7 Commandments of Kung Fu, The (1979) Review

“The 7 Commandments of Kung Fu” Theatrical Poster

Director: Got Si Ho
Cast: Lee Yi Min, Chang Yi, Goo Jing, Lung Fei, Ma Chin Ku, Siu Foo Dau, Ching Kuo Chung, Suen Shu Pau, Cheung Chung Kwai, Cheung Taai Lun, Li Chu-Yong
Running Time: 84 min.

By Martin Sandison

The genres of the Italian western and the classic, traditional kung fu movie have many similarities. They both arose out of a turbulent, massively creative time in their respective industries, were low budget yet ground-breakingly innovative, and were shot without sound and dubbed in the studio. Both also birthed many average to bad movies, such was the demand of the market for their product, and were a genre part-based around new ways to depict violence. Italian westerns served as inspiration for the traditional kung fu film. In their settings, the American West and period China respectively, they re-imagined these time periods colourfully and bravely. To my knowledge the only time an Italian western has been legitimately remade in the classic kung fu mould is the late 70s Lee Yi Min starrer 7 Commandments of Kung Fu. 

The film follows a lot of the same story beats as Tonino Valerii’s Day of Anger, but I see it as more of a re-imagining. What’s interesting about 7 Commandments is how it adapts these narrative points to the kung fu genre, and the mentor/student relationship which is at the heart of many old school movies. Also, the genuine emotion it creates with the subversion of the villainous character played by the great Chang Yi.

Hsiao Peng (Lee Yi Min, World of Drunken Master) lives in a small town and works in a Chinese medicine shop, while living with his uncle (Ku Cheng, Crippled Kung Fu Boxer) who teaches him kung fu. One day Mantis master Lung Szu-hai (Chang Yi, Lady Whirlwind) arrives, and gets in a fight with Ho Chien-Tien (Lung Fei, One Armed Boxer,  genre stalwart and moustache-grower extraordinaire). He is injured and bumps into Hsaio Peng, who lends a helping hand. Peng follows Lung around, learning kung fu from him. A twist in the tale means the two are édestined to meet in combat.

The first third of Day of Anger sets the scene nicely with Giuliano Gemma’s submissive, weak young man reviled by the townsfolk, then taken in by Lee Van Cleef’s tough gunfighter. In contrast, the first third of 7 Commandments of Kung Fu is mainly an extended laxative shit joke. It’s tiresome and off-putting, in a way that most fans of the genre are used to. The broad one note comedy in this section also sits uneasily with the rest of the movie, which is played relatively straight and poe-faced. I watched this flick for the first time last year, and was severely disappointed after 20 minutes. And that was after loving the opening that features Lee throwing shapes in a room with papier maché large mantises lying around. A split screen shot shows Lee performing moves in two different styles, with their equivalent strikes and blocks on screen at once. It’s inspired. But then we get to woeful comedy. I would imagine the inclusion of this was due to Lee Yi Min’s ‘Taiwanese Jackie Chan’ moniker that lasted a couple of years and took in movies like Drunken Arts & Crippled Fist. 

Lee’s martial abilities were never in doubt, and he, like Jackie, also trained in an opera school in Taiwan. His classmates were people like Robert Tai, maker of the crazy, colourful Ninja Final Duel. At times Lee can pull off physical comedy well, such as in the masterful World of Drunken Master, at others it’s a bit painful, such as the beginning of 7 Commandments. However, at the 25 minute mark the movie suddenly takes a turn into edge-of-your-seat classic kung fu territory. Ho ambushes Lung, and is on the top of a wall about 40 feet up. Cut to Lung Fei’s stunt double side-flipping off the wall to the ground, and exchanging a couple of moves immediately! It’s a remote-snatching, jaw-on-the floor moment that I’ve rewound at least half a dozen times, and is up there with Chin Kar Lok’s similar move in Bury Me High. Kudos to that stuntman, whoever he may be.

From this group battle on, the film’s depiction of shapes-styled combat is very high quality, and speaks volumes of the abilities of lesser film-makers in Hong Kong and Taiwan’s industries at the time. Here the choreographer is Sun Shuen Pai, who also lent his talents to other Lee Yi Min vehicles such as Secret of Shaolin Kung Fu. Along with the papier maché Mantises in the film’s beginning, Lee creates and trains with massive Mantises made out of hay towards the end. The flashback trope that shows him destroying them using the same moves on Lung is again, inspired. Lee’s acrobatic and handwork abilities are put to the test, though they come just short of his similar efforts in 7 Grandmasters and Mission Kiss and Kill. The latter is perhaps his most unsung classic, and is a recent find of mine that reignited the flame of my love for the old school.

Chang Yi is among the greatest old school villains, and his mastery of screen combat is given a good showcase in 7 Commandments. His performance and character really set the screen alight, as the film begins to follow the lead of Day of Anger. Lung has genuine affection for Hsiao Peng, and agrees to teach him to pass on his abilities and have someone in his corner. In the vast majority of old school kung fu films the villain is a blank canvas, an abstraction that the viewer projects on to. Here Lung is depicted as a master who has grown weary of the martial world, a killer that still values connection with other beings. This depth sets 7 Commandments apart from the pack. Despite the brilliance of Chang’s performance and the unique approach to his character, a couple of dreadful plot points drag the film down and are laughable in their execution. One occurs a year after Hsiao Peng has followed Lung around, and someone mentions Hsiao’s Uncle. He reacts with surprise, and exclaims that he forgot all about the man. Sooooooo… the man who raised you, whom you lived with all your life and is your kin… you forget about him completely for a year to follow around a stranger who kills folk? Right. Ok.

7 Commandments of Kung Fu falls short of true classic status, but is a more than diverting watch that gains credence for the ambitious nature in which it works with the source material. In terms of dramatic acting performances, Chang Yi puts in one of my favourites in any old schooler. A white haired villain with true depth and shades of humanity, in the final duel I found myself rooting for him. Just forget that first twenty minutes and its woeful laxative jokes.

Martin Sandison’s Rating: 6.5/10