CMT - Return to the 36th Chamber

When I sat down to watch this film I thought I was prepared, and then I saw Ah Chao's false teeth. For a long while, I had to catch up and process what I was seeing. It looked like live-action Manga and maybe that's close to the truth. I was definitely missing some cultural significance, but I also suspect there was a break from convention.

Imagine living in Hong Kong and watching Martial Arts films most of your life. At some point you're going to get bored, even if they're excellent. We need variance, but the old genres don't lose their worth. Sometimes all they require, is a different kind of seasoning.


Classic Movie Trailers - Return to the 36th Chamber (1980)


I was expecting "Enter the Dragon", or "Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon"; anything with a dragon would have worked. Instead I got something like "Drunken Master", and I'm glad that's what it was. For those of you that don't know what I'm talking about, I was basically looking for a more serious film. 

I wasn't hoping for tragedy, but I didn't see the levity coming; in hindsight though, I probably should have. They must have filmed a hundred Hong Kong action movies, before this one debuted in 1980. Bruce Lee and Sonny Chiba had a bulk of well known work, but Jackie Chan had just presented his trademarked style. I think they followed his footsteps.

The marriage of comedy and action is a match made in brilliance. If you add the skillful use of props, you get something very special. The beauty of the fighting styles is still preserved, but you are also given a license to improvise. Each new scene provides a different opportunity, and mundane objects become part of the fun.

This picture does have a little more focus, than a lot of the movies that Jackie released afterward. Chao-Jen Cheh discovered "rooftop Kung-Fu", and Boss Wang specialized in fighting with a bench. There was some advantageous use of the environment, but they didn't try to come up with a new gimmick each time. Instead, they decided to show us the same techniques, but to go about it differently.

It's a pretty good strategy, if you stop to consider it. You can try to reinvent the wheel, but that's a dubious path. We will seldom realize something truly original. The best space for innovation is within the existing framework.

There are multiple genres to choose from. Until some genius finds another one, we have what we have. It's much harder to break the mold than it is to sculpt it differently. If all else fails you can follow a popular trend. There's nothing wrong with that.

We can all get burned out, with things that we enjoy. We might even step back and take a long break. However, that doesn't mean the fondness has died. Sometimes we want the same old thing, presented in a new way.



Trailer here.

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@ChannelSeals 

See "Return of the 36th Chamber" on Netflix!


Next Week: "Martial Arts of Shaolin".
Enjoy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!