I enjoyed this. I'd be interested in more martial arts (I've hardly seen any -- Kill Bill inspired this). The problem I foresee is cheesiness: even modern instances with convincing production, like Ip Man and Kill Bill, suffer via hyperbolic characters, and that's not to mention older instances with production worthy of a modern middle-schooler (I've seen a couple Bruce Lee clips). So I mean even with advanced choreography and sound effects, as in the aforementioned two, I'm still wanting the subtlety of other movies I consider "good". Has martial arts film gotten there? Should I try Crouching Tiger?
The fighting in Ip Man was just what I needed. Its brutality was selective and timely -- I don't need the constant cringe of Kill Bill; its combat narrative and choreography were awesome yet grounded -- Ip Man against a mob never felt as far-fetched as The Bride against the Crazy 88. Of course it was exaggerated, but consistently so, true to its tone.
I just wish the surrounding drama was subtler. An all-around convincing martial arts movie could be a powerful thing.
After a little research, it seems Enter the Dragon and Crouching Tiger are the two martial arts films I should most heed -- which I anticipated. Oldboy showed up, but is that a martial arts movie? Seven Samurai also appeared, which I've seen, but hardly remember.
The best pure filmmaker in the genre is probably King Hu. Chang Cheh and Lau Kar-leung are also good options. The weird part of these movies is that English-dubbed copies tend to be more accessible than Chinese audio w/ subtitles.
ReplyDeleteSome good options:
Come Drink with Me
Golden Swallow
The One-Armed Swordsman
A Touch of Zen
Eight Diagram Pole Fighter
The last 2 are the type of thing I'd hope would make S&S 2022. The former may have a chance actually.
I'll assume by "accessible" you mean easier to get your hands on, not easier to enjoy, and that you prefer the original audio plus subtitles over the dub.
DeleteThese recommendations are great to have. A Touch of Zen showed up a few times in my brief research, and the title was attractive, but I was really biased toward things I'd heard of. Not so anymore, given your comment, although I was also a little biased against older movies. I don't feel the need to watch a ton of WWE-level fake fighting. But if that's where the good film is, I'll certainly suspend judgment. I just want quality fighting inside quality film. 21st century movies seemed most promising, but I'm willing to try. Maybe the production isn't even that bad.
Yeah, some of these HK movies can be difficult to find if streaming is the only option. All of these are available in good quality though. If you have trouble finding anything lmk
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