Kung Fu Hustle...not what you expected?

As the movie opens with gangsters dressed in suits and top hats shooting people and dancing to music in a city setting, you wonder if you are watching the right movie. You think to yourself, “Wait, what’s going on? I thought I was watching Kung Fu Hustle…not a musical about Chinese gangsters.” The movie progresses and the fight scene between the gangsters and country people begins, where there are three men that start to do “kung fu” styled combat. Things are starting to make more sense now and your mind is a little more at ease; until you realize the kung fu fighting does not look as gallant and elegant as you are used to in movies like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon or Hero. You continue to watch and catch yourself laughing almost throughout the entire movie. This is not what you had expected at all.

Kung Fu Hustle is not your typical Wuxai-type movie that most people, or Westerners, are used to. It completely refutes the concept of Chinese culture that most non-Chinese people readily believed through the box-office selling, Hollywood blockbusters they had just seen. There is more to Chinese people and culture than just kung fu, people flying through the air, and long flowing traditional gowns; rather, they also dance, play sports, and make comedies. According to the director, Stephen Chow, he believes that films in Hollywood do a poor job portraying Chinese culture and he wanted to expand “the preconceived notion.”

To do so, Chow incorporated many references and parodies from American films that he grew up watching—Top Hat, The Shining, The Matrix, Spiderman—alongside several references from Chinese culture—Infernal Affairs, aspects of Wuxai novels, Lu-Hao Tung. This was not an attempt to negate that Chinese culture is made up of the generic characteristics that immediately come to mind, but that it does not stop at that. The idea of “Orientalism” presented Chinese culture as exotic and foreign, “in a vacuum devoid of space and time,” to quote Professor Johnson. With his conscious juxtaposition, or blending, of the two cultures (American and Chinese), Chow wanted to show that Chinese people have been existing concurrently with the rest of the world and that they do not live in some alien country sealed off from the rest of the world. In an interview, Chow explained, “And I think that my willingness to incorporate so many western elements in my films will, in a way, humanize these films for American audiences. To say, in a subtle way, that this isn't that foreign a film or foreign a filmmaker after all because we all grew up loving the same movies.”

Similar to many other Chinese movies, this film presents a theme of new (modern) versus old (traditional). During this transitional period of China entering the global market and towards a more capitalist-friendly stance, Chinese movies seemed to reflect the transition. In Kung Fu Hustle there is an apparent clash between the modern, city gangsters and the traditional, country kung fu masters. The city is portrayed as corrupt with beggars lining the streets, gambling, gangsters, and random shootings; whereas the country is portrayed as honest with good people who just want to live a simple, peaceful life. Chow, himself, claimed that he made the underdogs of society (the country people) heroes of the movie because “they’re the ones who are the real foundations of our culture.”

The film itself embodies the essence of new versus old, modern versus traditional. By combining modern film gimmicks with traditional elements of Chinese culture, Chow created a film that held true to his vision and nature but that was relatable to audiences everywhere.

Kung Fu Hastle review from Stanley

Kung Fu hastle is a movie describing Hong Kong in the 70s where the city was dominated by the Gangs' power. There is a big contrast between the city and the country side.

Corruption is a serious problem in the city of materialism, because of money, even police officers would listen to the gangs. There were no social orders, it's all about money and women in the city, there are night clubs, people dressed nicely, loved to show off, stronger one would bully the weaker, the society was controlled by the gangs. People would try to stay far from troubles and choose not to give hands even they witness crimes or unfairness.

Like Steven Chow in the movie, even though he wasn't a bad guy, with low education level, he has no choices but to follow what the gangs did, to become a robber or thief in order to survive, as that was the norms of the society in that period.

The countryside was less affected by materialism. People could stay away from the city and live a simple and peaceful life. There are no nightlife, and people dressed simply; they relied and help each other in a small village.

The Kung fu fighters lived humbly at the countryside. Even they know kung fu, they would never show off or intimidate the weaker ones. They just wanted to live peacefully to be ordinary citizens.

Kung fu is not useful anymore, whoever used to be the most powerful and famous had faded out in the modern society and replaced by the gangs groups. These fighters chose to stay away from the society, their stories and Kung fu became legends that were unrealistic. Different kinds of kung fu menus were printed and only child would believe in them.

The ending of the theme showed that the bad guys were defeated by the good ones. That implicate that as far as the good ones are willing to stand out for the unfairness or crimes, the good guys will always win, which is always true in movies and what people believe.

Different from the previous "mo lei tau" series movies, instead of having nonsensical humors and rapid comic banter, "Kung Fu hastle" embedded with more meaning and messages reflecting the social problems. We can tell that Steven Chow is trying to breakthrough from his movie styles.

