Stranger from Shaolin | aka Fist of Flying Tiger (1977) Review

“Stranger from Shaolin” Chinese Theatrical Poster

AKA: Wing Chun Warriors
Director: Tony Liu Jun Guk
Cast: Cecilia Wong Hang Sau, Sun Jung Chi, Thompson Kao Kang, Bruce Lai (Chang Il-do), Tony Liu Jun Guk, Chan Lau, Lee Ye Min, Wong Kwok Leung, Bruce Cheung Mong, Baak Wong Gei, Kwon Il-Soo, Baek Hwang-Ki
Running Time: 94 min.

By Matija Makotoichi Tomic

The name Tony Liu Jun Guk should be well known and celebrated among the fans of kung fu movies. His 1974 directorial debut The Black Dragon introduced Ron Van Clief as the new afro-american martial arts movie star, spawning two sequels in the same blacksploitation/martial arts movie manner. Hell’s Windstaff (1979), also known under the far less cool title The Dragon and the Tiger Kids, is without any doubt one of the best independently produced kung fu films ever made, and Tiger Over Wall (1980) should easily find its place in any serious collection. Tony Liu Jun Guk’s work was recognized and that same year he became a member of the Shaw Brothers family. I believe I don’t have to name all the classics he directed while working for the Bros., starting with the fantastic fu piece The Master (1980). Somewhere between his Black Dragon films and his best known independent hits, Tony Liu Jun Gukdirected this little kung fu classic.

During the Qing dynasty, Manchus are trying to clean the south of China, especially Kwangtung and Fujian where most of the rebels are located. They bring in kung fu experts and order them to eliminate kung fu schools. Rebels are hiding in temples and learning kung fu in hope they’d be able to restore the Ming dynasty one day. While the evil lord Kang is gathering troops for his attack, Yim Wing Chun trains hard so she could revenge the death of her family, but also help defending the Shaolin.

Shaw Brothers script master Ni Kuang wrote the screenplay and Tony Liu Jun Guk (credited as Tommy Loo Chung) turned it into a movie with the help of Chun Jo-Myuong who worked on the movie as cinematographer. Sources say this was the only time he was taking up the role of a director, though his name can’t be seen in the opening credits. As we all know, kung fu movies were often inspired by actual historical events and characters, but the authors never cared much about the facts. Those so-called “facts” are actually legends and oral history so there’s usually more than one version to every story. It seems that Ni Kuang followed that same recipe of enriching real stories with fiction since there’s no mention of Yim Wing Chun training in Shaolin Temple for any reason, least of all revenge.

Also, Shaolin don’t take female students, but Ni Kuang made that possible by making her character dress up as a man. He even went so far as to credit Yim Wing Chun as the founder of the style, though it was only named after her. The oral history of the Ip Man branch which is the closest to the film’s story says it was buddhist nun Ng Mui who founded the style by combining what she learned by observing the snake and crane fight with shaolin kung fu. She later passed on the knowledge to Yim Wing Chun, who learned kung fu to fight the local warlord who forced her into marriage. There is a buddhist nun in the movie and she takes Wing Chun as her student. Altough her name is not revealed, it is only possible that it’s Ng Mui. In the movie, Yim Wing Chun trains with the legendary Fong Sai-Yuk and Hung Hsi-Kuan, another shaolin hero seen in many kung fu films. The famous monk San Tak (San Te) is their teacher.

Yim Wing Chun: Teacher San, if you don’t let me enroll in the temple, then as soon as I leave here, I intend to jump off a cliff!

San Tak: Go on! You’ll find a cliff two miles away. It’s very high so use it then and solve all your problems.

Of course, Wong Kwok-Leung cannot match the masterful performance of Master Killer, but he fits the role well. After demonstrating forms on pole with twigs, San Tak says how that pole will become famous in years to come and how all students will want to learn it. He’s talking about the wooden dummy of course. Again, it was Ng Mui who’s said to have created the wooden dummy as we know it by combining the 108 dummies (one for every move) into one. Ni Kuang added a samurai sent by the Japs to serve under the Qing court, and a taoist priest who’s gathering kung fu experts to help fight the Shaolin. This indicates Wudang was included in the attack on Shaolin. There is a story saying Wudang disciples sided with the Qings in attempt to locate and eliminate San Te, but other than that, this is the first time I’ve heard the rivalry between the two schools went this deep.

Tony Liu Jun Guk plays a minor role here as Mr. Ho, keeper of the abandoned Buddhist Temple whose family has been killed by the Qings. Taking on a role in his own films, even if just a cameo, will in a way become almost a trademark for this director, peaking with his role in The Lady Assassin (1983) as the cold blooded japanese fighter wearing red lipstick. Unfortunately, Mr. Ho’s snake fist was not good enough to challenge the evil Kang, white haired villain with the lethal Manchu queue. He is of course, eagle claw master who attained higher level of skill by drinking children’s blood thus revitalizing his whole physique. Kang also mastered the golden bell shield which makes him immune to any weapon attack. In the role of lord Kang is Thompson Kao Kong, and his performance is on the level. Chan Lau is the taoist priest, and Cecilia Wong is brilliant as Yim Wing Chun.

By combining the Ming – Qing conflict with the inevitable revenge plot, Ni Kuang opens much space for action. That’s where Yen Shi-Kwan and Leung Ting come in. Action is not great, faster and better performed choreography can be seen in some of the 1976. kung fu films, but it’s pretty solid. Most of the fights were shot wide and often in long takes. Leung Tin was a real life wing chun master, so what we’re getting here are authentic wing chun forms showcased by Cecilia Wong through three elaborate training sequences. She learns the basics by training in the well at Shaolin Temple and then later on trains on a wooden dummy, practices with butterfly swords and works hard on her one inch punches. Finally, there’s another display of wing chun forms and training with rattan rings. Yim Wing Chun uses what she learned  in the final fight which, for some unknown reason, changes locations and seasons. The sandy coast of the river gets suddenly covered with snow, and then later on replaced by a valley surrounded with rocks.

Stranger from Shaolin can’t compete in the same league as the genre’s finest. It looks and is cheap, but far from being without it’s qualities. What makes it interesting and even important in a way is the fact that it is, as far as I know, the very first kung fu movie that portrayed wing chun! It will take another year for Sammo to direct the first of his two classics regarded today as some of the finest examples of wing chun style on film. Though Stranger from Shaolin isn’t that great, it deserves to be kept alive.

Matija Makotoichi Tomic’s Rating: 7/10