Le Maître chinois

This for me is Jackie Chan's finest, and is the film which propelled him to super stardom in Hong Kong. Whilst other martial artists were trying to be the new Bruce Lee, Jackie did something different. Why replace the irreplaceable when you could do something completely different? What Jackie did was introduce slapstick into the Kung Fu formula, the rest as they say is history.

Jackie stars as Freddy Wong aka (Wong Fei Hung) depending upon which dub you watch. A juvenile delinquent with a penchant for feeling up immediate female members of his family. His father, fed up of his delinquency hires Sam Seed aka The Drunken Master to teach him some discipline as well as his secret fighting style. Naturally the two get off on the wrong foot but learn to respect each other as the film goes on whilst of course getting into the obligatory scrapes and japes. There is of course a villain of the piece in this case its the Tae Kwan Do master Hwang Jan Lee as the underworld assassin "Thunderfoot" who in real life was just as badass as he is in the film.

So it's all pretty derivative then? Well yes and no. There is a genuine rapport between Jackie and Yu Su Tien as pupil and teacher. The martial arts is brilliantly choreographed and inventive (the scene in the restaurant is probably my favourite) and the whole thing has a "joie de vivre". Watching it, it seems to me that the actors had a ball making the film. Which is just as well as I had a ball watching it.

I am not very familiar with the true story of Wong Fei Hung. I've read about him before, and from memory, he was an exceptional martial artist (he practiced Hung-Gar) and became a folk-hero to the people of China, much like his father, Wong Kei Ying. So there is the true story, and then there is the 200 or so movies made about him. 'Drunken Master' is one of these.

I haven't seen most of those 200 movies, except for the Drunken Master movies, Jet Li's 'Once Upon a Time in China' series, and 'Iron Monkey'. The 'Once Upon a Time in China' movies and 'Iron Monkey' may be somewhat over-the-top wu xia movies, but they portray Wong Fei Hung as a serious hero. 'Drunken Master' features a very different take on the character.

Jackie Chan's Wong Fei Hung is a rebellious trouble-maker. His father, Wong Kei Ying, has given up on disciplining him, and sends him to his uncle, So Hai, the master of drunken boxing, hoping that a year of training with So Hai will sort Fei Hung out. Fei doesn't seem to learn his lesson until a chance encounter with Thunderfoot (Hwang Jang Lee)...

Story-wise, it is a bit of a standard kung-fu plot. However, in a documentary on Jackie Chan (I can't remember the name, I know that as of this review, it isn't listed on IMDb, but it was shown on SBS in 2003), 'Drunken Master' was mentioned as his breakthrough hit that nearly killed his career: Apparently Chinese viewers were insulted by Jackie's portrayal of Wong Fei Hung and nearly boycotted him when he was just gaining fame as an actor.

Onto more important matters. Like kung-fu. 'Drunken Master' is one of the kung-fu classics. Boosted by the presence of martial-arts star Hwang Jang Lee, this pretty much made or solidified the careers of Jackie Chan and Yuen Woo Ping (in his directorial debut). 'Drunken Master' features some very well choreographed fights and training scenes. 'Drunken Master' is very funny too, and is one of two movies I know where a young main-character gets beaten by an older middle-aged lady (which is always funny, more movies need a scene like this) - the other movie is Battlefield Baseball.

As a matter of interest for Jackie Chan fans: 'Drunken Master' signaled the end of Jackie Chan's work with director Wei Lo. Yay. In fact, the Columbia Tristar DVD release of 'Drunken Master' includes audio commentary by experts on Hong Kong cinema. I will check that out sometime, but it sounds like it would appeal to fans of kung-fu movies. Some more trivia - the latest release doesn't have the complete Cantonese sound track, and so the English dub is used where the Cantonese track is incomplete.

'Drunken Master' features awesome kung-fu scenes, and has some interesting historical perspectives. Ah, kung-fu movies and history, some of my favourite hobbies together at last - 10/10, a must see for any fans of Jackie Chan or kung-fu movies, 'Drunken Master' is kung-fu perfection.

Wong Fei-hung as a young man has a reputation different from that awaiting him as an adult. With a nickname of Naughty Panther, Fei-hung is in constant trouble with people and, no matter his intentions to help out just makes things worse for himself. When his father has had enough he sends Fei-hung away to be trained by a wine-guzzling master Su who is not only famed for his 8-Drunken Genii style but also for crippling many of his students. Fei-hung tries to get away from this fate but it is not long till his drunken teacher tracks him down and teaches him, whether he likes it or not. However, when he is humbled by the mighty killer Thunderleg, he decides to train to be better no matter what it takes.

I've not given up on modern releases totally but a real death-march of uninspiring films of late has seen me using my DVD rental subscription to get in touch with older films and also genres that do not often show up on my basic TV package. Recently this has seen me getting some old-school martial arts films and of course Drunken Master had to be one of the first to be seen. When watching it, it is important that you keep your genre frame of reference because as a "film" (with no riders or expectations) it could be dismissed as having no substance to speak of - an accusation that I myself level at many blockbusters that offer me nothing to engage with. In this case though one does have to wonder if it matters because in terms of pure entertainment value there is just about sufficient story to pull a basic frame together for an amusing and exciting film.

