Four Riders (1972), starring David Chiang, Ti Lung, Chen Kuan-tai and Wong Chung. Directed by Chang Cheh.

(All images courtesy of Celestial Pictures.)

MUST a movie make sense to be enjoyable? Not really, and don't believe any high-brow film critic who says different. (Once in a while, they like something a little illogical, too.) Even if there's a followable storyline, it doesn't take much from the filmmakers' side of things to unintentionally envelop the audience in a fog if they're trying to establish a particular look or style to their picture. Sometimes, the results can come back to bite them on the butt, artistically and financially; when they work out favorably, it can be a unique anomaly of cinema, if not a cult classic. That said, does the Shaw Brothers oddity Four Riders measure up with the other entertaining doses of yang gang from the formidable Chang Cheh?

Somewhere in South Korea, it's the end of the Korean War. A Chinese veteran of the conflict, Feng Xia (Ti Lung), drives to Seoul for some relaxation after collecting his pension (in American currency) and liberating a jeep from an army colonel (Lo Wai) he recently decked. Along the way, he picks up a fellow soldier, Gao Yinhan (Wong Chung), who's heading in the same direction to see Li Weishi (Chen Kuan-tai), a retired First Lieutenant recuperating at a hospital from wounds received in battle.

Not long after the two part company in the city, Xia stumbles upon some guys who've just pummeled an American GI to death; to be exact, they're members of a drug cartel run by Boss Hawkes (Andre Marquis), and they killed the man for his refusal to be a mule on his return trip to the US. Xia is overwhelmed by them before he can leave, and Hawkes' second-in-command, Lei Tai (Yasuaki Kurata), frames him for the crime. As fate goes, until a trial date is set, the injured Xia is confined by SK MPs in the prison ward of the same hospital where Yinhan's visiting Weishi. Yinhan is certain Xia is innocent, and since Weishi feels he has no chance at being found not guilty, he suggests Yinhan get a gun that his nurse, Song Hua (Ching Li), can smuggle to Xia and use for a quick escape.

Meanwhile, when Xia's army buddy, Jin Yi (David Chiang), reads of his plight in a newspaper, he knows something fishy's going on, too; based on all the time he's spent visiting lovely hostess Wensi (Lily Li) at the Hello John Club owned by Hawkes, he knows of the illegal activities going on. He calls out Tai about what's being done to Xia, but he's soon beaten up by him and Hawkes' other flunkies. Only Hawkes' brassy girlfriend, Yinhua (Tina Chin Fei) saves him from a premature demise; after a night of sex with her, he sneaks off.

After a few leads that go nowhere, Yinhan finally gets lucky when he's offered a gun...by Tai; Hawkes wants Xia dead immediately, and he says he'll pay anyone who'll do the task. (I'm guessing the payment consists of hot lead.) Shrewdly, Yinhan pretends to accept the offer, and before too long, Xia breaks out of the hospital with Weishi and Yinhan. Tragically, Song Hua is shot by Hawkes' men as she flees with them, to the horror of Weishi.

Eventually, Yi joins up with the three fugitives. On the run from the SK army (while keeping one step ahead of Hawkes' confederates), they devise a plan to bring down Hawkes' operation and exonerate themselves in the eyes of SK military justice. While Yi returns to the Hello John to look for incriminating paperwork, the other three confront Tai and Hawkes' other men in a free-for-all at a gymnasium. There's only one complication to all of this; unknown to the four, the SKs are now on their way to the gym, and they believe the Chinese are part of Hawkes' gang....

The title Four Riders (re-titled as Strike 4 Revenge in the US) comes from a scene when Weishi reads aloud his favorite piece of Biblical scripture to his nurse; it's the only time this reference shows up in the entire film. In turn, the only things these four heroes ride are jeeps, and they're more concerned with saving their own hides than unleashing an apocalypse on the world. It's their urgency to rescue Xia, along with the need for all of them to survive long enough to stop Hawkes and have their names cleared, which propels this testosterone-drenched melodrama (with a hint of swagger) that could've only been directed by Chang Cheh.

