Kung Fu Hustle
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| Kung Fu Hustle | |
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 The Hong Kong movie poster. |
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| Directed by | Stephen Chow |
| Produced by | Columbia Pictures |
| Written by | Stephen Chow Tsang Kan Cheong Xin Huo Chan Man Keung |
| Starring | Stephen Chow Yuen Wah Yuen Qiu Kwok Kuen Chan Bruce Leung |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures, Columbia Tristar |
| Release date(s) |  December 23, 2004 January 1, 2005 January 13, 2005 |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Language | Cantonese, Mandarin |
| Budget | $20 million |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Kung Fu Hustle (Chinese: 功夫; pinyin: Gōngfu) is a martial arts film first released in Hong Kong in December 2004. It was released for general debut in the United States on April 22, 2005 after showing in Los Angeles and New York for two weeks. The North American version of its DVD was released on August 8, 2005.
Kung Fu Hustle is a humorous parody and a special tribute to the wuxia genre, played and directed by Stephen Chow. It contains most of the characteristics of a typical wuxia movie, with a lot of exaggerations, serious situations and comic plots. This is Stephen Chow's only film where the mood turns darker and serious later on.
The use of visual effects have been widely acclaimed and the almost comic book style of the movie are its most striking features. It is in stark contrast to recent Kung Fu movies that have made an impact in the West, such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. Despite the computer-generated imagery and cartoonish scenes in the second half of the movie, the movie pays tribute to many famous Kung Fu film veterans from the 1970s who were all real martial artists in their own right. Many early fight scenes were packed with real Chinese martial arts. In addition, the "Buddhist Palm" style of Kung Fu featured throughout the movie is a style of Kung Fu cited by Chinese people whenever a fighting style involving open fists is used.
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[edit] Plot
It is Shanghai in the 1930s. In a period of social turmoil, various gangs have consolidated their power. The police are powerless to stem the crime wave. The most feared one of them all is the Axe Gang. The gang murder their enemies with axes, and also control many casinos and nightclubs in the city, bringing in millions. Only in poor areas can people live in peace. One of such areas is the Pig Sty Alley, a simple apartment block that is the home of people in various trades: tailoring, baking and so on. The Alley is run by a promiscuous Landlord and his domineering and selfish wife.
The peace of the Pig Sty Alley cannot last, however. One day, 2 aspiring gangsters Sing and Bone enter. Sing requests a haircut for his “boss” Bone. Sing refuses to pay, since the cut was too good. He then confronts the entire population of the Alley. As he is about to back off, the Landlady comes forth and gives him a slapping with her sandal. Sing solicits help from the Axe Gang, who storm the alley.
Thanks to the kung fu mastery of 3 residents (the Coolie, Tailor and Donut the baker), all gangsters are beaten up and many are badly wounded. Sing and Bone are taken to the Axe Gang hideout, where they are shackled. Brother Sum accuses the 2 of impersonating Axe Gangsters. 2 of his men threaten to kill them with axes, but thanks to Sing’s lockpicking skills, Sing manages to free Bone and himself before the axes hit them. Impressed by Sing’s skills, Brother Sum releases them, telling them to kill someone if they wanted to be part of the gang.
Back in the streets, Sing reveals that he knows kung fu. As a child, he spent his life savings to buy a Buddist Palm manual from a beggar so as to “preserve world peace”. The young Sing practiced his skills, but failed to make an impact in his attempt to save a mute girl from bullies who want to snatch her lollipop. Sing is beaten up and urinated on. Ever since then, he has sworn to be a bad guy. The two later purchase ice-creams from a mute female vendor, who is startled to see Sing. However, Sing and Bone run off and escape on a tram before the woman can catch up with him.
Sing and Bone sneak back into the Pig Sty Alley, where the Landlady is rebuking the Coolie, Tailor and Donut for offending the mafia. Sing tries to demonstrates the art of knife-throwing. He attempts to throw the knife at the Landlady, but the knife bounces off the ceiling and lands into his shoulders. Sing sits down in pain, and asks Bone to throw. However, 2 more knives end up stabbed into Sing. To make things worse, the two are discovered. Bone attempts to fend the Landlady off with snakes, but the snakes land on Sing, and he is bitten twice on the cheek.
