San De huo shang yu Chong Mi Liu

Breaking barriers and setting new standards in on-screen fight choreography, Sammo's directorial debut is a must for any chop socky aficionado, and although not his best work (a warm up to Warriors Two), it can easily stand proudly amongst them. It's hodgepodge of a story acts as a boiling pot of escalating annihilation, until exploding in a fury of that unique fast and colourful Sammo choreography that we just love so much. Centring on the real-life legend of 'Miller Six' (Sammo), Iron Fisted Monk is driven by a powerful anti-Manchu narrative that feels relentless in its onslaught (they rape, kill, maim and pillage, not to mention bully little kiddies). Miller Six's uncle is killed, he learns the martial arts at the local Shaolin temple, and then off he goes for vengeance. And it's really as simple as that. This is a great movie - well choreographed (by Sammo), well directed (by Sammo) and with some great performances (especially that scoundrel Fung Hark-on who's simply irresistible as a downright evil Manchu warlord).

In some ways, it was a memorable film. It wasn't noticeably good or shockingly bad, but it had a few unusual scenes that will certainly surprise and unsettle the viewer. It is not your regular kung fu flick even though it had it all: bad guys, good guys, fights between the two and humour between the fights. For one, it also had descriptive rape scenes. I can't remember a Chinese kung fu film with sex being shown in such a crude way, clothes being ripped off, breasts popping out, lewd smirks on the rapist face and ultimately, the victim's death.

That gave the film a startling and awkward contrast with the lighter scenes. A little after the sister of one of the lead characters died following a tragic chain of events, we see that same man, who seemed to be on a quest for revenge, playing around with the idea of going to a brothel with a monk. As this shows, the characters had little consistency -- and little cohesion too, even though Sammo Hung's character was supposed to be the hero, the perspective was shifting so much eventually that it felt difficult to isolate one character as the subject.

Bad guys received more and more screen time, secondary characters came forth while the lead wandered off. The only appropriate way to clear up this profusion of central characters was to have them all kill each other. And so is what the script did. Confrontations suddenly pick up speed, people die en masse, "patience", which virtually was the only reason holding back everyone to settle the scores is no more, thrusting the remaining characters into the grand finale, a somewhat intimate fight between the toughest and the nastiest characters, whose unrestrained sadism had been cultivated during the infamous rapes.

As if in response to these extreme scenes, the makers chose to end with another extreme, gory violence. Like it or not, it does feel fair, but fair as in a talion. Without these short sadistic bouts that seemed borrowed from American exploitation films of the time, it would have been a pretty unremarkable kung fu story. The fights, well-choreographed and using the classic animal postures dear to a long kung fu tradition, are however terribly choppy, to the point that you could easily time the moves "one-two, one-two" as they are performed. Iron-Fisted Monk is not a good kung fu film to start with, it is an oddity that will be met with greater interest by longtime B-movie amateurs.

Sammo stars as a man who is learning kung fu so that he can fight the Manchus. The directing from Sammo is good, the camera-work is brilliant, the story is decent, and the fights are very good for 1977. Fung Hak-on plays the main villain, and Yen Shi Kwan and Chien Yuet San play his top 2 henchmen. Always nice to see those 3 in action. Chen Sing has a small role and unfortunately he doesn't get to show off his handwork as much as he usually does. But he's still a great actor so I liked his role. If you have seen most of Sammo's movies and are looking for something else to feed your Sammo craving, then give this a try.

Picture and sound quality on the 20th century Fox DVD are good.

Excellently crafted kung-fu film dealing with the conflict between the Manchus and the Shaolin monks. We see the barbaric actions of the Manchus from early on in the film, and the tension builds quite steadily until there is only one option left: fight to the death.

Sammo is brilliant as usual and his directorial talent can be identified in this film clearly. His martial artistry is great and his strength improves as things get more desperate. His use of the spear in the final reel is awesome. Also, watch out for the snake-fist styles towards the end.

That said, this is a pretty challenging film in that it portrays senseless and random abuse towards women and children - well pretty much the whole village really. But I guess it makes the revenge angle all that much sweeter... and righteous: (Buddha be praised).

TW: Descriptions of sexual assault.

'The Iron-Fisted Monk (1977)' is Sammo Hung's directorial debut. It tells the story of a man who leaves his training at the Shaolin temple early so he can seek revenge on the Manchu bannermen who hurt his uncle. That's the setup, at least. The majority of the movie actually focuses on a group of dye workers who come into conflict with the aforementioned bannermen, as well as one in particular who seeks his own revenge after his sister is raped, and sees its main character (who isn't the eponymous monk) become involved with their plight as part of his own journey. It's a darker film than most of Hung's others, but it still has a fluctuating tone and several comedic moments sprinkled throughout its relatively brisk runtime. However, the problem with this is that - unlike with some other movies in the genre which manage to balance humour with heft - its comedy directly clashes with its more serious, sometimes downright upsetting elements and feels really out of place. In fact, the humour almost comes across as downright disrespectful, especially in the wake of a truly horrific rape scene that's way more graphic than it needs to be. Hung simply refuses to cut away from the assault, forcing us to watch it through to its completion. The scene is clearly meant to make us hate the antagonist (literally credited as just "rapist bandit"), but it definitely didn't need to be as overt as it is. It leaves a sour taste in the mouth, for sure, and it actively dampens the impact of the overall affair.

In general, Hung's direction is confident and considered. For a lot of the affair, it's dependable but unremarkable. In the climax, though, his skills behind the camera really become apparent, alongside his skills in front of it. The finale, which is easily the best part of the picture, features two heroes against many villains, and the camera makes a point of flowing between both of them evenly. Unlike in similar films with simultaneous fights (including the generally superior The Magnificent Butcher (1979)), the set-piece manages to make it feel as though both are actually occurring at the same time. The fighters don't just pause when they're off-screen, as indicated by the purposeful jumps in choreography when the camera returns to one battle or the other, and there are some shots which have both sets of combatants in the frame, establishing the scene's geography and making the composition more interesting by pulling focus from foreground to background when necessary. It all culminates in a two-on-two segment which keeps all four fighters in frame and has them seamlessly swap between foes on occasion, creating a complex ballet of blows that's exciting to behold. The marriage of choreography and camera work is what makes Hung's debut truly stand out, marking the finale as an entertaining and well-crafted slice of action cinema that encompasses everything you think of when these creators first come to mind.

It's a shame the rest of the film doesn't live up to this segment. Rape scene notwithstanding, the plot is relatively ambling and not all that engaging. A loose narrative is common within the genre, but it's more noticeable here because this picture's comedy falls so short (you don't feel like you should be laughing at it, and it's not funny enough to break through that barrier). Plus, its story is really generic and its characters aren't all that interesting. Still, it's typically engaging enough to keep you watching and its action is always enjoyable. Its brutality is disarming on occasion, even if it's way too unpleasant at certain points, and it's always a joy to watch Hung do what he's best at. It's not a bad effort overall, and the fact that Hung would go on to direct some certifiable classics using lessons learned while making it certainly makes up for its shortcomings. Its finale truly is fantastic, too. It's not Hung's best, but it's a decent experience that's almost worth watching for its climax alone.