Kung-Fu Wednesday | Lesson 6

Early Wuxia

This week we’re going to travel back again into early wuxia traditions, this time hitting on one of the first recognized wuxia films. Wuxia is not just historical martial arts, but often combines other elements that make them typical to the genre. Besides the typical Wushu style fighting, humor and against-the-odds plot, the other elements often are:

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Golden Swallow

Disguise and/or mistaken identity
Revenge
Rescue
Hidden masters
Romance
Protagonist near superpowers
Mundane (but threatening) antagonists

MOVIE RECOMMENDATION

come drink with me box web 201x300 Kung Fu Wednesday | Lesson 6 This week, Come Drink With Me, if you please. “Come Drink With Me” nails every traditional wuxia element and also happens to feature a strong female co-protagonist.

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The inn gets tense

Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei Pei) is sent to negotiate for the release of her brother from a rival army. The meetings takes place at an inn where Golden Swallow is disguised. We hear disrespect from the rival army regarding Golden Swallow (and if my DVD translation was correct, ambiguity regarding her sex) but an underlying fear. When circumstances lead to her being revealed, all hell breaks loose as

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Drunken Cat

Golden Swallow makes sure that she lives up to her reputation. During the battle she meets a drunk by the name of, well, Drunken Cat (Elliot Ngok). Drunken Cat is later revealed to be the master of a kung-fu school and he and Golden Swallow team up to save her brother and kick all kinds of ass.

Many special powers are featured from each of the forces and the ending as as good as any wuxia film ever made. “Come Drink With Me” is certainly a classic and a must watch for a Kung-Fu movies lesson!

Bonus Lesson

The excellent resource kungfucinema.com had an entry regarding a new book on the wuxia tradition called ‘The Wuxia Tradition’ by Stephen Teo. I plan on checking it out. Link to the article below.

Author Stephen Teo explores ‘The Wuxia Tradition’ « Kung Fu Cinema.