Kung Fu Theater Week: The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

Howdy all you Kung Fu Fans and welcome back to the last day of Kung Fu Theater Week.  Due to some cumbersome objects I lifted Wednesday I was quite sore and unable to sit in a chair for film viewing.  Today is another matter all together as I will be doing a double feature to make up for lost days.  Our first film of the roster tells the tale of a student and his hometown being torn apart by two warring generals and the village getting caught in the middle of this conflict.  Our young fellow must rise to meet the challenge of righting the wrongs, preserving the peace and bringing about order.  Can such a task be performed by only one man?  This is The 36^th Chamber of Shaolin.

Jefferson Junior High Presents: The Boxer Rebellion!

We must rise up against the tyranny of General Spoiler, for the good of all!

Our story begins in the occupation of the Manchus in the Qing Dynasty (that would be roughly 1645 to 1910) the Shaolin monasteries were forbidden at the time to offer the peasants Kung Fu and the weapons training to fend off invaders as they themselves were viewed as outsiders and these practices were sacred above all else…even the cost of their fellow man.  Yeah it is that screwy.  Of course from a different point of view you can be amused that Hong Kong (a then colony of the former British Empire) is producing movies that incite rebellion and England does not even bat an eye.

Aren't you glad you used Dial? Don't you wish your opponent did?

Okay enough of the history lesson and on with the violence!!!  General Inspector Tien Ta (Lieh Lo of Five Fingers of Death, Shaolin Deadly Kicks, Super Dragon, The Enchantress, Shanghai 13 and Police Pool of Blood) is a ruthless tyrannical monster watching over the villages like a hawk gathering the sparrows.  Only General Yin feels he can stand up to him and only to be humiliated and cut down.  A young man name of Liu Yude (Chia-Hui Liu of Shaolin Martial Arts, Five Shaolin Masters, 7 Man Army, Shaolin Mantis, Godfather of Canton and Kill Bill: Vol. 2) is wounded during the riots and retreats to the Shaolin Monastery for his own life.  With the strict practices he is almost turned away when the abbot insists on allowing him to be cared for and tended to.  

A year has passed and Liu Yude has taken on a Monk’s title of San Te and vows to avenge those slain in this horrible act of greed and wanton destruction but also as a manner of honor to right that which has been done to those around him.   San Te throws himself into his training with vigor that none of the masters have ever seen.  He vows to complete the 35 Chambers of the Shaolin in order to save those under General Tien’s villainy.

Now let us examine this film overall.  This is not merely a revenge title but a challenge of ethics and morals of the highest order.  If San Te trained merely to get his hands coated in blood for his own end he would have been banished from the temple and forced to find another path altogether.  San Te would have then been no better than the monster he has dedicated himself to stop but just a different horrible creature.  

The choreography is amazing, between the training levels to the fights in the street.  Wire work, months of sword, staff and halberd training just captures the quintessence of the story and gives it greater presence than even the dialogue.     The bottom line is this is a visual film rather than dialogue driven and were it altered in any way would diminish what our director Chia-Liang Liu (The Spiritual Boxer, Executioners from Shaolin, Legendary Weapons of China, Heroic Family and The Legend of Drunken Master)set out to create.

Jeez Gary, you almost nailed me.