Kung fu film
Kung fu film (
Kung fu films are an important product of Hong Kong cinema and the Western world, where it was exported.[3] Studios in Hong Kong produce both wuxia and kung fu films.
History
The kung fu genre was born in
The oldest film in the genre, The Adventures of Fong Sai-yuk (Part 1: 方世玉打擂台; Part 2: 方世玉二卷之胡惠乾打機房), is a 1938–39 two-part movie about the adventures of folk hero Fong Sai-yuk. No surviving copies of the film exist.[7] A series of films that dramatized the life of Wong Fei-hung, a historical Cantonese martial artist, was another early pioneer of the genre.[8] The first two films of the Wong series, directed by Wu Pang and starring Kwan Tak-hing, were released in 1949.[9] The major innovation of the Wong Fei-hung films was its focus on realistic fighting or zhen gongfu, a departure from earlier wuxia films. The fights were still choreographed, but were designed to be more believable.[10] Jet Li played Wong in a later revival of the series in 1990s, Tsui Hark's Once Upon a Time in China, and also Fong in the movie Fong Sai-yuk.[11]
Resurgence in the 1970s
The kung fu genre reached its height in the 1970s, coinciding with Hong Kong's economic boom.
The new wave of kung fu films reached international audiences after the financial success of
He returned to Hong Kong and performed his breakthrough role in The Big Boss, followed by five more films. The movies of Bruce Lee began a trend of employing genuine practitioners of martial arts as actors in martial arts films.[22] Kung fu films were internationally successful and popular in the West where a kung fu fad had taken root.[23] The anti-imperialist themes of his films held a broad appeal for groups that felt marginalized and contributed to his popularity in Southeast Asia and the African-American and Asian-American communities of urban America.[24][25] Audiences were sympathetic with Lee's role as a minority figure struggling against and overcoming prejudice, social inequality, and racial discrimination.[26]
Kung fu comedies
The genre declined after Bruce Lee's sudden death in 1973. In the same year, a
The mixture of slapstick comedy with martial arts reinvigorated the kung fu genre. Jackie Chan was the first significant
Modern kung fu films
The realism of the kung fu genre has been blurred with the widespread use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in the industry. Technology has enabled actors without martial arts training to perform in kung fu films.[38] Wuxia films experienced a revival in recent years with the films of Ang Lee and Zhang Yimou.[39] Kung fu comedies remain popular staples of Hong Kong cinema and the kung fu films of Stephen Chow have been box office hits. His 2001 film Shaolin Soccer combined kung fu, modified using CGI, with the sports and comedy genres.[40] Chow's 2004 film Kung Fu Hustle, choreographed by martial arts directors Sammo Hung and Yuen Woo-ping, was a similar mixture of kung fu and comedy that achieved international success.[41] Donnie Yen, who emerged during the early 1990s in Jet Li's Once Upon a Time in China II, is currently Hong Kong's highest-paid actor, starring in several films which helped him achieve international recognition, such as the Ip Man trilogy and Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen.
Global influence
The competing
Notable actors
- Jimmy Wang Yu (1943–2022)
- David Chiang (born 1947)
- Lo Lieh (1939–2002)
- Gordon Liu (born 1955)
- Lau Kar-leung (1934–2013)
- Alexander Fu Sheng (1954–1983)
- Wong Yue (1955–2008)
- Lee Hoi-sang (born 1941)
- Chi Kuan-chun (born 1949)
- Ti Lung (born 1946)
- Johnny Wang(born 1949)
- Lo Mang (born 1952)
- Chiang Sheng (1951–1991)
- Chin Siu-ho (born 1963)
- Bruce Lee (1940–1973)
- James Tien (born 1942)
- Tony Liu (born 1952)
- Lam Ching-ying (1947–1997)
- Jackie Chan (born 1954)
- Sammo Hung (born 1952)
- Yuen Biao (born 1957)
- Angela Mao (born 1950)
- Kara Wai (born 1960)
- Chen Kuan-tai (born 1945)
- Ken Lo (born 1957)
- Cynthia Rothrock (born 1957)
- Donnie Yen (born 1963)
- Wu Jing (born 1974)
- Yukari Oshima (born 1963)
Notes and references
Citations
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 6
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 5
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 5
- ^ Teo 2010, p. 104
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 58
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 59
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 59
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 58
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 60
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 70
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 60
- ^ Li 1996, p. 708
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 70
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 87
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 86
- ^ Szeto 2011, p. 26
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 78
- ^ Szeto 2011, p. 25
- ^ Szeto 2011, p. 25
- ^ Li 1996, p. 708
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 75
- ^ Li 1996, p. 708
- ^ Szeto 2011, p. 26
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 77
- ^ Szeto 2011, p. 27
- ^ Szeto 2011, p. 28
- ^ Li 1996, p. 708
- ^ Li 1996, pp. 708–709
- ^ Li 1996, p. 709
- ^ Li 1996, p. 709
- ^ Li 1996, p. 709
- ^ Szeto 2011, p. 28
- ^ Szeto 2011, p. 29
- ^ Li 1996, p. 709
- ^ Szeto 2011, p. 29
- ^ Szeto 2011, pp. 29–30
- ^ Li 1996, pp. 710–711
- ^ Teo 2010, p. 104
- ^ Teo 2010, p. 109
- ^ Klein 2010, p. 193
- ^ Klein 2010, pp. 193–194
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 77
- ^ Szeto 2011, p. 25
- ^ Teo 2009, p. 159
Bibliography
- Li, Cheuk-To (1996). The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-811257-0.
- Klein, Christina (2008). "Kung Fu Hustle: Transnational production and the global Chinese-language film". Journal of Chinese Cinemas. 1 (3): 189–208. S2CID 191495247.
- Szeto, Kin-Yan (2011). The Martial Arts Cinema of the Chinese Diaspora: Ang Lee, John Woo, and Jackie Chan in Hollywood. Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-8620-8.
- Teo, Stephen (2010). Art, Politics, and Commerce in Chinese Cinema. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 978-962-209-176-4.
- Teo, Stephen (2009). Chinese Martial Arts Cinema: The Wuxia Tradition. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-3286-2.
External links
- Stephen Chin collection on kung fu films, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences