Shaw Brothers festival?

[renzhe]

I've finished 天涯明月刀. It was fun in a trashy 70s kind of way, and I like trashy 70s kind of way. The story was reduced to omg, baddies, omg more baddies, but it's a Shaw Brothers production after all.

I liked the leading actor. The fights were average, IMHO. I was caught by surprise by the erotic interlude towards the end, but hey, it's the 70s.

The language was very easy, other than a couple of bookish quotes typical for wuxia that pop up from time to time. I didn't notice any Taiwanese accent at all, sounded like regular northern Mandarin to me.

[character]

I liked the leading actor.

Ti Lung was arguably Shaw Brothers' biggest star.

I was caught by surprise by the erotic interlude towards the end, but hey, it's the 70s.

This sort of thing would appear fairly frequently outside the films of Chang Cheh. It may seem odd if like me, you first saw a lot of these films in some venue where it had been cut out.

The language was very easy, other than a couple of bookish quotes typical for wuxia that pop up from time to time. I didn't notice any Taiwanese accent at all, sounded like regular northern Mandarin to me.

That's good to know; OTOH, it means I have a long way to go on my listening skills.

[renzhe]

Anyway, a couple of words I caught that might help understanding:

武器 wǔ qì weapon

杀气 shā qì murderous look / the "aura" one has if planning to kill

孔雀翎 kǒng què líng peacock feather -- that funky weapon everyone's after

I really can't think of anything else that could be troublesome.

[renzhe]

I've just finished the Shaolin Mantis.

It was a typical old-school kung fu flick, and quite entertaining, even though the fights dragged on for too long towards the end of the movie.

I have to admit, though, that I didn't understand anything for the first 10 minutes (the part that takes place at the Qing court), although I rewatched that part several times. I guess I'll never get used to court language. Even after seeing literally dozens of shows where people talk like that, I still didn't understand a single word. Qing court + no subtitles = no cigar.

All I figured out is that Wei Feng is sent by the Qing emperor to retrieve something from somewhere, and if he doesn't return in 3 months, then somethin will happen, and if he doesn't return in 6 months, then something else, and if he's not back in a year, then something even worse.

As soon as he's out of there, the language was totally easy to follow.

[jawshoowa]

Good thing I ran into Roddy and he notified me of this thread. I am so in!

I am very much a fan of the Chu Yuan adaptions of Gu Long novels, my favorites being "Killer Clans" (an adaption of 流星蝴蝶剑) and "Clans of Intrigue" (楚留香传奇). Plot twists galore, fantastic campy costumes, extravagant and obviously fake studio sets (even for outdoor scenes). Mind you, this is not just an ironic appreciation. It all adds up to films with distinctive atmosphere, dialogue, and swordplay which fit the tone of the novels. Among my all-time favorites.

I don't have my DVD collection with me in China, so I can't supply them, but I will gladly rewatch them and discuss with anyone who can find them. The list that Character posted is a far more definitive guide to this category of the Shaw catalog. Let me just add that for anyone unfamiliar with this director: these are some of the brightest gems that Shaw Brothers fashioned.

That said, I am game for other Shaw films. I'd love to see some of their "modern" films from the 60's and 70's as well.

Edited April 30, 2009 at 08:55 AM by jawshoowa
grammatical error

[roddy]

I just finished watching The Magic Blade - got to say, enjoyed it more than I expected. I can't say I was utterly enthralled, but it was fun. I liked 鬼外婆 best.

Language-wise, I'd agree with Renzhe - pretty standard, no heavy accents. A lot of the vocabulary is obviously fairly rare, and the odd names being thrown around can be confusing. The version from the verycd link earlier has not-great English subtitles.

[character]

Crippled Avengers - Amazing physical feats (which makes it worth seeing) coupled with annoying comedy and plodding direction.

[character]

I have to admit, though, that I didn't understand anything for the first 10 minutes (the part that takes place at the Qing court), although I rewatched that part several times. I guess I'll never get used to court language. Even after seeing literally dozens of shows where people talk like that, I still didn't understand a single word. Qing court + no subtitles = no cigar.

Any chance it is partially or completely Mongolian instead of just fancy Mandarin?

-----

The Sword Mates -- all the reviews I could find crap on it, but I thought it was a perfectly adequate film. Chin Ping rocks as the fiesty, fighting daughter of a man charged with delivering a MacGuffin to the Emperor.

[roddy]

Watched Clan Feuds earlier. Got to say it was all a bit bewildering - too many people, too many locations, too many McGuffins. I think I maybe need to watch it again, taking notes. I did have to rewatch the first ten minutes when I realized that I didn't have any idea who just got pulled to pieces by horses. This time I liked the kung-fu cavewoman best.