Kung Fu Hustle Review

With movies trying to reach a more global audience, Kung Fu Hustle may provide an example of how to make a successful movie. The film drew elements from America, Hong Kong, and Mainland China to make it have a broader appeal. This fared better in the box office than previous films like Hero and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon because it had a little bit for everybody. Also, it probably helped that the film fell into the action comedy genre.

The film is loaded with many references from western pop culture as well as Chinese. In the scene where the landlady chases after Sing, the visual style is taken from the chases from the Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon. I feel like the scene also incorporates Chow’s comedic style when his character, Sing, uses the knives stuck in his shoulder as rear-view mirrors. Those knives are stuck in his shoulders because of some unsuccessful attempts at throwing knives minutes before. At the conclusion of the chase, the landlady crashes into a billboard. Incidentally, the product advertised on the billboard was White Flower Oil (白花油), a product used externally to alleviate minor aches and pains as well as nasal congestion, probably something the landlady needs at the moment. For people who have knowledge about the product, it may have bought up a chuckle or two. Additionally, it brought in a famous quote from the comic book superhero Spider-man dying Uncle Ben. In the film,a fighter suffered grave injuries and his last words were "With great power comes great responsibility." This quote already fresh in the minds of the American audience as the first Spider-man film was released 2 years prior.

For the fighting scenes, there was a Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon feel to it because they had brought in the same choreographer from those movies Yuen Woo-ping. In the final fighting scene, we can see something similar to a Matrix scene when Sing takes on an army of gangsters just like Neo took on a horde of Agent Smiths. The wire work for the fighting scenes show that the fighters are flying or floating above ground is from wuxia, similar to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The film also pays homage to Bruce Lee by having Sing use his fighting style and wear a costume from one of Lee’s movies. The theatrics of the fighting could not have been done with the support of American studios.

The collaborative efforts with the US studios also included more local elements of Chinese and Hong Kong culture. The set of Pig Sty village was inspired from the movie The House of 72 Tenants. The various forms of Chinese martial arts were on display with each fighter having their unique style and the Buddhist palm move that Sing delivers to defeat the Beast. The collaborative efforts allowed for the inclusion of these elements that would not be possible or visually pleasing without the financing and technology provided by Hollywood. This method was regarded as "glocalization", which means to include local elements by the non-US directors or producers while using resources from the US.

The movie editing techniques from American producers, producers from China that had their own input to appeal to the Mainland Chinese audience, and the vision of Stephen Chow to incorporate Kung Fu and his own comedic style created a new category of film. Overall, the efforts from different parties made this movie more a of transnational film and, as a result, a very successful movie.

Kung Fu Hustle!

In Kung Fu Hustle, Stephen Chow expertly blends slapstick comedy, over-the-top kung fu martial arts and dramatic elements into one enormously hilarious and hugely entertaining film. It is a film that does not take itself too seriously -- its characters aren't very complex or at all realistic, but we love them all the same. Much of this love comes from the intentionally liberal use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and spoofs of common storytelling clichés and popular films and idols. Using these techniques to comedic effect, Chow has made this movie distinctly appealing to an international audience.

Kung Fu Hustle delivers Chow-style comedy and martial arts at the outset. The audience is shown the Axe Gang's terrible crimes portrayed through flashing newspaper front pages, the Axe Gang in perfectly ironed black suits (a respectable Hong Kong gangster must), and its leader Brother Sum leading a dance routine. The film then flips to Pig Sty Alley, a rural tenement akin to an Old Western-style outpost, where the movie's protagonist Sing (Chow) is trying to pass off as an Axe for a free haircut for his friend. The Alley's tenants refuse to back down, and the real Axe Gang coincidentally arrives. A massive Matrix-, or Kill Bill, if you will, style fight ensues, in which three Pig Sty tenants are revealed to be kung fu masters in disguise.

Unfortunately, these kung fu masters are killed by assassins hired by Brother Sum, suddenly pulling the film into a melodramatic gear and revealing Pig Sty's true kung fu masters -- the lecherous landlord and chain-smoking landlady. Breaking a vow not to fight, they go to the Axe Gang's lair. There, however, they encounter The Beast, an old, shaggy man who is faster than bullets. A brawl, of course, follows, culminating in a stalemate. Sing is then tasked with hitting the landlord and landlady, at which point he realizes an epiphany and hits The Beast, who beats him down. After reviving, we learn that Sing was really a kung fu god with blocked up qi (energy flow), and he faces off with The Beast in the film’s final boss fight.

