Kung Fu Hustle takes place in pre CCP China, Shanghai - probably in the 30s or 40s. The story follows the male protagonist Sing, who wants to join the powerful Axe Gang that runs Shanghai through fear and crime. In an attempt to gain respect with the gang, Sing and his sidekick try to extort a poor neighborhood called Pig Sty Alley. Pig Sty Alley, run by Landlord and Landlady, is so poor that the gang doesn’t even bother to bully them, and thus it is effectively one of the few peaceful areas under Axe rule. Sing and his friend epically fail in their efforts and eventually the Axe Gang becomes involved with the residents of Pig Sty. Fortunately, the neighborhood is filled with extremely talented martial artists that rise up to defend themselves against the gang. Hilarity ensues as the gang is beaten again and again by the seemingly harmless residence of Pig Sty.
What’s interesting about Kung Fu Hustle is the fact that it is a high grossing film out of China that does not completely fall into the wuxia category. I believe Chow’s film was a huge step forward for Chinese popular culture in relation to the rest of the world, mainly the west. Kung Fu Hustle was so successful coming out of Hong Kong because it still had a bit of the standard martial arts action but Chow threw a comedic twist onto it to making it something completely new and sensational. If we look back at Hero or Hidden Tiger, the main hook for global audiences were the action sequences, the serious, epic displays of flashy fighting styles drew in the masses. In Kung Fu Hustle, we still observe decent action sequences, but all in all, the film is a parody, it is a comedy. Chow did not completely step away from the stereotypical wuxia film genre; instead he successfully utilized the wuxia hook with cultural comedic relief. The result was Kung Fu Hustle, a film that revealed to the west that there is more to Chinese culture than just martial arts – Chinese people can be funny too, it’s not all about fighting the bad guys and dying for honor. Kung Fu Hustle marks the transformation of the west and the rest of the global community’s understanding of Chinese culture. With Kung Fu Hustle, Chow shows the world that there is more to China than a brutal Communist nation full of martial artists, but that China is a modern nation capable of producing great popular culture.
"I believe Chow’s film was a huge step forward for Chinese popular culture in relation to the rest of the world, mainly the west. Kung Fu Hustle was so successful coming out of Hong Kong because it still had a bit of the standard martial arts action but Chow threw a comedic twist onto it to making it something completely new and sensational."
ReplyDeleteInteresting u mentioned it. Although the movies takes place in Shanghai, this movie would be funnier and more appreciation if you speak Cantonese (vs. Mandarin). Lots of jokes of Stephen Chow only works in Cantonese.
This is true. And I realized this as i was watching the film.
ReplyDeleteBut the fact that Chow went ahead and designed the movie to work with Cantonese jokes, knowing that only Cantonese speakers would get them, and still released it to the global community, says that Chinese cinema has evolved. Bottom line:
Even though the humor was somewhat exclusive, the world still received it rather well. So I believe it's safe to say Kung Fu Hustle can mark a change in Chinese cinema and how the world views it.
I mean after all, it is the highest grossing HK film, right?
"The result was Kung Fu Hustle, a film that revealed to the west that there is more to Chinese culture than just martial arts – Chinese people can be funny too, it’s not all about fighting the bad guys and dying for honor."
ReplyDeleteI agree with this. Although many of the jokes can only be appreciated if you speak Cantonese, the never seen before visual and sound effects of the movie easily captures an International audience. Chow creates a new comical genre into the film industry that is so original and new. It allowed the Western world to see a different kind of Asia.
"Kung Fu Hustle marks the transformation of the west and the rest of the global community’s understanding of Chinese culture. With Kung Fu Hustle, Chow shows the world that there is more to China than a brutal Communist nation full of martial artists, but that China is a modern nation capable of producing great popular culture."
ReplyDeleteI believe it was regarded as the first well-known Chinese comedy. He clearly broke the stereotype of Chinese action movies by adding comedic performance which he was good at the most, instead of following the old tradition of masters and students and battle between good and evil.
Although I do not speak or understand Cantonese and although I am fully aware that this film can reach its highest comical potential if one understands Cantonese, I still feel that on its comical aura alone, it was enough to make me appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that you need to understand Cantonese and, to some extent, probably understand Hong Kong pop culture in order to get the Cantonese jokes. I feel this movie might have a message that Cantonese should be preserved on the Mainland since most of main actors who spoke Mandarin did get killed off in the movie. This is especially relevant to recent suggestions that TV broadcasts in Guangzhou should cancel the Cantonese news and shows.
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