[character]

@roddy -- do the films make you want to try a Gu Long novel or two?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu_Long

On another forum, people have recommended the Lu Xiaofeng Series (陸小鳳系列) as a good place to start.

[roddy]

To be honest . . no.

[character]

OK. From the translations I've read, it seems the movies just take some key scenes from the book and string them together, so the movies are often quite confusing. The movies also lose a lot of the banter in the books.

Is there a different genre you'd like to watch?

[character]

Just made screencaps of most of the dialog on the Scorpioeast release of Swordmates, a DVD which has large, embedded Traditional Chinese/English subs. I hope to eventually make a vocab list from it.

[renzhe]

I've seen Crippled Avengers already, so I won't watch it again, but it's really something.

It's got all the cheese one can hope for, but the acrobatics are really extraordinary

Any chance it is partially or completely Mongolian instead of just fancy Mandarin?

Nah, it was court Mandarin.

Anyway, what's next on our list? Are we simply watching them in order? I have the Enchanting Shadow, but Mu-Lan and the guillotine are still downloading (and will likely take a while).

I'd also like to recommend 五毒, which surprisingly isn't on our list. It has to be one of the Shaw Brothers' most famous movies, and it's the movie that made the cast from "Crippled Avengers" famous, so the fighting has to be great.

Edited May 6, 2009 at 06:22 PM by renzhe

[renzhe]

I've skipped ahead a bit (due to downloading woes) and seen 《倩女幽魂》(The Enchanting Shadow).

As character wrote, it is based on the same story as the 1987 version (translated as "A Chinese Ghost Story"), and the movies are very similar.

Although it features some of the worst acting and fighting scenes ever committed to celluloid, it is actually quite impressive considering that it was filmed in 1960 -- almost 50 years ago, back in the early days of Hong Kong cinema.

Most of us can forget learning Mandarin from this, though. I don't think I'd have understood even with subtitles (which I didn't have). More than half of the dialogue is reciting classical poems. The actually important stuff (who is a ghost, etc.) is quite straight-forward though, so most people can get the gist.

[character]

Sorry renzhe, I apologize for somehow missing your message of the 5th.

Nah, it was court Mandarin.

Is there some reference material for court Mandarin? There are a lot of SB films which have court scenes or have characters from the court running around, so it seems useful to know a bit of it.

Anyway, what's next on our list? Are we simply watching them in order?

For my part, I'll go ahead and finish watching Enchanting Shadow. It sounds like others shouldn't bother to watch it.

I can watch SB films in any order that works for y'all. I'm also happy to watch 五毒 or whatever other films you want in addition to or instead of what I suggested. Why don't you pick the next films to watch?

It's clear to me I need to improve my listening skills and vocab. I've not had time to start working through the subtitles I captured to make a vocab list. There are a few vocab terms here.

[renzhe]

Sorry renzhe, I apologize for somehow missing your message of the 5th.

I actually edited it into an older post to avoid spamming, perhaps I should have bumped it instead.

Is there some reference material for court Mandarin? There are a lot of SB films which have court scenes or have characters from the court running around, so it seems useful to know a bit of it.

I don't really think there is and, to be honest, it isn't high on my list of priorities either. I would like to get fluent in modern, relevant language first.

To me, they are just reading written language out loud when they speak like that.

I can watch any of these movies whenever, as long as I have them, but perhaps it would be better if we coordinate so we have something to discuss.

Unfortunately, I can't find the Five Deadly Venoms on verycd.

[character]

[...] perhaps I should have bumped it instead.

Only if you want it read.

I can watch any of these movies whenever, as long as I have them, but perhaps it would be better if we coordinate so we have something to discuss.

OK, go ahead and make a list based on what you have available.

I finished Enchanting Shadow -- I think it would be interesting for some researcher to explore how Chinese Opera influenced the acting style in films. It's also interesting to compare the. slow. pace. of this film with the fast pace for which HK films are known.

[renzhe]

I've found the five venoms: http://thepiratebay.org:80/torrent/3644393/[Kung_Fu]_Five_Deadly_Venoms_(1978)_-_DVD_Rmvb (cut and paste, can't link directly). Keep in mind that the pirate bay is on dodgy legs legally with the trial and all that, but such an old Chinese movie in such low quality is unlikely to bother anyone.

The language should be Mandarin.

I don't have a specific schedule in mind, tbh. I have Mulan and I should get the flying guillotine and the deadly venoms soon enough.

Why don't we simply stay on the current schedule (I guess we're officially on the Shaolin Mantis now) and then tack on Swordmates and The Five Deadly Venoms at the end?

[character]

Sounds good. I'll watch Clan Feuds and Mulan again while we wait for Roddy, etc. to drop everything and catch up.