The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is a 1978 kung fu movie starring Gordon Liu. The movie’s beautifully designed fight sequences and vibrant look and sound were influences on Tarantino’s Kill Bill.
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin tells the story of San Te, a student who is coerced into resisting the brutal Manchu regime. After surviving a vicious Manchu attack, San Te escapes in pursuit of the Shaolin school, where he is determined to learn martial arts. After a year of performing menial tasks, San Te begins his training and gains wisdom and skills through enduring the school’s 35 chambers. Upon completing the 35 chambers, San Te is given a choice of which chamber he wants to lead. He breaks from Shaolin tradition by wishing to introduce a 36th chamber, one that would provide Shaolin teaching to the outsiders being victimized by the Manchus. San Te is forced from the Shaolin school and returns to his home, where he leads a band of rebels against the oppressive Manchu forces.
You can see the influence the movie had on Tarantino through its various training sequences. San Te progresses through the school’s 35 chambers and performs tasks and skills similar to Beatrix in Kill Bill. In particular, the knife skills shown in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin are a heavy influence, as well as starring actor Gordon Liu’s ubiquitous presence in both movies.
I’m not ashamed to admit it: I had no idea Gordon Liu played both roles in Kill Bill.
There’s a great scene early in San Te’s training where he is attempting to balance on logs floating in water. He is soaking wet and starving and his teacher taunts him with a bowl of rice, which is continually dropped. Hunger is a great motivator, as San Te learns his first lesson on the importance of speed, balance and weight. The scene is a great full-circle moment later found in Kill Bill, when Beatrix is struggling with the chopsticks and Liu’s Pei Mei throws her bowl to the ground in disgust. Liu is excellent as a young San Te, who is impulsive and clumsy, yet eager to learn. His personal growth through the movie is formulaic yet it’s rewarding to watch him emerge as a master.
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