Member I Am Caine Posted October 7, 2013 Member Share Posted October 7, 2013 Finally got around to seeing this classic. Great flick, but didn't expect some of the humor and am wondering whether the humor has a different impact on a Chinese audience than a modern American one. I'm thinking specifically of: -the humor involving Leung's main toadying servant and his ridiculous cheek implants -the humor involving the master's cross-dressing as a member of the opera troupe (this was actually the easiest to get, like when in his woman costume he slaps around the bad guys) -the brother, Wong I believe his name was; now this was some funny shit but I couldn't help but feel I was missing something; he has that funny scene with calligraphy, where he teaches Leung the " going to the toilet" wing chun stance, and his rivalry with his brother Yee-Tai; some of the translations of his lines are great - "are you calling me a fag?" Question: is some of this humor referential to what audiences of Chinese opera would find normal? The bumbling servants, the pampered rich kids, and the oafish, potty humor of the uncle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted October 7, 2013 Member Share Posted October 7, 2013 I don't know is the humour is cultural, per se, but similarly styled comedy is found in a number of kung fu films. Look at Dean Shek. We all hate his Rocking Horse character from "Odd Couple" but surely it had to have some kind of comic credibility for it to be put in a film to begin with. The stuffed cheeks seems as though it's just part of the "baffoon aesthetic." Lumps, bumps, patchy hair, buckteeth, giant hairy moles...they all exist to imply a specific character is dimwitted I think. It's all very pantomime like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member reason108 Posted October 8, 2013 Member Share Posted October 8, 2013 Finally got around to seeing this classic. Great flick, but didn't expect some of the humor and am wondering whether the humor has a different impact on a Chinese audience than a modern American one. I'm thinking specifically of: -the humor involving Leung's main toadying servant and his ridiculous cheek implants -the humor involving the master's cross-dressing as a member of the opera troupe (this was actually the easiest to get, like when in his woman costume he slaps around the bad guys) -the brother, Wong I believe his name was; now this was some funny shit but I couldn't help but feel I was missing something; he has that funny scene with calligraphy, where he teaches Leung the " going to the toilet" wing chun stance, and his rivalry with his brother Yee-Tai; some of the translations of his lines are great - "are you calling me a fag?" Question: is some of this humor referential to what audiences of Chinese opera would find normal? The bumbling servants, the pampered rich kids, and the oafish, potty humor of the uncle? I think that a lot of this kind of humor has been around in Chinese cinema since the beginning but with varying amounts; but became predominant after Jackie Chan`s Drunken Master impact. After DM, everyone wanted to cash in on that. And, I think that a lot of films went out of their way just to include some kind of over the top comedy (well, what I would consider over the top). You should check out Warrior`s Two, if you haven`t. That is the sequel, of sorts, to Prodigal Son and contains some of the same kind of comedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member I Am Caine Posted October 8, 2013 Author Member Share Posted October 8, 2013 You guys are picking up what I'm laying down. I just can't help feeling as I watch this that some of this is funny, but is funnier to a 1970s or 1980s Chinese audience than to me. That whole scene where Uncle Wong teaches Chang to squat like he's taking a dump and "release your energy..." like, I get it, but I was scrambling to catch up. "Does he mean fart? Is he gonna poop? What is going on here seriously?" And I watched this with the translations from Cantonese - the dubbing was even worse.Yeah, I am just wondering what are some of the other recognizable character types from Chinese theater or movies. Much of Jackie's humor is absolutely palatable to Western audiences, I think, because he draws on Western classic comedy. Gosh, he cracks me up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted October 8, 2013 Member Share Posted October 8, 2013 Well Sammo's character is purposely misleading Yuen Biao's so his "poop training" is just his attempt at making a mockery of his "student." It's stupid, granted, but it lets the audience know that Sammo's character is taking the piss. Jackie's later humour (starting with "The Young Master") is easily understood by western audiences but his early stuff isn't, really. "Spiritual Kung Fu" is still a bizarre watch to this day. Early kung fu films relied quite a bit on crass/toilet humour. Lots of farts, shit, piss etc. Not unlike today's Hollywood films. If