We've been waiting for decades, some of us longer, but with each passing day, the dream of watching classic Shaw Brothers films either on the big screen, or good quality video, is gradually becoming a reality, a "Shaw" thing. Here's all the latest updates and developments brought to you by Shaw Brothers, Celestial Pictures, kungfumagazine.com and yours sincerely.
The latest breaking news out of Hong Kong is that on June 5th, Celestial Pictures reached an agreement with King Records to distribute Shaw Brothers Films in Japan. The Japan-Shaws connection dates back as early as the 1960s. King Hu's revolutionary COME DRINK WITH ME (1966), a film that set the standards for many martial arts films to come and starred the first recognized kung-fu screen queen Cheng Pei-pei, was shot by the talented Japanese cinematographer Nishimoto Tadashi. And, in 1967 the young and talented director, Inoue Umetsugu, well-known for making contemporary romantic musicals such as HONG KONG NOCTURNE, with a rich Broadway flavor that widely appealed to young audiences, joined the Shaw Brothers Studio. He was the first of many Japanese film talents to join the studio. The MIGHTY PEKING MAN, regarded by many as the more human and romantic version of Dino DeLaurentiis' King Kong produced by the Shaw Brothers employed many of the Japanese special effects technicians that worked on Honda's early GODZILLA films.
The initial deal? A licensing agreement for the distribution of a collection of more than 20 Shaw titles including the above films and other titles over the coming years in VHS and DVD formats in Japan.
"The Japanese audience have been waiting too long to see these Chinese film masterpieces again," exclaimed Takehisa Koike, CEO of King Records. "Other than a glimpse at last year's Tokyo International Film Festival, these film treasures had not been released in any form at all since their original theatrical release. Celestial Pictures have meticulously restored these films to impeccable sound and visual quality, and we will make sure that the films would be dubbed in Japanese or presented with Japanese subtitles in the best possible manner for the Japanese audience."
As it turns out, William Pfeiffer, the CEO of Celestial Pictures, speaks fluent Japanese and knows the market quite well since he lived in the region for over 20 years, including eleven years in Tokyo. Prior to joining Celestial, he held positions such as the Managing Director, Asia, of Sony Pictures' Columbia TriStar International Television and the Managing Director, Asia, for Walt Disney's home entertainment business. Pfeiffer commented, "Celestial Pictures is honored to bring the Shaw Brothers film masterpieces to today's Japanese audience. We would like to thank Mr. Takehisa Koike and his team at King Records for their enthusiasm toward the incomparable Shaw Brothers films. We are confident that King Records will do a fantastic job in presenting these films to the Japanese audience."
Many European film audiences may remember that THE MAGNIFICENT CONCUBINE was the first Chinese film ever to win the Grand Prix prize at the 15th Cannes Film Festival in 1962. The movie was praised by L'Espoir, the influential French daily, as "an undeniable success" and Le Provencal also lauded its color, acting and directing. Ever since audiences in France first saw the beautiful Shaw star Li Li-Hua in the early 1960s, they were blown away by the charm of Chinese actresses and actors as well as by the cinematography and creative brilliance of Shaw Brothers.
Last year, Cheng Pei-pei graced the red carpet at the Cannes International Film Festival as the official guest to commemorate the release of the new, fully restored version of COME DRINK WITH ME, which was selected for a special out-of-competition screening. The film, which dazzled the Cannes audience just as it did more than 30 years ago, is just one of the 760 films in the classic Shaw Brothers library.
So at this year's Cannes film festival, specifically May 19th, another Shaw's film made it's world premiere, not an old classic, but the first martial arts film shot under the Shaws banner in decades, DRUNKEN MONKEY. The new film sees legendary martial-arts director Liu Chia-liang (Lau Kar-leung) return to the big screen as both actor and director. Some of Liu's great previous credits include THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, MY YOUNG AUNTIE, LEGENDARY WEAPONS OF KUNG-FU and EXECUTIONERS FROM SHAOLIN. The film also stars the epitome of Shaolin monk actors, Liu's half brother Gordon Liu Chia-hui, star of 36TH CHAMBER, WU TANG VS. SHAOLIN and the 10/10/03 to be released Miramax film, Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL. The film also features the stunning new action actress Shannon Yao and Yuen Woo-ping's latest discovery Wu Jing.
