The wuxia film is a long-standing
Chinese film tradition dating back decades – a martial arts swordplay film that
often incorporates elements of fantasy or mysticism into the stylized action
sequences. But many know the genre a little better by a Westernized name
associated with it: “wire fu,” after its combination of kung fu with impossible
stuntwork made possible by the use of wires (sometimes visible in the films).
Some of the classic films from the 1960’s and 1970’s made waves in the niche
market here, but it wasn’t until 2000’s
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
that the genre came into broader notice outside the circles of people who lived
and died for great kung fu films. But
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
came at the tail end of a renaissance of wuxia films coming out of China, Hong
Kong, and Taiwan, a renaissance that peaked in 1993, a year when nearly 20
films in the genre were released in those countries. And coming in at the tail
end of that year was the third excellent 1993 film in the genre starring Jet
Li,
Tai Chi Master.
Following on the heels of Fong
Sai Yuk and its sequel Fong Sai Yuk II, Tai Chi Master crafts
a similarly structured period piece with our hero (played by Jet Li) working
through plots of political treachery and fighting for the underdog with
fiercely choreographed action married to comedy that at times lands firmly in
slapstick. In that bonding of action and comedy, they honor a filmic tradition
going back to Buster Keaton (minus the politics, of course) and avoid the dead
spots that can drag these things down – never bogging down too much in plot
mechanics (even when they get complicated) or sappy romance (silly romance is
more how they play it). So, there’s certainly no reason to take them too
seriously – they’re meant to be fun. And even though Jet Li’s character is in
all three films aligned with a political underground against a domineering and
violent ruling party, it doesn’t mean that it is necessarily an allegory
exploring anxieties of Hong Kong residents of what will happen to Hong Kong
when it goes under China’s control in 1997 in the wake of the Tiananmen Square
crackdown of 1989 – if so it’s certainly kept as subtext, never interfering
with the pure kinetic energy of the films. And maybe they’re not political at
all – the Fong Sai Yuk films are based on a legendary folk hero and Tai
Chi Master’s good and bad guys are strictly drawn as good and evil from the
get-go, there’s no nuance that suggests a deeper reading is necessary.
Tai Chi Master begins simply
with a monastery training a courtyard full of men in kung fu while two children
look on. One of them, Junbao, is a favorite of the school’s Master, while
Tienbo is jealous of the younger Junbao’s senior status in the training, insisting
(privately) on being called senior to Junbao in spite of the Master’s statement
that Junbao is the senior student. While the two are friends, defeating a bully
together (and getting in trouble for it) this jealousy colors all their actions
and carries over to adulthood. Tienbo and Junbao are ultimately kicked out of
the monastery due to fighting. When a competition rival cheats, Tienbo takes it
as an opportunity to call all bets off and goes too far with his violence - the
rival’s Master decides to take things out on Tienbo until Junbao intervenes and
both end up fighting all the students. When their own master pulls them out and
sends them off in to the world, he notes that Jun is kind while Tien is too
aggressive and needs to find peace in his heart. Tienbo, who is introduced when
one of his first lines is “My family was always too poor to afford meat. I have
always wanted to try it,” is understandably ambitious, if too aggressive for
the pacifism he is supposed to find in the martial arts. When he and Junbao are
released into the world, he is happy to sell out friends and unleash his
considerable skills to advance his lot in the world – upon seeing a cruel and
hated governor he notes: “I wish I could be as privileged as he is.” But Junbao
is on another course. After several people he knows die as a result of
violence, he opts for another course, studying the more balanced art of Tai Chi
to try to rectify what has happened. Of course this all ultimately steers a
course toward a showdown between the two and it’s there that the film unleashes
its most dramatic effects and choreographed fight sequences, playing even the
tension of the fights for comedy sometimes and adding in the fantastic effects
(superhuman strength and speed, flying, etc) that are common in some wuxia
films. The film is directed by Yuen Woo Ping, the noted director/choreographer
best known here for his work as action choreographer on
Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon and kung fu choreographer on
The Matrix, and he
handles things every bit as well as the equally talented Corey Yuen (
The
Transporter,
Lethal Weapon 4) handles similar duties on the
Fong
Sai Yuk films.
As always, the pleasure of the
films lies in its choreographed movement, often as intricate as the most
dazzling dance sequences of musicals, and its stylized approach to violence, as
exciting (and often funny) as any adrenaline-pumper out there. And one final
note ought to be given to the performances – Jet Li’s great turn as Junbao,
Chin Siu-Ho appropriately driven and sinister as Tienbo and the great Michelle
Yeoh as Junbao’s cohort in the underground group, in a typically smart, sly,
witty performance.
- Patrick Brown
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