Sing and Bone run off and split up. The Landlady chases after Sing, but leaps into an advertising board while doing so, allowing Sing to escape. Sing hides inside a housing structure of a traffic light, and forces the knives out of his body. His mouth is badly swollen, and he punches the wall of the structure in rage, creating many dents and smashing the traffic lights to bits. The following day, Bone comes to see him, and is surprised that Sing has completely recovered from his injuries. Back in the Pig Sty Alley, the Landlady decides to evict the 3 kung fu masters based on the results of a lottery.
Meanwhile, the Axe Gang have other plans. They hire 2 killers who are officially the 2nd best killers, though strictly speaking, they are musicians who play the Guqin. That night, they are sent to the Pig Sty Alley, when the Coolie, Tailor and Donut are about to leave. The killers play a sad melody with such impetus that it decapitates the Coolie, killing him instantly.
One of the killers confront the Tailor in his shop, and the fight is forced outside. This is when a fight between the kung fu masters and the 2nd best killers begin. Both the Tailor and Coolie are subdued by the swords, fists and waves that appear when the Guqin is played. As the killers are about to land their finishing blow, the Landlady yells very loudly from her flat, creating a shockwave that knocks off the swords and severs the lines of the Guqin.
The Landlord also enter the fight, using his Taijiquan, he smoothly swings the killers around, and deflects their blows to hit each other. The killers attempt one last attack with their Guqin, summoning evil skeleton warriors in the process. The Landlady then takes a deep breath and counters it with a devastating Lion’s Roar, shattering the skeletons, Guqin, strips the killers of their clothes, and sends them flying back. It is at that point that the killers flee, along with Brother Sum and the Axe Gang.
The Coolie and Tailor are dead, and Donut is mortally wounded. The Landlord and his wife explains that they had given up kung fu fighting ever since their son was killed, but they have no choice but to break their promises today. The Landlord urges all tenants to leave for their safety. Donut states that the more power one has, the greater his responsibility. His final words are “What are you… prepared… to do!”
The following day, Sing mugs the mute ice-cream vendor. The vendor shows him the lollipop she had since childhood. She reveals that she was the girl whom Sing saved. Sing simply swipes the lollipop into the wall, causing it to shatter. Sing berates Bone, and sits down on the pavement in shame. He is them taken to Brother Sum by 2 members of the Axe Gang. He is now a member and is given an assignment.
Sing is to sneak into a mental asylum and free the Beast, aka the Ultimate King of Killers. Despite having lost his tools, Sing gets the job done with a piece of coiled wire. At first, Brother Sum is sceptical of the Beast, since he appears to be an old man with a receding hairline dressed in his underwear and sandals. However, he bows down to him when the Beast shows that he can stop bullets.
The Beast then proceeds to engage the Landlord and Landlady, who are in the casino with a funeral bell. The landlady repeats a phrase which Sing heard when he was a boy, and that surprises Sing. The 3 start fighting. As the Beast is about to win, the Landlady smashes the top off the bell, using it as an amplifier for her Lion’s Roar. The resulting blast is able to injure the Beast. However, they are outsmarted by the Beast’s desperation move – spiky lily sticks to the stomach.
As the 3 enter a stalemate, Brother Sum orders Sing to use a table leg to smash the Landlady in the head. However, Sing hits the Beast instead. As a result, the Beast enters a rage and punches Sing, creating a dent in his solar plexus. He then slams Sing into the ground, and punches his head in several times. Fortunately, Sing is rescued by the Landlady and her husband while the Beast’s back is turned. Brother Sum rebukes the Beast for letting them escape, but is punched in the head so hard that it twists his neck, causing his face to face backwards.
The Landlord and his wife are surprised that Sing saved them. The Landlady sadly asks Sing for his last words. Sing just draws a picture of a lollipop with his blood, symbolizing his regret. However, Sing survives. With some help of medicine and bandages, he quickly recovers and transforms into a kung fu master. Meanwhile, the Axe Gang and the Beast are raiding the empty Pig Sty Alley. Sing quickly dispatches the gangsters and only the Beast is left.