Liu's goal with this film is not only re-introduce real martial arts action back into film but as he puts it, "to produce a real kung-fu movie that Hollywood would be unable to produce." While Hollywood has embraced special effects, stunt doubles, and quick cuts to make their actors appear as if they can fight, Liu has always favored real martial arts and real stunts. Assisting with the fight choreography for the film was another member of the Liu clan, Liu Chia-rong (Lau Kar-wing) who is also an accomplished martial artist and fight choreographer.
Pfeiffer shared, "Celestial Pictures is committed to releasing only the very best of Hong Kong action cinema, from the past, present and future. We are proud to bring DRUNKEN MONKEY to audiences around the world. The film is a new martial arts classic."
So it also made sense that during this year's Cannes film festival, Celestial Pictures inked a deal with Wild Side Films to distribute Shaw's movies in all French-Speaking Territories. Over 40 Shaw Brothers titles including THE ONE-ARMED SWORDSMAN and THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN will be released in these territories over the next five years, of course in their original language with French subtitles and specially selected titles would be released in cinemas. Celestial Pictures has also licensed these more than 40 titles to Wild Side for free and pay-TV distribution in the same French-speaking territories.
Pfeiffer commented, "We are very pleased that, in Manuel Chiche and the Wild Side team, we have found a company that is so passionate about our Shaw Brothers films. Wild Side has developed exceptionally creative plans to introduce these incomparable films to sophisticated fans of great cinema."
Chiche, CEO of Wild Side Films remarked "Having the possibility to work on the Shaw Brothers library is a dream comes true for us. We have dreamt about seeing these movies for years. Now we will be the ones that will be taking care of them. We will work hard to help people discover these incredible movies in the best condition possible. This is a labor of love. And we love them all."
And how as this labor of love hit America? April 3rd, 2003, Miramax Films and Celestial reached a long-term agreement under which Miramax has licensed the video distribution rights to 50 titles from the famous Shaw Brothers' library, video-on-demand rights to the entire Celestial Shaw library, and the English-language remake rights for two films. Under the agreement, Miramax will select 50 of the Shaw titles for video distribution in North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. The VOD portion of the agreement for the entire library is for North America.
"We're especially proud of this agreement, because despite the Shaw Brothers producing the world's biggest and best Chinese film library, most of these great movies have not been available on home video and DVD," said Harvey Weinstein. "I am proud that Celestial has entrusted Miramax to bring these fantastic films to their fans, and especially to broader new audiences."
"Celestial Pictures is thrilled to have created such a multi-dimensional, long-term relationship for distribution and production with Miramax," said Pfeiffer. "Harvey and his team are unparalleled leaders in distributing and marketing high-quality Chinese films to audiences in the key English-language markets. We also share the vision that VOD will be an important way to reach new viewers and to expand the film market."
Jim Dolan, president and CEO of Cablevision Systems Corp., one of America's leading cable television operators, said about the deal, "The expanded channel capacity and on demand functionality made possible by digital cable has revolutionized the delivery of highly personal content to customers. Miramax's licensing of the VOD rights to the famous Shaw Brothers library makes perfect sense given the power of this new technology and the immense popularity of this special interest programming throughout the nation."
In addition, Miramax will select two Shaw Brothers titles for English-language remakes of feature films. "The Shaw films are a terrific source of fresh story ideas for new movies," Weinstein added. "I've had my eye on some of these films for many years."
