plenty of bloodshed, but it opens with a long sequence in the humble Spring Inn, where the female owner expects that the Mongol warlord Lee Khan will be coming by for an unannounced stay. Because she's part of the rebellion against the Mongols, and recognizes a good opportunity to assassinate Khan, she's hired four new waitresses with shady backgrounds, and arranged for some additional help. In the opening sequence we watch as all of these characters are established - the owner, the waitresses, the regional boss, the accountant, the itinerant musician, a few robbers, other servants, a few would-be tough guys, and some local folks who just want to buy drinks. Which of them are friends to the rebels, and which are the Mongol's agents in disguise? Who among the allies are trustworthy?
I've read several reviews where viewers were impatient with the inn sequence, and eager for the fighting to start, but the battle is already going on long before Lee Khan and his entourage appear. We get to watch the owner and the waitresses deal with one tough customer after another, with close-ups of their eyes and hands signaling their suspicions and apprehensions. Everyone seems to be hiding something, but sometimes it's just a gambling cheat or an ill-tempered ruffian. There's a running gag with a problem customer who gets too handsy with the waitresses. The regional boss is a bumbling type, and easily flustered. Despite all the farce, "Lee Khan" is one of the more straightforward King Hu films, not particularly concerned with any of the historical or political complexities of the time. The Mongols are villains to be rooted against. The heroine's outfits are even color-coded so you can tell them apart more easily.
When we do get to the action, it's very abstract. You see leaping bodies, some blood, and weapons being bared, but rarely the moment of contact. Hu grew less and less interested in the action parts of his action films as time went on, and most of his films after "Lee Khan" were straight dramas. However, the action still looks beautiful against the gorgeously shot rocky landscapes, and there are some real thrills and chills as the battle goes on. I appreciate that the final melee is a very gender-balanced affair. Lee Khan and his clever sister have to contend with multiple male and female combatants, and death is indiscriminate. Alas, my one complaint is that it's all over with much too abruptly.
The more I learn about King Hu and the Shaw brothers, who were his early collaborators, the more I wish I'd seen these films earlier. They laid the cornerstones for so much modern media. Watching their films, I kept finding so many examples of action and storytelling tropes that are still used to this day, and pretty much all wuxia media owes them a debt.
What I've Seen - King Hu
Sons of the Good Earth (1965)
Come Drink with Me (1966)
Dragon Inn (1967)
A Touch of Zen (1971)
The Fate of Lee Khan (1973)
The Valiant Ones (1975)
Raining in the Mountain (1979)
Legend of the Mountain (1979)
All the King's Men (1983)
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