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.
Part of this movie blog project is to expose and educate myself and not allow preconceived notions to cloud the experience. Having said that, I haven’t found much artistic value in the few kung fu movies I’ve previously watched. Clearly, I haven’t been watching the right ones. The 36th Chamber of Shaolin features a series of beautifully designed scenes. There is a gorgeous symmetry of color, sound and movement shown throughout the movie, particularly during the Shaolin chamber training scenes and appearances by the Manchu forces.
The various chamber training scenes make the movie. Liu shows off his physical prowess throughout these moments, but also displays a playful sense of humor and a wide-eyed curiosity as he progresses through his training. He’s a quick-paced actor who makes us think he’s struggling to pull off the vastly difficult physical feats his character is mastering. Liu is also terrific in blending his expressive comedic face into the emerging stoic Shaolin force he’s becoming. Liu’s versatility can be seen in the Head School chamber.
The greatest beauty of The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is found in its gorgeous fight scenes. These scenes flow like a ballroom dance. Liu’s sweeping movements draw in waves of Manchu soldiers, while he battles his main dance partner. Liu is constant motion as he waltzes through a flurry of spears and fists. The battle scenes involving specific weapons are equally impressive. San Te progresses through a series of weapons before discovering the power of his three-section staff. The weapons are the main focus, but Liu’s body gains a measure of dynamism in each battle.
The BEST – Early Scenes Pay Off in the End
It sounds obvious but its so rewarding when everything builds to a logical conclusion. San Te progresses through the Shaolin school’s 35 chambers, accumulating all the wisdom and skills required to essentially bring down the Manchu regime during the movie’s final scenes. In these battles, we see the lessons San Te learned balancing on logs, carrying the buckets of water and finishing Head School, among others.
The BEST Part 2 – “I Should Have Learned Kung Fu, not Ethics”
Without question, this is the line of the movie. The early going of The 36th Chamber of Shaolin features some awful over-dubbing from San Te’s classmates – a few of whom are caught in either a questionable pre or post-pubescent stage of existence according to the pitch of their voices. This line – uttered with classic teenage angst and set against the backdrop of imperial resistance – is classic.
The WORST – The Squeaky Voiced Overdubbed Kids
It’s jarring.
The WORST Part 2 – Teacher Ho’s Untreated Depression
I had some flashbacks to my own teaching career watching Teacher Ho take about five minutes to bring himself to even form speech at the start of class. There’s obviously some stuff going on in Ho’s brain. Instead of losing it on some outrageously annoying students, he just melts into a puddle of nothingness. He then loses additional points by sending some of his students to instant death against the Manchus.
THE FOX FORCE FIVE RATING – 4/5
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin has a few clunky moments early on and again after San Te leaves the Shaolin school. Once the story enters the chambers, things pick up. This is a vibrant and at times, beautiful movie.
