Come Drink with Me
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Movie Reviews of Come Drink with Me
Movie Review: Jade Fox in 1966: less wrinkly, more sexilicious
Summary: 5 Stars
Before Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi - heck, before Uma Thurman killed Bill - Cheng Pei-pei was carving up bad guys with artistic abandon. Back in 1966, in an era when women in martial arts films were portrayed more as meek and powerless, Cheng Pei-pei got cast in the lead role of COME DRINK WITH ME and topsy-turvied that stereotype. COME DRINK WITH ME is a retro blast of awesome but, admittedly, it presents a rather shallow story arc, and the wushu stuff it demonstrates doesn't hold up to the best of modern day martial arts cinema, and yet it's good enough and Pei-pei and fellow lead actor Yueh Hua certainly exhibit cool, charismatic presence.
When ruthless bandits abduct a government official, it falls on a lethal operative named Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-pei) to pull off a rescue attempt. Golden Swallow's reputation is so fearsome that the bandits automatically assume she's a man, and what gets me is that they continue to think of her as a man even when she finally shows up. Pei-pei is such a beautiful girl I can't imagine how you can think of her as anything but. Golden Swallow has flaws. She may be tremendously skilled but she is impetuous and impatient, and she would've had a tougher time in her investigation if she hadn't met the inebriated beggar called Drunken Cat (Yueh Hua). Predictably, there's more to Drunken Cat than just drinking and begging.
Director King Hu, with his eye for detail and willingness to break the mold, is regarded as very influential to wuxia cinema, and it's mostly because of this landmark film. COME DRINK WITH ME introduced a new approach, new dynamism, new sensibilities which have since become tropes of the genre. The stuff we're used to seeing now in martial arts movies first broke ground in COME DRINK WITH ME. Here, we get early whiffs of the drunken master and the strong deadly heroine and even early vestiges of wire work. Certainly, the stylized fighting, the nod to Peking Opera, and the nighttime rooftop chase would later influence CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (which also features Cheng Pei-pei as the villain Jade Fox).
Both Pei-pei and Yueh Hua were martial arts actors who didn't know martial arts when they first started out. Pei-pei had a background in ballet, and Hua mimicked just enough moves to make him look convincing onscreen. And they're talented enough to pull it off. The skills test in the tavern scene resonates enough on an iconic level that it's undoubtedly inspired many a wuxia film to insert its own tavern sequence.
Not that the film is flawless. The story today comes off as serviceable but predictable. The action sequences are good; the leads sell the mayhem, but here and there you notice Director King Hu hedging with some sly edit cuts. There also may have been a half-hearted attempt at romance, but that ultimately goes nowhere. There is an abbot supposedly with formidable fighting skills and he's set up to go against Drunken Cat, except that the two times they engage, the abbot is handled fairly quickly. And maybe it's just me, but the exhibition of hai gung - the projection of internal energy - seems kinda weak. But I'm just nitpicking. The relevance is in the context. I can't imagine what it must have been like in 1966 when COME DRINK WITH ME came out with its wild new ideas, but this flick must've generated some excited babble at the water cooler. Were there water coolers in 1966?
The DVD's bonus features include: audio commentary from Cheng Pei-pei and Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan; "The King and I" - acclaimed modern-day Chinese director Tsui Hark (who remade Hu's DRAGON GATE INN) reflects on King Hu (00:13:55 minutes); "Come Speak With Me" is an exclusive interview with Cheng Pei-pei in English (00:16:41); "A Classic Remembered" is a thoughtful retrospective with Bey Logan (00:17:24); "Return of the Drunken Master" is an exclusive interview with Yueh Hua in English (00:17:51); and the original theatrical trailers (with sub-titles) for COME DRINK WITH ME and HEROES OF THE EAST.
FYI: In 1968 Cheng Pei-pei reprised her role in the sequel GOLDEN SWALLOW. I'm assuming it's not yet out in DVD because I can't find it anywhere, but, man, I'm dying to see it.
Movie Review: One of the all time greatest Hong Kong wuxia films
Summary: 5 Stars
Come Drink with Me is a 1966 Shaw Brothers classic, in the wuxia genre, directed by King Hu and starring Cheng Pei-Pei. It is King Hu's first success and is considered by many to be the career defining role for Cheng Pei-Pei. Come Drink With Me is one of several King Hu movies, including Dragon Gate Inn and A Touch of Zen, that are said to have inspired Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers. House Of Flying Daggers is also said to be dedicated to this movie. Another ground breaking feature is the use of a female heroine as the central protagonist, something that was to continue with King Hu's subsequent movies. Come Drink With Me is widely considered to be one of very best Hong Kong movies ever made.
Although this is a 44 year old (as of this writing) Hong Kong movie, this release is from Dragon Dynasty, who acquired rights for the North American releases for Celestial Pictures, holder of the Shaw Brothers library of films. Dragon Dynasty is unequaled at bringing the very best of Asian cinema to North America and creating the very best restorations, commentaries and treatments. Started by Bey Logan and Quentin Tarantino in collaboration with The Weinstein Company, the love and passion Bey and Quentin have for Asian cinema shows in every Dragon Dynasty release. Even though the films are often very old (40 years or more), Dragon Dynasty does a stellar job of creating the very best restorations to DVD and Blue Ray media commercially viable. Come Drink With Me is, perhaps, one of the best examples of the quality of their work. After watching this DVD it is hard to belive it is a 44 year old Hong Kong film.
