All 36 Chambers

Hi, all. Today I'd like to branch out by reviewing one of my favorites movies, "The 36th Chamber of Shaolin."

For those of you not familiar with it, it's a kung-fu movie, and in my opinion one of the best. The film's vital statistics are:

119 minutes long
Released in 1978 by Shaw Brothers Studios based out of Hong Kong, China.

The film was directed by one of the all time greats, Lau Kar-leung (Liu Chia-liang in Mandarin), who helmed such seminal kung fu works as:

"Legendary Weapons of China" (aka "Legendary Weapons of Kung Fu")

"Mad Monkey Kung Fu"

"My Young Auntie"

"Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter"

and "Heroes of the East," just to name a few.
He also acted in many of his films, and choreographed the action for all of them. He started choreographing fight scenes for his mentor, the great Chang Cheh (who also broke John Woo into the film business), including "The One-Armed Swordsman."

The Lau family are known as real kung-fu experts, specifically the Hung Gar style. After Bruce Lee's untimely death, Hong Kong was at a loss for a new kind of cinematic action. Lau Kar-leung suggested "why not show classical kung fu as it really is?" It's sounds so obvious, but that was a pretty radical viewpoint back then, especially when you had Chang Cheh still doing his "Crippled fighter/ultra-gory/mystical fighting" movies (which I highly recommend).

"The 36th Chamber of Shaolin" represents Lau's devotion to this viewpoint in its most pure form, stripping away all mysticism (or nearly all) and giving us a "Rocky"-style training movie. '36th Chamber" is also notable in this regard for its single-minded focus on the hero and his journey, with few side characters and no love story attempt (although Lau was known for these as well).

The film opens with the star, Lau Kar-fai (Liu Chia-hui), better known as Gordon Liu (he also starred in the "Kill Bill" movies), in a completely unrelated film segment, demonstrating various kung fu routines, first with his fists, then with the staff and monk's spade. Then we cut to the movie itself, as this is merely a taste of what is to come.

The story basics are that, in the wake of the Manchu conquest of China, the Manchu empire (the Ching Dynasty) has almost completely conquered the Han Chinese and wages a campaign of brutal tyranny to cow any future rebellion. We are introduced to our villains. The biggest one is General Tien Da, played by Hong Kong action icon Lo Lieh. (Lo Lieh played the White Lotus priest Pai Mei for Lau Kar-leung once, in "Executioners from Shaolin" and again in the remake he directed, "Clan of the White Lotus.") His adjutants are played by Wilson Tong and John Chang.
During a military parade, the Manchu genera; is attacked by General Yin, a leader in the Han rebellion. Yin is played by Lau Kar-leung's brother, Lau Kar-wing (Liu Chia-yung), an actor, choreographer, director and kung fu expert in his own right. I should point out that even though Gordon Liu shares the same name, he is not Lau Kar-leung's brother. He is an adopted brother to the family. The parade is a trap, and Yin is forced into combat with the deadly General Tien Da. Many of Lau Kar-leung's films utilize the 18 kung fu weapons, and this is no exception. General Tien wields two Chinese sabers, while Yin swings a mighty double ax. This is the first of several big fights in the film, and in my opinion, one of the best in film, period. Yin fights bravely, but is eventually overcome and killed. The way Lau cuts the scene together gives the sequence an extra level of intensity, as though lives were really on the line.

At this point, we are introduced to our hero, Gordon Liu, in the context of the film. (Gordon shaved his head to play ths role, so he wears a wig for these early scenes.) As the young son of a well-to-do merchant, he's not really the kind of person you would expect to rise up against a military dictatorship. But after hearing his teacher, a man he highly respects, speak about the injustices of Manchu rule, and after seeing the public spectacle of Yin's body, he decides to join the rebels. He and his classmates join up, but are found out and killed. Gordon's family pays the price as well. Gordon escapes and comes to the temple of Shaolin, where the monks are said to teach kung fu. Gordon becomes a monk and adopts the name San Da (Three Virtues).

His training begins. The training sequences take up half of the film, and are legendary for their cinematic power. There are 35 chambers in Shaolin to train in kung fu. San Da quickly masters them, learning speed, balance, arm strength, leg strength, wrist strength, sharpness of eyesight, the saber, the staff, and after several years, he is made a chamber master, over the objections of the Justice monk. The Justice monk is played by veteran bad guy actor Lee Hoi-san, who played bad guys for Sammo Hung in "The Magnificent Butcher" and John Woo in "Last Hurrah for Chivalry." He had opposed allowing San Da to enter Shaolin and challenges San Da to a fight to prove his worth. San Da agrees, and the second big fight sequence begins. The Justice monk's weapons of choice are the butterfly swords, while San Da uses a staff. The Justice monk wins easily. San Da tries again, using the monk's spade (a staff with moon-shaped blades), but loses again. While practicing, he cuts down a stalk of bamboo into three pieces and invents the three-section staff: three lengths of pole joined by chains. (This was a favorite weapon of Lau Kar-leung.) The other monks have never seen anything like it before, and the Justice monk is soundly defeated.

