17. Heroes of the East - Dir. Lau Kar Leung
Okay Kung Fu fans, listen up! The film I am writing about here, the film you will see, the film you must see, is quite simply the pinnacle of martial arts cinema. It is an absolute blast from start to finish, and wowed me at almost every turn. I have seen my share of rocking Kung Fu cinema, and with roughly over 300 titles in my collection, I thought I had seen it all. However, there was one film my collection – no, my life – was missing, and until Celestial released the newly remastered DVD, I didn’t even know how empty and vapid my collection really was. Without a doubt, Heroes of the East, to use the old Internet euphemism, will own you.
Directed by Lau Kar-Leung, and starring Gordon Liu (you can’t go wrong with these two) Heroes of the East makes marital unrest and domestic violence look damn cool. The premise is both simple and eloquent, the build up is masterfully executed, and the pacing is nearly flawless. Once the action starts, at about the 25-minute mark, it escalates into an almost non-stop gauntlet of hand-to-hand and weapon-to-weapon combat of unequaled proportions, mixing in karate, ninjitsu and jujitsu along the way.
In the film, Gordon Liu plays Ho To, a Chinese kung ku master who marries Kung Zi, played by Yuka Mizuno, a Japanese martial arts master. As all of you die-hard kung fu fans know, a Chinese master and a Japanese master can hardly be in the same country as each other, let alone in the same house. What starts off as an innocent verbal game of “My country’s martial arts are better than yours,” quickly turns into a no-holds-barred confrontation between Chinese kung fu and Japanese karate. The first half of the film showcases the two lovers in strife, as they face off time and time again pitting each other’s different styles and weapon techniques in all out marital mayhem; in a word it is brilliant.
The second act kicks off when Kung Zi leaves Ho To and returns to Japan. Once there, she rekindles a flirtatious relationship with an ex-boyfriend, Takeno, played by Yasuaki Kurata, who just so happens to be the country’s number one ninjitsu expert, and a leader of a gang of ruthless Japanese martial arts masters. Ho To, desperate to get his estranged wife back to China, sends her an official notice of challenge to see once and for all who’s martial skill is best. Takeno intercepts the notice and he, along with his gang of martial artists, travel to China to show the Chinese what’s what and who’s who.
This set-up lends itself to some of the best action ever captured on film, and without a doubt some of the best choreography ever showcased, thanks in no small part to Lau Kar-Leung, Gordon Liu, and the fine group of actors and stuntmen assembled. The fighting here not only showcases the talent behind the camera, the director and crew capture the pugilism with masterful technique, but it also proves just how skillful a performer and martial artist Gordon Liu really is. Whether the combatants are fighting with open-handed teachniques, like karate, kung fu or jujitsu, or hacking away with swords, tongfas, and halberds, ever movement of action is executed and filmed with perfection.
Another remarkable aspect of the film is that no one dies. Although the film is packed to the gills with action, it is not necessarily violent, nor is it gratuitous in its bloodshed. As a director, Lau Kar Leung has always been more concerned with martial chivalry and respect than ample amounts of bloodletting. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin and Executioners From Shaolin both utilize this moral approach to the martial arts film, but in Heroes of the East it becomes a driving force behind the narrative. As Liu defeats each of his Japanese rivalries, he learns to respect their form and technique, and, in turn, they also learn to appreciate the power and skill of Chinese kung fu. The final scene of the film is actually quite moving, as the two rival cultures learn to not only appreciate and respect each other, but they are also bestowed with a real sense of camaraderie and friendship.
Heroes of the East is the quintessential kung fu film; it is brilliant in every way possible. The action is breathless, the acting is engaging, the narrative perfectly sets up the situations, and it is perfectly paced. Everything about this film screams first rate kung fu classic, and we truly are blessed to have Celestial around now to remaster these lost gems and present them in their original uncut, Chinese language dialogue. The only problem with the film is that after having seen it, everything else is slightly less enjoyable. If it were only possible to own one martial arts film, this would be the one – and there wouldn’t even be a question about it.