The kick I've gotten out of watching FR all the times I have (over a dozen, so far) does not distract me from the fact that some-where between the completion of the script (by Cheh and Ni Kuang) and the wrap-up of filming, the setting of South Korea in July, 1953, was forgotten in the process. Money appears to have been the main reason why, and if Cheh had a few movies in various stages of production at the time, it might also explain why the story never got reworked. Getting down to basics, with all the '70s hair, wardrobe and other trap-pings on the screen, the lapse of historical accuracy in FR doesn't detract from its entertainment value, and it shouldn't bother you, either. (Imagine it's one of those dramatizations on America's Most Wanted or the History Channel.)

The film shot on location in SK by Kung Mu To is wonderful and fascinating to see, be it snow-covered ground or the narrow streets within Seoul. The scenery is so unique and refreshing (especially if you're not familiar with SK), when the movie cuts to a tell tale Shaw location (indoors or out), the contrast is great enough you feel cheated by this budgetary consideration because the SK footage makes the stuff shot at the studio look like crap. Anybody who gets easily bored with any studio-bound Shaw picture will relish this change of pace.

Each of the main players contributes good performances. Ti Lung exudes machismo as Xia, and the opening where he belts his former superior is a brilliant, dark-humored vignette that plays like an outtake from M*A*S*H. David Chiang is low-key and smooth as Yi, the brains of the quartet, though one of his early bits at the club (fine as they are) could've been dropped so he could join up with his comrades sooner to jumpstart the plot. As Yenshi, Chen Kuan-tai believably goes from the young guy in love with Song Hua to an anguished man who wants payback for her death. As Yinhan, Wong Chung (in his biggest role prior to being cast in The Deliquent) manages to avoid being the "fifth wheel" of the group with his athleticism and likeability, best illustrated by his first scene where he plays with some children. Only Lily Li (as Wensi) and Ching Li (as Song Hua) get short shrift with the usual type of parts Cheh often limited them to, but they elevate their minor contributions to another level through their acting.

Let's now give praise to the featured villain. Bypassing the laughable pastiness of Andre Marquis as Hawkes, Yasuaki Kurata is an inspired choice as Tai. During 1972, Kurata was relatively early into his career at Shaw, so his acting was still evolving, but the aura of suaveness he projected into performing "heavies" is already prominent. His martial arts moves are equally dynamic; he's into Lau Kar Leung and Tong Gaai's fight choreography with an intensity that threatens to overwhelm the abilities of the four leads. While his efforts only lose steam with his hilarious English dubbed voice (used when he talks to Hawke) and being (unconvincingly) clobbered by Chiang in one sequence, the man can successfully convey nastiness without overacting, which makes his work here (and in other movies) engrossing to watch.

For all the unevenness of FR, the picture doesn't lack in thrills and drama. Would FR be a better movie if Cheh had the money to make the production appear more authentic for the time period depicted? That notion can be debated, and Cheh's later historical epics like 7 Man Army, The Boxer Rebellion and The Naval Commandos are (for some) three good arguments that giving him bigger budgets didn't always yield better motion pictures.

Anyhow, I finished with trying to understand why Cheh let this film veer off course like he did a long time ago. I decided to stop making sense of FR and just enjoy it.

Brother Fang says: "Another 'sleeper' from Chang Cheh that's been nearly forgotten by people and shouldn't be! Warts and all, Cheh delivers the violence and suspense more than capably!"

Keeping it trivial....

Fang Shih-yu, Shaolin Temple.

P.S. - While you still can, purchase it at PlayAsia by clicking here.

Police Force (1973), starring Wong Chung, Lily Li, and Fu Sheng. Directed by Chang Cheh and Tsai Yang-ming.

(All images courtesy Celestial Pictures.)

ALLOW me to make a statement that can be considered a lesser form of heresy: if there were no Fu Sheng in Police Force, this Shaw Brothers movie would be no less watchable than it is now. Anyone could've been cast in his part, and fortunately for Sheng, Chang Cheh saw something in this newcomer and gave him those fabled fourteen-plus minutes at the beginning. Whether he was intentionally offering a taste of Sheng to pique the interest of HK moviegoers or hedging his bets by limiting Sheng's involvement in the film, that's unknown, but we certainly have an idea what happened to Sheng after its release (eventually). For now, Cheh's goal was trying to establish Wong Chung as a star, and months after audiences watched him play a juvenile delinquent, they now got to see him in the mature role of a cop (his first of many) in this "slice-of-the-'70s" crime drama, filmed with the cooperation of the (then) Royal Hong Kong Police Force.