I say this because the plot doesn't do much other than set up the many fight sequences that the film has and really these are the reason why we are all here. Without exception, these are technically and visually impressive. The physical strength and control of the actors is just as impressive as the choreography and, unlike modern films, the camera sits back so we can see and doesn't get into the close and frantic editing which reveal the actor perhaps could only do one short movement at a time and needed lots of help from the camera. Speaking of camera movement, one of the joys of the film is to see what has now become the genre-defining zooms in on faces and other such clichés.

Speaking of which, the acting also fits this mould as it is the wonderful OTT style of acting, with big hair and exaggerated performances that owe a debt to silent cinema. Chan is not at his funniest here (partly because his character necessitates a degree of arrogance that takes away a little) but he is still very comic and self-effacing in his comedy. He is well supported by Yuen, who is also very skilled and able to do comedy, while Hwang's villain is wonderfully 1970's martial arts and full of camp menace. The support cast features some familiar faces who bring stuff to the table such as the high-kicking Linda Lin and the amusing Dean Shek.

Drunken Master is very much a genre film and those who do not like the conventions of the genre should not be too shocked to find that they don't like it here. However for martial arts fans and the casual viewer, this is a great film with plenty of brilliant action blended with a genial and comic tone that allows it to be solid good fun.

Directed by legendary kung fu choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping, Drunken Master is considered by many martial arts fans to be one of the best films of Jackie Chan's career, but while it certainly displays the star's kung fu and acrobatic ability to great effect, and is a thoroughly enjoyable watch, I found the plot just a little too generic (and the comedy a little too broad) to rate it any higher than an 8 (I actually give it a 7.5, but I've rounded my score up for IMDb).

There really is very little going on here in terms of storyline, and what there is most seasoned fans of old school martial arts fans will have seen countless times before: a young upstart, Wong Fei-Hung (Chan), causes trouble in his local town and is sent by his disappointed father to train with a kung fu master, Beggar Su (Siu Tin Yuen). Beggar Su's techniques are harsh but very effective, so when an assassin named Thunderfoot (Hwang Jang Lee) is hired to kill Fei-Hung's father, the young man is able to step in and save the day.

Jackie Chan's comedic style is very much in evidence here, with buffoonery, slapstick action, and fart and poo gags, plus quite a few characters with peculiar facial features (a hairy mole, a red nose, drawn on freckles and goofy teeth), and the humour will not appeal to all (I nearly always struggle with Chinese comedy). Thankfully, the excellent fighting more than makes up for the silliness, with Jackie performing some mind-bogglingly amazing feats of physical prowess, making the absolute most of his Chinese Circus training. He leaps, he flips, he tumbles, he kicks, and he punches, performing snake style, monkey style and—of course—drunken style, all with incredible energy, speed and split second timing; it's absolutely breathtaking to behold.

Naturally, Beggar Su and Thunderfoot are no slouches in the chop socky department either, the old drunken beggar pulling off some very cool moves against a baddie called The Stick King (Hsia Hsu) and Thunderfoot more than living up to his title: with his technique 30% hands and 70% legs, Hwang Jang Lee is given plenty of opportunity to show off his legendary kicking skills. Also very impressive in her small role as Wong Fei Hung's auntie is Linda Lin Ying: I don't know much about her, but the one fight scene she shares with Jackie is quite stunning—her flexibility and leg control made my jaw drop (I must check out some of the other titles in her filmography—Dance of the Drunk Mantis also stars Hwang Jang Lee, so that would seem like an obvious place to start).

Now I saw "Legend of Drunken Master" first which is a kung-fu film that blew my mind because of it's awesomeness. And since this film didn't seem all that notorious, I shunned this one sorta. Despite it being the film with Jackie Chan showing his drunken boxing and being kind of a pioneer of that style. I just wasn't expecting this film to be so darn entertaining. Sure, it doesn't have that much resources going for it. But Jackie did just about everything physically possible. And it really did pay off. I also wasn't expecting such high comedic moments even for a Jackie Chan film and I was wrong in every way. This film has all that trademark Jackie Chan elements and it's highly entertaining and humorous. Sure it is kind of cheesy but it actually works for a film like this. And for a Kung-fu flick from the 70's it seemed to be ahead of it's time. I was either smirking or laughing most of the way through while watching this amazing kung-fu film. The plot does seem a bit random at times and more bonding parts with Jackie Chan and the Drunken Master would have been cool. This is like the way better version of "The Karate Kid", comparing because it does have slight similarities. Except this film came first. The creativity in this is also top notch, especially when it comes to the fight sequences. This film was made during the prime of Jackie Chan and it does show what Jackie is capable physically and athletically. I saw this with English Dub and despite Jackie's British accent, it wasn't bad. "Drunken Master" is one of Jackie Chan's best.

8.4/10