Review:Disciples of the 36th Chamber

DISCIPLES is a latter instalment of Shaw’s popular 36th CHAMBER series, all of which featured Gordon Liu as San Te- a virtuous monk. DISCIPLES came along in 1985, which was just as the Shaw’s began to shift away from Kung Fu films, in favour of investing in foreign films (like BLADE RUNNER & GREYSTROKE: THE LEGEND OF TARZAN), and TV production. DISCIPLES was one of their last big films, and it remains a very difficult film to track down outside of Asia.

The film itself is a lot of fun. While it’s nowhere near as good as some of star Gordon Liu, and director Lau Kar Leung’s earlier work (8TH DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER- arguably their finest work, showed at the fest three years ago, and sent the audience into frenzy), it’s nonetheless a superior martial arts programmer.

Oddly enough, star Gordon Liu mostly takes a backseat to young Hsiao Ho, who plays Fong Sai Yuk- who was a real Chinese folk hero, and was later immortalized by Jet Li in a series of films in the early nineties. In the film, Fong Sai Yuk is a bit of a rascal, which is nice as it added a somewhat lighter touch to the increasingly sombre Shaw films of that era. In many ways, DISCIPLES is a comedy- although that doesn’t mean the film is short on martial arts action.

The climax of the film, in which San Te leads Fong, and several of his young pupils against the corrupt Manchu warriors, is as impressive as anything else I’ve seen in Shaw films, and one can easily see from these scenes why Gordon Liu is such a legend. I was lucky enough to be sitting right behind Liu throughout the film (an interview will be coming soon), and it was a real kick watching him react the film. He seemed to have a great time at the fest, and after the film- during a short Q & A, actually did a brief Kung Fu demonstration that left the normally boisterous audience speechless. Overall it was a hell of a way to kick off the festival- and I hope Liu will return next year.

As for the film- if you want to see it, the best way is probably to order a region 3 DVD off yesasia.com. The Shaw Bros. DVD’s from Celestial are all restored, and feature English subtitles.