Ambitious Kung Fu Girl

           
Director: Lu Chun-ku
Year:  1981
Rating: 5.0
Perhaps I just wasn't in the mood for this Shaw Brothers kung fu period farce because much of it just annoyed me. I think I was misled by the title. It is so silly - and I just had a problem following it and all the many characters who pop in and pop out just as quickly. This would have been better as an Opera - the artificial ornate sets looked like one - and I kept hoping they would break into some high pitched singing with a chorus backing them up. I don't know if I can really explain the plot - it was like it had Attention Deficit Syndrome as it zips along like a man who has swallowed a bag of speed and just can't concentrate for more than a minute. But and this is a big but - there is a plethora of action scenes and they are pretty terrific and fun to watch. That very intricate graceful sword style with well-executed wire-fu that at times feels like performance art. So for me the film veers wildly between this absurd comedy, a confusing plot and these excellent action set pieces.



Tian Si Si (Michelle Yim - The Butterfly Murders and We're Going to Eat You) is the daughter of an enormously wealthy man (Ching Miao). He has spoiled her completely even to the extent that he hires martial artists to challenge her and lose giving her the impression that she is a martial arts master. Not quite. She has an idealized love for Qin Ge (Chen Kwan-tai), a martial arts hero and she runs away from home with her maid to look for him. She disguises herself as a man - a theme that many kung fu films have - all the great female martial arts stars went into male mode at some point in their career - but here she fools no one because her body parts make it quite obvious that she is a she. Instead people just laugh at her disguise.






Right from the start she is fooled, conned to have her money stolen, have her sold into prostitution, get married and being kidnapped to get money from dear dad. She is a bit of a dimwit. All in comedy style. Eventually, Qin Ge shows up in a gambling contest that is more like a game show contest - there are a few modern references in the film. She also has a fiancé she has never met - Yang Fan - who comes looking for her. He is played by Yuen Tak. Not the best known of the Seven Little Fortunes with Jackie, Sammo, Yuen Biao and Corey Yuen but he is extremely talented. He never made it as a leading man (but was an action director on many films), generally showing up in small parts - so it is a pleasure to see him with a major part and a number of action scenes in this one. Si-si calls him Monkey and in fact he has a small resemblance to one, especially when he is jumping from one spot to another. Chen Kwan-tai is of course one of the top Shaw Brother's martial actors and between him and Yuen Tak there is some quality action. I just wish I had been more into the comic elements.