Once Upon a Time in China III

Once Upon a Time in China III is a 1993 Hong Kong martial arts film written and directed by Tsui Hark and starring Jet Li as Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung. It is the third installment in the Once Upon a Time in China film series.

Plot

The Qing Dynasty is experiencing turmoil in its later years as foreigners start to take over and ruin the Manchu sovereignty. To restore China's pride and show foreigners the might of Chinese martial arts, the Empress Dowager and Governor Lee Hung-cheung decide to stage a national Lion King Competition. All lion dancers and martial artists from around the nation are invited to attend and participate in the competition and win the title of "Lion King".

Wong Fei-hung, his romantic interest "13th Aunt" Siu-kwan and his disciple Leung Foon arrive in Peking to visit Wong's father Wong Kei-ying at the Cantonese Association. At the train station, they meet a Russian diplomat named Tomanovsky, who knew Siu-kwan while they were studying in Britain. He starts to vie for her attention and annoys Wong, who is disgusted by the Western custom of kissing a woman's hand. When the trio arrive at the Association, they discover that Wong Kei-ying had been attacked by a wealthy rival martial artist named Chiu Tin-bak and his lackey Clubfoot. Luckily, Wong only suffered minor injuries from the attack. Wong decides to give his blessings to his son and Siu-kwan as they develop closer relationships.

Prior to the actual competition, the lion dance troupes which had gathered in the city start to fight among themselves and hold a competition of their own before the actual one. Wong Fei-hung does not participate and spectates. Unknown to him, Leung Foon and another disciple have secretly joined the competition out of mischief. They annoy Clubfoot and a short scrimmage between Clubfoot and Leung ensues. Clubfoot's legs are seriously injured when Leung accidentally releases a rampage of horses, which crush Clubfoot's legs with their hoofs. Clubfoot is abandoned by Chiu, who sees him as useless now without the use of his legs. Wong Fei-hung takes pity on Clubfoot and takes him in. Clubfoot initially sees Wong as a rival and treats him with hostility, but Wong's kindness touches him and he eventually becomes Wong's loyal disciple.

With the help of a movie camera, a gift to her from Tomanovsky, Siu-kwan inadvertently uncovers an assassination plot on Governor Lee and Tomanovsky is one of the parties involved. She warns Wong Fei-hung and Wong decides to join the competition, which will be taking place at the Forbidden City, to foil the assassination attempt. At the final round of the competition, Wong, together with Leung Foon and Clubfoot, faces hundreds of rival lion dancers and they battle their way through to reach the top of a scaffold. Chiu Tin-bak also participates with the largest and deadliest lion mask ever and he fights with Wong for the prize, a gold medal.

Eventually, Wong defeats Chiu and obtains the gold medal. Meanwhile, Tomanovsky fails to assassinate Governor Lee and is shot dead by his fellow Russians (who confirmed their suspicions that Tomanovsky is a spy for the Japanese embassy.) Wong refuses to accept the gold medal, claiming that the victory was a pyrrhic victory and the competition has failed to achieve its aim. He adds that the competition merely leads to more death and injury to the Chinese, and in order to restore national pride, every Chinese must play a part. He tosses the gold medal back to Governor Lee, which lands at the Governor's feet, and then walks away as the film ends.

Cast

• Jet Li as Wong Fei-hung
• Rosamund Kwan as "13th Aunt" Siu-kwan
• Max Mok as Leung Foon
• Hung Yan-yan as Clubfoot
• John Wakefield as Tomanovsky
• Lau Shun as Wong Kei-ying
• Chiu Chin as Chiu Tin-bak
• Wong Tak-yan as Yan
• Meng Jin
• Ge Cunzhuang

Awards and nominations

• 1994 Hong Kong Film Awards
  • Nominated: Best Film Editing (Marco Mak, Angie Lam)

Alternate versions

Hong Kong

• A scene of a horse falling down is BBFC censored on UK releases (the Hong Kong Legends DVD (released January 21, 2002) and Made In Hong Kong VHS).
• In the 1996 Hong Kong VHS distributed by Paragon Films, the opening is in Mandarin and the rest of the film is in Cantonese. This release was converted from a Laserdisc and some of the film's chapters are in the incorrect order.

English

There is an English export version entitled "The Invincible Shaolin". In comparison with the Hong Kong version, there are English credits and the scene with 13th Aunt teaching Fei-hung English is cut.

Columbia Tristar released both versions on DVD in the US.

Taiwanese

There is a Taiwanese version in Mandarin with approximately 15 minutes more footage than the Hong Kong version.

It is distributed by Long Shong and features a 4:3 cropped image with embedded Chinese and English subtitles. In most scenes, their logo appears on the upper left corner of the screen.

Scenes:

1. A shot of some lionheads at the opening of the film.
2. Leung Foon argues about rickshaws as the trio arrive in Peking.
3. 13th Aunt finds a spoilt camera, but Wong presumes that it's not working.
4. Leung Foon tries to find a rickshaw.
5. Wong Kei-ying tells 13th Aunt to give his son more advice and guidance.
6. 13th Aunt gets a book from the library called Stories of Filial Piety.
7. Wong Fei-hung's students read the book on filial piety for homework.
8. The schools of martial arts argue amongst each other.
9. After the heads of the schools agree to meet Wong at the restaurant, Wong's students go to protect their teacher, thinking that it might be a trap. However, Wong clears the misunderstanding.
10. After 13th Aunt boards the Russians' carriage, Wong takes some soup for energy before going back.
11. Wong's students give their copy of Stories of Filial Piety to their teacher. Leung Foon reads an account book out-loud to them.
12. Leung Foon climbs a roof during the chase scene with Clubfoot. He runs up the stairs of the restaurant, but they give way. Leung's lion head gets stuck in the stairs and gives him a chance to escape.
13. Wong's students find an egg stuck inside the steam engine.
14. Chiu shouts "Shut up! I'm gambling!" after the injured Clubfoot falls down the restaurant stairs.
15. When Clubfoot crawls away from Wong Fei-hung, Wong's father says "Your friends have left you. If you don't cure your leg, you won't be able to earn a living. Don't you have anywhere to go?"
16. The film projection of Wong's martial arts display is completely different - Leung Foon sees the speed of his moves in the B&W film. He moves closer to the projection screen and his shadow blocks the screen. Wong's students see how fast they act on screen, whilst Leung Foon distracts Wong when he was performing.
17. Leung Foon sticks out his tongue to Clubfoot, who looks sad after (later to become friends).
18. Wong spars with one of his students on the projection screen.
19. 13th Aunt cranks Wong's martial arts performance from her projector before she leaves him.
20. The Russians prepare their rifles as Wong makes his lion head. Wong writes his name on the lion head, whilst the Russian theme song is playing in the background.
21. The Russians cheer over wine glasses.
22. 13th Aunt, Leung Foon and Wong Kei-ying walk up the stairs to mount the movie camera prior to the competition opening.
23. Wong Kei-ying tries to load the negative motion picture film. He opens the film can, but 13th Aunt says that B&W film cannot be loaded inside in the presence of sunlight. She gets a black cloth.
24. 13th Aunt calls Wong Kei-ying "brother", but he wonders why.
25. Extensions in the lion dance competition before it is almost over. Wong, Leung and Clubfoot are seen fighting to defend themselves from swords.
26. 13th Aunt runs away from Tomanovsky.

References

External links

• Once Upon a Time in China III at the Internet Movie Database
• Once Upon a Time in China III at AllRovi
• HKMDB
• HK Cinemagic