Non-Martial Arts films with the same manic energy

[YnEoS]

So I'm really interested in learning more about non-martial arts films that have the same high level of energy. Prime examples would be stuff like the comedies made by Cinema City. But I'd really like to know just how widespread this trait is in Hong Kong cinema, and also how early it dates.

For example is this just a trait of HK own brand of slapstick comedy or is it common in other genres as well? And did this trend spill out from martial arts films, from directors who worked in multiple genres and just a general necessity to match the same high energy entertainment that all the martial arts films provided. Also what are the earliest examples we can find of this trend? Were the Hui Brothers the first to do it, and did it start with them adding small bits of martial arts to their films, or have they been doing it from the beginning?

Do any books study other genres in any detail? I know the books by Bordwell and Stephen Teo discuss trends in terms of Hong Kong cinema generally.

I'd also be interested in any film recommendations, what are some of the most manic and crazy non-martial arts films to come out of Hong Kong, and are there any martial arts film directors, who also worked in other genres with the same level of energy?

[masterofoneinchpunch]

A couple of questions first: did you read either Planet Hong Kong 2nd Edition or Hong Kong Cinema: The Extra Dimensions yet? What Hui Brothers films have you seen?

Most of the genre books I have read and/or come across of that deal with Hong Kong rarely do with HK exclusively with a few exceptions like Hong Kong Action Cinema by Bey Logan (a must read as well). If you are interested I can give some examples, but several of those books I have not read yet.

There are plenty of books specifically on directors like Stephen Teo's Johnnie To book or his Wong Kar-wai book that I recommend (yes link is to my review) or actors books (like Jackie Chan's (auto)biography).

For Shaw Brothers there is China Forever: The Shaw Brothers and Diasporic Cinema which is a mixed read and The Shaw Screen: A Preliminary Study which I have not read as I have never been able to pick up a copy same thing goes with Chang Cheh's Memoir.

I'll tackle a few of your other questions later ...

[YnEoS]

Yes, I've read both Planet Hong Kong 2nd edition and Hong Kong Cinema: The Extra Dimensions. Unfortunately the earliest Hui Brothers I've seen is The Private Eyes, though I plan on seeing their earlier stuff soon.

Would definitely be interested in some of your book recommendations that aren't exclusively about Hong Kong cinema. Especially if they are able to put it in a wider context.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

I'll tell you two that I can read soon:

Spooky Encounters: A Gwailo's Guide to Hong Kong Horror by Daniel O'Brien

Dying to Belong: Gangster Movies in Hollywood and Hong Kong by Martha P. Nochimson

If you are interested in knowing my opinion on one over the other I can put it higher in my reading queue (I need to put a movie related book next so it can be read in the next couple of weeks).

I think to partially answer one of your earliest questions is that you need to watch Games Gamblers Play (1974). The Fortune Star R0 release is still easy to get. Here's my mini-review of that film:

Games Gamblers Play (1974: Hong Kong: Michael Hui):

Michael Hui’s directed/acted/scripted The Private Eyes (1976) is one of my favorite Hong Kong comedies. From the reviews I have read on this film I knew that this would be below that film in quality and laughs. Well the reviews were correct. I did like the film a bit more than some of the caustic comments on HKMDB, but watching The Private Eyes first and then this is probably the wrong way to approach the former TVB star’s work.

This is Hui’s first directed film and shows signs of life but then gets bogged down a bit with an overplayed message of gambling is bad and Sam’s continuing bad luck which gets frustrating thorough the film. Here is a film that is more important because of its influence than the actual content of the movie. This was a blockbuster smash that broke the HK box office record (read this in a few sources though I cannot find the exact money it made) and helped push the local Cantonese language back into the cinema with the success of this and Chor Yuen’s The House of 72 Tenants (1973).

Michael Hui plays Man a consummate gambler who is currently serving a stint in jail who meets and befriends Kit (Samuel Hui who also sings the theme song which was wildly popular as well) a not-so-good gambler. Why this friendship works when they get out-of-prison I’m not sure (other than Kit’s relationship with Man’s relative), but throughout the episodic film one bad gamble after another seems to happen to these two with Kit mostly at fault. Later they go for the big score (with a cheating approach) against a local bookie who will kill them if he finds out (I wonder if Hui had seen The Sting (1973).

Gambling has always been big in Hong Kong cinema with its apex in the late 80s and early 90s of entire films based on card games (the God of Gamblers series, Casino Raiders series). If you like those types of films mixed in with a bit of comedy then this is not a bad film. Just do not expect it to be a great comedy.

On a side note I’ve never understood the appeal of Betty Ting Pei who plays Man’s mistress in this movie. She is most known now for her alleged fling with Bruce Lee and the fact Lee died in her apartment, but she was a popular actress at that time.

Make sure you get the remastered Fortune Star R0 release of this film. Not much of extras except for "Sam's 9 Minutes" which clocks in a few minutes less than 9 minutes, but is a Golden Harvest special of basically a music video of Sam Hui singing two songs. But the best extra is the deleted scene pitting Sam Hui versus Sammo Hung in a fighting (part fantasy) scene which is quite funny and I do not think you get to see Sammo (who was the action director) in any other parts in the film (you can glance a little bit of him in the trailer which shows parts of this deleted scene).

I think part of the high energy in Cantonese comedies is the huge slapstick influence especially from silent films though with Hui's comedies you can definitely see a Blake Edwards influence especially with the Peter Seller's comedies like The Pink Panther series (some gags in Hui's films are definitely influenced and the influence goes on as Sellers was inspired by some of Jacques Tati etc...). Sometimes it is hard to find a first in something because the influences are not only from world cinema but previous HK cinema as well.

For me when I think of "high level of energy" I think of slapstick and/or action but possibly in musicals as well. I am not as knowledgable about the early 60s non-action fare though.

[YnEoS]

Thanks for the book recommendations. I've got the Games Gamblers Play DVD sitting on my shelf waiting to be watched, just gotta make my way around to it.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

As I've mentioned here I've had some issues with the book so far and the further I go the more issues I find. If you get to it I would be interested in your opinion (or anyones) on it. Count how many times the word "modern" is written.

[pratty]

As well as comedies there is of course the gun-play genre of action films, known as the "heroic bloodshed" genre, or sometimes "bullet ballets".

These films, especially those of John Woo, are often described has being modern martial arts movies using stylised gun-play instead of martial arts.

As well as having the same amount of conflict (both physical and verbal) as a kung fu movie, these films often share the same themes of revenge, brotherhood, clan/gang warfare etc.

Visually the action scenes are almost as dynamic as martial arts fighting. You have guys weilding guns in a very dramatic fashion, even twirling and sometimes flipping, even sliding down the banister with pistols blazing in the case of Chow Yun-fat in Hardboiled.

Equally the reactions are just as stylised and dramatic with bloodpacks busting, stuntment flying backwards through the air after being shot, people taking high falls and landing spectacularly. The environemnt using takes a beating too with explosions and debris flying all over the place.

Granted though those films usually aren't as "manic" all the way through, like the comedies mentioned, though perhaps some people can think of some that are.

I was also thinking of the Triad genre, I seem to remember Young and Dangerous being a bit wild in places, with scenes of gangs chasing each other, with the camera going all shaky. They had fight scenes too but they weren't martial arts per se, more like wild brawls with chains and long knives, shot in a distorted and frantic way.

[Cognoscente]

John Woo's Laughing Times (1980) is one such film. Pure pandemonium from beginning to end. It's a clown's wet dream. The final fight scene has the physicality and timing of a MA movie fight without actually being one.