Kong Fu Film in Mainland

From China's liberation (in 1949), the mainland of China did not shoot any kung fu films until director Zhang Huaxun's 1980 film Shen Mi De Da Fo (Mystical Buddha), which opened a new window for mainland film. Since then, kung fu film has been popular in the mainland, although for at least the first 10 years it was still far behind the Hong Kong and Taiwan films.

The only mainlanf kung fu film that can be called a classic is director He Ping's " Shuang Qi Zhen Dao Ke (The Swordsman in Double-Flag Town, 1990), which is still considered the best mainland kung fu film.

1990s: Kong Fu Film in a Free Style

Entering the 1990s, the ancient costume film regained the audience's attention. In 1990, Xu Ke and Cheng Xiaodong's Xiao Ao Jiang Hu, Xu Ke's Huang Feihong, and Cheng Xiaodong's Qian Nv You Hun, as well as Xu Ke, Cheng Xiaodong, and Li Huimin's Xin Long Men Ke Zhan became the representative works in this period. These films usually have powerful and unconstrained fighting and rich imagination.

New Century: Chinese Kong Fu Conquer the World

In the new century, following the success of films, like Enter The Matrix, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, and CrouchingTiger, Hidden Dragon, China 's kkng fu film began to use a new way to conquer the world.

In 2002,Zhang Yimou's Hero and House of Flying Daggers made a miracle in both China and America's box offices, while at the same time bringing a visionary revolution to kung fu film.

In 2004, Zhou Xing Chi (Stephen Chow) blended oldShanghaimovies' tradition and cartoons elements into his film Kong Fu Hustle, which brought the kung fu comedy in to a postmodern period.

New Tide in the Future

The huge successes of kung fu film have attracted many big domestic directors into this hot wave. Soon-to-be-released movies includeChen Kaige's Wu Ji (to be shown at the end of this year),Feng Xiaogang's Ye Yan (Evening Banquet; in arrangement), Wang Jiawei's Yi Dai Zong Shi (in arrangement), Tang Jili's Shen Hua (Myth; to be shown on October 1, China'sNational Day), and Yu Rentai's Huo Yuanjia (in shooting).

Author:Ivana