Run Run Shaw was an entrepreneur. He didn’t see the artistry in cinema, he wanted to make money and lots of it. After monopolising cinema theatres across most of east Asia, primarily in Singapore and Malaysia (under the name Malay Film Productions in the run up to World War II), Run Run Shaw needed something to fill them with, and whilst there was always films to show, paying other studios money felt at odds for a man looking to make money in the film industry.
The film industry had relocated from Shanghai to Hong Kong, but post 1949 China was now cut off and Hong Kong (thanks to British rule) was an independent hotbed of creativity looking to feed an ever growing Chinese population outside of the borders of the mainland, even recognising the need to reach those in small communities in the West, because nearly every big city in the US of A had a China Town. In 1961, influenced by the Hollywood Studio system, Run Run Shaw created Movietown, a complex where all aspects of movie making could be completed, from sound dubbing to editing, studio space and even actor dormitories, everything anyone could ever need to make a movie right there in Clearwater Bay, Hong Kong. Pay cast and crew as little as possible but make sure they had access to the latest and best equipment, this was a license to print money, especially as he already had the theatres to show these movies in.
Whilst this works in principle, in practice it was something else. Run Run Shaw demanded that films were completed on time and within budget, not being interested in things like “Artistic Freedom” or “Unique Visions”, hence why directors such as King Hu and Jimmy Wang Yu (who had been an actor at the studio for many years) failed to stay, finding the constraints placed upon them too restrictive. One director that didn’t have such an issue was Chang Cheh, a director who could have several films on the go at the same time and yet still manage to get them all across the line on time and within budget. This isn’t to say that he didn’t have his moments of artistic flair, after all he directed the aforementioned Jimmy Wang Yu in the seminal “The One-Armed Swordsman” in 1967, but for the most part he was there to make sure that got things done, and at that there was nobody quite like him, and with 76 films crediting Chang Cheh as director with Shaw Brothers movies, that work ethos was richly rewarded.
This is what makes this Blu Ray set from Eureka such an oddity. Whilst it celebrates a Director that worked for a studio that had an incredible output between 1967 and 1983, let’s not mistake this for it being a celebration of an artist creating greatness, his classic films would often be due to the work of others (such as fight choreographer Lau Kar Leung, who worked on several Chang Cheh films and would later become one of the greatest Kung Fu cinema directors to ever grace the Jade Screen), but that is maybe where Chang Cheh’s real talent lay, recognising the talent and artistry in others and guiding it within a studio system that wasn’t interested in nurturing creativity.
10 films over 5 discs, stating with the historically guided but oddly told Men From The Monastery (1974) followed by the gala that is a “Who’s Who” of Honk Kong cinema for the time in Shaolin Martial Arts (1974), which as suggested previously feels for all intents and purposes like a Lau Kar Leung film. Then comes a fresh faced Ti Lung in a classic Wuxia tale of romance and swordsmanship in King Eagle (1971) which is doubled with Chen Kuan Thai sewing seeds of revolution whilst pondering philosophical ideas and giving pensive looks into the distance in Iron Bodyguard (1973).
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Next up is arguably the oddest inclusion, that being The Fantastic Magic Baby (1975), an abridged retelling of the classic Chinese opera The Ultimate Fight: The Red Boy Vs The Monkey King, a story taken right from the pages of the classic Chinese novel “Journey To The West” which many in the west will know as Monkey!. All the music and songs are removed and replaced with screen friendly action set pieces. The cast is also filled with actors for whom this is their only listed screen credit as they were renowned theatre performers. The feature itself is only approximately 60 minutes, but it does feature a 40 minute look at an actual Chinese opera performance (featuring parts from The Leopard King Vs The Monkey King). This is probably the hardest sell for anyone to watch as Chinese opera doesn’t really travel well, but as someone that has seen such a production live, I found this fascinating.
The unenviable task of being paired with The Fantastic Magic Baby falls to another Shaw Brothers oddity in The Weird Man (1983), another fantasy led actioner, but this time with a little more of a linear story and a lot less Chinese opera. This would also be Chang Cheh’s last film for the studio, despite continuing to direct films until 1993’s Ninja In Ancient China.
The next disc showcases two far more traditional Wuxia tales, the first being a classic slice (and dice) of Jimmy Wang Yu on the run having served revenge for the death of his father and living a life hiding from the authorities in The Trail Of The Broken Blade (1967). Sharing disc space is the David Chiang starring The Wandering Swordsman (1970) which sees our star tell others to suppress their feelings and smile, all the while hacking and slashing his way through an endless supply of villains.
Lastly there is another oddity, but one that is arguably the highlight of the entire set, Trilogy Of Swordsmanship (1972), a Shaw Brothers anthology film with each section being directed by different directors, these being Griffin Yueh (The Iron Bow), Chang Kang (The Tigress) and, of course, Chang Cheh (White Water Strand). Each section bringing a different flavour, with none of them outstaying their welcome.
The set concludes with what is the most frustrating film of the collection in The New Shaolin Boxers (1976). Starring Alexander Fu Sheng, this has all the hallmarks to have been one of the greats of Shaw Brothers, but let’s just say that decisions were made that robs its audience of a satisfying conclusion, this despite all the excellent work done to that point.
Included with this set are a plethora of extras, including commentaries by such esteemed Hong Kong cinema experts as Frank Djeng, David West, Michael Worth, Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. There are video essays, interviews and on many of the features a choice of original language or the classic dub performed by Axis International (for anyone with a nostalgic yearning to hear the voices sampled on many a Wu-Tang Clan record).
Furious Swords and Fantastic Warriors: The Heroic Cinema of Chang Cheh is such an odd set that’s it’s hard to see anyone outside of dedicated Shaw Brothers collectors being interested, but as a set it really is a fascinating look at those more “production line” features that Run Run Shaw wanted.
FURIOUS SWORDS AND FANTASTIC WARRIORS IS OUT NOW ON EUREKA ENTERTAINMENT BLU-RAY
