Shaw Brothers: Wuxia Warriors and Kung Fu Masters is now showing on MUBI in many countries.
In the early 1960s, four brothers redefined the landscape of Chinese cinema. These canny entrepreneurs had been making movies since the 1920s, producing an anonymous film every month in a bid to fill the theaters they had collected across Southeast Asia. But it wasn’t enough. Inspired by the classic Hollywood production system, the Shaw brothers opened one of the biggest private film studios in the world. By the mid-1980s, more than a thousand films bore their name, encompassing all manner of genres. But there was one with which they would be forever synonymous: the martial arts film. This video essay provides an introduction to the Shaw Brothers Studio’s unmistakable house style and its long-lasting influence on action cinema, pop culture, and beyond.
Written by Matt Thrift; edited by Ben Porro; narrated by Rico Gagliano.