[Weekly Update] August 23, 2021

Wow, it's almost September, and I'm still processing 2020.

Anyway, outside of this channel, I'm currently writing a short film. Hopefully I can push it into production this October, and also start a second channel, where I put short films I directed on there for the world to see.

CHANNEL UPDATE

• Hope you enjoy our video on Kung Fu Hustle. Originally planned to be an easier video for me to catch up our schedule, the video ballooned into a 15 minute long piece. All of the motion tracking name plates also takes way longer than I wanted. Looks like I won't be able to keep this aesthetic up.
• Production on our history of Gun Fu video continues. I'm aiming to make it a two-parter, with John Woo starting the trend as part 1, and how it blooms in the west as part 2. Hopefully I can get part 1 out in September 2nd or so.
• Looks like Shang-Chi is coming to theatres only. Meaning there probably won't be a Shang-Chi specific videos. I do still have something related planned, but I don't think I can announce that just yet.
• Depending on how I feel about the film, I may also interrupt the Gun-Fu series to talk about related topics. One idea I always wanted to talk about is how to adapt a dated character. Mandarin is one such character, but so it's the Ancient One from Doctor Strange. I guess we'll see.
• We have a Korean film planned in the near future. This is one film that contributed a lot to Korean society, but remains relatively unknown in the west: Silenced.
• Finally, I have McDull planned in the near future. Although I am not sure if I'll cover the first or the second movie. If you are from Hong Kong, let me know which one do you prefer!

MEDIA TALK

• Here are some of the talking points that I cut out from the Kung Fu Hustle video.
• The Axe Gang, like the name "Wong Fei Hung" and "Ip Man", has its basis in reality, but is now disconnected from its historical roots. The Axe originally began as a pseudo workers union, a Black Panther Party style gang that protects lower class dock workers.
• Instead of terrorizing people, The Axe is mostly known for terrorizing the Japanese Occupation forces. The leader of the Alex, Wang Ya Qiao, was a famed assassin.
• It's commonly believe that Boxer From Shantung is the first film to include the Axe, and even in its first cinematic outing, the Axe is already the bad guys.
• After Project A 2, Druken Master 2, and other martial art films, the Axe basically became the de facto name for organized street gangs
• I mean, what else you are going to use? Sun Yee On? They probably funded your movie, my man.
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• Originally, Uncle Ng Man-tat was set to appear in Kung Fu Hustle. Stephen Chow actually invited him, and he agreed. With shooting began in July of 2003, iirc.
• Unfortunately, the SARS pandemic hit hit Hong Kong that year, and shooting had to be delayed to September.
• Uncle Tat was in his workaholic phase back then, accepting pretty much every and all films that invited him. While he saved July for Chow, his September was full, with contract signed. As a result, Tat had to dropped out of the production.
• It was never clear which character Tat will play. Even Uncle Tat himself had no idea. My guess would be either the sidekick character, or the leader of the Axe gang.
• When introduced, the camera introduces Sing and his sidekick as a killer duo, with both characters sharing almost equal focus. That shot makes a lot more sense if it's him and Tat. The joke of the sidekick pretending to be leader of the Axe also makes more sense with the old and imposing uncle Tat, rather than the baby-faced sidekick we got.
• Tat also frequently plays the villain in Chow's personal works. He's the villain in God of Cookery, and also an abusive antagonist throughout most of King of Comedy. So it's not farfetched to see Tat in the role of the Axe gang leader, as opposite to Danny Chan, who's famous for playing Bruce Lee.
• Anyway, sadly Chow and Tat never have a chance to act together. Around the time of production for CJ7, iirc, Tat fell ill. He was hospitalized for a while, and decided to take a year long break to spend time with his family.
• Since then, Chow has never acted in anything more than a cameo, and Tat also didn't accept nearly as many jobs as he used to. That's why these two never acted together after Shaolin Soccer. Life simply never lined up for them.
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• Finally, here are a few smaller things.
• The line "Even if you kill me, there will be thousands more of me!" said by the barber is a quote from Lu Haodong. However, this quote is so famous, most Chinese people know the words, but have no idea who said it.
• The leader of the Axe Gang, Sum, shares a name with the Triad leader from Infernal Affair. If Tat was meant to play this role, the resemblance would be even greater as Tat and Eric Tsang were about the same build and same age.
• When the landlord and landlady meets The Beast, they brought a gift, a bell. The English version calls it a funeral bell, which is clever. In Chinese, the bell is just a bell. But since "bell" is a homonym to "end", giving someone a bell is like celebrating the end of their life. The same also applies to clocks, but only wall clocks, not watches.
• If the final scene looks like The Matrix Reloaded, that's because both scenes are designed by Yuen Woo-ping. Supposedly most of the fights are designed by Sammo Hung, a man with a more gritty, close up style (as seen in Ip Man 2). You can also see this style in the three masters fight scene.
• But due to either Sammo Hung fell ill, or due to creative differences, Sammo dropped out of the film mid-production, and Yuen Woo-ping was hired to pick up the rest of the film. That's why the last fight is noticeably more stylized, with longer takes, wider angles. This is also the same style used in Ip Man 3, also choreographed by Yuen.
• Finally, a lot of people are curious if the needle used by The Beast has any significant... And I can't really be sure. It's a lotus shape weapon, and lotus is a symbol of the Buddha.
• It can also be a reference to "Storming Pear Flower Needles", a famous needle shooting weapon from wuxi novel series Chu Liuxiang. However, in that series, it's a box that shoots out a storm of needles, not just a single one.
• If you know what inspired the weapon, let me know!

And that's the update. It was fun seeing everyone's reaction to the Kung Fu Hustle. I suspect this may be one of the most watched Hong Kong film outside of Hong Kong, since everyone seems to grow up with it. It's just weird to think that I share my childhood with so many people around the world.

Finally, as one last bonus. In the Shang-Chi trailer, in Shang-Chi's room, you can actually see a poster of Kung Fu Hustle hanging on the left side wall! No joke, look it up!