Women of KF cinema tributes

[Jimbo]

Lung Chun-Erh (a.k.a., Doris Lung)

Lung Chun-Erh was in a remarkable number of Taiwanese KF films from the early '70s to the early '80s, including a film alongside Jackie Chan (Half a Loaf of Kung Fu). However, there are surprisingly few short clips featuring her on YouTube, and apparently no showcase clips.
She appeared to have learned MA strictly for the movies, and while clearly nowhere near as skillful as, say, an Angela Mao, her screen fighting was certainly passable, and she had the requisite 'intent'. Unfortunately, after she attempted suicide three different times, directors became reluctant to work with her, and sometime in the late 1980s, her arrest for shoplifting made news in Taiwan. I wish her the best.

Many of her movies can be seen online, but this clip from Kid's Ace in the Hole (a.k.a., Fighting Ace) is the only *brief* clip I could find of her clearly in action, even though she's not the featured fighter.

*Note:
Clicking this video takes you to YouTube to watch it.

[Jimbo]

Shih Szu was at her best as a swordswoman in a number of wuxia films, my personal favorite being The Black Tavern. She had studied ballet since childhood, but her onscreen fighting performances were never at the level of skill, power or intensity of Angela Mao or other top female action stars who had considerable martial or martial-related training prior to getting into movies, whether it be Peking/Beijing Opera, actual MA, or otherwise. But Shih Szu clearly worked very hard at it and always gave her all. And she had the charisma to carry a role.

[mickey]

Greetings Jimbo,

This is my first time really looking at Shih Tzu. From viewing the montage she appeared to have ben versatile. The choreography shown did not appear have a "cinematic signature" of movement that actors/actresses who followed her had. It was easier for them to rely on a familiar series of movements with slight changes from movie to movie. Ti Lung, for example, had a recurring move where he would jump atop a prop and backflip off it. Wong Cheng Li and Tan Tao Liang had their familiar kicking combinations, etc. Maybe you have seen otherwise with her.


mickey

[Jimbo]

mickey:

I do agree that Shih Szu didn't seem to have any signature moves. I feel that could have been for a variety of reasons, including:

She was not a MAist and didn't have a set of moves to draw from aside from being choreographed.

The choreographers that worked with her(?).

The relatively early period in KF/wuxia films in which she did most of her action (i.e., early '70s 'basher-style' action).

Again, comparing Shih Szu to Angela Mao, from 0:45 is a scene taken from The Champion (a.k.a., Shanghai Lil and the Sun Luck Kid):



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[Jimbo]

...continued from previous post...

Shih Szu's scene in The Champion was obviously inspired by Angela Mao's dojo fight scene in Hapkido, in the video clip below, which itself was derived from Bruce Lee's dojo scene in Fist of Fury.

Angela Mao had signature moves, combining certain kicks from both Hapkido and Peking/Beijing Opera, especially her spinning kicks, as well as the Hapkido locks and throws. Notice how in Angela's fight scene, her physical skill, as well as her attitude, is far more convincing than Shih Szu's. Angela's moves also have fewer (or zero) incidences of 'clear misses' and 'false reactions' from the opponents (i.e., falling down in pain when the heroine's actions were clearly inadequate to have caused such a reaction) than Shih Szu's. Angela is far more convincing and looks like she's actually hurting her opponents:



Note:
This is not an indictment of Shih Szu as an actress or as a performer, but is merely an opinion/observation based on her screen fighting.

[mickey]

Hi Jimbo,

I see the difference. My memory of Angela Mao was always one of intense action

Additionally, Shih Tzu's team did not sell very well. makes me wonder how good they were. Then again, we discussed this era of choreography before.

I especially enjoyed the last 15 seconds of the Angela Mao clip. Even though she may have been shorter than the men, the shot made it seem if she walked towards them, she would suddenly tower over them: a true "little giant"
moment.

Thank you for sharing.

mickey

[GeneChing]

My memory of Angela Mao was always one of intense action

My memory of Angela Mao is forever tainted by Stoner (1974). Those who've seen it know what I mean.

If you haven't seen it, it's one of the greatest Bond-xploitation flicks ever.

[Jimbo]

Shannon Lee looked surprisingly good in this movie (Enter the Eagles), considering she was only in a few films. She looked even better in the action department than her brother Brandon, although she could have done without the (predictable) Bruce Lee mannerisms. A lot of the credit should go to director Corey Yuen (Yuen Kwai); he excels at directing women in his action films and choreographing them to look great in their fight scenes.

[Jimbo]

Cynthia Khan (real name: Yang Li-Ching)

The stage name Cynthia Khan was a combination given to her due to the popularity of Cynthia Rothrock and Michelle Khan (Michelle Yeoh) at the time. Yang Li-Ching, originally from Chiayi, Taiwan, started out with a dance background and later studied TKD. She made many movies during the "girls with guns" era, along with Michelle Yeoh, Cynthia Rothrock, Moon Lee, Yukari Oshima, Michilo Nishiwaki, etc. Unlike many of her contemporaries, when the "GWG" era ended, she successfully transitioned to some wuxia/period pieces.

[Jimbo]

In this scene from the excellent 2002 action film So Close, director Corey Yuen displays his ability to make non-MA actresses look not only passable as MA-trained characters, but also capable of creating scenes that are effective to the storyline and the characters that allows for suspension of disbelief. So while it is obvious to anyone who is MA-trained that these actresses are not actual MAists, this observation does not negatively affect the scene or the movie. This scene features Shu Qi vs. Karen Mok, with Vicky Zhao on the sidelines.

[-N-]

So while it is obvious to anyone who is MA-trained that these actresses are not actual MAists, this observation does not negatively affect the scene or the movie. This scene features Shu Qi vs. Karen Mok, with Vicky Zhao on the sidelines.

It's not possible to negatively affect any scene that has both Shu Qi and Zhao Wei in it at the same time

[Jimbo]

It's not possible to negatively affect any scene that has both Shu Qi and Zhao Wei in it at the same time

Lol, can't argue with that!

My favorite part of that scene is not even the fighting, but the nonverbal communication between Vicky Zhao and Karen Mok's male partner when he tries to spot some skin on both Karen and Shu Qi.

[Jimbo]

The Outlaw Brothers (1990) end fight.

Yukari Ohshima and Frankie Chan vs. Mark Houghton (broadsword) and Jeff Falcon (fan). Also featuring Michiko Nishiwaki:

[Jimbo]

Yuen Qiu (a.k.a., Kan Chia-Fong)

Yuen Qiu was an elder classmate of Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, etc., at Yu Jim-Yuen's Peking (Beijing) Opera school. Her first international exposure came in one of her earliest films, The Man with the Golden Gun, as one of two schoolgirls who team up with James Bond (Roger Moore) to fight off a group of karate students. Yuen Qiu is the girl with the shorter hair. Here is the first clip:



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[Jimbo]

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