Throughout the film, CGI effects are used to a point of parody but with stunning effect in combination with Chow's brand of choreographed martial arts. Much of this can be attributed to top-level choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, who choreographed Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and the Wachowshi Brothers' The Matrix, and Centro Digital Pictures Limited, which provided CG effects for Chow's first internationally acclaim film, Shaolin Soccer, and Tarantino's Kill Bill. Cues taken from these movies can clearly be seen in the film's final fight sequence, evidencing as hordes of black-suited men wielding axes toppled like dominoes, bouncing off walls like Spiderman, and a sudden mid-air epiphany (incidentally coming at the call of an eagle). Not even Bruce Lee is safe, as Sing poses victoriously.

Why all this borrowing and poaching? Chow makes it clear that this film was meant for an international audience -- and that he "hopes that his poaches from Hollywood will culturally deodorize his films." After all, Hollywood has been poaching ideas from Asian films for a long time (The Departed comes to mind), so why shouldn't he?

At the same time, Chow makes Kung Fu Hustle also a distinctly Hong Kong film, paying homage to a variety of past Hong Kong and Chinese traditions. Regarded by Columbia Pictures East Asia, the film's financer, as a strategy of "global localization," Kung Fu Hustle distinctly references older Hong Kong films, including The House of 72 Tenants, from which Pig Sty Alley was 'lifted', and the Buddhist Palm school of martial arts, which many older Hong Kong martial arts films use, buddha-in-the-clouds and four-story-handprints notwithstanding.

Ultimately, Kung Fu Hustle is really a brilliant play by Chow to capture a global audience with a well-executed, hilarious film with both local and global storytelling and cinematographic elements. It's a win-win situation -- Chow gets his money and fame, we get great entertainment.

Kung Fu Hustle Review

Kung Fu Hustle is an action packed comedy film directed by and also starring Stephen Chow. The film is set in the 1940s in Shanghai in the midst of various gang wars trying to achieve power. Among them is the most powerful Axe Gang, those that do not abide by the law and move in large packs dominating neighborhoods to come. The story of the film is about Sing and Bone, troublemakers with no future, who attempts to take over Pig Sty Alley by disguising themselves as the Axe Gang. However, the events turn sour when the real Axe Gang appears and conflict occurs.
Kung Fu Hustle not only incorporates martial arts and comedy into its film, but Stephen Chow alludes to a wide range of films and media sources from American past-time cartoons to other Chinese Wuxia films. Although I have not watched the bulk of the films that Stephen Chow refers to, I was able to see where his humor was derived from. While watching the film I noticed that the film was a lot like the American film series Scary Movie and how they parodied films of its times. I feel that Stephen Chow took a similar approach to this film Kung Fu Hustle as well. I can also see how the film is said to be transnational because of its interest not only in Chinese films but also American media sources.
Stephen Chow slightly hints at the differences between the Axe Gang and the residents of Pig Sty Alley. The Axe Gang is portrayed to be this super power of the region trying to dominate over smaller and weaker areas of Shanghai – in this case the Pig Sty Alley. The Pig Sty Alley is shown to be old tradition, with old architecture and old façade. The residents in the Pig Sty Alley struggle to pay their rent and survive even though they live under a tyrant-like Landlady. The Landlady also represents the Axe Gang in a way because of her domineering power against her residents (she is the micro-representation of being a super power). The film continues to show the conflict between large-scaled authorities against weaker powers.
Personally, I found this film to be very humorous and admired the way Stephen Chow was able to tap into various different types of comedic techniques for the audience. It not only incorporated slapstick comedy, but also animated graphics to give the film viewers a mixture of both realistic and non-realistic eye-catching performance. Though I did not see much depth into the film itself, I can still see the extraordinary accomplishments Stephen Chow achieved. After all, it became one of the highest grossed films for the year 2005.

Kung Fu Hustle

Kung Fu Hustle Review


Personally, it was the most hilarious Asian movie I've ever watched. Stephen Chow was definitely regarded as one of major actors in Chinese film industry to my generation, and it was his second movie I've watched by choice. It is quite different from the previous genre of Chinese movie, which is more of an epic story than comedy.

The main theme of this movie can be described as one word: PARODY. Many of the famous scenes of the movie are spoofs other movies, from not only American TV program and modern Hollywood films, from but also famous Chinese films. For example, opening scene of Gangs of New York, running with invisible legs is from Looney Tunes of Warner Brothers, the battle scene between Xing and gang members are from that of Agent Smith and Neo of The Matrix, Nose bleeding from The Shining and Jackie Chan of Drunken Masters, so on, so forth. He even added his previous movie, Shaolin Soccer as well.

