What's going on, good people?!! The next film up for viewing on Hai!Karate is a gem among martial arts pictures, Drunken Master starring the legendary Jackie Chan!!! This film from Seasonal Pictures also stars Simon Yuen Siu-Tien and Hwang Jang Lee. The direction is all thanks to Yuen Woo Ping.
Drunken Master starts out with a man(Lee)
walking into a ruined temple. He strides
to the altar and finds a note directing
him to kill Charlie Wei. This dude then
finds Charlie Wei practicing in a field
soon after. After mocking him a bit, the
killer identifies himself as the infamous
Thunderleg Yeh Tieh Hsin. Wei puts up a
struggle all through the credits but is
dispatched at the end of them. We then
cut to a town and the local school run
by Wong Kei Yin(Lam Kau). The star pupil -
and troublemaker - is his son, Wong Fei
Hung(Chan)who basically embarrasses his
teacher in a fight.(Side note: in the
English dubbed version, Fei Hung is
referred to as Freddie. Why? I have NO
clue. His dad is also called Robert Wong.
*shrug8)Fei Hung's antics get him in a
couple of scrapes back to back involving
a young woman who he tries to molest
but is beaten back by her mother(Linda
Lin Ying)in brisk fashion. Fei Hung
finds out later that it's actually his
AUNT and that the young woman he pushed
up on was his COUSIN. Eep. Then a local
businessman comes to Kei Yin to complain
about Fei Hung beating his hooligan son
into near paralysis. Kei Yin is furious,
and is on the verge of flogging Fei Hung
until his aunt steps in and recommends
punishment through rigorous training.
Kei Yin relents. But Fei Hung doesn't
really intend on repenting...
Fei Hung soon runs into trouble again
at a local restaurant where he fleeces
the owner out of a huge meal and tries
to run. He's then caught by the staff
and beaten enough that he winds up
being forced to vomit up all the food
and wine. This gets the attention of
Beggar So(Siu Tien)who steps in and
beats down everyone in the restaurant
in vivid fashion. It turns out that
Kei Yin enlisted So's help to train
Fei Hung for a year. So begins the
training, wine bottle ever present.
As Fei Hung trains, his cockiness doesn't
subside. Not until he crosses paths with
Thunderleg in a bathhouse. Excuse me, I
meant to say gets MOLLYWHOPPED. To the
point that he has to crawl under the
crotch of Thunderleg just to live. The
humiliation drives him to be humble
and train harder. And it's needed -
it turns out the local businessman
still bears a grudge not only over his
son but also over Kei Yin's blocking
of a land grab. This sets in motion
a plot that will lead to a final
contest between Fei Hung and Thunderleg
for honor and more.
Drunken Master is a fine blend of kung fu
action and comedy that pulls you in
bit by bit. Yuen Woo Ping keeps the
pacing tidy but allows for the plot
to not get too confusing or feel like
there's stuff left out. Not bad for
your second film as a director. His
eye for action was enhanced due to his
previous work as an actor and action
director with Shaw Studios. Having a
renowned father in Simon Yuen Siu-Tien
doesn't hurt either. The film also
benefits from the action direction of
Hsu Hsia, who appears in the film as
a minor boss. Jackie Chan further builds
on his comedic gifts here, walking a
fine line between slapstick and utterly
corny humor. By this time his star was
rising again, despite difficulties with
director Lo Wei who was bent on making
him the next Bruce Lee. His fighting
skills and acrobatics thrill you as he
goes through the 8 Drunken Gods style.
(This is inspired by the Taoist Eight
Immortals from Chinese mythology as well
as Zui Quan or 'drunken alcohol fist'
that is seen in various forms including
Hung Gar, Chor Lei Fut and Wushu for instance.)
Hwang Jang Lee hones his villainous chops
well here. The sneer he puts on with the
mustache? Magnificent arrogance that
would make Jay-Z wince. And his flashy
but fierce Taekwondo kicking style is
also a key draw; watch how he deals with
Fei Hung in the bathhouse. This actually
would be the last time he and Jackie
Chan would be in a film together. Their
prior film, Snake In The Eagle's Shadow
left a rough impression on Jackie. Aside
from one incident(peep here for the recap),
Hwang's kicking was too much for Chan to
take, with Jackie getting another injury,
this time to the ridge of one of his eyebrows.
That led to him pointedly avoiding casting
Hwang again for his own movies, opting
to go with another famous Korean fighting
actor, Whang In Sik. Their fight scenes
are still epic however. The final fight
alone will take you through some feelings
with the impact of blows. And as for
Beggar So? This flick led to Simon Yuen
being further hailed as a crafty and venerable
actor in Hong Kong cinema. Keep in mind
that this year alone saw him star in
FOUR classicly regarded pictures. I'll
build on that another time though. He
helps enhance the comedy as a drunken
hero and father figure to Fei Hung.
(Side note: Linda Lin Ying who plays the
aunt at the beginning would only be
in 3 more films after this, bringing
her total to 7 overall. And she'd be in
another picture with Simon Yuen.) When
Drunken Master opened, it was a smash
hit, earning nearly seven million dollars
in total. The film would help Seasonal
become better entrenched as a prime
movie studio and as a leader in making
kung fu comedies at that time. It was
also well received for the many martial
arts styles in the fight scenes as well
as being a comical play on the Wong Fei
Hung saga, which to this point was done
with a bit more seriousness given that
he is a Chinese cultural hero. The flick
has had wide-ranging cultural influence
across the globe, from video games like
Tekken to anime such as Naruto and Yuyu
Hakusho and Dragonball Z to be exact. Drunken
Master is a joy to watch. If you haven't
seen it, correct that error immediately.
For real. And if you have, I know you
have that as one of your go-to faves like
I do.
RATING: 4.5 OUT OF 5 DRAGON PUNCHES
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