Review for The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk

Introduction

I'm not one for Jet Li movies, or at least I haven't been in the past. It's odd given the number of Hong Kong films that I watch, but there's something about first impressions that are lasting. My first impression of Jet Li came via Hollywood, and films like Lethal Weapon 4, and Romeo Must Die, which established him as an inscrutable arse-kicker. It's clichéd pigeonholing to be sure, but it did dissuade me from seeking out his Hong Kong back catalogue. Unleashed, a.k.a. Danny the Dog did prove that he has range as an actor, but it's only been the recent Cine Asia releases of Tai Chi Master and Fist of Legend that reminded me that Hollywood pigeonholes for actors really ought to be ignored. The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk, also released by Cine Asia introduced me to Jet Li, the comedian. And you know? He's pretty good at it.


Back when China was a divided nation, with a Northern Manchu Emperor ruling over the Han South, Emperor Qianlong was troubled by worrisome dreams. His fears of falling victim to a Han assassin drove him to send his own assassin out to find and destroy the Red Flower Society, the group of rebels led by Chan Ka Lok who threatened him most. None of this mattered much to young Fong Sai Yuk, whose days as a local kung-fu hero were mostly pleasant, spent winning an athletics competition, falling for a cute girl, entering a competition to win the hand of an obnoxious Manchu landowner's daughter in marriage, and all sorts of mistaken identity hijinks. He learned most of his kung fu from his mother, and both of them were liable to get up to some sort of mischief, but it was his father, often away at business, and more into poetry than martial arts, who laid down the law to both his son and his wife. Things get serious though when the assassin shows up in town, looking for a scroll that lists all the Red Flower Society members. It's a scroll that only someone high up in the Society would possess, and would be willing to lay down their life to protect. That someone turns out to be Fong Sai Yuk's father.

Picture

The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk gets a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, which is a straight film to PAL conversion, I think. This really is an odd beast, the image is clear and colourful, and the early nineties film stock with its prevalent grain, somewhat softer image, and over-saturated colours is present and correct. But there's an odd phenomenon where it looks like every few seconds, there is a missing frame, resulting in an unexpected jerkiness to the film. I'd normally categorise this as NTSC-PAL judder, but the runtime of the film refutes that. It's odd and distracting and really doesn't do the film any justice. It's a shame as the production design and feel of the film is high quality, while the action sequences are sublime.

Sound

You have a choice between the DD 5.1 English track and the DD 2.0 Cantonese track, with optional English subtitles. I went with the Cantonese and found it to be a pretty strident audio experience, with the dialogue levels and action a little overcooked, but watchable nevertheless. As per the films of the era, the dialogue is added in post with ADR, and with actors conceivably speaking Cantonese, Mandarin, and half a dozen other dialects, lip sync isn't a priority here. It means that ironically, the English dub fits the lip movements with greater accuracy, and the surround effects give the action a little more oomph. I still wouldn't choose to watch the dub though.

Extras

This being a Cine Asia disc, you get the usual animated menus, with a look at five trailers for other Cine Asia releases. A pretty horrid aspect of the menus is that the selected item is highlighted in red, and against a reddish background, it makes it nigh on impossible to read.

This being a Cine Asia port of a Dragon Dynasty release, we get a Bey Logan audio commentary. It's one of his mega detailed audio commentaries, which tell you everything about everything, including the scenes that are missing in this International Version. Oddly enough, this is the first time I have ever noticed a pitch increase due to a 4% PAL speedup. Either that or Bey Logan was delivering his commentary in a helium rich atmosphere.

There are also a couple of featurettes, with Hit Hard & Fly High a 21-minute chat with director Corey Yuen-Kwai. He talks about his past and the making of the film, and of course the interview is liberally interspersed with clips.


The Pen is Mightier Than The Sword lasts 13 minutes, and is a talk with writer Jeff Lau, and he mentions a bit about his history, and his collaborating with Corey Yuen, as well as how he updated and changed the Fong Sai Yuk story for modern audiences.

Conclusion

The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk is surprisingly good fun. It's surprising for me given that my few experiences of Jet Li movies have been the po-faced Hollywood films, the serious tinged Fist of Legend, and the quite frankly naff Tai Chi Master. Fong Sai Yuk is entertaining, with some great action set pieces, and it's funny too, with Jet Li offering the sort of performance that you would expect from early Jackie Chan period movies. The sort of films filled with stylish, and exquisitely choreographed kung fu, but with a main character with a sense of humour and a cheeky twinkle in his eye.


Fong Sai Yuk is pretty deceptive about it though, beginning with a terrified Emperor and his order to his assassin to get rid of the rebels. We follow the assassin as he starts by tracking down a scroll of names, starting with a brutal fight scene offering immolation and compound fractures. It certainly pushes the boundary of the film's 12 rating, but then again, Fong Sai Yuk did receive a compulsory cut from the BBFC for animal cruelty. Apparently the scene of a kitten being binned, I mean a horse being tripped was too much for them. It also must be reiterated that this is the shorter international version, and the longer domestic release has some more violent scenes in. You'll have to go to Region 3 to track that disc down.


But once the initial brutality of the film's premise is done with, we get down to the nitty-gritty of establishing Fong Sai Yuk's character, which means a good portion of the film devoted to antics in his home town, various situations devised to have fun with plenty of on screen kung fu, enhanced with copious wirework. Normally I'm not a fan of wire fu, but in the comedy context of the film, it somehow works well. It also isn't overused, making the characters look like they regularly defy gravity. What makes the comedy in this film spark is that it's a two-hander, a double act with Fong Sai Yuk and his mother playing off each other. It's more of a brother sister dynamic than maternal, with the two of them urging each other on to further silliness, and both having to be chastised by Sai Yuk's father. There's a lot of memorable and funny stuff to appreciate here, with the film's highlight a scene where Sai Yuk fights his future mother-in-law for her daughter's hand in marriage. It's a contest for the successful suitor to obtain a garland, but without his feet ever touching the ground. It turns into a kung fu battle fought atop the heads of the not so appreciative crowd.


The comic tone is well and truly established by the time the assassin reappears looking for the scroll, and while the tone does shift back towards the edgy intensity of the start, the humour is always prevalent. The action only gets more intense and exciting, and by the end of the film, you may be in danger of slipping off the edge of your seat. The Legend of Fong Sai Yuk is comedy kung fu at its best, which would make this disc well worth a spin. The issues with the transfer may make you think twice though.