9. 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) - Dir. Lau Kar Leung
Some films are so often emulated it becomes easy to lose sight of the original's impact. Yes, some films are copied, and then some films are copied - and then there is Lau Kar Leung's The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. Because of the copious amounts of kung fu films that came out after, and riffed off of this timeless classic, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin could be one of the most emulated and influential genre films of all time. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin not only made the Shaolin Temple cool, but it also popularized the bald-headed badassness of the legendary Shaolin monks. It also single handedly redefined what would be known as the "training sequence" by making it the focal point of the entire film.
Chances are, any kung fu film made after this groundbreaking title somehow or another owes at least a small debt to Lau Kar Leung's masterpiece. And this is no exaggeration. Sure, Cheng Cheh made the legend of the Shaolin Temple popular with his own series of films before hand (many were choreographed by Lau Kar Leung), and there were earlier films that featured training sequences and actors pantomiming kung fu. However, what separates The 36th Chamber from the rest is the authenticity of the kung fu, and the pure perfection of the production. Everything about this film screams cinematic masterpiece: from the acting, to the narrative, to the music, and to the choreography.
Gordon Liu is the one and only true star of this picture, and his character, San Te, is perhaps one of the most career-defining roles of cinematic history. For the role, Liu shaved his head to portray the young monk in-training. This happened in 1978 – now, in 2008, thirty years later, Liu still has a shaved head. He has appeared as a bald headed, monk-type character for the vast majority of his acting career, and if there were ever a rare portrayal of a character with hair he would don a wig.
Without a doubt it would be impossible to talk about this film without mentioning the great training sequences that take up about half of the total running time. Each new trial, or chamber (hence the title), tests a specific part of the body, or skill needed in order to learn the proper kung fu technique. A “fu” is to be an expert at something, so theoretically a chef might possess cooking fu, a barber hair-cutting fu, and so on. The 35 chambers presented in the Shaolin temple each test a different fu.
With each consecutive chamber, the trials become more and more challenging, while each one tests a more specific fu. One might wonder what each chamber had to do with an actual kung fu stance, but here in lies the greatest lesson – patience. The novice monks had to pass each chamber one through thirty-five and then apply everything they learned to pass the final test and demonstrate their kung fu.
So if there are thrity-five chambers, why is the film called The 36th Chamber? San Te created The 36th Chamber after he became a Shaolin master. This chamber does not test a specific ability but it represents Shaolin’s ability to teach kung fu to non-monks. When the Manchurians took over China, they outlawed all practice of kung fu to stifle any kind of violent uprising from the oppressed peoples. The Shaolin Temple was actually an underground kung fu school disguised as a religious monastery. In order to learn kung fu, the novice had to devote his entire life to the temple and vowed never to become involved in worldly affairs. San Te thought that Shaolin kung fu should be taught throughout China, so that the people could stand up against the oppressive Manchurians.
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is truly a masterpiece of the genre, and it is also a great starting point for the uninitiated. Want to get your snobby stuck up film buff friends into old school Kung Fu films? Well, if they won’t do it after viewing this, than it’s probably a lost cause (and I would wonder why you would be friends with such people in the first place). Lau Kar Leung has made many great films, and many of these also starred Gordon Liu. The two had a chemistry both on and off screen that most filmmakers can only dream of. They were both master craftsmen, expertly trained in kung fu, and what’s more, they both were teeming with energy and passion – energy and passion that is showcased in this film.
