November 18th, 7:00PM in Garland 104 (2441 E. Hartford)
Before this film, the Hong Kong martial arts action genre did not truly exist in a recognizable framework to what it would later become. They were fantastical swordplay films, and opera adaptations that were more often then not owing more to their stage roots then cinematic sensibilities. But with the start of the now legendary Wong Fei Hung series starring Kwan Tak Hing, everything would begin to change. These films began to include real martial arts forms and a style of fight choreography that had a realist sensibility. The philological traditions of Chinese martial arts became a central theme of the story, these and other innovations stem from a range of martial artists who worked upon the film. 
The success of the Kwan Tak Hing, Wong Fei Hung film, which would eventually go on to number more then seventy films making it the largest film series in the history of world cinema, can be best explained by a look at the historical figure of Teacher Wong. Born in 1847 in Foshan located in Guangdong Province, the place that he would continue to be centrally associated with during his life, he was the son of a prominent martial artist and traditional Chinese doctor. He followed in his fathers footsteps on both counts, eventually opening a clinic called Po-chi-lam. Living to the age of 76, he became famous throughout the region for his medical and martial prowess, and producing many famous disciples. It was one of these by the name of Lam Sai-Wing who was responsible for spreading his legend on a national scale. Lam relocated to Hong Kong sometime after the mid 1920's, taking on a large number of students. As the acknowledged grand master of the school, Wong Fei Hung became a venerated figure. Exaggerated tales of Wong’s life were eventually published as serialized newspaper tales, with Lam providing the content. This was initially how this regional figure began to gain wider renown. 
After the end of the Japanese occupation, the prolific Cantonese dialect cinema in Hong Kong began to recover. So that a film version of the life of this popular figure became an obvious choice. Lam had died during the occupation, but his students lived on. Many of them would become involved in Hong Kong cinema as actors, stuntmen and choreographers. Because of this and the multi generation tradition of Hong Kong action performers, virtually every major individual working in Hong Kong action could trace their line of teachers back to grandmaster Wong or to the individuals who worked upon the early films about his life. 
For this film, Cantonese actor Kwan Tak Hing plays the tittle role. He had been an actor before the war, working on some of the first Cantonese talkies which were filmed in the United States and later working in a patriotic acting troupe during the war against the Japanese. Legend has it that he was told by the last wife of Wong, who was a consultant on this first entry in the series, that he strongly resembled her late husband. He was also an accomplished martial artist which made him ideal for the series. What he helped create is the legend of Master Wong. Many of the facts concerning the real figure had by this time been lost either through death or the fire that burned down Po-chi-lam and with it all surviving possessions and family records. The cinematic Wong is portrayed as a gentleman and Confucian scholar who fought only as a last resort and always attempted to redeem his enemy instead of destroy them. A range of trademarks were also invented such as the use of the umbrella as his weapon of choice, other areas such as his mastery of the lion dance were taken from the historical figure. At present more then 100 films have been made depicting Wong Fei Hung, everything from Jackie Chan in Drunken Master (1978) to Jet Li in Once Upon A Time in China (1991,) making Wong Fei Hung the most cinematically depicted-
Hong Kong, Director Wu Pang, Cast Kwan Tak Hing, Tso Tat Wah and Yuen Siu Tin, 72 minutes, in Cantonese with English subtitles
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