The plot of PF is an uncomplicated one. When Liang Guan (Fu Sheng) is murdered while protecting his girlfrend, Shen Yan (Lily Li), from harm during a robbery gone awry, his best friend, Huang Guodong (Wong Chung), decides to join the HK Police Force, vowing to Yan he will track down the perpetrator and kill him in an act of revenge.

In five years, Guodong goes from being a cadet to Inspector, and when he discovers a recent police sketch of a man spotted dumping a body matches the one made of Guan's murderer, his most important manhunt begins in earnest.

The suspect, Gao Tu (Wong Kuong Yue), is soon found out to be connected with one Sun Zuozhong (Wang Hsieh), and the last thing the counterfeiter needs is the police bugging him because of this association. Soon, Tu's a marked man, and it's Guodong who saves him from being killed by some of Zuozhong's men. When Yan (with Guodong at the time, coincidentally) confirms Tu's ID, Guodong's moment to avenge Guan's death has arrived, but he realizes he can't do it because he is a policeman; Tu must be used to help bring down Zuozhong's criminal organization. Yan's disappointed in Guodong, but when she gets a chance to shoot Tu dead, she's unable to follow through, knowing Guodong is right.

With Tu in custody and ready to help police investigators, Zuozhong decides it's time to get out of HK, and he begins to flee on his yacht, hoping to escape to international waters. Guodong sends his four detectives off on a fast boat to pursue him (taking Tu along to help identify the yacht), while he gets on a police helicopter and flies off after them to provide backup....

After an intense release like The Delinquent, PF seems subdued, by comparison, but considering the movie was made with the blessing of the HKPF, there's little doubt they had final script approval. This is why parts of the screenplay by Cheh and Ni Kuang feel like a recruiting ad, but it's the HKPF's participation that gives authenticity to the police procedures we see within an hour and 41 minutes, as well as make the film look like it cost more to make than what it actually did. Cheh used his access to police buildings, equipment and personnel to positive results.

As for straight drama, while a lot of it is familiar stuff, the movie's pacing never lags, so the cliches don't get to hang around. The exception is Yan; Lily Li makes the most of what's written for her (and models a cool '70s wardrobe), but her character lacks real depth. Only when Yan stops obsessing over her boyfriend's killer to assist Guodong during his investigation does she get to be interesting, but it's too little, too late. To top it all off, she has to go into the old bit of getting cold feet when a choice moment to kill the murderer herself arises, which is the only serious lapse in an otherwise decent story. (What? Not even a flesh wound?) Her departure from the film after Tu's apprehension is abrupt as it is anticlimatic; what a waste of talent.

On PF, Cheh works with another co-director, Tsai Yang-ming, whose first film was the '72 independent production The Prodigal Boxer (a telling of the story of Fang Shih-yu that predates Heroes Two by two years). Cheh's style is so dominant throughout, Yang-ming's contributions are hard to decipher, so it's best to consider it more as a Cheh film. At any rate, he's on top of his craft here, with stylish location shooting in HK and involved action sequences, with fight choreography overseen by Lau Kar Leung and Tong Gaai. Save for a few continuity errors (like a "quick dry" Guodong after a dip in the ocean), this is one of the more slicker Cheh movies set in contemporary (1973) times.

There's a lot of good acting to enjoy here. Wong Chung is is ideal as Guodong, a guy who can smack a felon around along with the best of HK's lawmen. Wang Hsieh (The Lady Hermit) as Zuozhong is menacing like a bulldog, and Tung Lin (The Delinquent) looks properly authoritative as Chung's boss, a senior inspector. Among the many other supporting players, watch out for Fung Ngai (Fist of Fury), Bruce Tong, Teung Tak-cheung and Lee Yung-git. In the offbeat casting category, regular "heavy" Fung Hak-on is fun to watch as Guodong's partner (seen in this screencap with the obligatory ugly jacket).

