Neglected Directors of Shaw: Lu Chin Ku

[venoms5]

This is an incomplete piece on Lu Chin Ku...

NEGLECTED DIRECTORS OF SHAW: LU CHIN KU

LU CHIN KU: FROM INDY SPECIALIST TO SHAW’S SECRET SERVICE

Lu Chin Ku was one of the most energetic and frenetically inclined directors to emerge from the Shaw Brothers stable of directors. Having gotten his start at Cathay, he quickly adapted to the art of cinema and after an early stint as an actor, became a lean, mean martial arts movie directing machine with some of the most frenzied and hyper stylized swordplay action films to ever come out of Hong Kong.

The feverish pace his films embraced extends to Lu’s career as well. Having done almost everything behind and in front of the camera; writing, producing, assistant director, action choreographer, actor and possibly his most successful turn as a director. Lu often times acted in some capacity in the films he helmed. Starting out as an actor in a handful of independent productions, Lu then took a job as an AD on the rare ACTION TAE KWON DO (1972) featuring Pai Piao and Korean kicker Kwan Young Moon. Lu also acted in this film as well. His first stab at directing was a couple of kung fu cheapies starring Ron Van Clief (THE BLACK DRAGON 1974) in what seemed to be a marrying of the kung fu and blaxploitation genres.

Once the mysterious and disturbingly exotic tales of black magic were un-spooled by Ho Meng Hua with the popular BLACK MAGIC (1975), a plethora of similar movies were made. Lu Chin Ku joined in with THE MAGIC CURSE (1977) starring Pai Piao and Kao Fei. It tells the story of a young womanizer played by Pai Piao. His father’s plane goes down in Borneo and he goes after him only to run afoul of cannibal lepers, amazons and a snake cult. While there he has a curse placed on him by a woman and returns to civilization only to have those he comes into contact with coming to a bad end. Exploitation thrills including lots and lots of naked women, sex, gore (including a penis bitten off!) and lots of snakes.

Following his turn in the horror sweepstakes, Lu then turned his attention back to the indy kung fu scene creating two notable entries-- THE DRAGON & THE TIGER KIDS (1979) and TIGER OVER WALL (1980). Of special merit is the participation of supreme kicking sensation Hwang Jang Lee playing a villain in both. The former is the better of the two and features some of Lee’s best boot work. The latter has an incredible finale in which the hero must resort to using a weapon to take down Lee after fighting him bare handed proves ineffective. The storyline for this film is one of the silliest and most laughable but the fights are so good, you totally overlook the ridiculousness of so much deceit and murder over a missing dog(!) Seeing these early entries in his action oeuvre, it is becoming obvious Lu was quickly becoming a master of fast and furious action pictures laced with just barely enough plotline to hold it all together. He would soon turn his attentions to doing the same for swordplay actioners adding a layer of sheen only the Shaw Brothers could provide. Even in their failing years, the Shaw’s could still turn out some classy and effective set design to make even the lankiest and flimsiest of movies look halfway decent.

1980 was also the year Lu Chin Ku’s career would blossom into a most capable action filmmaker. Having joined Shaw Brothers in 1979, the most striking difference between his indy films and his Shaw Brothers output is that beginning with THE MASTER (1980), the action scenes became more and under cranked. It became highly noticeable in THE AMBITIOUS KUNG FU GIRL (1981) and reached critical levels in THE LADY ASSASSIN (1983). Wirework, by this time, had become popular particularly in Wu Xia movies as well as advancements using the technique. Before departing for stories of the martial world, Lu would direct one more independent feature, the rare CRAZY HORSE, INTELLIGENT MONKEY (1982) starring previous Shaw star Chi Kuan Chun, Candy Wen Hsu Er and Chu Te Hu. From here on (for a few years anyway), Lu Chin Ku’s films would be of the fantasy swordplay variety.

