Kung fu
by Stephen Chow
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Qiu Yuen, Shengyi Huang, Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen, Xiaogang FengDirector: Stephen Chow
Writer: Stephen Chow
Producer: Bill Borden
Producer: Connie Wong
Producer: David Hung
Writer: Kan-Cheung Tsang
Writer: Man Keung Chan
Writer: Xin Huo
Format: NTSC
Running Time: 95 minutes
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Movie Reviews of Kung fu
Movie Review: Chow is the next Chaplin - simply briliant
Summary: 5 Stars
Kung Fu Hustle is the best reviewed wide release film thus far this year, and there is a very good reason for that - it IS the best wide released movie thus far this year.
Better than that - Kung Fu Hustle is a Masterpiece of Cinema.
This film is brilliantly original and monstrously entertaining. I haven't heard a crowd respond like that in a comedy in ages. The movie has smart, sharp comedy with brilliant editing and timing, fantastic action scenes which really give you a sense of scale, power, and grace - in a way that Kill Bill could only dream of - and an artistic bent and ambition that actually works. The characters are funny and the performances are outstanding.
Stephen Chow is not only one of the world's greatest comedy actors, he is also one of the world's greatest comedy directors - actually, he's one of the world's greatest directors period.
Chow has created his own new style of comedy. Nobody else is doing anything remotely like what he does, and frankly, very few, if any, would be able to do it even if they wanted to. He uses the language of film and the techniques of visual storytelling in his comedy better than anybody. Rather than just locking down the camera and shooting the scenes flat, letting the actors do all the comedic heavy lifting, which is what you see in almost every comedy, Chow makes the camera an active participant in the comedy. The visual language supports and enhances his comedy, and often becomes the very basis and essence of the comedic communication to the audience. No other comedy director uses the camera so extensively. Not even close.
Many scenes in this film can be compared to dance numbers, but in truth, the entire film is a "dance" of brilliant visual direction - I'd go so far as to say that Stephen Chow is a candidate for the title of our "visual Mozart." Turn the sound off and you can still tell exactly what is going on.
For instance, think about the section where the Assassins use their very interesting "musical weapon". I won't give anything away here, but in almost any other film, the deadliness of that weapon would've been revealed to the audience by the assassins demonstrating it - likely during a tense, quick scene where an unconvinced villain gets a "close call" when the assassins he's hiring show him just what their weapon can do. The villain might be eating an apple, say, and the villains would strum their weapon, cutting the apple in half right before it reaches his mouth - a visual demonstration. This would be a competent way to handle such a scene in a movie.
Chow doesn't go down that road, however - "competent" is not good enough for him - instead, we go straight into the scene not knowing what the weapon is or what it can do, and he gives us a gorgeous, slowly-building and musical demonstration of its power during its first deadly use... the mysterious night, the unlucky target noticing the musician plucking and tuning the instrument, the mood changing as things start to be "off", the notes being struck faster and with more intensity as branches fall around the target, and the shadow of an unlucky cat is sliced in two... Finally, after this buildup, we get the "punchline" in a gorgeous but brutally unforgettable series of quick shots.
It's an amazing piece of visual storytelling, and it is not alone in this movie. Nearly every scene is infused with visual storytelling splendor. Chow uses cinematic language to tell a story in an interesting way better than any other director working today.
In a Stephen Chow-directed film, the filmmaking is as fun to watch as he is as an actor. Every single shot slides in and out of each other in a visually striking way, but they are not merely there just "to look cool" like we get from so many other directors today - the shots are visually striking for the purpose of using the camera to tell the story. They accomplish a dramatic point that enhances the meaning of the scene and/or story.
I am a film director, and I am completely astonished by the way Chow works with the medium. I am firmly convinced that in the decades to come, like Buster Keaton before him, Chow's reputation in cinema will grow from "critically respected", like he is now, to "hailed as a film genius and pioneer". That's what happened to Buster Keaton, and it will happen to Stephen Chow.
Go see Kung Fu Hustle. And realize that you are watching a future film legend in the making while you're there. But whether you care about film history or not, you will certainly have a very fun time watching this movie.
Kung Fu Hustle is now the film to beat this year.
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