As for Fu Sheng, he handles his screen debut better than expected. He manages to convey his acting range in what little screentime he has as Guan, and his performance is a natural one. He handles his action scenes equally well; his skills are sharp and focused during his scene at a karate tournament, where he takes on Lau Kar Wing (who appears later in two other minor roles). Guan's established quickly enough as a likeable fellow (and loving boyfriend) that when his death comes at the hands of Tu, it is poignant as he expires in a modern version of "heroic bloodshed", and the nasty nature of hs demise makes the desire for revenge Guodong and Yan share all the more potent.

PF is a transitionary film in the genre of crime dramas, HK style; it's a "last gasp" of an era where characters and situations were defined in terms of "black and white", and it's one of the earlier attempts to bring an audience realism through blood, urban grittiness and antiheroes. Guodong's initial motivation for joining the police force (vengeance) is as emotionally complex as the film gets, and for all the violence there is, it's not elaborately staged and meticulously edited. It's still years away from anything like Police Story or Hard Boiled, so anyone who sees PF on the merit it's a Cheh film should expect an "old school" movie and nothing more. In summary, Wong Chung as a '70s "Supercop" is one hell of an experience worth undertaking.

Brother Fang says..."Chang Cheh, Wong Chung and Fu Sheng: three good reasons to check ths out!"

Keeping it trivial....

Fang Shih-yu, Shaolin Temple.

P.S. - While you still can, purchase it at PlayAsia by clicking here.

The Delinquent (1973), starring Wong Chung, Lo Dik and Lily Li. Directed by Chang Cheh and Kuei Cheh-hung.

(All images courtesy Celestial Pictures.)

IF Friends can be categorized as a fairy tale (a little Grimm, by some measure), then The Delinquent is pure tragedy. This could be said about more than a few of director Chang Cheh's better-known Shaw Brothers movies (like The Assassin or The Heroic Ones), but The Delinquent towers over them all with its unique, increasingly morose tone. Out of all Cheh's attempts to emulate the angst of the "Reckless Youth" found in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), he succeeds here --exceeds, really-- the best. (James Dean's "Jimmy Stark" in RWaC wouldn't last five minutes in this bleak Hong Kong.) However, he wouldn't have created this triumph without the help of three key people: writer Ni Kuang, co-director Kuei Cheh-hung and actor Wong Chung (in his first leading role).

As the plot generally goes, the teenaged John (Wong Chung) convinces himself the easiest, quickest way he and his father (Lo Dik) can get out of living and working in the HK slums is if he helps Boss Lam (Tung Lin) and his gang of robbers get into Wing Kee Warehouse to clean it out, after which John will be given a generous portion of the profits for his assistance. What complicates matters is his father is the head night-watchman at the warehouse.

While we don't know all of John's backstory, we can guess things started getting tough when his mother (seen in a brief flashback) left home. Apparently, she tired of being a housewife at some point and started going out evenings; his father thought slapping her around would bring her back to reality. It did; she divorced him and married an understanding butcher (Shum Lo). Her subsequent attempts to communicate with John through messages delivered to him by his girlfriend, Elaine (Lily Li), only serve to anger him.

The script rationalizes the father's boorishness to his being head of the household and his reputation around the area for being rough on would-be crooks who've previously tried to break into the warehouse. He wants John to get ahead in the world through hard work and avoiding shortcuts to prosperity. Though John loves his father, he sees the results of all the old man's laboring as a big waste, because it seems he hasn't advanced any further than those who also find time to relax and raise hell once in a while. These days, John is taking after more like his mother, so his father can't help but worry.

Sometime after he's fired from his job at a restaurant for fighting on the streets too much (which always brought the cops to the establishment, to the detriment of their business), John gets word of how Boss Lam needs him so they can infiltrate the warehouse. Lam's underling, Big Sean (Fan Mei Sheng), oversees a brothel, and he offers a woman to John as a means to win him over. Even after a night with her, John can't commit to the deal; when Big Sean then demands immediate payment for sleeping with the lady, John only offers to pay him later. In short order, Big Sean and some of Lam's other men track him down at a beach and beat him up when he decides not to pay at all.

