Film: Kung Fu Hustle
Release date: 24th October 2005
Certificate: 15
Running time: 95 mins
Director: Stephen Chow
Starring: Stephen Chow, Xiaogang Feng, Wah Yuen, Zhi Hua Dong, Kwok-Kwan Chan
Genre: Action/Comedy/Crime/Fantasy/Martial Arts
Studio: Sony
Format: DVD
Country: China/Hong Kong
In 2001, Stephen Chow wrote, directed and starred in Shaolin Soccer, a fusion of sport, action and comedy unlike any other. The film took audiences by storm to become the highest grossing domestic film in the history of Hong Kong cinema. He then surpassed himself with 2004’s Kung Fu Hustle, breaking his own box office record and exploding into the consciousness of Western filmgoers and critics alike, with the film becoming the highest grossing foreign-language film of 2005.
Set in 1930s Shanghai, the film follows a lowly street mugger named Sing (Chow) and his hapless sidekick, Bone (Chi Chung Lam), who dream of the glamour and riches associated with becoming card carrying members of the notorious Axe Gang, who in a time of economic and social unrest, have risen up and taken control of the city. The residents of the slum area Pig Sty Alley, however, have so far been safe from the clutches of the gang, until Sing’s attempt to blackmail them while posing as a fully fledged member attracts some unwanted attention. Unbeknownst to Sing and the Axe’s boss, Brother Sum (Bruce Lee look-a-like Danny Chan), many of the Alley’s occupants are Kung Fu masters, determined to defend their home and drive the gang out of the area.
Not to be humiliated, the Axe Gang enlist the help of a pair of murderous musicians to dispatch the masters from the slum. After ridding Pig Sty Alley of their strongest defence, they grudgingly accept Sing as one of their own, using his lock picking skills to break out the world’s best killer, The Beast (Siu-Lung Leung), to finally claim the Alley for themselves. Little do they know that their abuse of Sing unlocks his dormant power, as he becomes ‘The One’ and brings the fight back to The Beast and the Axe Gang…
With Kung Fu Hustle, Chow has created one of the most unique martial arts films in memory, shamelessly fusing laugh out loud comedy with CGI enhanced combat. The film’s greatest asset is Chow himself, playing Sing with a mix of genuine emotion and superb comic timing, without overshadowing the supporting cast. His presence is an amalgamation of Buster Keaton and Bruce Lee, using his pitch-perfect script and stunning choreography to cement his place as the undisputed king of Hong Kong cinema. His grasp of cinematic language shines with his knowing references to Western pop-culture and films from The Matrix (as The Beast catches a slow motion bullet in his fingers) to The Shining (the jailbreak sequence when the sea of blood crashes down the hall). A memorable shot shows him attempting to mug his love-interest, mimicking the background poster for Fred Astaire and Ginger Roger’s Top Hat, proving Chow’s interest in Western cinematic tradition.
His supporting cast also prove to be indispensible, with many members returning from Shaolin Soccer. Danny Chan’s Brother Sum is played as a sociopathic psycho, seething with unpredictability, going from shooting a woman in the back to strutting through an impromptu dance number - the perfect foil for Sing’s charm. Bone, on the other hand, is lovable and hapless, like a Chinese Nick Frost. These central performances add to the film’s broad appeal, providing audiences with plenty of easily identifiable, colourful characters.
The 1930s setting allows Chow to draw from the aesthetic conventions of Hollywood cinema. The Axe Gang’s sharp suits and nightclub lair are all very reminiscent of Hollywood gangster films of the era, creating an interested juxtaposition with the martial arts. The music is swing and jazz influenced, fuelling the inspired setting. Chow uses a very rich palette of colours as signifiers for the narrative, with the Axe Gang’s club bathed in red, and the Alley constantly under a blue sky. The bad guys wear black and dark colours mirroring the white of the Alley’s residents, exemplifying Chow’s use of traditional cinematic conventions.
The whole film is heavily stylised, the tone seamlessly switching from dark and violent to a live-action cartoon (especially in the Roadrunner inspired chase sequence). The combat is outrageously over the top, utilising wire work and CGI to create humanly impossible scenarios. The fight between the Alley’s three masters and the musician hit men is especially spectacular, as the harpists fire sonic projectiles from their instrument which manifest as swords and eventually as a ghostly undead army. There is a complete breakaway from standard martial arts tradition, with Chow really playing with the genre to create something truly unique, and, of course, riotously entertaining, without the constraints of physical ability. He has admitted that he is by no means a martial arts master, but uses his (and his cast’s) nevertheless impressive skill and performance enhancing special effects to great effect.
Unfortunately, some of the computer generated effects look slightly dated (the film is only six years old) and, on occasion, draw the attention away from the action. One gag in particular, where Sing is bitten on the lips by poisonous snakes causing them to massively swell up, falls flat mainly because of the poorly executed CGI. This is, however, a very minor flaw, and one that can be easily ignored by the class and entertainment of the rest of the film.
With tongue firmly in cheek, Chow has created a fusion of genres the likes of which is rarely seen. Cartoon violence and physical comedy combine with over the top martial arts action to create a cinematic experience which fuses Eastern sensibilities with Western pop culture, proving that the language of cinema really can transcend cultural boundaries and speak volumes to audiences all over the world. Wildly entertaining and an insane amount of fun, Kung Fu hustle is a must-see for anyone, not just fans of martial arts or Eastern cinema. RB
