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Wuxia Movies 101
Straits Times , 19 Jan 2003 by Perfect Serendipity and Precious Cloud
Where would wuxia movies and TV dramas we know and love without these all-too familiar scenarios? Sunday Life! lists 10 of them after raiding the archives.
The Ambush in the Inn Sojourning swordsmen need to eat and sleep too. So what better place for their enemies to get frisky with them than at a tavern in the middle of nowhere?
Scene: Hero orders small dishes (xiaocai). Ugly customers around glower, preparing oversized weapons under the table. Hero eats coolly. A particularly fat and ugly enemy pugilist comes over. Food is over turned and wasted.
Note: The inn must be spacious and split-level, so assailants can leap from the upper floors and rearrange all the furniture in the process.
Cross-Dressing I In those pre-modern days, any heroine worth her sabre has to disguise herself in men's clothing as she roams the jianghu, in order to avoid suspicion and trouble. Despite this, the audience can always tell that she is a woman. The doe eyes and willowy figure are huge giveaways to all except the hero she fancies.
Cross-Dressing II A woman dressing up as a man is a good thing: she is the heroine out to avenge her brother/father/shifu (master). A man dressing up as a woman is bad news. He is the evil castrato, with high-pictchked voice and terrible make-up.
The Mark of the Enemy Sometimes, heroes do not recognise that the pugilist who spring at them is from a rival sect, until a sign is given. It could be an actual mark, like claw-like imprint which won't wash off. Or it could be a particularly devilish series of leaps and thrusts. Whatever it is, when the realisation dawns on the hero, there is a pause, followed by throbbing music and an exclamation such as "So you are from Wudang pai (sect)!"
Secret Weapons Poisoned darts are a favourite. So is the xie dizi - a flying, wide-brimmed hat that decapitates victims. But the most covert, and effective, move must be knowing exactly which pressure points to strike, so immobilising your victim in mid-kick and making him look stupid. An inspiration to acupuncturists.
The Dirty Beggar Or dirty street-side performer. Or dodgy medicine man. Whoever he is, he always turns out to be a skilled pugilist who helps the hero out or challenges him.
Cave Men A dark cave, cut off from the world, is a source of great revelations for a hero who has fallen off a cliff and thought to be dead. Invariably, he finds a secret manual, or something which imparts him a new and powerful skill. He spends the next few years learning it in seclusion, and emerges from the cave transformed.
Seduction 101 Couples are never shown making out in wuxia movies. So how do they get some action? The sinister way is to drug the girl by plying her with lots of fragrant wine. The sporty way is to have the couple come to blows with each other, ostensibly as enemies, and get the sexual tension out through headlocks and much rolling on the ground. The literary way is to have the lovers writing calligraphy together on a scroll, the man standing behind the woman to guide her.
Repression 101 Heroes are married to the job and its code of honour. More often than not, the chivalrous dude will rescue the girl from lascivious brigands but never once lay a hand on her. He may, subsequently, hover around her house and spout poetic lines comparing her to peony. Intrigued, she will pine for his touch and give him her handkerchief as a parting gift when he returns to the jianghu. Sigh.
Deathbed Information It is amazing what a dying person can tell the hero while gasping for breath, before his limbs stiffen and a trickle of blood rolls down the side of his mouth. His revelations may include the identify of his killer, disclosure of a spy, incredibly detailed instructions on how to get a secret manual - or all of the above.
Five Breakthrough Films
One-Armed Swordsman (1967) Chang Cheh's violent wuxia film put wu (martial arts) above xia (heroism). It made a killing for Shaw Brothers at the box office and set the template for bloody, vengeance-themed Hongkong actioners for the next three decades. It left its mark on Bruce Lee movies, for instance, and turned its leading man, Jimmy Wang Yu, into a star.
A Touch of Zen (1971) King Hu's masterwork, with Hsu Feng as the swordswoman of its Chinese title, gave the swordplay film a touch of art-house respectability. It was also the first Chinese movie to win a Cannes accolade - for special effects - in 1975.