you really want confusing humour, some of Yuen Woo Ping's stuff is really questionable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member I Am Caine Posted October 8, 2013 Author Member Share Posted October 8, 2013 See, that actually confused the hell out of me. Because Yee says he will not train Chang, but then Wong says go ahead and train him, and then Yee wanders over to Wong and Wong teaches him the toilet stance to... encourage him to go back to Yee and get proper training? The stuff with the plump daughter was funny, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Omni Dragon Posted October 8, 2013 Member Share Posted October 8, 2013 I don't know is the humour is cultural, per se, but similarly styled comedy is found in a number of kung fu films. Look at Dean Shek. We all hate his Rocking Horse character from "Odd Couple" but surely it had to have some kind of comic credibility for it to be put in a film to begin with. Might have just been my mood at the time but the last time watched ODD COUPLE I found him slightly amusing. Probably my favourite of his buffoonish roles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted October 9, 2013 Member Share Posted October 9, 2013 I remember being a little worried when I first saw The Prodigal Son, as the HKL promo trailer made it look like an intense serious flick, and the first 10 minutes is overloaded with chipmunk cheeks (sideways!), moles, red noses...thankfully the slapstick was good enough to help me get into the swing of things. Comedy is difficult to travel. I'm currently watching the highly acclaimed Jacques Tati films and I'm barely cracking a smile! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member reason108 Posted October 10, 2013 Member Share Posted October 10, 2013 Some comedies do not translate well in one`s own country, let alone someone else`s. I never really liked that slapstick broad HK humor and it has worn worse on me over the years. I only put up with it for the classic fu films. But, it is difficult to be watching what I think is going to be a serious martial arts film then about half way through, there are fart jokes and odd behavior and characters who do stupid crap. It really takes me out of the film sometimes. I don`t mind some of the subtle stuff and I do like Jackie Chan, so I might contradict myself from time to time. But, some of these films are all over the map. Its almost worse than Hollywood. Its like when they sit down to write the script (when they do write one that is) its almost like they say: we need the light hearted section, the drama section, the slapstick section, the brutal ass beating section and then the revenge ending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator One Armed Boxer Posted October 10, 2013 Moderator Share Posted October 10, 2013 I Am Caine...I would like to invite you to sit back, crank the volume up high, and enjoy the opening credits to 'Goose Boxer'. Canto comedy at its finest. kgYlhOon7lU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted October 11, 2013 Member Share Posted October 11, 2013 I Am Caine...I would like to invite you to sit back, crank the volume up high, and enjoy the opening credits to 'Goose Boxer'. Canto comedy at its finest. kgYlhOon7lU Is it wrong that I actually do find this hilarious ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TibetanWhiteCrane Posted October 11, 2013 Member Share Posted October 11, 2013 I usually find the bumbling canto comedy of the late 70's kung fu flicks pretty damn grating, but I have to say that the sex manual mix-up in the end of Goose Boxer is truly inspired and freaking hilarious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member I Am Caine Posted October 15, 2013 Author Member Share Posted October 15, 2013 I Am Caine...I would like to invite you to sit back, crank the volume up high, and enjoy the opening credits to 'Goose Boxer'. Canto comedy at its finest. kgYlhOon7lU Holy. Shit. Not only is that hilarious but I need that music for my workout mix. In the middle of a run I can start goose walking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Secret Executioner Posted October 15, 2013 Member Share Posted October 15, 2013 Holy. Shit. Not only is that hilarious but I need that music for my workout mix. In the middle of a run I can start goose walking. The opening credit theme is indeed pretty fun. I think it adds to how hilarious the whole thing is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tosh Posted October 15, 2013 Member Share Posted October 15, 2013 -the humor involving the master's cross-dressing as a member of the opera troupe (this was actually the easiest to get, like when in his woman costume he slaps around the bad guys) While it was for laughs women weren't allowed to do opera in certian periods of Chinese theater so male actors dressed for the women's parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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