Jump to content

Drunken Master

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused withStory of Drunken Master,a 1979 film also starringYuen Siu-tienasBeggar So.

Drunken Master
Theatrical release poster
Chinese name
Traditional ChineseTuý Quyền
Directed byYuen Woo-ping
Written by
Produced byNg See-yuen
Starring
CinematographyChang Hui
Edited byPan Hsiung
Music byChow Fu-liang
Distributed bySeasonal Film Corporation
Release date
  • 5 October 1978(1978-10-05)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryHong Kong
LanguageCantonese
Box officeUS$16.5 million(est.)

Drunken Master(Chinese:Tuý Quyền;lit.'Drunken Fist and Jui Kuen'), also known asDrunken Master The Beginning,is a 1978Hong Kong martial artscomedy filmdirected byYuen Woo-pingand produced and co-written byNg See-yuen.[1]The film features much of the same crew as Yuen'sSnake in the Eagle's Shadowreleased earlier the same year, including lead actorsJackie Chan,Yuen Siu-tien(Woo-ping's father), andHwang Jang-lee;although narratively unrelated,Drunken Masterbears similarities to its predecessor in its story and style.

Drunken Masterfeatures Chan and Yuen Siu-tien as fictionalized versions of martial artistsWong Fei-hungandBeggar So;in the film, Wong is an irreverent young man forced under the fierce tutelage of So, master of thedrunken fighting style;although the two do not originally get along, Wong eventually gains humility and respect for So.

Considered an early milestone of martial arts comedy and one of the best films in the genre, the film was a large box-office success, earning two and a half times the revenue of the already-successfulSnake in the Eagle's Shadow;[2][3]it had a significant cultural impact, inspiring numerous later films, music,manga,animeandvideo gameswith its depictions of teacher-student relationship and the drunken style, and helped establish Chan as one of Asia's most popular actors. The film was followed by two sequels directed byLau Kar-leungin 1994: the direct sequelDrunken Master II,in which Chan reprised his role, and the mostly-unrelatedDrunken Master III.Drunken Masterwould be Yuen Siu-tien's final film released during his lifetime, although he would portray Beggar So again in several films released posthumously, including theDrunken Masterspin-offDance of the Drunk Mantis(1979), also directed by Woo-ping.

Plot

Wong Fei-hung(sometimes dubbed as "Freddie Wong" ) is a young and mischievous son, who runs into a series of troubles. Firstly, he teaches an overbearing assistant martial arts teacher a lesson, and later makes advances on a woman to impress his friends. He is consequently thrashed by her older female guardian. His is shame is compounded when these two are later revealed to be his visiting aunt and cousin, whom he had not met before. Lastly, he beats up ahooligan,who turns out to be the son of an influential man in town. His father decides to punish him for his behavior by making him train harder inmartial arts.Wong's father arranges forBeggar Soto train his son in martial arts.

Beggar So has a reputation for crippling his students during training so Wong flees from home in an attempt to escape his punishment. Penniless, Wong stops at a restaurant and tries to trick a fellow patron into offering him a free meal. As Wong was about to leave after his meal, he discovers that the man is actually the owner of the restaurant. He fights with the owner's lackeys in an attempt to escape. An old drunkard nearby is drawn into the fight and helps him escape. The drunkard turns out to be Beggar So (who is known in some versions of the film as Sam Seed, So-Hi or Su Hua-chi), the Drunken Master. Beggar So forces Wong into his brutal and rigorous training programme, but he flees again to avoid the torturous training and runs into the notorious killer Yim Tit-sam (known in some versions as Thunderfoot or Thunderleg) by accident.

Yim is known for his "Devil's Kick", a swift and deadly kicking style which has never been defeated. Wong provokes and challenges him to a fight and is soundly defeated and humiliated. He makes his way back to Beggar So and decides to commit himself to the Drunken Master's training program. The training resumes and soon Wong learns Beggar So's secret style of martial arts, a form of Drunken Bo xing called "The Eight Drunken Immortals",named after the eightxianthat the fighting style references. Wong masters seven of the eight styles with the exception ofDrunken Miss Ho's as he feels that her style of fighting is too feminine.

