When he directed his first film, Jimmy Wang-yu
was already a huge star in Asia for his bloody mass killing films like The
One-Armed Swordsmen, Golden Swallow and other Wuxia films for the Shaw Brothers.
But this film started a kung-fu craze in Hong Kong with people lining up
to learn martial arts. Wuxia was fantasy and swords were not something you
could carry around, but The Chinese Boxer was all about kung-fu, fighting
with your hands. Those you could carry around. Deadly weapons with the right
training. All the experts credit this film for being the first pure kung
fu film and I don't know enough to dispute that. There is a section in which
swords are utilized when he comes upon a bunch of samurai, but otherwise
all the killing is done without weapons. Hands, feet and fingers.
It is interesting that it was Wang-yu who
was first to do this. He certainly had martial arts training, but he is not
the most graceful or quick of fighters. His sword slicing skills are much
more convincing. In future kung-fu films, his style was to be called Bashing.
A lot of swinging of arms. In the finale of this film, Wang-yu takes on the
three main villains. Japanese karate killers. The choreography from the legendary
Tong Kai almost looks like it is in slow-motion. One suspects this was necessary
for Wang-yu to keep up since those three actors were to look much more impressive
in later films. In fact, within a few short years as the kung-fu film was
to overshadow the wuxia, the choreography was to become much faster, more
acrobatic, develop many styles and be much more intricate. This film did
so well at the box-office that Wang-yu and his enormous ego broke his contract
with Shaw to go independent.
Many of the themes of the film are no different
than those of many wuxia films. Your Master is murdered and you have to get
revenge. After more training. Wang-yu is a student of Master Li (Fang Mian),
a traditional martial arts practitioner. He tells his students that kung-fu
is to train ourselves and build our bodies to enable us to contribute to
society. Only be offensive if absolutely necessary. When a troublemaker,
Diao (Chao Hsiung) shows up he challenges a number of the students and beats
them up. Then the Master cleans his clock with one good kick to the stomach.
Diao swears that he will be back. With karate masters from Japan. Wang-yu
asks the Master what can defeat karate. "Iron palm and light leaping technique",
he responds. Unfortunately, he does not teach them that.
Diao returns with three of them. All looking
meaner and more ferocious than a starving pit bull. Led by Lo Lieh with Chan
Sing and Wang Chung. When someone in an inn calls them weird, Lo Lieh goes
nuts and destroys the table and jumps through the ceiling. These guys mean
business and go to the school and in minutes kill the Master and most of
the students. Wang-yu is knocked out early and into a coma. He wakes up days
later in the care of the Master's daughter (Wang Ping) who gives him the
bad news. He of course swears revenge, but first I will learn iron
palm and light leaping technique. Easy enough. Tie weights to your ankles
and jump. Iron palm is simple too, but I would not recommend you try it at
home. Get a cauldron, sand pellets and put a fire under it and then punch
it till your hands burn.
Thankfully, the film doesn't spend a lot
of time on this phase. Within a few screen minutes, he is ready to kill them.
All. Beginning with the loads of lowly minions and working his way up. That
is tradition. Wang-yu does not spare the blood and it gets satisfyingly brutal.
He also realized that killing Japanese in his films was quite popular with
Chinese audiences. Something Bruce Lee was to continue. No doubt, Wang-yu
had the help of the many skilled staff at Shaw, but this is a well-directed
film beginning with those shots of the small villages, the boys in the alley
kicking the ball and the feet moving through them. A sense of dread leaks
into the picture. I would only criticize the gambling/rape scene - it wasn't
necessary as we already knew the bad guys were scum - but otherwise he slowly
builds it to a good climax.
