I watched Kung Fu Hustle in High School and loved it. Surprisingly, when I re-watched it for this class, I didn’t remember much but was still equally impressed by the film’s choreography, it’s beautiful images (even though a lot was CGI) and it’s clever twist of a genre that everyone is at least aware of.
We’ve been talking a lot about Post-Modernism, a term that could probably be explained to me a thousand times and I would still never completely grasp it. However, I think I have a pretty good idea of at least some of this movement’s (or thought process’) concepts. Kung Fu Hustle, a film that is very much grounded in references, is without a doubt an example of Post-Modernist cinema. Rather than creating an entirely new and inventive way to look at film, writer/director/producer Stephen Chow is more concerned with playing with already existing genres and narrative cliches. There is nothing new in Kung Fu Hustle. We find in this film the ridiculously skilled martial arts masters, the misfits who want to be something more important and more powerful than who they are, the gangs that overtly or subtly control their territories, and of course the ending showdown between all-powerful villain and “chosen one”.
While containing familiar plot points, characters, and elements of the Kung Fu genre’s style, Kung Fu Hustle outwardly references and parodies past films and other popular examples of worldwide media. When Sing sneaks into the asylum to retrieve The Beast for the ax gang, Chow references (or completely copies) a scene from Kubrick’s The Shining in which a river of blood falls from the ceiling and flows down the hallway. Also, when Sing is being chased after by the land lady, it is obvious that Chow has borrowed heavily from comedic television shows like the Looney Tunes, particularly the series with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.
Now, I know that I stated earlier that there was nothing new in Kung Fu Hustle, and I honestly do believe that that is true. However, there is something about Chow’s film that makes it both a unique and enjoyable experience. The unique aspect of post-modernist films is the fact that we are able to enjoy what we are seeing due to not only our engagement in the story we are watching unfold but also our previous love with other pieces of cinema. And Kung Fu Hustle does this without question, allowing us to feel that, while we’re not watching something entirely new or inventive, we are experiencing an entirely different feeling.
I agree I will probably never completely grasp the term either. I totally forgot about that scene in the Shining but now I remember so i'm glad you pointed that out. I agree, I didn't really see anything new in the film but the experience of watching this film was something I hadn't felt in a while, if at all.
ReplyDeleteyeah ya know i totally agree with the point you made about you being totally blown away when you were in high school, but now your not entirely impressed. I feel that i reacted pretty much the same way because of all of the different things i have seen since. what I also liked very much about this film though is that it really kept with the Chow film feel, because I have seen Shaolin Soccer and it felt the exact same way that this movie did
ReplyDeleteI'd have liked to hear a bit more about what Chow did that was new with his use of old genres, forms and references. He mixes East and West in some pretty strange and possibly unprecedented ways. And it's visually very pretty and well-crafted for a genre that's the Hong Kong equivalent to B movies.
ReplyDeleteI think what feels new about this is the approach it takes to kung fu films and the comment it makes on how all of the hollywoods are interconnected and influenced by each other. While being in a ridiculous manner that lends it to not be analyzed, but we are doing it anyway.
ReplyDeleteSomeone in class pointed out how star wars pulls from kung fu movies as well, and star wars is one of the biggest influences on modern culture today.