Meanwhile, Yim Tit-sam is contracted by a business rival to kill Wong's father. Wong's father fights with Yim and is defeated and injured by him. Wong and Beggar So arrive on time and Wong continues the fight with Yim. Beggar So promises not to interfere in the fight. Wong employs the new skills he has learned and outmatches Yim's kicking style. Yim then resorts to his secret technique, the Devil's Shadowless Hand, which is too fast for Wong to defeat. Wong confesses that he did not master the last style so Beggar So tells him to combine the seven styles and create his own version of the last style. Wong follows the instruction and discovers his own unique style of Drunken Miss Ho, which he uses to overcome the Shadowless Hand and finally defeats Yim.

Background

The film's protagonistWong Fei-hungwas a Chinese martial artist, atraditional Chinese medicinepractitioner and a revolutionary who lived towards the end of theQing dynasty.He became a Chinese folk hero and the subject of several Hong Kong television programmes and films.Beggar So,who plays a supporting role in the film, is also another character from Chinese folklore and one of theTen Tigers of Canton.The Beggar So character is often cast as an associate of Wong Fei-hung or Wong's uncle.

Cast

Fight scenes and martial arts

A number of notable fights are featured in the film, almost all of them with strong elements of comedy—from the game ofKeep AwaywithWong Kei-ying's cocky, but incompetent, assistant kung fu instructor, to the novel "head-fu" fighting style used by one of his opponents. The film features theHung Gasystem of fighting, which was historically practiced byWong Fei-hungand his father Wong Kei-ying, both of whom are major characters in the film. The animal styles of Snake, Crane, and Tiger performed in the film are derived wholly from the Hung Ga system and bear only a tangential relationship to theFu gian White Crane,Lama Pai (Tibetan White Crane),Black Tiger,andSnakesystems of kung fu.Monkeystyle kung fu, popular in Southern Chinese martial arts performances, is also shown briefly.

Numerous systems of kung fu include "Drunken Bo xing" forms (e.g.Choi Lei FutandDrunken Monkey), and theTaoist Eight Immortalsare popular staples of Chinese culture and art. However, the "Eight Drunken Immortals" forms depicted in this film are likely the creation of director and choreographerYuen Woo-pingand based on routines found in other systems.

The primary villain inDrunken Masteris played by Hwang Jang-lee, a Korean martial artist specialising inTaekwondoand known for his high-flying kicks, which are prominently displayed in the film. The systems of "Devil's Kick" and "Devil's Shadowless Hands" employed by Thunderleg are entirely fictitious.

According to his bookI Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action,Chan nearly lost an eye after his brow ridge was injured.[4][5]

Theme song

The theme song ofDrunken Masteris based on a Chinese folk song, "Under the General's Orders". SinceDrunken Master,the theme song has been popularly associated with the folk heroWong Fei-hung,who Jackie Chan plays in the film. It was later used in the 1983 filmWinners and Sinners,starringSammo Hung;it was played in a market scene whilst theFive Lucky Starsare watching two men demonstrating the beneficial effects of their medicines and their martial arts stances, in reference to Wong Fei-hung. "Under the General's Orders" later become the main theme song for theOnce Upon a Time in Chinaseries starringJet Li,who also plays Wong Fei-hung.

Box office

At the Hong Kong box office,Drunken Masterearned an impressiveHK$6,763,793[2](US$1,445,255).[6]It was the second most popular film in Hong Kong in 1978 behind theHuibrothers'The Contractand third on the all-time list.[7][8]

InJapan,where it released on 21 July 1979, it became one of the year's top tenhighest-grossing films,earning¥1.9 billion[9](US$8.7 million).[10]InSouth Korea,it was the highest-grossing film of 1979, with 898,561 box admissions inSeoul City,[11]equivalent to an estimated₩1,347,842,000[12](US$2,784,800).[13]The film also broke records inMalaysiaandSingapore.[7]

In Germany, where it was released asSie nannten ihn Knochenbrecher( "They Called Him Bone Breaker" ) on 25 July 1980, it was the 41st highest-grossing film of the year, selling 584,312 tickets,[14]equivalent to an estimated €1,460,780[15](US$2,063,606).[16]In Spain, the film sold 823,203 tickets,[17]equivalent to an estimated €1,070,164[15](US$1,489,989).

