Considered by many fans, critics and historians to be among the very top of the hill when it comes to Kung Fu movies, this one clearly has had it’s influence on the entire genre. Someone less inclined towards quality martial arts movies may view this the first time and think, “hey… this movie doesn’t have all that much action!”
In this observation, the viewer would be partially accurate. There is “action” in the movie, but it depends on how you define action. In the traditional mainstream sense, the actual fighting scenes (“action”) appear near the end of the film. That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of worthy content in the rest of the film. One of the most successful elements of this movie is it’s story. No other martial arts movie has done such a fantastic job of taking the viewer into what a Shaolin monk is made of, what makes them tick, how they became the masters they are?
‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’ (Shao Lin san shi liu fang) stars Chia Hui Liu as San Te, a student who becomes disenfranchised with the academic life as he witnesses the oppression brought upon his family and friends by the tyrannical Manchu rule. After witnessing countless people murdered and tortured undeservedly, San Te decides he must travel to Shaolin to learn Kung Fu. His journey is long and an injury to his leg nearly kills him along the way, but he sneaks into the monk’s food cart to make it up the mountain to Shaolin. When they find him, he’s in a coma and the nurse him back to health. Reluctant at first, the monks choose to allow him to stay and live amongst them.
>>> Semi-Spoiler Warning! The remainder of this article divulges much of the plot! <<<
Continue reading Movie Melting Pot… ‘The 36th Chamber of Shaolin’ (Hong Kong, 1979)