Skip to main contentHong Kong cinema is among the most influential filmmaking in the world. And its legacy is not just the stylized action found in films like The Matrix Reloaded. The ass-kicking women in Charlie's Angels can be traced right back to the source--action queens like Cheng Pei-Pei and Angela Mao Ying. The persecuted heroes of X-Men bear a striking resemblance to the protagonists in films like One-Armed Swordsman and Fist of Fury, who fight against oppressive odds just for the right to live. In nearly every action film produced today, there is something that comes directly from Hong Kong films. Even the world of hip-hop--from Grand Master Flash to Wu-Tang--draws deep from the well of kung fu films. But it wasn't always that way.
It wasn't that long ago that martial-arts films were barely known in this country. Back in the 1970s, most Americans associated kung fu with Bruce Lee and a television show starring David Carradine. The only way you could see these movies back in those days was at the inner-city grindhouses like those that once lined New York's Times Square, at drive-ins, or in tiny theaters located in Chinatowns. Here in Portland, you could catch double and triple features at the long-defunct Irvington Theatre.
During the 1980s, martial-arts movies became a staple on local television stations looking to fill late-night and weekend programming. Longtime Portlanders no doubt remember "Kung Fu Theatre," which aired on Channel 12, regularly broadcasting classics like Master Killer. But these films, with their poor dubbing, confusing plots and over-the-top action, were difficult to take seriously. Ultimately, those early chop-sockey flicks were regarded as nothing more than jokes.
Now, 30 years after Bruce Lee first kicked down the barriers for Asians in American cinema, the once little-regarded films of Hong Kong are being reconsidered, and their true artistic merit is being acknowledged. Heroic Grace: The Chinese Martial Arts Film is a touring showcase of eight films from Hong Kong's legendary Shaw Brothers Studios, founded by Run Run Shaw. The Shaw brothers started out as theater owners before transitioning into the world of film production. Moving their company from Shanghai to Hong Kong's Clearwater Bay in the late 1940s, the Shaw brothers built a massive film studio, complete with a back lot that housed an ancient village, where they began producing swordplay movies heavily influenced by the samurai films of Japan. By the early 1970s, Shaw Brothers shifted from the swordplay movies to those that favored open-hand combat. Before long, the prolific film studio had turned out so many martial-arts films that the name Shaw Brothers became synonymous with the kung fu movie.
Heroic Grace kicks off with director King Hu's 1966 Come Drink with Me (9:30 Friday, 7:30 Saturday). Seldom seen in the United States, it is nonetheless among the most influential martial-arts films of all time. Cheng Pei-Pei, the villainess of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, stars as a fierce warrior out to rescue her kidnapped brother from an unscrupulous gang. While not the first film to feature martial arts, Hu's stylish epic was among the first to marry Eastern fighting styles with Western cinematic conventions. Come Drink with Me also helped to firmly establish women as key heroic figures. The result was a film so influential, its shadows is cast over such contemporary classics as Ang Lee's 2001 Crouching Tiger and Zhang Yimou's 2002 masterpiece Hero.
Equally influential is director Zhang Che's 1967 One-Armed Swordsman (7 pm Sunday-Monday). Responsible for more than 100 films, Zhang was one of the most prolific directors in the history of Hong Kong cinema. Former swimming champion (Jimmy) Wang Yu stars as Fang Gang, a common man trained as a great swordfighter whose life is shattered when his right arm is chopped off. Through the help of a woman who loves him, Gang learns to fight using his left arm, a skill he will need when he finally faces the man who killed his father. One-Armed Swordsman was a huge hit, turning Wang Yu into a star, and launching an entire "one-armed" subgenre of kung fu flicks, including One-Armed Boxer and its sequel, Master of the Flying Guillotine. More important, it helped to establish the common-man-as-hero archetype that would be the foundation for most martial-arts protagonists. Nearly every great kung fu hero from Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan to Gordon Liu has played a variation of Wang Yu's one-armed champion, who ultimately stands as a champion for the working class and downtrodden. This formula was essential in what would become the success and universal appeal of the kung fu film--especially during the '70s, when these films were first coming to the United States. Despite the obvious cultural differences, it was easy for audiences--especially black audiences in the inner city--to relate to oppressed heroes like Lo Lieh in Five Fingers of Death.
Not only does Heroic Grace afford the opportunity to see some of the most influential antecedents of the modern action film on the big screen, it provides an opportunity to see newly restored prints, featuring the original language tracks and new subtitles. Included in the program are Zhang Che's Golden Swallow (July 24-25), Vengeance (July 26 and 28) and Blood Brothers (July 30-31), an epic tale of passion and betrayal that is equal parts Shakespearean tragedy, spaghetti western and kung fu extravaganza. Director Lau Kar-Leung's seminal The 36th Chamber of the Shaolin, a.k.a. Master Killer (Aug. 1-2), and the follow-up, Return to the Chamber (Aug. 7 and 9), both star the legendary Gordon Liu.
Guild Theatre, 829 SW 9th Ave., 221-1156, www. nwfilm.org . $6-$7.
Women have a long history as action heroes in Hong Kong cinema. For years actresses like Cheng Pei-Pei, Angelo Mao Ying and Michelle Yeoh have held their own against men like Jet Li and Jackie Chan.
In the early days of Chinese film, acting in movies was considered an inferior art, and many male actors considered it to be beneath them. This allowed women to fill leading roles traditionally reserved for men.
WWeek 2015