The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

36th Chamber of Shaolin poster
Traditional 少林三十六房
Simplified 少林三十六房
Mandarin Shǎolín sānshíliù fáng
Cantonese Siu3 Lam4 saam1 sap6 luk6 fong4
Directed by Liu Chia-Liang
Produced by Mona Fong
Run Run Shaw
Written by I Kuang
Starring Gordon Liu
Lo Lieh
Music by Chen Yung-Yu
Cinematography Huang Yeh-tai
Edited by Geung Hing Lung
Li Yen-Hai
Distributed by Shaw Brothers Studio
United States:
World Northal (dubbed)
Dragon Dynasty (DVD)
Release dates
  • 1978 (1978)
Running time
 115 minutes[1]
Country Hong Kong
Language Mandarin

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, also known as The Master Killer and Shaolin Master Killer, is a 1978 Shaw Brothers kung fu film directed by Liu Chia-liang and starring Gordon Liu.

The film follows a highly fictionalized version of San Te, a legendary Shaolin martial arts disciple who trained under the general Chi Shan.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is widely considered to be one of the greatest kung fu films and a turning point in its director's and star's careers.[2][3][4] It was followed by Return to the 36th Chamber, which was more comedic in presentation and featured Gordon Liu as the new main character with another actor in the smaller role of San Te, and Disciples of the 36th Chamber.

Plot

A young student named Liu Yude is drawn by his activist teacher into the local rebellion against the Manchu government. The government officials, headed by the brutal General Tien Ta, however, quickly discover and suppress the uprising, liquidating the school and killing the students' friends and family members. Yude decides to seek vengeance and liberation for the people, and heads for the Shaolin temple to learn kung fu.

Wounded by Manchu henchmen during an escape, Yude reaches the temple and seeks sanctuary. Initially the monks reject him, since he is an outsider, but the chief abbot takes mercy on the young man and lets him stay. One year later, Yude - now known as San Te - begins his martial arts training in the temple's 35 chambers, in each of which the temple's novices are trained in one aspect of the kung fu fighting arts. San Te advances more rapidly than any previous student, reaching the rank of deputy overseer within the space of six years. Challenged by the monastery's Justice Officer, who thinks him unfit for his role, San Te has several exhibition matches with him, only to be beaten each time. However, after inventing the three section staff, San Te finally prevails and gains the chief abbot's permission to become overseer of one of the chambers.

When San Te professes that he wants to create a new chamber where he can train his people in the basics of kung fu so they can defend themselves against their oppressors, the temple officially banishes him in a surreptitious way to allow him to carry out his mission. He returns to the outside world, namely to his hometown, and assists the people, gathering several young men who loyally follow him and become his first students. Before the political revolution he is inspiring to complete, he is forced into conflict with Tien Ta. A fierce duel ensues, where San Te is victorious. Eventually, he returns to the Shaolin temple, where he establishes the 36th chamber, a special martial arts class for laypeople to learn kung fu.

Cast

The film's trailer credits the cast as follows[5]

Distribution

The film was released on VHS as early as 1993.[6] It was released on DVD in February 2000 by Crash Cinema Media under the title Shaolin Master Killer.[7] In 2007, it was released on DVD by Dragon Dynasty as The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.[8] It has also been released on Blu-ray as of 2 March 2010 from Vivendi Visual Entertainment. The film aired on the El Rey Network in 2016.[9]

Reception

36th Chamber of Shaolin is widely considered to be one of the greatest kung fu films ever made and a highly influential entry in the genre.[2][3][4]

According to the Harvard Film Archive, the film is an "exhilarating rendition of the legendary dissemination of the Shaolin martial arts" and an "absorbing account of [an] initiation into the vaunted Shaolin style, ... depicted here [as] an inner voyage of discovery."[1]

In 2014, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films.[10] The 36th Chamber of Shaolin was listed at 29th place on this list.[11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Shaw Scope: A History of the Shaw Bros. Studio". Harvard Film Archive. 2008. Retrieved 2014-04-12. A bald and tautly muscled Lau Kar-fai (Gordon Liu Jiahui) headlines this exhilarating rendition of the legendary dissemination of the Shaolin martial arts. Lau plays a real-life figure long-since transmuted into myth, a Chinese commoner on the run from Manchu oppressors (including a glowering Luo Lie) who seeks refuge at the Shaolin Temple. The film is an absorbing account of his initiation into the vaunted Shaolin style, known for its emphasis on the external and the physical. But as depicted here the training process is very much an inner voyage of discovery; the novice must work his way through a series of torturous “chambers” before becoming the newly minted monk, San De.
  2. 1 2 Pollard, Mark (2007-06-26). "Movie Reviews: 36th Chamber of Shaolin". Kung Fu Cinema.
  3. 1 2 Neveu, Janick (2003-08-27). "36th Chamber of Shaolin Review". Kung Fu Cult Cinema.
  4. 1 2 Sanjuro (2003). "Reviews: The 36th Chamber of Shaolin". LoveHKFilm.com.
  5. ↑ The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) Trailer on YouTube. Retrieved 2014-04-12.
  6. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Master-Killer-VHS-Chia-Hui/dp/6302860717/
  7. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/Shaolin-Master-Killer-Widescreen-Chia/dp/6305511705
  8. ↑ Gibron, Bill (24 January 2008). "Digital Dynamite: The 30 Best DVDs of 2007". PopMatters. Retrieved 2014-04-12. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin represents a directorial tour de force for Chia-Liang Liu. It’s a sumptuous film to look at, a movie that takes its varying fight facets very seriously.
  9. ↑ "Schedule". El Rey. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "The 100 best action movies". Time Out. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
  11. ↑ "The 100 best action movies: 30-21". Time Out. November 3, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
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