Taking a detour into Shakespearean tragedy, THE LADY ASSASSIN (1983 aka THE ASSASSIN‘S REVENGE) details an oft filmed tumultuous time period in China’s history-- the rule of Emperor Yong Zheng (December 13th 1678 thru October 8th 1735) during the reign of the Qing Dynasty. In it, the dying Emperor Kang has 14 sons vying for the throne. His imperial edict names one of them as his successor when he dies. However, the 14th prince is believed to be the heir. The 4th prince, Yong Zheng, has eyes on the throne as well. When an assassination attempt on prince 14 fails, Yong must find another means to achieve his goal. Realizing the situation with the Han Chinese, Yong uses them to his advantage seeking out a famous calligrapher to help him attain the throne. Promising to make life easier for civilian Chinese who have suffered greatly under the Qing rule, Lu Liang (Ku Feng) agrees to alter the secret decree so that prince 4 is named Emperor. Of course, things don’t work out per the agreement. Emperor Yong fails to keep his word and those who helped him are eliminated. Prince 14 is shown to be a most shallow individual after his personal bodyguard attempts to assassinate Yong but fails. After numerous tragedies befall the heroes, Lu’s daughter, Lu Si Niang takes matters into her own hands. With her two personal guards, she launches an attack on Yong Zheng and his own hired killer, a Japanese Ninja played by the films director, Lu Chin Ku.

Lu keeps the action coming fast and the pace barely slows down to allow any one scene to breathe for more than a few seconds. The sets are attractive and there’s some unique camera placements and shots. The movie has an interesting and compelling story to tell, but Lu only allows for less than 90 minutes worth of screen time. The accent is clearly on the action sequences with the story taking a backseat. The only characters who are fleshed out are Yong Zheng (Liu Yung) and Tseng Tsing (Tsui Hsu Keung). These two receive the most screen time. Liu Yung would again play an even more despicable villain in another Lu movie, SECRET SERVICE OF THE IMPERIAL COURT (1984). In THE LADY ASSASSIN (1983) you know he doesn’t plan to keep his word and manages some crafty moves to prove his (false) sincerity even going so far as to take a gamble on his life by threatening to kill himself should Lu’s daughter not return with the edict. She does in fact return and in a rather wise move (at the time), she hesitates before making her appearance by watching Yong to see if was in fact truthful about taking his own life at the time determined. When it seems he meant what he said, Lu Niang drops in and delivers the edict much to her later chagrin.

As opposed to his indy work, Lu is successful in pulling off some dramatic set pieces in his Shaw Brothers films. The scene in which Tseng Tsing tries to assassinate Yong Zheng for the protection of his master for example. He barely manages to escape with his life, but he soon realizes the 14th prince really is no different from the vicious usurper. He then quits his position as guard to the prince and returns a medal he had given him. There’s a fabulous shot of Tseng illuminated with a bright blue light behind him with his eyes also accentuated. His two female swordswomen companions plead for him to take them with him but he decides to continue his mission alone only this time for his own purposes. Another striking scene is brief but still effective. It involves Lu Niang discovering her family, as well as the Han Chinese, have all been betrayed. She learns her father and others have been butchered, their heads adorning a castle wall. She emerges from the swirling fog of darkness illuminated by bright blue light and comes into close up thus beginning her trail of vengeance which makes up the final 10 minutes or so. Just prior to this scene, there’s a great sequence in which Tseng Tsing returns from his second encounter with Yong Zheng and his men. Only this time it was to rescue Niang’s father from execution. But it’s a trap and Tseng is mortally wounded. At this time, in a scene rife with emotion, he professes his love for Niang as she reciprocates with her tears. The two had met in two contradictory situations earlier in the film-- the first time the two were fishing and the second time was a compromising situation in which Tseng intercepted her (disguised behind a mask) stealing the edict. Managing to cut away her mask, he realizes it is the beautiful woman he became entranced with while fishing on that day. Here, before expiring, he returns a bracelet he had intended to return to her.

