‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’ (1978) — the pinnacle of Kung Fu arse-kicking?
Will: How has it taken this many weeks for us to write another review? We’re in lockdown dammit.
Sam: It’s really tiring doing nothing.
Will: Zzzzzz.
Sam: Oi!
Will: Oh sorry. What were we doing?
Sam: Reviewing The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.
Will: Alrighty, let’s get on with it then. You chose it. Why?
Sam: We’ve done screw-ball comedy, we’ve done a boring, wanky drama, so I thought it was time we watched something good.
Will: Fierce. So, what is it?
Sam: It’s the quintessential martial arts movie.
Will: I had never heard of it…
Sam: Martial art movies tend to be defined by their stars, like Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, those Indonesian dudes in The Raid…
Will: God bless ‘em.
Sam: But in a sense this is the archetypal Hong Kong kung-fu movie. It has everything that you know to expect: training montages, a vengeance plot and shaved heads.
Will: And a three act structure tighter than a duck’s arse.
Sam: Quite.
Will: But, did you like it?
Sam: Damn right I did.
Will: Aw, so did I. We’ve got something in common!
Sam: But I’d say I liked it despite the fight scenes. They were alright, but once you’ve seen modern films like The Raid, older action can look a bit clunky.
Will: Nah, I actually disagree — I thought they were particularly good. I’ve not seen that many kung fu films, but I thought the fighting looked more aggressive and meatier than any Bruce Lee film I’ve seen.
Sam: So much for having things in common.
Will: Maybe you should tell everyone the plot.
Sam: A nobody called Liu Yude becomes a monk so he can learn kung fu and get revenge on the evil people.
Will: I think you’re underselling it a bit there. It’s partly a nationalist tale of the ethnic Han Chinese resisting the foreign Manchu dynasty. And it takes Buddhism fairly seriously.
Sam: Yeah, true — the opening act did a great job of setting up the conflict. You see the government brutally oppressing peeps, so it raises the stakes for the rest of the movie. You want Liu Yude to get strong and kick arse.
Will: Which is good, because the vast majority of the film has nothing to do with fighting, and is all about him training. And that wasn’t a bad thing — I really enjoyed seeing him progress through the various ‘Chambers of Shaolin’.
Sam: My biggest disappointment was that we didn’t get to see all thirty six chambers. What was your favourite chamber?
Will: That’s a stupid question — obviously the ‘Head Chamber’ where you have to deliberately concuss yourself by repeatedly headbutting things.
Sam: The Head Chamber wasn’t nearly as erotic as it sounded.
Will: Um…
Sam: My favourite chamber was the ‘Eyesight Chamber’ where he’s stuck in a Saw-like device and has to look at things quickly.
Will: I reckon I could handle that one at least. Nice to know I’ve probably got one Chamber of Shaolin in the bag.
Sam: He did breeze through it.
Will: I did think the chambers were all really well designed. Like, the one where you have to carry water buckets and if you relax your arms you get stabbed. The physical set design was terrific.
Sam: They also really sold that he was there for years and years. By the end of his training, you get that he’s been on a massive journey.
Will: And then he returns. For… VENGEANCE! What did you think of all that?
Sam: I loved the VENGEANCE!
Will: You always do.
Sam: It was great how all the chambers came into use in the fights. Like, because he was used to being concussed, he could really headbutt a guy in the face! And because he was good at looking at candles, he could see knives being thrown at him! Amazing!
Will: Are you being sarcastic?
Sam: No, I genuinely got a kick out of it.
Will: I did think it was super satisfying and great. At the end of the day, beyond the action scenes, it was all rooted in fundamentally strong storytelling. It sets up the conflict well, makes the hero properly struggle, and then provides a full-on pay-off. Perfect.
Sam: Agreed.
Will: So, the big question — why is this in the 1,001? The list mostly constitutes arty or culturally massive films…
Sam: You’re right, this definitely doesn’t fit within the normal definition of ‘classic cinema’. Partly because of the way it was made: this was just another movie produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio, a film factory that cranked out similar movies on a conveyor belt — not unlike the studio system in the ‘Golden Era’ of Hollywood.
Will: In a way 36th Chamber is like Casablanca — just one more mass-produced movie that, for some reason, achieved greatness.
Sam: Indeed.
Will: I mean, it is the movie we’ve enjoyed the most so far…
Sam: Yeah I have to admit, as time goes on, my sense of what constitutes cinema has shifted towards action, horror and more visceral movies. I’m in it for a good time.
Will: Fuck, well — you’re not going to enjoy this list. My apologies again for The Piano…
Sam: Apology not accepted.
Will: I’ll make it up to you — our next movie is going to be Häxan, a Swedish horror movie from 1922.
Sam: Oh I can barely contain myself with anticipation.
Will: What’s Swedish for ‘Boo!’?
Sam: I guess we’ll find out.
Films Referenced
Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942)
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (Lau Kar-leung, 1978)
The Raid (Gareth Evans, 2011)
The next film: Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922)
