One of my top three films of 2005 (along with Downfall and A History of Violence), Kung Fu Hustle follows on from writer/director/star Stephen Chow�s groundbreaking Shaolin Soccer with a more thoughtful, traditional and inspired feature. Still packed heavily with CG effects, the quality is much improved over Shaolin (though still markedly inferior to comparable American product), and in the 1940s Hong Kong wuxia setting Chow has crafted, far more relevant and believable.
Utilising the still-formidable skills of a bevy of seventies Hong Kong action stars, Hustle is the story of Sing (Chow), an incompetent petty criminal, whose stumbling attempt to fleece the inhabitants of Pig Sty Alley brings down the terrifying Axe Gang and unleashes all out war. Thankfully some of the residents have martial arts skills they have been hiding from one another, and in revealing their identities both repel the Axe Gang and bring down even more terrible repercussions upon themselves and their neighbours.
The style of the film is unmistakably Chow, and while CG is generally anathema to effective celluloid martial arts (for evidence see any American Jet Li movie), his frequent special effects intermissions are integral to the plot and to the early HK movies they pay homage to. Chow crafts a world which is almost exactly the same as ours, bar the incredible abilities of certain individuals who are blessed with large quantities of Qi (pronounced chi), sufficient to master complex Kung Fu styles at a speed and power mere mortals could never attain.
This is shown through a series of battles pacily spersed throughout the movie, each one involving people stronger and more incredible than the last. The fearsome Crocodile Gang is defeated by the Axe Gang, which in turn is beaten by three Kung Fu masters, who are then knocked off by greater masters, and they by legendary fighters and so on and so on. Throughout this sits Sing, the instigator, whose cowardly weakness is frequently shown as he seeks desperately to become an Axe Gang member. A surprisingly tender flashback reveals his descent into street thuggery, as his teenage attempts to save a young girl lead to a savage beating and the dissipation of his kung fu hero hopes. Despite this the audience is always given the not-too-subtle impression that Sing is destined for greater things, and that he will only require a gentle (or not so gentle in his case) push in that direction.
Chow�s direction is generally excellent, eschewing the usual problems that befall other HK luminaries (such as uneven pacing, poor quality film, and a focus on the fight scenes to the detriment of everything else). His writing is also of the highest order, crafting a new and vibrant movie out of a well-worn genre. His characters are uniformly memorable and well-rounded, and all of the actors look like they�re genuinely having fun in their roles. His decision to cast older, semi-forgotten stars has paid off in spades as they lend the necessary gravitas to characters who are supposed to be unassuming kung fu masters. The acting laurels in this case belong to Wah Yuen and Qiu Yuen, as the landlord and landlady or Pig Sty Alley respectively. Their blending of intense physical comedy, martial arts skills and raw emotion steals every scene.
It can easily be said that Stephen Chow has single-handedly rescued the dying Hong Kong film industry, stripped to the bone as it was by the British handover to Communist China and the subsequent fleeing of almost every box-office draw to the fairer shores of Hollywood. It�s taken a little time to straighten the house out again, but in Chow they have a young director of true potential, and a talisman to rebuild their once-famous and well-respected film industry. |