Combined, the film grossed an estimated total of approximatelyUS$16,483,650(equivalent to $77,000,000 in 2023) inEast Asiaand Europe.

Sequels and spinoffs

  • Drunken Master II(1994) stars Jackie Chan, and is considered the only official sequel. Chan portrays the same character, Wong Fei-hung. The US release of the film in 2000 was entitledThe Legend of Drunken Master.
  • In 1979,Yuen Siu-Tinreprised the role of Beggar So in the filmDance of the Drunk Mantis,which is entitledDrunken Master Part 2(not to be confused with the filmDrunken Master IIreferenced above) in some releases. The film, which was again directed by his son,Yuen Woo-Ping,does not feature Jackie Chan, focusing instead on the drunken beggar character rather than onWong Fei-hung.It is therefore generally considered to be a spinoff rather than a true sequel.
  • Yuen played this same role again in the filmsStory of Drunken MasterandWorld of the Drunken Master.

Imitators

As with several successful Hong Kong action films, a number of films were released in the wake ofDrunken Master(and its sequel) that could be considered to trade on the fame of the original films. These had less in common with the original films than the spinoffs starring Yuen Siu-tien. They include:

  • 5 Superfighters(akaThe Drunken Fighter) (1978)
  • Drunken Swordsman(akaDrunken Dragon Strikes Back) (1979)
  • Drunken Arts and Crippled Fist(Featuring Li Yi Min) (1979)
  • Drunken Master, Slippery Snake(StarringCliff Lok) (1979)
  • Shaolin Drunken Monkey(StarringElton Chong) (1981)
  • The Shaolin Drunken Monk(starringGordon Liu) (1982)
  • Drunken Tai Chi(directed by Yuen Woo-ping and starringDonnie Yen) (1984)
  • Revenge of the Drunken Master(1984), starring Johnny Chan,[18]whose name allowed him to trade off his more successful namesake in other low-budget martial arts films includingGolden Dragon, Silver Snake(1979) andThe Eagles Killer(1978)
  • Drunken Master III(akaDrunken Master Killer) – starringAndy Lau(1994)
  • The Little Drunken Masters(1995)

Not all films that feature the Zui Quan "Drunken Fist" style (or variations on it) can be considered as imitators of theDrunken Masterfilms. Films such asDrunken Monkey(2002) may feature a drunken style of kung fu, and in the case ofThe Forbidden Kingdom(2008), the same principal star, but they have a fundamentally different plot and sufficiently different title to separate them fromDrunken Master.

Home media

  • On 24 April 2000,Hong Kong Legendsreleased a DVD in theUnited Kingdom.The image is cropped from 2:35:1 to 1:78:1 and has theMandarinsoundtrack withdubtitles.However, it has a number of additional features including a deleted scene and an interview with producerNg See-yuen.
  • On 2 April 2002,Columbia TriStar Home VideoandDestination Filmsreleased a DVD in theUnited States.Despite a 2:35:1 image and the inclusion of the original Cantonese track, the audio is incomplete in some sections (reverting to the English dub) and containsdubtitles.There's an audio commentary byRic MeyersandJeff Yang.[19]
  • On 18 March 2004, HKVideo released a "Wong Fei Hung" DVD boxset inFrancecontaining this film (French title: "Le maître chinois" ) and two others. It contains a full 2:35:1 image and the Cantonese soundtrack. However, it contains slightly poorer image quality and no English subtitles.
  • On 30 April 2004,Mei Ah Entertainmentreleased a remastered DVD inHong Kong(pictured right). It contains a 2:35:1 image, Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 track, original Cantonese Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track and Mandarin Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track. Subtitles include Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese and English. The missing Cantonese for the opening has been re-dubbed in Cantonese and the other missing Cantonese scenes as extended footage in Mandarin due to trouble of re-dubbing with new voice actors. Many short lines missing Cantonese had been removed. Special features include Extended footage, accessed during the film by selecting the wine jug icon when it appears on the right top corner, Mastering the Drunken Master, a 35-second music video with clips of Jackie Chan practicing the 8 Drunken Gods from the film, film synopsis and cast & crew.
  • PanMedia released abootlegDVD that contains the complete Cantonese track.

