HK Cinema - 1949

The True Story of Wong Fei-hung was the first in a very lengthy and popular series depicting this Chinese folk hero. To some degree these films are the origin of the kung-fu films that were to follow. These are considered to be the first films in which actual martial arts were utilized and in which the actors were actually physically hitting one another.

Looking at them now the action feels very stylized and slow, but the actor who portrayed Wong Fei-hung, Kwan Tak-hing, was an accomplished martial artist. His last Wong Fei-hung film was in 1970. Others have of course carried the Wong Fei-hung mantle at times – Jackie Chan in his two Drunken Master films and Jet Li in the Once Upon a Time in China series are the best known.