There are several aspects of Come Drink With Me that allow it to stand on its own today, after 44 years. Summarized, I would say it has dramatic credibility and finesse. Although the wuxia story is fairly plain, King Hu took it and elevated it through actor/actress presence, dramatic interaction, dramatic tension, good dialog and a stylized action choreography. The action choreography incorporates elements of Peking Opera, ballet and realism into artistic and natural action scenes. King Hu delibertately selected a ballet dancer, Cheng Pei-Pei, for the lead female protagonist. Sung by the lead male protagonist are three songs blended in as plot elements. The male protagonist, a beggar, uses the songs for ad hoc entertainment of patrons of an inn to get money to feed his collection of orphan children. The last of the songs also communicates critical hints to the female protagonist about the location of her kidnapped brother. King Hu uses well crafted sets to enhance the dramatic presentation. Through King Hu's skillful blend, the viewer's "suspension of disbelief", necessary to any dramatic art form, is completely natural. By the time one gets to the end of the film, the obviously "fantastic" elements of the wuxia genre don't seem unnaturally out of place.
If I were to choose any one movie to introduce someone to classic Hong Kong wuxia movies, this would, without question, be the one.
Movie Review: For HK film fans, essential. For casual fans, maybe not
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of those films that is both prototypical and archetypal, and has great continuing interest for true fans of the genre, but one that will probably strike most casual viewers as somewhat boring and dated.
There are so many things that this film introduced to the genre, that it is a must see for any Kung-Fu movie buff. Many other reviews here cover the tremendous assets of the movie, I won't rehash them. The transfer is excellent and the bonus features are superb (great contributions from Bey Logan, as usual). The subtitles are actually horrid, but fans may be used to substandard translations and have a high tolerance for them.
My main point is, that for more casual fans, this film may come across as slow and boring. So many films took elements of this one, and in some cases improved upon them, and worked out various production kinks, that this movie might really seem like nothing special.
For example, while this film does feature many spectacularly staged fights, the producers hadn't yet developed the technique of inserting sound effects when blows connect, so to a modern audience, the blows don't come across as powerful, lacking that "wham!" sound. This is a subtle, but meaningful trick that has completely pervaded all modern movie making. Seeing a movie without it is just jarring and hard to adjust to.
Also, the running battles featuring a single fighter versus a large group that ranges over a big set, has become such a backbone of Kung-Fu movies, and has since been so utterly perfected (by Tsui Hark, Corey Yuen Kwai, and Yuen Wu-Ping), that most casual viewers won't see it as anything special here.
Similarly, the tough-as-nails female protagonist, the miscellaneous crew of villains and more, all became such staples of the genre that to see them in their prototypical incarnation will probably be meaningless for viewers who aren't steeped in the history of Hong Kong cinema.
Maybe viewers relatively new to the genre would do well to watch the bonus introduction to the movie by Bey Logan, and the one by Tsui Hark, in order to get properly prepared to appreciate this landmark of the genre.
Movie Review: One of the best Kung-Fu movies I've seen
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't expect much when it comes to Kung-Fu films.
A flimsy plot + spotty acting + and lots of martial arts = typical movie.
That's not a formula that's too hard to follow.
Most times there's only enough dialog to get you to the next fight scene.
Some filmakers do it better than others, while others can barely get it right.
This movie did more than "get it right".
The story is well thought out and the acting (for a Kung-Fu film) is really good.
What struck me most about this movie, however, was that there aren't that many fight scenes. I mean, there are some, but this movie doesn't rely on them to keep it going.
There's actually quite a bit of acting and dialog for this type of movie.
When there is a fight scene, it's quick, brutal, and amazing.
I wasn't sitting and watching the movie waiting for the next battle. I was interested in what was happening and how things were developing with the characters.
The "bad guys" are indeed very bad, and the "good guys" (in this case a young girl and a drunken man) are spectacular.
The quality of this DVD is really good. Dragon Dynasty has been releasing some great remastered versions of these films, and this was no execption. The picture is clear and the colors aren't washed out. The dubbing was well done and fit the movie.
The special features are good too, including interviews with the lead characters "Golden Swallow" (played by actress Cheng Pei-Pei) and her drunken ally (played by Yueh Hua).
I would definitely recommend this to any fan of Kung-Fu cinema.
Movie Review: Not to be without!
Summary: 5 Stars
This was an awesome early king fu film. Considering how old this is and just how many movies like it came after wards it's clear to see that there's nothing like the real thing.
All the other reviews covered the story I can't say enough about it. The older Kung fu films always had a deeper story but not the technology to really bring it out so some ideas come off as cheesy. Now today it's vice versa...you get great kung fu with a so so story. This movie is a gem in that its story matches the fighting style. Another note to add is that I've watched a ton of these kung fu flicks and I love them but never have I really seen a female lead (especially one as pretty as Cheng Pei Pei) who can make you take her character seriously.
Another good thing about the DVD are the bonus features! You get to here commentary from her and the guy who plays Drunk Cat. I don't know it was but I always wanted to hear watch commentary by the actors that played the roles. You never get that. You always get to watch those great old movies but never get to hear the actors talk about the roles they played in the movie. Mainly due to the language barrier and just the fact that DVD's and VHS's are the reason those extra features exist now but not then for them to do it.
Overall this is a great film to add to your kung fu collection!