Another striking and beautifully violent shot has Niang and her two male assassins (played by Sun Chien and Yuen Te) infiltrating the Emperor’s domicile and killing his guards whilst music from many female dancers drowns out the sound of death behind them. It is at this point where the film goes into complete maddening overkill as the three remaining heroes take on a group of hired ninjas including the leader played by the director. There’s even a take off on the Flying Guillotine weapon with the use of a giant shuriken that cuts through wood like a buzz saw.

THE LADY ASSASSIN (1983) would fail to capitalize on all its razzle dazzle being drowned at the box office by the Golden Harvest film DUEL TO THE DEATH (1983) which was released only a couple of days prior. A similar film, the independent THE REBELLIOUS REIGN (1980) mined the same story as THE LADY ASSASSIN (1983) and it, too was a box office disaster.

Lu Chin Ku must have had a fascination with Japanese culture or at least in their martial arts. His Shaw Brothers films have some semblance of Japanese tradition whether it be the use of weapons, style, masks or stances it is evident in many of his swordplay films.

CONTINUED...

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Tiger Over Wall is so well directed, and it is a great overall movie. But like you said it's just stupid how seriously they take the missing dog case. Had it been murder, or any number of other crimes, the movie could have been a masterpiece.

Very nice job on this Venoms5. There are a lot of great kung fu directors from back in the day, but this guy may be my favorite. And I also liked him as an actor. He has a great face for a villain.

[venoms5]

And I also liked him as an actor. He has a great face for a villain.

Yeah, he does play a great bad guy. He's right sleazy in THE GIRLIE BAR (1976) as well. Not a kung fu movie but there's action in it. He reminds me a bit of pops in that he puts in an appearance in his films. I have some promotional material for LADY ASSASSIN aka ASSASSIN'S REVENGE. Just a couple of flyers both in Chinese but also one in English that's basically a synopsis. I'll scan them tomorrow.

[venoms5]

Tiger Over Wall is so well directed, and it is a great overall movie.

And I loved how absolutely dominating HJL was during the end fight here with Kao Fei resorting to using a weapon to defeat him. Before I saw these, excuse me, even after I saw these I couldn't believe this was the same director of HOLY FLAME, BASTARD SWORDSMAN and SECRET SERVICE.

[venoms5]

I also watched a comedy directed by Lu Chin Ku today, THE BIG STING (1983). The box erroneously says 1997 as year of production. What's funny is that the opening scene has some individuals approach a hotel room with the number 1997 on it!

[Morgoth Bauglir]

And I loved how absolutely dominating HJL was during the end fight here with Kao Fei resorting to using a weapon to defeat him. Before I saw these, excuse me, even after I saw these I couldn't believe this was the same director of HOLY FLAME, BASTARD SWORDSMAN and SECRET SERVICE.

Yeah he got the most out of Hwang. I remember seeing the movie for the first time and saying to myself "this dude is just gonna kick him to death, awesome!". And then those shots where he's flying through the air doing a bunch of kicks that are edited, and then out of nowhere Ko Fei finds the weapon. It's so brilliant how those last few seconds before Hwang gets it are put together. Such impact!

[peringaten]

I also watched a comedy directed by Lu Chin Ku today, THE BIG STING (1983). The box erroneously says 1997 as year of production. What's funny is that the opening scene has some individuals approach a hotel room with the number 1997 on it!

I'm guessing the 1997 is a sly (or not so sly) reference to the HK handover date. Anyhoo, what a dire film. An excuse for Liu Yung & Leung Kar Yan to piss about in extremely mediocre fashion, scooby doo stylee. Kind of an akin to Lu's resumé to that of Destiny's Champion (a somewhat better duff film; of course amusingly also botched date-wise by Celestial) to Sun Chung's. Lu's a surprising bum note, also, (considering its actual vintage) to an otherwise brilliant career. Love the cranked extremities of his best flicks. So gooooood.