Jumping Ash (1976) by Josephine Siao Fong-Fong and Leung Po-Chi.

[Rodolphe Dux]

I got my hand on a vhs of Jumping Ash, I really liked it. My opinion is perhaps biased because I'm a big fan of Josephine Siao but I think this action movie deserves more attention. It's really well paced and written and Josephine Siao in the late 70 was really something.

[DrNgor]

It would seem that this is the earliest example of the HK New Wave, even if it didn't really pick up steam until '78 or '79. I also understand it's the grandpappy of the Heroic Bloodshed film.

[dionbrother]

Was a smash hit that year, only outgrossed by THE PRIVATE EYES.  It's one of the few movies that you'd almost swear was made years later as it feels very ahead of its time.  Needs a seriously good reissue.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

Someone has a really nice print. Some guy wanted to trade stuff with me, actually just have me give him stuff online like a library and then he mentioned a 1080p of this. But he said "I promised, I can't send it" . So I cut him off. Wanker.

 

[Rodolphe Dux]

3 hours ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

Someone has a really nice print. Some guy wanted to trade stuff with me, actually just have me give him stuff online like a library and then he mentioned a 1080p of this. But he said "I promised, I can't send it" . So I cut him off. Wanker.

 

Does someone still have a nice print of this one? I'm very curious about this, very interested to do an official release. Some French company is looking for any decent print to make a great official release, but no luck so far regarding a decent print.

[NoKUNGFUforYU]

The HK film archive may have one. Good luck with them, very weird bunch.

[Rodolphe Dux]

26 minutes ago, NoKUNGFUforYU said:

The HK film archive may have one. Good luck with them, very weird bunch.

Thanks, I’ll ask them. I’d be glad to find a print.

[Super Ninja]

On 3/5/2023 at 7:44 PM, DrNgor said:

It would seem that this is the earliest example of the HK New Wave, even if it didn't really pick up steam until '78 or '79.

Pak Tong Cheuk, author of  HK New Wave Cinema, wouldn't agree with that. Here's what the author had to say on the matter:

The Extra, produced in 1978, marked the beginning of the New Wave.

...

Jumping Ash, a film made earlier (1976), was filmed using relatively modern
techniques, but was in spirit very far from the New Wave. Therefore, it can only be
regarded as a warm-up production that came before the movement – a prologue and
nothing more. Formally speaking, it does not qualify as a New Wave film.

Here's what some of the reviews had to say about Jumping Ash. Seems it's a hugely influential movie that defined the look and the style of HK crime cinema.

- Po-Chih Leong's debut film was a trendsetter in Hong Kong cinema. Shot from the shoulder, the fast-moving world of cops, informers, drug dealers and other crooks are evoked in a very lively and realistic way.

- Considered a pre-cursor of HK New Wave due to the use of hand-held cameras, location shooting, blending of genres and documentary-like realism (at least regarding the presentation of Hong underground as shaped by cops, informers, drug dealers and crime bosses) in its presentation, “Jumping Ash” is a rather impressive production with an equally intriguing back story.

 

 

[DrNgor]

5 minutes ago, Super Ninja said:

Pak Tong Cheuk, author of  HK New Wave Cinema, wouldn't agree with that. Here's what the author had to say on the matter:

The Extra, produced in 1978, marked the beginning of the New Wave.

I'm pretty sure you can debate it until the cows come home.

The author of this post at Asian Movie Pulse considers it as part of the movement.

https://asianmoviepulse.com/2021/05/hong-kong-new-wave-a-debate/?fbclid=IwAR1FDt25R8f-G-wkz9KIZpjAwKYm_LoC4T5Iz0Lc-aFJ1myH-DLFo72J1GI

[dionbrother]

Since I first read about in the 1980s, it was always marketed as a New Wave movie.  You certainly can't call it a martial arts pic and it looks drastically different than other Chan Wai Man and Chen Sing movies of the era.  Very stylish. 

[Rodolphe Dux]

Interesting debate nonetheless, thank you all for your thoughts, sources and argument, it is certainly a peculiar and perhaps as important as overlooked movie in HK cinema history.

 

"阿弥陀佛".

Edited March 8, 2023 by Rodolphe Dux
Just adding Buddha's praise.

[ShawAngela]

Now that I know that there are martial arts in this movie, maybe I'll try to watch it... I'm also a reat fan of Siao Fong Fong, but I only have a few of her black and white Cantonese martial arts movies, and Fong Sai Yuk.