Photo of Chiang Hsing-lung
Photo of Chiang Hsing-lung

Chiang Hsing-lung

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    THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN

    LAU KAR-LEUNG Hong Kong, 1978

    Martial arts movies don’t come more iconic than this kung fu masterpiece from director Lau Kar-leung. With an acute focus on the disciplines of combat, it’s the ultimate training film, as Gordon Liu’s lithe apprentice eschews the path of vengeance for one of grace and spiritual self-determination.

    COME DRINK WITH ME

    KING HU Hong Kong, 1966

    With an iconic turn from Cheng Pei-Pei (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), this female-centric masterwork kickstarted the wuxia resurgence of the 1960s. Making astonishing use of confined spaces, director King Hu fashions a cinema of movement impelled by the balletic virtuosity of his leading lady.

    INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN

    CHOR YUEN Hong Kong, 1972

    Supreme studio craftsman Chor Yuen plants one foot in the arthouse, the other in the grindhouse, and delivers a transgressive masterpiece. Forget the salacious title: this breathtaking blend of sexploitation and wuxia melodrama is a ravishing critique of forced prostitution worthy of Mizoguchi.

    THE 8 DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER

    LAU KAR-LEUNG Hong Kong, 1984

    The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter may have arrived at the midpoint of Lau Kar-leung’s career, but it plays like a late-period reckoning with a genre he helped create. Possessing some of the action maestro’s finest set pieces, and steeped in spiritual exhaustion, this is kung fu’s answer to The Searchers.

    FIVE DEADLY VENOMS

    CHANG CHEH Hong Kong, 1978

    The Venom Mob—five masked ruffians with singular fighting styles— would appear in dozens of films at Shaw Brothers, but Five Deadly Venoms is where they first made their mark. A Tarantino favorite endlessly sampled by the Wu Tang Clan, Chang Cheh’s kung fu murder mystery is a ferocious cult classic.