Ashes of Time (1994) Wong Kar Wai's avant-garde prequel to wuxia novel Legend of The Condor Heroes subverts the traditions of swordplay movies by showing brief, stylised fight sequences which were shot using unnatural camera speeds. But what he and his cinematographer Chris Doyle caught was the drifting loneliness and insecurity of human relationships.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) Lee Ang's Oscar-winning movie smashed American box-office records - it was the first non-English film to make more than US$100 million and it launched the career of ingénue Zhang Ziyi.
Hero (2002) The wuxia genre comes full circle with Zhang Yimou's anti-carnage meditation on nature of heroism. Hero has become the most watched domestic movie in China grossing 200 million yuan. It has sold more tickets - but at a lower price - than all-time box-office winner Titanic there.
Man with Many Faces
Sunday Life looks at the many faces of the pugilistic hero in novels, movies and TV shows.
The Goody-goody He is the disciple of a well-known master and has to live up to his master's name. He almost always does the right thing, except when he meets Miss Right - and lets her down. Examples: Chen Jialuo of Romance of the Book and Sword; Li Mubai in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Zhuo Yihang in The Bride with White Hair.
The Rebel He is a bit of a bad boy who shocks polite pugilistic society by dating his teacher or hanging out with babes who bare their legs in the public. Example: Yang Guo in Return of the Condor Heroes; Linghu Chong in Swordsman (Xiao Ao Jiang Hu aka State of Divinity).
The Real Deal A man's man who personifies hao (gallantry). He can outwit, outfight, and outdrink his peers, and he loves truly, madly and deeply. Examples: Hu Yidao in Flying Fox of Snowy Mountains; and Qiao Feng in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, who, alas, kills the love of his life by mistake and comes to a tragic end.
The Brainy Beauty Or the girl who has everything. She is pretty, well-versed in martial arts, and brighter than her man. Sometimes, she goes to his rescue, too. Examples: Huang Rong in Legend of the Condor Heroes; Zhao Min in Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre; and Ren Yingying in Swordsman (State of Divinity).
The Heart-breaker Men find his fighting skills deadly. Women find his charm deadly. Examples: Chu Liuxiang in Chu Liuxiang; and Duan Zhengchun in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils.
The Eccentric An otherwise excellent man obsessed with such trivial pursuits as music, chess, calligraphy, painting and food. Sometimes, he takes time off his hobbies to mentor the hero. Examples: Beggar-gourmet Hong Qigong in Legend of the Condor Heroes; and swordsman-minstrel Mo Da in Swordsman.
The Anti-Hero He never masters martial arts. He never becomes a better person. He breaks all the rules known to polite pugilistic society. But he is the best friend you never had. Example: Wei Xiaobao in The Duke of the Mount Deer.
Why Make Wuxia TV Shows?
In the 1970s, Hongkong broadcasters ATV and TVB started a tradition of translating wuxia novels into small-screen series. Teleplay writers also came up with original swordplay dramas. Since then, the broadcasters in Taiwan, China and Singapore have jumped on the wuxia bandwagon. But why?
MediaWorks chief operating officer Man Shu Sum says there are three reasons for the trend. Firstly, the wuxia world is in a distant time, and script writers can let their imaginations run wild. "There's no need to consider if things make sense," he says.
Secondly, there is a long history of swordplay fiction - in the form of books and films - in the Chinese speaking world. "Everyone is interested in them," he notes.
Thirdly, wuxia dramas travel. For instance, whereas a series set in present-day Singapore might be too cultural-specific for viewers in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, a Singapore-made swordplay drama may be better-received in Greater China.
It is one reason that MediaWorks filmed Romance of the Book and Sword with Chinese and Taiwanese collaborators last year. The series cost HK$30 million to make and it premiered in Taiwan last year, before airing on Channel U in Singapore. In the works is a drama called Drunken Fists, which stars Nick Cheung and Anita Yuen, and, while it is not a swordplay series, it will feature fighting and a period setting.
Likewise, rival broadcaster MediaCorp, which has filmed wuxia shows such as Return of the Condor Heroes, is working on a new Chinese costume drama called Flying to the Moon, with Fann Wong and Christopher Lee. Bother Drunken Fists and Flying to the Moon are in production. The telecast dates for both have not been set. |
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