Martial Arts Gold was a short season of classic Shaw Brothers martial arts films broadcast on Film4 in the UK each Friday from January 15th to February 5th. The films were presented at their original aspect ratio and in their original language, complete with English subtitles. I'll be putting together a review for each film in the season, as well as for the films shown in a second season due in March and April. The season continued with Come Drink With Me on January 29th - here's another belated review. Come Drink With Me (1966) {HKMDB] Directed by King Hu Starring Chang Pei-pei, Yueh Hua, Chan Hung-lit Today, martial arts films are generally thought of as one of cinema's most hyper-masculine genres, particularly so in the West. Films which focus on female characters are regarded as outliers, and actresses known for working in the genre – like Michelle Yeoh – are few and far between compared with their male counterparts. When it comes to classic Hong Kong action cinema, one of these outliers which is mentioned most commonly is King Hu's iconic 1966 film Come Drink With Me, which stars Chang Pei-pei. In reality, Come Drink With Me was not so unusual upon its release. Chang was one of numerous actresses working in martial arts films in Hong Kong at the time. Later, the director Chang Cheh would make his own mark on the genre with much more overtly masculine films which emphasised brotherhood, vengeance, and honour. Significantly, he would influence his successor (and sometimes assistant director) John Woo, who would create the contemporary and equally hyper-masculine “heroic bloodshed” genre in the 1980s. By then, coincidentally, the female action icon was again in ascendancy thanks to Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Rothrock, Cynthia Khan, and others. Notwithstanding a disappointing ending, King Hu's film is a terrific piece of cinema. Another of Shaw Brothers' most iconic productions, Come Drink With Me sees Chang's character “Golden Swallow” set out on a mission to secure the release of her kidnapped brother and bring his captors to justice. Chang Pei-pei is graceful, dynamic and generally superb, and the reasons for her enduring popular appeal (she returned to prominence in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000) are evident in every frame. One of the fascinating things about the film is King Hu's directorial approach. In contrast with the fairly static camera style typical of many later films in the genre, Come Drink With Me features a much more mobile and dynamic camera, without ever obscuring the action sequences. King Hu is now deservedly recognised as one of the most important directors in Chinese cinema history, and went on to make the similarly revered A Touch of Zen (1971) in Taiwan. Another of the elements in the film which makes it so successful is the presence of the supporting character “Drunken Cat”, played by Yueh Hua. A beggar, he travels around with a group of children singing songs at inns and. As Golden Swallow discovers, he also possesses some formidable skills in combat and subterfuge, and he becomes a key ally in the rescue mission. A scene in which Cat relays vital information to Golden Swallow while disguising it in a song is one of the most memorable sequences in Come Drink With Me. The film falters somewhat in a couple of respects – typically for a film of 1966 the choreography is a little unsophisticated and camera tricks conceal Chang Pei-pei's minimal fighting skill (in fact she was previously a dancer). Less forgivably, the finale is rather unfocused and leans too heavily on a subplot involving Drunken Cat which never quite demands attention. These issues aside, Come Drink With Me is a deservedly legendary entry in Shaw's canon. The Martial Arts Gold Season on Film4 January 15th: The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) January 22nd: King Boxer (1972) January 29th: Come Drink With Me (1966) February 5th: One-Armed Swordsman (1967) (Review coming soon)
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Weekly blog exploring classic science fiction, with a focus on the 1950s to the 1990s. |