The two fight, and the Beast sends Sing flying with his Toad leap skill. In the air, Sing realizes his Buddhist Palm. He takes a dive in the air, holding out his palm. As Sing descends, his arms go on fire and he is transformed into a meteor. He slams into the Beast, creating a big palm shaped crater in the ground. Just as the Beast is about to be flattened, he surrenders. Sing stops his attack and lands on the ground. The Beast attempts his desperation move, but is stopped by another Palm by Sing, which creates a big palm shaped hole in the building behind the Beast. The Beast is completely shocked, and tearfully bows down to Sing, conceding defeat.
Some time later, the mute ice-cream vendor sees a newly opened sweet shop in the street, specializing in lollipops. The shop is run by Sing and Bone. Bone shows Sing the young woman, and he walks out to meet her. The two revert to their childhood forms and run happily into the shop. The Landlord and Landlady are seen walking outside the street. The same beggar who sold Sing the Buddhist Palm manual offers another manual to a boy eating a lollipop, with a wide range of books to choose from.
[edit] Characters
For detailed information about the characters, visit List of characters in Kung Fu Hustle.
[edit] Score and soundtrack
The majority of the film's original score was composed by Raymond Wong and was performed by The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. Early on, Stephen Chow experimented with using hip hop and more modern sounds for the soundtrack, but eventually came to the decision of using authentic Chinese music, making it distinctly different from more Western-influenced scores.
Along with Raymond Wong's compositions and various traditional Chinese songs, classical compositions were also featured in the film, including excerpts of Zigeunerweisen by Sarasate and the popular "Sabre Dance" by Aram Khachaturian.
Likewise, the scores in the movie is noteworthy which keeps you close to the holds of each scene through out the movie. Especially the Axe Gang’s group dance, the romance scenes between Sing and the mute girl, and the mid-night fight between the slum fighters and Axe Gang. With the excellent visual and audio effects giving life to the well picturised scenes delivered in a comical fashion proves a perfect flavor for a clean action comedy.
Asian and American versions of the soundtrack have been released, the Asian version featuring 33 tracks and the American version featuring 19.
[edit] Parodies and references
The movie contains a large number of parodies and references to other Hollywood and wuxia movies, and popular culture, including:
- The "Buddhist Palm" style of Kung Fu is real, but obviously does not leave palm-shaped craters. Instead, users deliver powerful punches using palms.
- The escape scene of Sing from Landlady is a homage to Looney Tunes cartoons featuring Road Runner, down to the disastrous result of Landlady (as usual of Wile E. Coyote).
- Buddhist Palm and the Beast's Chinese name are borrowed from Ru Lai Shen Zhang 《如來神掌》(1964). For example, the scene where Landlady repeatedly strikes a bell in order to remove the top and use it as a megaphone is a reference to wuxia film Ru Lai Shen Zhang, where a mortally wounded master strikes the patterns of his art's final techniques into a bell so that his pupil can learn from it. Also, the final battle between Sing and Beast is a tribute towards Hong Kong black and white fantasy Wuxia movies that appeared in 1960 such as "Buddha God Palm fist" — these movies used to aim for children, as there was no cartoon or anime back then. The background music during the fight is a typical black and white fantasy wuxia movie.
- Deadly Melody is borrowed from Liu zhi qin mo 《六指琴魔》(1960's).
- The Chinese names of some characters are identical and taken straight from Jinyong's wuxia novels. For example, the landlord and landlady are named after Yang Guo and Xiao Long Nü from Jinyong's The Return of the Condor Heroes.
- The "Axe Gang" may be a reference to a group with a similar name in Jackie Chan's Project A Part II and/or in Drunken Master II, but the original gang were only used as mercenaries, they weren't the main enemies. However, that film took place in the same time period as this one. There is also a brand of Chinese traditional medicine called, 'Axe'.
- The Axe Gang's clothing and style of swarming their opponents is reminiscent of the Crazy 88 from Kill Bill, as well as Agent Smith from The Matrix Series. Their top hats could be a reference to the movie Gangs of New York.
- The boss of the Axe Gang, brother Sum (琛哥), is named after the triad boss in Infernal Affairs
- The housing arrangement of the Pig Sty is borrowed from The House of 72 Tenants《七十二家房客》 (1973).
