Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Action/ Martial Arts
Director: Liu Chia-Liang
Year: 1978
Rating: 
TRASH CINEMA ESSENTIAL MOVIE
The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin is the best Shaw Brothers movie I’ve ever seen, tantilizingly close to perfection.
Yes, the acting is of the “You killed my master; therefore you must die” variety, but at the highest possible level. As student Liu Yu-de, Gordon Liu is the epitome of the zealous disciple. Lo Lieh and Wilson Tong are extravagantly hateful as a Tartar General and Lord, respectively. Woo Wang-Daat and Lee Hoi-Sang are appropriately humorous and wise as abbots at the famous Shaolin Temple. The list of notable performances from classic stars goes on and on: Lau Kar-Wing, Hao Li-Jen, Shum Lo, and Lui Tat all make vivid impressions.
The script, by Ni Kuang, is pretty much perfect. It flows like butter. The dialog is sculpted — there isn’t an extra line. The characterizations are drawn quickly and expertly. The sequence of events that open the picture steadily and artfully builds tension and suspense. The training sequences are both witty and reflect martial arts philosophy — they’re the best I’ve ever seen.
The direction and martial arts choreography by Liu Chia-Liang is likewise superb.
As a director, Liu Chia-Liang’s pacing is flawless. Aside from the high quality of the actors here, there’s a reason there isn’t a mediocre performance in the film. It also isn’t much of a surprise that Liu Chia-Liang directs the martial arts sequences well. As a martial arts choreographer, he would know how to photograph these sequences to best advantage. The martial arts battles themselves are fantastic. There’s at least a half dozen incredibly well choreographed weapons fights, using various implements of destruction: poles, a three sectioned staff, spears, swords, and more exotic weapons all get a workout. The ground fighting is excellent, too.
I should talk a little about the Shaolin training sequences. Screenwriter Ni Kuang comes up with all sorts of bizarre and amusing exercises for the Shaolin monks to go through, but in fact they aren’t merely whimsical — they have actual application. One of the things I particularly enjoyed about the exercises is that students were kept on their toes by little booby traps. For example, one of the exercises is to walk up an incline holding two buckets full of water with your arms straight out to your sides. What would prevent you from keeping your arms straight, you might ask? Knives are strapped to the biceps. If your arms relax, your torso gets cut. Fun and ingenious.
Oh, I guess I should probably talk a little about the plot.
When the Tartars invade China during the Han Dynasty, Liu Yu-de’s teacher enlists his students to spy for the exiled Han government. When the spies are discovered, Liu Yu-de flees, eventually ending up at the Shaolin Temple, where he learns Kung Fu. You can probably geuss the rest.
There’s only one minor flaw in The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin, which I can barely believe is there. When Liu Yu-de finally duels with General Tien Ta, the scene cuts off right before the villain dies. Talk about stepping on an applause line!
Anyway, other than that slight misstep, The 36th Chamber Of Shaolin has pretty much everything you could possibly want in a Shaw Brothers martial arts picture: humor, exhilarating martial arts, and a rousing story. It’s pretty much a delight from start to finish.
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