Huo Yuan-Jia (1982)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Woo-ping Yuen

Writers:

Lap-Yan Leung (written by) &
Jing Wong (written by) ...

Genre:

Action | History

Tagline:

The legend that inspired Bruce Lee's "Fist of Fury"

Plot Keywords:

Kung Fu | Martial Arts | Historical | China

Cast

Yao Lin Chen	...	Eagle Claw school fighter
Feng Feng	...	Boxing promoter
Yau Fong	...	Sanaka Senior
Hark-On Fung	...	White Man's Lackey
Ha Huang	...	Teacher beaten by Sanaka
Phillip Ko	...	Master Fok
Yasuaki Kurata	...	Chiang Ho-Shan
Hok Nin Lau	...	Sifu Fok's assistant
Ka Ting Lee	...	Sanaka Junior
Ka-Yan Leung	...	Fok Yun Gap as adult (as Kar Yan Leung)
Siu-Lung Leung		(as Bruce Liang)
Guai San	...	Yellow Tiger of Shantung
Brandy Yuen	...	Chiao Te, bucktooth
Cheung-Yan Yuen	...	Pipe smoker
Yat Chor Yuen	...	Fok Yun Gap - Young

Also Known As:

Fok Yuen Gap (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
Legend of a Fighter (Hong Kong: English title)
Secret Master (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

UK:89 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

Mandarin | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:MA | UK:15

Company:

Seasonal Film Corporation

Movie Connections:

Version of Jing wu men (1972)

Kurata's finest hour

Kurata Yasuaki made quite a good living in Hong Kong, playing one Japanese bad-guy after another. He even played a Chinese bad-guy on occasion, as in Prodigal Boxer (the Meng Fe film). The only time in the '70s when I can remember him playing a good-guy was in a Japanese film, the Sue Shiomi film Dragon Princess.

As any one should know, who has seen the Jet Li remake of Bruce Lee's Chinese Connection, Fist of Legend (wherein Kurata plays an aging karate master), Kurata's acting ability is really quite broad and quite strong. that he got himself lost in Hong Kong type-cast as a villain is therefore a little disheartening.

At any rate, his performance in this film is really top-notch; and despite his being Japanese - and a spy - and despite his confrontation with the hero at the end, he actually plays a decent guy! His character - marvelously complex for this genre - someone we find easy to like - so that when the bad things start to happen, we feel as upset and confused as the young hero.

This is not one of those all-good or all-evil morality plays we often see in old-school chop-socky films. although this film technically still belongs to that tradition, the audience - as with the hero himself - is caught in a terrible grey zone where one must destroy those one loves, for the sake of a better future for all; and where one's heroes can prove nastier than one's enemies.

I should also remark that this appears to me to a quasi-autobiographical film for director Yuen Woo Ping - This isn't so far-fetched - the Yuen family is among the most respected for having produced martial arts instructors and Chinese opera performers -arts that involve considerable - and frequently harsh - disciplinary training.

At any rate, whatever the source, the writing of the film makes this one of the strongest of its genre and of its period.