Shortly, John is picked up by the police, and when his father refuses to post bail for him this time, it's Boss Lam who sets him free. Lam now talks directly with John about the proposition, offering him (in addition to money) employment, new clothes, a sports car and time with his girlfriend, Fanny (Pei Ti). It appears Lam doesn't want to mess with John's dad when he suggests to John if he can make his father take time off from work, nothing would happen to him once the caper goes down. John finally agrees to the scheme, and after a reconciliation with him, he persuades his father to take a two-day vacation.

Come the night of the robbery, when John finds out his father is filling in for the now-sick substitute, he quickly finds Lam and his men at a sawmill, telling them to postpone the operation. Of course, he finds out all too soon the deal's off; he's beaten up (again) and is left to have a deadly encounter with a buzzsaw. While John is occupied with escaping from his predicament, Lam and his men rob the warehouse, and in spite of his heroic efforts to stop them, John's father is killed. Upon finding out what all has transpired, John rapidly becomes a revenge-fueled killing machine, taking down Lam's associates one by one before finally confronting Lam himself.

With The Delinquent (released in the US as Street Gangs of Hong Kong), Kuang soloed on the script, writing a sad character study with a strong dose of violence that is always to be expected from a Cheh movie. (Had he done this as a collaboration with Cheh, I'm certain the emphasis would've been more on action.) Limited characterization behind the three lead parts hampers our empathizing with them, to a degree; John is adequately defined, his father has hints of complexity, but Elaine serves no real purpose beyond being rescued by John a couple of times or being an intermediary for him and his mom. (Lily Li gives a good performance, anyway.) Going past these minor problems, Kuang has crafted a cautionary tale where the moral is delivered like a sledgehammer between the eyes.

The original HK trailer for TD (included on the IVL DVD) promised audiences a "NEW KIND OF PRODUCTION" about "THE WRATH OF YOUTH EXPLODING LIKE A VOLCANO" that "WILL MOVIE (sic) YOU......AND EXCITE YOU!" and co-directors Cheh and Cheh-hung gave the people what they wanted. As for their joint effort on TD, it's commonly assumed the directing duties were divided, with Cheh-hung overseeing the dramatic, documentary-like scenes and Cheh handling the ones heavy on action (and his trademark "zoom" shots, though they're actually well-placed here). However, if we know anything of their filmographies, we see both were capable of versatility; based on this, it's more likely Cheh did most of the latter while Cheh-hung did most of the former. It's also possible Cheh saw something particular in Cheh-hung's own films that made him the choice for co-directing TD, because if Cheh had the likes of Wu Ma or Pao Hsueh-li on duty for this, we would not have had the level of emotional drama the movie has. Further, I think the two fed off the creative energies of each other, which is why their styles combine favorably in the completed picture, and TD ranks up there with their most analyzed films.

One of the "regulars" in Cheh movies of the late '60s through the early '70s, Wong Chung practically stepped out of obscurity to his first starring part. Whether TD was written for him or not, and considering all he's given to do during the feature (he's onscreen most of the time), it's gratifying to see the confidence the filmmakers had in letting Chung carry the bulk of the movie. He excels as John, portraying a likeable teenager with a chip on his shoulder who wants the world, and he wants it now. He makes a habit of following the impulses of youth without considering the consequences, from fighting anybody who teases him to jumping at the chance to have sex with a woman (when his girlfriend is saving herself until marriage). Only when he lets himself get involved with Boss Lam, he gets in over his head, with his father caught in the middle. He redeems himself by avenging his father's death in a burst of (volcanic) fury.

It is that very violence (along with the sexual content) which earned TD its (HK) Category "2B" rating (an "R" in the US). All of the film's fight choreography by Lau Kar Leung and Tong Gaai is above average, but it's the 12-minute finale that always gets discussed. The nonstop barrage of brutality and death as distributed by John, culminating in one of the most darkest endings in any Shaw production, is stunning to behold. (It still chills me to the bone after multiple views.) This climax alone should've made Chung another big Shaw star, but he would eventually be overshadowed (in director Cheh's eyes) by his next co-star, Fu Sheng (in Police Force), leaving him to nearly fade into the background before he took up directing his own movies. (What his career would've been like if Fu Sheng never arrived on the scene, I can't guess.)