Cultural impact

Fashion

  • During the late 1970s to early 1980s, Jackie Chan's shoulder-length hairstyle inDrunken Masterbecame popular across Asia, widely adopted by both men and women across the region.[20]

Film

In 2017, it was ranked number 3 onGamesRadar's list of 50 greatest kung fu movies of all time.[21]

Manga and anime

  • MangaauthorAkira ToriyamacitedDrunken Masteras one of his major inspirations for theDragon Ballseries ofshōnen mangaandanime,along withBruce Lee'sEnter the Dragon(1973) and the Chinese novelJourney to the West.[23]Toriyama said that he would never have come up withDragon Ballif he had not watchedDrunken Master,[24]and he was drawn to its more light-hearted tone.[25]Drunken Masteralso served as a reference for the training scenes.[26]The series pays homage toDrunken Masterwhen the first tournament is held, whereKame-Sennin(Master Roshi) is disguised as "Jackie Chun" and he tries to use a Drunken Fist technique onSon Goku(Goku).
  • In theNarutoseries, one of the characters 'Rock Lee' is seen performing similar fighting styles after consuming alcohol. Known as the 'Drunken Fist' in the series' Japanese version and the 'Loopy Fist' in the English.

Music

Video games

  • The PlayStation gameJackie Chan Stuntmasterincludes a bonus level in which he wears his traditional Drunken Master dress and drinks wine while fighting. He even gives the Drunken Punch as his charge punch throughout the game.
  • In popular PC online gameGuild Wars,there is a stance-skill called "Drunken Master" which temporarily increases movement and attack speed. This effect is doubled if character is drunk.
  • InThe King of Fightersseries,the characterChin Gentsaiwas modeled after Su Hua Chi.
  • TheTekkenvideo game series features a character named Lei Wu Long, a Hong Kong detective based on Jackie Chan's Police Story films. While the character was originally nicknamed Supercop after the film Police Story 3: Supercop Lei Wu Long uses 5 to 6+ stances which have all of Jackie Chan's signature film movies. Initially in the series it focused on the Snake style he created forSnake in The Eagles Shadow.InStreet Fighter X Tekkenreleased in 2012, Lei Wulong's "Ultimate Stance" is "Drunken Fist" based on his performance in the 1978 original and the 1994 sequel.
  • TheDead or Alivevideo game franchise features a playable character namedBrad Wong;a drunken wanderer introduced inDead or Alive 3who specializes in the zui quan fighting style, and was taught by a non-playable character namedChen.
  • TheMortal Kombatvideo game franchise introducedBo' Rai ChoinMortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance;his name is a play on the word "borracho" (Spanish for "drunk" ), and he is indeed usually depicted as intoxicated, and carrying a canister of alcohol. His fighting moves consist of drunken style fighting mixed with vulgar actions.