- The Landlady uses the hand gestures from Bruce Lee's Way of the Dragon film.
- The evil musicians are reminiscent of The Blues Brothers. In one scene, they respond to a question "Strictly speaking we're just musicians", exactly as the Blues Brothers did in their 1980 movie.
- When Donut dies, he says "with great power comes great responsibility", a clear reference to the Spider-Man, when Uncle Ben dies. Afterwards, with his dying breath, he leans up, grabs the Landlord by the shirt and utters in English, "What are you prepared to do?!", a nod to Sean Connery's character Malone in Brian De Palma's 1987 film The Untouchables.
- Donut gasps from his deathbed, "This could be the end of a beautiful friendship," a line borrowed from Casablanca.
- ...to which Landlord replies, "Tomorrow is another day!" which is lifted from Gone with the Wind. But this was spoken in the English-dubbed version.
- In a fightining scene between Landlord and the Beast, they fight as fast as the warriors in the Dragon Ball Series.
- A scene is reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining with blood gushing down a corridor in Overlook Hotel.
- The clothes Sing wore in the last fight scene is a tribute to what Bruce Lee wore in Enter the Dragon.
- Early in the movie, Sing does a brief trick with a soccer ball. When a child asks Sing if he will teach them, he stomps on the ball, deflating it and declares: "No more soccer." This scene is an in-joke referring to Stephen Chow's previous film Shaolin Soccer.
- Feng Xiaogang, the Crocodile Gang boss who says "I would do anything except producing films; nobody comes to the cinema at Sunday!", is a famous Chinese film director.
- Coolie is actually based on another kung fu movie called The Barefoot Kid starring popstar Aaron Kwok. Their clothing and attacks are exact similar from that movie (notably kick attacks).
- The Beast declares he will make an "offer they can't refuse," a nod to The Godfather.
- When Sing is healing in the metal box above the traffic light, one of the knives ricochets out and bursts a passing car's tire. The whole scene is like one from Roger Rabbit.
- During the Beast rescue scene, Sing uses a paper clip to unlock the last door. This is very similar to how Macguyver makes tools out of ordinary items.
- The book titles that the beggar took out during the ending sequence are based on famous mythological Wuxia techniques that appeared in many black and white Wuxia movies and Jinyong novels.
[edit] Romance
In a flashback sequence, after reading the Buddhist Palm manual, young Sing tries the techniques out by calling on a group of bullies to stop stealing a lollipop from a mute girl. He is beaten up and urinated on, but the mute girl sees him as a hero and offers him her lollipop. Angry at failing to stop the bullies, Sing simply runs off.
Many years later, Sing and his sidekick try to be evil to join the Axe Gang. They decide to rob an ice cream cart. The ice cream girl is none other than the mute girl, who instantly recognizes Sing. While Sing threatens her with a knife, mimicking a similar pose of a romance film (Top Hat) poster behind them, Sing's partner finds the money tin in the cart. In another tin is something the girl cradles very dearly, which the girl shows by signing to Sing. Opening the tin, she reveals the lollipop she had offered Sing so many years before. She holds it out to him again, but he slaps it way, and it shatters against the ground. Sing flees, but is overcome with guilt and emotion from the crime. He gives his friend all the money from the robbery, and tells him to leave him and go back home to raise pigs.
After Sing is beaten up until every bone in his body is broken by the Beast, the landlady and landlord ask him if he has any last words. Sing draws a picture of the lollipop on the ground with his blood, revealing that he still regrets the decision.
At the end of the movie, after the Beast has been defeated, Sing and the mute girl meet once again on the street. As the camera pans around them, they change into their respective childhood forms, then run into Sing's candy store holding hands as children.
This continues a trademark of Stephen Chow's movies, in many of which the hero falls in love with an imperfect girl. In this movie, the lollipop girl is mute. In Shaolin Soccer (2001), the girl had a bad complexion (which cleared up by the end of the movie, but is bald during the tournament, then she appears beautiful in a TIME Magazine cover) and was awkwardly shy. In God of Cookery (1996), the girl had severe malocclusion.