Seen today, The Delinquent isn't as slick as today's HK flicks, but it still works, though anyone who craves action over melodrama may squirm during the downbeat material as they wait for the next fight scene. With a look of impressive authenticity due to extensive location filming, the film's depiction of a life in the slums, where the people settle for just "getting ahead", says much about their living situation; not once are words like "college" or "job training" ever brought up in the entire 101 minutes. If John didn't know he had other options, or if he did, and he never found the incentive to break away from the cycle of poverty, then that's the greatest tragedy of all.

Brother Fang says..."A worthwhile buy for fans of Chang Cheh, the underrated Kuei Cheh-hung and the criminally-ignored Wong Chung! For the uncertain, try it out by borrowing or renting! Remember, with the volume of mature content in this, do NOT play it with children or overly sensitive people around!"

Keeping it trivial....

Fang Shih-yu, Shaolin Temple.

P.S. - While you still can, purchase it from PlayAsia by clicking here.

Friends (1974), starring David Chiang, Fu Sheng, Lily Li and Frankie Wei. Directed by Chang Cheh.

(All images courtesy Celestial Pictures.)

IF you combine Rebel Without a Cause with The Bowery Boys, add a dash of Poor Little Rich Girl (in this story, a rich young man), and filter it through director Chang Cheh's "yang gang", the result wiil be Friends. It's the last Shaw Brothers movie Cheh would make in the "younger generation"-oriented vein, as his main focus shifted to the making of the "Shaolin" pictures. Though it was one of those very films (Heroes Two) that introduced HK moviegoers to new star Fu Sheng in early 1974, Friends was actually the first one (with him in a lead role) completed. Its release would be held up until the summer, and while it's only a good guess it did OK box office, what can be confirmed is the "Best Young Newcomer Award" the movie won at the '74 Asian Film Festival. The recipient: Fu Sheng.

After a prologue where we find the title characters have gathered for a reunion, their backstory (the rest of the film) is related as a flashback. Going back to ten years ago, there are just the nine of them (give or take), a bunch of twenty-somethings living a lower-class existence of doing menial jobs by day and raising hell at night; all of them desire to advance their standing in the world and live a better life. The bond of friendship manages to see them through bad times and good. The guys are also fortunate to find the spare time they can to keep their kung fu skills up to snuff, because they're necessary in a big city like HK.

Their unofficial leader is Hua Heng (David Chiang), an advertising sign painter who aspires to become a famous artist. His girlfriend is Gao Xin (Lily Li), a bargirl who might get forced into prostitution by the loan sharks she owes money to if she doesn't pay off her debt of $20,000 [HK].

Into their lives arrives Tu Jiaji (Fu Sheng), the only child of the wealthy Tu Dongtai (Lo Dik). Practicing martial arts only does so much for him; he's unhappy and bored living a sheltered life. One day, when he jumps in to help Heng fight off some street thugs, he's excited to meet someone closer to his age who's cool and can take care of himself. In turn, Jiaji (like a neglected puppy craving attention) trails after Heng to an abandoned warehouse, inadvertently introducing himself to Heng's other friends when he crashes through a sky window above their makeshift gymnasium in the basement.

It doesn't take long for Heng and the others to warm up to Jiaji; they think he's down on his luck like they are. Indeed, when he innocently asks why don't they work out at a "better gym," they think he's kidding around, and they nickname him "Young Master". With this new name, he doesn't bother bringing up his real one. He's also in no rush to go home, so he calls his dad, saying he's spending a few days with some "future" capitalists and not to worry. Concerned as Dontai is, he convinces himself Jiaji's all right and leaves him be.

Once Jiaji hears of Xin's money problems, he's resolved to get her out of trouble with help from another of his new friends, Lin Sibao (Lee Yung-git). While Jiaji pretends to sell some of Heng's paintings, he actually has Sibao get the money from his father (being sure not to mention he is Dongtai's son), using a ring of his (personally given to him by his father) as a means to getting the cash without a hassle. Of course, the instant Dongtai recognizes the ring, combined with the asking for money, he thinks Jiaji's been kidnapped, and he readily gives Sibao the full amount. For all the madness behind Jiaji's method (also driving his father mad), Xin's dilemna is resolved, and Heng comes off like a hero in the process.

