"Shaolin shadowboxing...and the Wu-Tang sword style. If what you say is true, the Shaolin and the Wu-Tang could be dangerous."
One night in a brothel, a friendly martial arts sparring practice between the Shaolin student Hung Yung-Kit and the Wu-Tang apprentice Chou Fong-Wu leads a local Qing Lord to devise an evil plan to take down both schools of kung-fu. His agenda and several misunderstandings lead Yung-Kit and Fong-Wu to see each other's schools as the responsible parties for deaths of their loved ones. The Qing Lord schedules a tournament between the two kung-fu schools, which are already rivals, under the decree that the losing school must leave Hong Kong. Traditionally, the schools are already rivals, and the friendship between Yung-Kit and Fong-Wu is already controversial - and their friendship is pushed to its limits when the two are trained under their respective schools and made to fight each other to the death.
This is the basic plot of the 1983 martial arts classic Shaolin and Wu-Tang (少林與武當]), starring and directed by Gordon Liu. Liu plays the Shaolin student Hung Yung-Kit in this film, and keen-eyed viewers may recognize him as Pai Mei in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 2. The martial arts on display are fantastic, whether showcasing Shaolin's bare-knuckle fighting or Wu-Tang's sword style. The plot lends itself well to excellent cinematography too. For example, it's stated in the film that Wu-Tang is an offshoot of the Shaolin school. Thus, both disciplines are familiar with how to learn defensive techniques against each other. This leads to plenty of tense close-up shots of Yung-Kit disarming opponents with his bare fists and Fong-Wu using the flat of his blade to shield his body from Shaolin's techniques of attacking the opponent's pressure points. Liu confidently cuts from a medium shot of both opponents to a close-up of their handiwork and back without missing a beat.
There's also plenty to love in the plot - two friends-turned-enemies may seem a bit cliched in 2014, but it's pulled off so well in Shaolin and Wu-Tang that it's hard not to empathize with both men. The Qing Lord's plot to learn both schools of martial arts then tear them down is incredibly entertaining at every turn, as is the third act which shows both students returning to their respective temples to master their combat. Even the idea behind the yin-yang materializes as both schools start out separate, but by the film's final scene, viewers are rewarded with a demonstration of both Shaolin and Wu-Tang mixed together into one cohesive and masterful fighting style. Admittedly, there is some difficulty with the subtitles and dub translations (Cantonese/Mandarin to English), resulting in a bit of missed subtext. It actually seemed as though the version I watched was subtitled in English by the original Hong Kong filmmakers whereas the simultaneously-running English voiceovers were written by Westerners and recorded by American voice actors.
Speaking of American talent, what about the connection of this flick to the Staten Island hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan? First, this film is where the band got their name. As if that weren't enough, the dubbed voice acting constitutes the majority of dialogue samples that RZA took for the band's album Enter the Wu-Tang, including most of the classic intro to "Bring Da Ruckus" and the first sample in the intro to the single "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'," which reads "A game of chess is like a swordfight...you must think first, before you move." "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" was not only a successful Wu-Tang single, but opens with the verse most people still know U-God for: "Raw I'mma give it to ya / with no trivia / we're like cocaine straight from Bolivia." Finally, it contains the only verse on the album from Masta Killa, the ninth member to join Wu-Tang. It can be said that this film not only gave Wu-Tang their band name, but is also responsible for some of the distinctive and unique sound associated with Enter the Wu-Tang. Those points make this an absolute must-see for any Wu fan.
Definitely recommended.
Check back on Wu Wednesday for the first step on the Map of Shaolin - Wu-Tang Clan's 1993 smash debut album Enter the Wu-Tang.
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