[edit] Trivia
- Yuen Wah, who plays the Landlord, was one of the Seven Little Fortunes. Other Seven Little Fortunes include Jackie Chan and Samo Hung. Yuen Wah is also a qualified martial art stuntman who works in Hong Kong TVB.
- Leung Siu Lung, who plays the Beast, was a Bruce Lee imitator in the 1970s, often credited as Bruce Leung, Bruce Liang or Bruce Leong
- In February 2005, it surpassed Shaolin Soccer (another Stephen Chow movie), as the highest grossing Hong-Kong movie ever made.
- As of 2005, this film had the widest cinematic release in the USA of a foreign language film.
- In 2008, DreamWorks will release an animated film called, Kung Fu Panda in which Jack Black will star. Several reports have suggested that Kung Fu Panda will be heavily influenced by Kung Fu Hustle.
- Yuen Qiu, who plays the Landlady role, actually went into the same theater group like Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao (as a matter of fact she is an "older sister" to Yuen Biao). In martial arts terms, she is a "sister" for them.
- The Portuguese title of the movie is Kungfusão, which sounds like kung fu and Confusão (confusion). In the same way Italian and Spanish titles were Kung-fusion and Kung-fusión, another pun on confusion.
- During the second battle in which Sing and the axe gang fight, the camera goes to a birds-eye view showing enemies being defeated one by one in a circle similar to the "Burly Brawl" in The Matrix Reloaded.
- Sony Pictures Classics released a Flash-based fighting game called Kung Fu Fighter in order to promote the film.
- There is a sequel planned: Kung Fu Hustle 2. However, the proposed sequel was delayed due to Stephen Chow's decision to work on another movie called Long River 7. He feels the script and story requires refining and worked on the other movie until he feels the script was ready. No new developments announced as of yet.
[edit] Reception
The film was well-received by critics, earning the high score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.
[edit] Box office
Kung Fu Hustle opened in Hong Kong on December 23, 2004, and earned a massive HK$4,990,000 on its opening day. It stayed at the top of the box office for the rest of 2004 and for much of early 2005, eventually grossing HK$60 million. Its box office tally made it the highest grossing film in Hong Kong history, surpassing the previous record holder, Chow's Shaolin Soccer.
The film began a limited two-week theatrical run in New York City and Los Angeles on April 8, 2005 before opening wide across North America on April 22. In its first week of limited release, it grossed $269,225 (a stellar $38,460 per screen). When it opened wide in 2,503 theaters, the largest opening theater count ever for a foreign language film, it made a modest $6,749,572 ($2,696 per screen), on its way to a total of $17,108,591. While not a blockbuster, Kung Fu Hustle managed to be the highest-grossing foreign language film in North America in 2005, and it went on to find a cult following on DVD.
[edit] Awards
- Hong Kong Film Awards:Best Movie Award
- Hong Kong Film Awards:Best Supporting Actor
- Golden Horse Awards: Best Movie Award
- Golden Horse Awards: Best Supporting Actress
- BFCA Critics' Choice Awards 2005: Best Foreign Language Film
- Acadamy Awards: Best Foreign Language Film (Nomination)
[edit] Cast
- Stephen Chow .... Sing
- Yuen Wah .... Landlord
- Yuen Qiu .... Landlady
- Chan Kwok Kuen .... Brother Sum, Axe Gang leader
- Leung Siu Lung (梁小龍) .... The Beast
- Dong Zhi Hua (董志華) .... Donut
- Chiu Chi Ling .... Tailor (See Hung Gar)
- Xing Yu .... Coolie
- Lam Chi Chung (林子聰) .... Bone, Sing's Sidekick
- Huang Sheng Yi .... Fong, Sing's mute love interest
- Tin Kai Man (田啟文) .... Axe Gang Advisor
- Gar Hong Hay (贾康熙) ... Harpist No. 1
- Fung Hak On (冯克安) .... Harpist No. 2
- Feng Xiaogang .... Crocodile Gang Boss
- Huang Shengyi (黃聖依) .... Fong (lollipop girl)
- Lam Suet (林雪) .... Axe Gang thug
- Liang Hsiao .... Axe Gang thug
[edit] External links