Unfortunately, the recently unemployed Sibao is hurting for money, and in an act of weakness, he uses the ring again to extort more money from Dongtai. Worse, he's an acquaintance of the loan sharks, and when he flashes his new wealth in front of them, they can't help but wonder how he got rich all of a sudden. When Sibao tells them, showing them the ring, they realize the "Young Master" is the son of Dongtai, thanks to a newspaper ad he put out in hopes of communicating with the (then non-existent) kidnappers. Under orders from their boss (Frankie Wei), they kidnap Jiaji for real... with assistance from Sibao!

Once Sibao finds out Jiaji will be killed upon the collecting of the ransom (a triple dip into Dongtai's wallet), he finally sees the error of his ways, and he runs off to tell Heng what has occurred. Heng has since found out what Jiaji did for Xin, so once Sibao fills him in on the details of who Jiaji is and his current plight, he makes a frantic dash to rescue Jiaji from his captors, while Xin and Sibao round up the remaining friends for extra support in a race against time.

The most common complaint about Friends centers on how David Chiang and Fu Sheng interact as the leads. Some sense a lack of dynamics between them, which doesn't ring true with the assertion they are supposed to be friends. People forget that Jiaji and Heng get introduced to each other under tense circumstances, and Jiaji doesn't help matters when he ruins Heng's portrait of Xin by smashing it over his chauffeur's head! Further, Heng's trying to break out as an artist while juggling a girlfriend and a job at the same time. For all the friends he has now, the sudden surfacing of Jiaji (who appears to have no friends at the beginning of the film, except his sifu Wang, played by Tung Choi-bo) seems to be one friend too many for him to handle. Once Jiaji gets to meet Heng's other friends, any burden is lifted off his shoulders and distributed to everyone else; only then does he begin to see Jiaji's a nice guy. Significantly, what we are observing is the beginnning of a friendship over the few days' time covered in the film, and by having seen the prologue, we know it will still be thriving ten years later (and counting). As the start of friendships go, Chiang's performance rings true, and it compliments the one delivered by Sheng.

Allowing for the usual Shaw script deficien-cies, the screenplay by Cheh and Ni Kuang is pretty good, but more character development would've been beneficial to the story. (Among the precious few pearls we're given, Bruce Tong's vignette where he dreamily ogles women while working at a pool hall is very funny.) As this is a Cheh movie, we're lucky to have what characterization there is, and while there's more violence here than in Young People, also like that film, nobody dies, so we should appreciate any restraint Cheh decided to use. Even so, our "suspension of disbelief" is tested by how Jiaji gets the money to pay off the loan sharks and what leads to his being abducted. Most importantly, if this happened in the real world, Sibao would wind up in prison for being an accessory to kidnapping!

If you don't dig too deep into it, the movie works well within its low budget, from the photography by Miyaki Yukio (a.k.a. Kung Mu To) to the bone-crunching kung fu co-ordinated by action directors Lau Kar Leung and Tong Gaai. The casting works from the leading roles (though Lily Li is underused) to the supporting players. (As noted previously, the late Chen Wo-fu has a few moments here as Jin Bing-da, a mechanic; hindsight or not, his unique prescence is compelling enough you wish he had a bigger part.)

Out of all the pictures Cheh made, Friends qualifies as his top "sleeper". One look at it, and you'll understand why other Shaw fans pass this up in favor of his bloodiest classics. It's as close as he ever got to doing a "little" film, and at the same time, he conveys his recurring themes of brotherhood and "yang gang" in the most accessible way better than he ever did in his biggest epics. He takes his discovery Fu Sheng and gives him a modest showcase in which to display his bubbling talents. Sheng is up to this early challenge, bringing Jiaji to life as an engaging person. He's rough around the edges with respect to his acting and fighting skills, but any noticeable lapses are smoothed over with his winning personality and (especially for the ladies) sex appeal. Anybody who likes Chang Cheh, Fu Sheng or wanting a break from the "average" Shaw martial arts movie needs to buy (or rent) this.

Brother Fang says..."Fu Sheng fans: BUY this! Everyone else: Give it a test run (rent or borrow one) before investing in a copy!"

Keeping it trivial....

Fang Shih-yu, Shaolin Temple.

P.S. - Purchase it from DDDHouse by clicking here.