Although these films wont be ready for distribution in America on Zone 1 DVDs for a while, VCDs are available now. They are in widescreen, subtitled in English, have trailers of other films, less expensive and I honorably share with you, feature synopses written on their box covers, either written or when not written, proofread and historically corrected by me. So what martial art films are ready and what's coming?
Here's what available. The first film to reveal the secrets of the closed door Shaolin Temple training techniques, the Liu Chia-liang directed, Gordon Liu starring THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN; the Iron Triangle filmmaking trio of actors David Chiang and Ti Lung, and director Chang Cheh in ANONYMOUS HEROES, BLOOD BROTHERS, DUEL OF FIST, THE HEROIC ONES and SHAOLIN TEMPLE (also stars Alexander Fu Sheng); Chang Cheh's HEROES TWO (Alexander Fu Sheng and Chen Kuan-tai), IRON BODYGUARD (Chen Kuan-tai), THE MAGNIFICENT TRIO (Jimmy Wang Yu) and NA CHA THE GREAT (Alexander Fu Sheng); director Chu Yuen's THE BASTARD (starring Lily Li from Jackie Chan's YOUNG MASTER), CLANS OF INTRIGUE (Ti Lung), DEATH DUEL, KILLER CLANS, LEGEND OF THE BAT (Ti Lung), THE LIZARD, THE MAGIC BLADE (Lo Lieh and Ti Lung); the Kuei Chih-hung directed, Chen Kuan-tai starring BIG BROTHER CHENG and its sequel THE TEA HOUSE; the Hui Ying-hung starring (Liu Chia-liang's favorite, top martial arts female star) and Taylor Wong directed BUDDHA'S PALM; Pei-pei's COME DRINK WITH ME; Ti Lung and David Chiang in Li Han-hsiang's THE LAST TEMPEST; Jimmy Wang Yu in Hsu Cheng-hung's TEMPLE OF THE RED LOTUS; and the ensemble casted, Cheng Kang directed THE TWELVE GOLDEN MEDALLIONS.
And although they aren't pure martial arts films, the following movies hold either important significance in the history of Chinese cinema or are unique blends of martial arts, fantasy and historic drama. Ho Meng-hua's simian adventures THE CAVE OF SILKEN WEB, THE MONKEY GOES WEST, PRINCESS IRON FAN (Cheng Pei-pei) and THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN; Li han-Hsiang's epics THE EMPRESS DOWAGER and it's sequel THE LAST TEMPEST (both star Ti Lung) and EMPEROR CHIEN LUNG AND THE BEAUTY; Sun Chung's horror fest HUMAN LANTERNS (Chen Kuan-tai and Lo Lieh); the Cheng Kang directed KIDNAP (Lo Lieh); the film that was the precursor for all those erotic/action, category III movies, Chu Yuan's INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN, which features a lesbianic haunting performance by Lily Ho; and let's not forget Linda Lin Dai, the Marilyn Monroe of Chinese film, in Li Han-hsiang's THE KINGDOM AND THE BEAUTY and Yueh Fang's THE LAST WOMAN OF SHANG. Lin Dai committed suicide at the peak of her young career when she found out her husband was cheating on her.
Martial arts films expected to be released within the next few weeks include the Chang Cheh directed, Ti Lung and David Chiang starring THE DELINQUENT and HAVE SWORD WILL TRAVEL; Hsieh Chun's THE KNIGHT OF KNIGHTS (Lily Ho); and Sun Chung's NOTORIOUS EIGHT (Chen Kuan-tai and Liu Yung, who starred in Bruce Lee's THE BIG BOSS and FISTS OF FURY).
If some of these stars and directors sound unfamiliar to you, over the ensuing months, I'll elaborate more on who they are and what they've done. Happy viewing, because there's a lot more on the way, like over 700 films.
About
Dr. Craig Reid :
Written by Dr. Craig Reid for KUNGFUMAGAZINE.COM
Print Friendly Version of This Article