See also

References

  1. ^"Drunken Master (1978)".hkmdb.Retrieved25 April2018.
  2. ^ab"HKMDb entry".Drunken Master (1978).Retrieved17 April2008.
  3. ^"HKMDb entry".Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978).Retrieved17 April2008.
  4. ^Jackie Chan."Jackie's Aches and Pains: It Only Hurts When I'm Not Laughing".Random House.Retrieved19 December2012.
  5. ^Chan, Jackie (1999).I Am Jackie Chan: My Life in Action.Ballantine Books.ISBN9780613217385.
  6. ^"Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average)".World Bank.1978.Retrieved21 November2018.
  7. ^ab"More than 'the next Bruce Lee'".Variety.23 January 1995. p. 56.
  8. ^"Hong Kong's 20 Alltime Top Pix".Variety.3 January 1979. p. 42.
  9. ^"【ジャッキーチェン hưng hành thành tích 】 đệ 12 hồi: Nhật Bản で の hưng hành thâu nhập".KungFu Tube(in Japanese).Retrieved21 November2018.
  10. ^"Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) - Japan".World Bank.1979.Retrieved21 June2020.
  11. ^"【ジャッキーチェン hưng hành thành tích 】 đệ 10 hồi: Hàn Quốc で の hưng hành thâu nhập".KungFu Tube(in Japanese). 5 September 2010.Retrieved7 December2018.
  12. ^"Asian Culture Quarterly".Asian Culture Quarterly.11–12. Asian Cultural Center.: 20 1983.The average admission fee in 1979 was 1,000 won for national films and 1,500 won for imports. (In 1982, the average increased to 2,000 won, or US$3.)
  13. ^"Official exchange rate (KRW per US$, period average)".World Bank.1979.Retrieved7 December2018.
  14. ^"Die erfolgreichsten Filme in Deutschland 1980"[The Most Successful Films in Germany (1980)].Inside Kino(in German). 1980.Retrieved22 June2020.
  15. ^ab"Cinema market".Cinema, TV and radio in the EU: Statistics on audiovisual services (Data 1980-2002)(2003 ed.).Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.2003. pp. 31–64 (61).ISBN92-894-5709-0.ISSN1725-4515.Retrieved23 May2020.{{cite book}}:|website=ignored (help)
  16. ^"Historical currency converter (EUR)".fxtop.25 July 1980.Retrieved2 June2020.
  17. ^Soyer, Renaud (4 February 2014)."Jackie Chan Box Office".Box Office Story(in French).Retrieved1 July2020.
  18. ^"Johnny Chan (I)".IMDb.Retrieved15 September2016.
  19. ^"Drunken Master: DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video".Dvdtalk.Retrieved15 September2016.
  20. ^"Jackie Chan Headed For Bruce Lee-Type Stardom With New Film".Indiana Gazette.9 October 1980.Retrieved8 April2022– viaNewspaperArchive.The 1978 "Drunk Monkey in a Tiger's Eye" made him an instant star. His shoulder-length hair was copied by both males and females all over Asia.
  21. ^"The 25 best kung fu movies you have to see".GamesRadar.11 April 2017.Retrieved11 April2017.
  22. ^Franklin, Oliver (17 July 2013)."Edgar Wright interview onThe World's End,pubs & Ant Man – Film – GQ.COM (UK) ".Gq-magazine.co.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 21 July 2013.Retrieved22 July2013.
  23. ^The Dragon Ball Z Legend: The Quest Continues.DH Publishing Inc. 2004. p.7.ISBN9780972312493.
  24. ^"Interview — Dragon Power / Ask Akira Toriyama!".Shonen Jump(1). January 2003.
  25. ^"Akira Toriyama on the Road".Dragon Ball Kanzenban Kōshiki Guide: Dragon Ball Landmark.Tōkyō:Shūeisha.19 December 2003.ISBN4-08-873478-5.
  26. ^"The Truth About the" Dragon Ball "Manga:" Toriyama Thought of It Like This "Special".Dragon Ball Super Exciting Guide: Story-Hen(DRAGON BALL siêu エキサイティングガイド ストーリー biên )[Dragon Ball Super Exciting Guide: Story Volume]. Tōkyō:Shūeisha.4 March 2009.ISBN978-4088748030.
  27. ^"Sly & Robbie".Reggae Reviews.Archived fromthe originalon 11 September 2012.

External links


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Drunken_Master&oldid=1228291608"