When given the opportunity to take charge of any chamber, San Da expresses a desire to create a 36th chamber to teach kung fu to laymen. This is an extreme deviation from Shaolin policy, and San Da is punished by having to leave the temple to collect donations. Wandering about the country, he recruits several followers. The first is Hung Hsi-kuan (the supposed inventor of Hung Gar kung fu) who is being bullied by Wilson Tong. Tong's men are quickly beaten by San Da, and Tong is killed by Hung Hsi-kuan. Next is Tung Chian-jin (whom Gordon Liu played in "Executioners from Shaolin"), a blacksmith who uses San Da's teachings to thrash a bullying Manchu guard. After that, a bamboo cutter named Lu Ah-sai is recruited, but only after he sees what a fighting machine San Da is. Finally, San Da recruits Miller Six, played by Wang Yu. A simple rice-grinder, Miller Six possesses great leg strength, and a hefty supply of blinding dust. At the film's finale, San Da's forces rout General Tien's personal guard, and Tien is left alone to battle San Da. I won't spoil how it ends for you, but suffice to say that the final fight sequence is extremely memorable for it frenetic energy. In all, the end is not that important. As the wise man once said, it is the journey that matters, and Lau Kar-leung seems to believe that.

After the film's release, Gordon Liu became an instant star. This did not happen overnight. He had already acted for Lau Kar-leung in "Challenge of the Masters" and "Executioners from Shaolin." But "36th Chamber" was his star-making role. Gordon still tells about the press conference he held in Japan, where Shaw Brothers star Yasuaki Kurata, a Japanese martial artist, was his translator. When the film was released in the West, it was given the title "Master Killer." This is very much a misnomer, since he does not go around killing, but Gordon Liu is still known as "Master Killer" today. I first saw this film under the "Master Killer" title as a young boy on television. It wasn't exactly great film then. The print was choppy and faded, the image was cropped from its widescreen base, the English dubbing was uninspired (yet oddly accurate), and it was slightly edited for violence. While not nearly as violent as Chang Cheh's movies (or many American PG-rated films, for that matter), it still got an "R" rating. The only real edit for violence was Hung Hsi-kuan's killing of Wilson Tong's character. Even though you still saw Tong die, he was only struck with a saber once. In the Hong Kong version, he was chopped many times, but even then we the audience heard it rather than seeing it. (Gordon turns away and prays to the Buddha.) According to Hong Kong film expert Bey Logan, in England the entire role of General Yin was cut, robbing British audiences of the first big fight.

Despite all of these flaws, I was spell-bound by the film. I would rent it and watch it again and again. I also started to research the history behind the film. The Shaolin Temples of China really exist, and they were the birthplace of kung fu. That always struck me as odd, that Buddhist monks, the ultimate pacifists, should invent a fighting art that allows practicioners to kill with their bare hands. During the unrest in Burma in 2007, I also found out that the yellow robes and red sashes worn by the monks in "36th Chamber" really are worn by Buddhist monks.

In 2001, I came across a DVD version of the film, "Shaolin Master Killer." It was advertised as the uncut version of "Master Killer." I bought it and watched it. All of the excised scenes were back in and the film print was widescreen. Even though it was still the choppy, faded, English-dubbed print, it was still even better than my childhood memories. It was around this time that I started finding out more about the film, such as its real title. DVDs of the Chinese original were only available in the East, and nothing seemed planned. All of that changed in 2007. Thanks in large part to Quentin Tarantino and Bey Logan, the original "36th Chamber of Shaolin" was made available by Dragon Dynasty. It is an uncut, widescreen print, with three language tracks: the original Cantonese, the widely-distributed Mandarin, and the English dub. It also includes an audio commentary track by two die-hard fans: Andy Klein of "City Beat" and the RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan (surprisingly well-informed about kung fu movies), as well as interviews with Gordon Liu, Klein, RZA and David Chute, a brief history of Shaolin (hosted by Gordon Liu), and trailers for several Lau Kar-leung films, including (but not limited to) "Shaolin Mantis," "Legendary Weapons of China," "Eight-Diagram Pole Fighter," and the two sequels to "36th Chamber:" "Return to the 36th Chamber," and "Disciples of the 36th Chamber."

If you are interested in this film, it is widely available through Amazon.com and many other outlets.

If you liked this essay, please write me.

And if you would be so kind, please take advantage of the many excellent products I have to offer, including my recently-added Green Tea extract, which can allow you the reader to get Shaolin-fit!

Bye for now!