Drunken Master
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Drunken Master (醉拳, zuì quán--literally drunken fist) is a movie directed by Yuen Wo Ping, starring Jackie Chan, Yuen Siu Tien (aka Simon Yuen), and Hwang Jang-Lee, first released in 1978.
It was Chan's first big hit, and is an early example of the comedic martial arts style for which he is famous.
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[edit] Plot
The plot centers on a young and mischievous Wong Fei Hung, (sometimes dubbed as "Freddie Wong", and played by Chan). He gets into a variety of trouble, including showing up an overbearing assistant teacher of kung fu, unknowingly making advances on his own cousin and fighting with his aunt, and beating up the son of an influential man in town. His father disciplines him for this behaviour, but after hearing that his father has called in a kung fu master notorious for crippling his students, he escapes with the help of a friend.
Eventually he encounters the old teacher, Su Hua Chi, the Drunken Master of the film's title (aka the Beggar So, dubbed in some versions of the film as Sam Seed or So Hi, and played by Yuen Siu Tien). Su Hua Chi helps Wong out of one fight and into another. With much reluctance, Wong enters the old man's training program, and is put through a harsh, rigorous regime. He escapes this too, only to run into a feared assassin called Thunderfoot (Hwang Jang-Lee), who was seen at the beginning of the film taking a contract on another fighter's life. Wong unwisely challenges him to a fight, is soundly defeated and humiliated, and crawls back to Su Hua Chi, knowing that his kung fu skills are inadequate after all.
The training continues and Wong learns of the old man's secret style, a form of Zui Quan called "The Eight Drunken Immortals", after eight mythological figures the fighting style emulates. Wong masters seven of the eight gods, but disregards "The Drunken Miss Ho", feeling that it's an unmanly fighting form. He fights other opponents during this time, and over the course of Su Hua Chi's training, handily defeats all comers. Returning to the old man's home after one such fight, he discovers his master's farewell note, bidding him to return to his father and be a dutiful son.
Meanwhile, Thunderfoot has been contracted by a rival of Wong's father to kill him. Wong, finding his father seriously injured after a brief exchange of blows with the confident Thunderfoot, challenges the assassin to a duel. During the fight he is forced to improvise the final drunk god, and it is through the techniques taught to him by Su Hua Chi, and the use of all eight gods, that he manages to triumph, and defeat the undefeatable Thunderfoot.
[edit] Fight scenes
A number of notable fights are featured in the film, almost all of them with strong elements of comedy: from the game of keepaway with Wong's cocky but incompetent kung fu teacher, to the novel "head-fu" fighting style used by one of his opponents. The movie features several distinctive styles of fighting, including the Snake and Crane, Tiger, and Monkey, as well as the famous "Eight Drunk Gods".
[edit] Sequels
A sequel, Dance of the Drunk Mantis, was again directed by Yuen Woo Ping and Simon Yuen reprised his drunken beggar role, but the film did not feature Jackie Chan.
Drunken Master II (1994) did star Jackie Chan, and is therefore considered as the true sequel. The U.S. release of the film in 2000 was entitled The Legend of Drunken Master.
[edit] Trivia
- Drunken Master was a sort of semi-sequel to Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, which had been made the previous year and featured the same cast and director.
- The character of the Su Hua Chi, the Beggar So, is a character from Chinese folklore who was said to be an associate of the real life Wong Fei Hung.
- Director Yuen Wo Ping is the son of star Yuen Siu Tien.
- The Drunken Master was the title of a PC Engine fighting game released in 1987.