However, it doesn't stop right there the point where you laugh. Thanks to CG, it seems that he has tried to remove the clear boundary between a movie and an animation film. Various scenes with the power of computer graphic, the audience felt as if they're watching animated version of action movie, and clearly, Chow has overcome the stereotype of Chinese action movie; either endless revenge with hard-to-bear loyalty for lifetime, or sad deaths of all main characters. In the field of Chinese film industry, Chow has been precisely broading the horizon of Chinese action movies with various plots and parody scenes and dynamic performance, which is truly ground breaking for the fans of Chinese action movies.

Kung Fu Hustle

Kung Fu Hustle is a humorous film directed, produced, and starring by Hong Kong’s international superstar Stephen Chow in 2004. The movie sets in Shanghai in the 1940’s when various gangs compete for power. In the absence of law enforcement, only the people in the poor countryside could live peacefully areas which did not appeal to the gangs. However, one day a wannabe ‘bad guy’ named Sing (Stephen Chow) comes across Pig Sty Alley in the outskirts of the city pretending to be one of the members of the most dreaded gangster squad known as The Axe Gang. His intention to frighten the country people fails, which only attracted the real gang to the scene. To fulfill Sing’s wishes, he gets recruited into the Axe Gang in an attempt to defeat the locals at Pig Sty Alley. After a close battle with the land lord lady (Yuen Qiu), Sing discovers his true heroic fate as a Kung Fu Master.

The comedy film is an original and refreshing approach to Kung Fu that is unlike any other martial arts movie. Stephen Chow creates his own new genre of film that brings a simple, brainless, and comical culture into Asia. It allows the audience to see Kung Fu in a different light. The humorous film moments in the movie includes the fast forward running scene, exaggeration of the lips being swollen, a man going to the bathroom in public, the killer turning into a frog, and Sing turning into a butterfly from a cocoon. Integrating these cartoon-like elements into the movie makes it a big crowd pleaser and action-packed movie that allows people to laugh throughout the entire film.

Nevertheless, it is evident that the movie portrays the people living in Pig Sty Alley as the ‘good guys’ and the Axe Gang as ‘bad guys’. Chow introduces the people from Pig Sty Alley as living a stable life that was peaceful, happy, and routine. On the other hand, the city people representing the Axe Gang were involved with materialistic things such as money, gambling, girls, nightlife, which led to lots of corruption and violence. This indicates an economically growing China becoming infiltrated with consumerism and materialism that is dangerous to the society. Nonetheless, the country people just want to be left alone and become ‘ordinary citizens’ in order to live in peace and free from corruption from the city.

Chow is never seen killing anyone in the movie although he wishes to become the #1 feared bad guy known. The movie indicates that people are innately good and has the potential to do good things only if we try and carry a pure heart. Like a cocoon evolving into a butterfly, Sing gets a new chance to become a good person and do good deeds for his community which he eventually does by killing the Axe Gang. Consequently, Chow opens up a candy store which is a reminiscence of his childhood. It reminds the audience of a time when things were still simple and innocent- something we should all learn to cherish.

Kung Fu Hustle Review

Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle is a comical take on the classic Hong Kong or Chinese gangster and martial arts films. Chow takes the classical elements of Chinese martial arts action, backed by traditional Chinese music, and cool liumang gangster icons and throws in cartoon-esque humor. The result is a wonderfully well done parody film that has a decent plot and that has an acceptable level of cheesiness with a side of clever.

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.

Primary Texts Covered in this Course

Farewell My Concubine (bawang bieji 霸王别姬), a 1993 film directed by Chen Kaige 陈凯歌
To Live (huozhe 活着), a 1994 film directed by Zhang Yimou 张艺谋
Yellow Earth (huang ditu 黃土地), a 1984 film directed by Chen Kaige陈凯歌
Platform (zhantai 站台), a 2000 film directed by Jia Zhangke 贾樟柯
Music from Cui Jian 崔健
Post-Tian’anmen T-shirt Culture
Music from Teresa Teng 邓丽君
Music from Ai Jing 艾敬
Music from Jay Chou 周杰伦
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wu hu cang long 臥虎藏龍), a 2000 film directed by Ang Lee 李安
Beijing Bicycle (shiqisui de danche 十七岁的单车), a 2001 film directed by Wang Xiaoshuai 王小帅
Selections from Playing for Thrills (Wanr de jiushi xintiao 玩儿的就是心跳), a 1989 novel written by Wang Shuo 王朔
Candy (tang 糖), a 2000 novel written by Mian Mian 棉棉
Hero (yingxiong 英雄), a 2002 film directed by Zhang Yimou 张艺谋
Kung Fu Hustle (gongfu 功夫), a 2004 film directed by Stephen Chow 周星馳