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Of Fists and Swords – Kaleidoscope of Hong Kong Martial Arts Films

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Action films have always been one of the world‘s most popular film genres, and Hong Kong is a rare example of an industry that has challenged Hollywood‘s dominance in this area, successfully establishing a strong action film tradition of its own.

Deftly capitalising on its cultural resources, Hong Kong developed its own distinct style of wuxia, martial arts, and action films, which not only ruled the local box office, but also garnered an international following and have been immensely influential on world, not least Hollywood, action cinema.

After the Second World War, Hong Kong absorbed influences from 1920s and 1930s Mainland‘s wuxia film series such as The Burning of Red Lotus Temple and Swordswoman of Huangjiang, as well as many of their talents. 1949 marked a turning point with The Story of Wong Fei-hung, Part I: Wong Fei-hung‘s Whip that Smacks the Candle, establishing a new southern martial arts film tradition. The series spawn numerous sequels, and its success helped make wuxia and martial arts films a key genre in Hong Kong cinema.

Renowned director Chang Cheh reinvigorated the genre in the 1960s with his hypermasculine aesthetic, paving the way for the 1970s martial arts and action craze. Bruce Lee‘s physical skills electrified audiences, thus heralding a wave of martial arts films emphasising performers‘ real martial arts chops. Aided by the expert action choreography of Lau Kar-leung and Tong Kai, Chang also helmed a series of imaginative, energetic Mandarin martial arts productions. Lau later transitioned into directing, devoting himself to showcasing his southern-style kung-fu authentically onscreen while continuously pushing the envelope on action choreography design. Hong Kong filmmakers continued to innovate, firstly with the development of action comedies and later by incorporating the gymnastic-style moves of Chinese wushu into their fight choreography.

Wuxia films also saw great leaps forward with continual improvements in filmmaking technology and effects, making possible an astonishing array of imaginative action scenes, ranging from the graceful to the eerie and the ferocious. Even before the digital age, filmmakers used extensive wirework, practical effects, and other techniques from abroad to conjure epic fantasy scenes of flying swords and magical combat. Instead of simple back-and-forth blows between opponents, fight scenes now in recent decades involve more risk-taking, dangerous location-based stunts, and creative improvisations—so as to send audiences‘ hearts racing. Indeed, the unique, multi-faceted nature of Hong Kong martial arts films stems from such determination to constantly reinvent the wheel.

As part of the Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival 2024, ‘Of Fists and Swords—Kaleidoscope of Hong Kong Martial Arts Films‘ brings together 23 wuxia and martial arts films from the 1970s onwards, grouped under six sections: ‘Tales of Chivalry‘ is a collection of period martial arts films with imaginative takes on the world of wuxia. While ‘Fists of Fury‘ showcases the authentic, hard-hitting martial skills of some of Hong Kong‘s greatest action stars, in ‘Yin Over Yang‘ we revisit the key works of the action heroines. ‘Entertaining Remixes‘ features genre crossovers where action meet comedy and fantasy and in ‘Legends Reimagined‘, we see how the real-life stories of martial arts grandmasters get interpreted as onscreen heroes. Finally, in ‘Behind-the-Scenes Stories‘, the all-too-often neglected experiences of action choreographers and stunt performers are given the spotlight. With the martial arts fantasy epic Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) (4K Digitally Restored Version) as its opening film, and closing with The Grandmaster (2013), an arthouse take on the genre, ‘Of Fists and Swords‘ showcases some of Hong Kong‘s most representative martial arts films. Apart from highlighting the evolution of action design and choreography over the years, the programme also demonstrates the diversity and vibrancy of one of Hong Kong cinema‘s key genres.

The contents of the programme do not represent the views of the presenter. The presenter reserves the right to change the programme should unavoidable circumstances make it necessary.

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Image Credit: Hong Kong Film Archive