The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, also known as The Master Killer and Shaolin Master Killer, is a 1978 Shaw Brothers kung fu film directed by Liu Chia-liang and starring Gordon Liu.
The film follows a highly fictionalized version of San Te, a legendary Shaolin martial arts disciple who trained under the general Chi Shan.
36th Chamber of Shaolin is widely considered to be one of the greatest kung fu films and a turning point in its director's and star's careers.[2][3][4] It was followed by Return to the 36th Chamber,
which was more comedic in presentation and featured Gordon Liu as the
new main character with another actor in the smaller role of San Te, and
Disciples of the 36th Chamber.
Contents
Plot
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A young student named Liu Yude, later known as San Te, is drawn by his activist teacher into the local rebellion against the Manchu government. The government officials suppress the uprising and liquidate the school, killing friends and family members as well. San Te then decides to seek vengeance. Wounded in an attack by Manchu henchmen, he flees to the Shaolin temple and seeks training in kung fu. Initially the Buddhist monks reject him, since he is an outsider, but the chief abbot
takes mercy on the young man and lets him stay. One year later, he
begins his martial arts training in the temple's 35 chambers and
advances more rapidly than any previous student. Along the way, he is
depicted as inventing the three section staff.
However, as San Te nears the end of his education, the temple
officially exiles him in a surreptitious way to allow him to aid the
people against the oppressors. He returns to the outside world, namely
to his hometown, and assists the people by teaching them martial arts.
Before the political revolution he is inspiring to complete, he is forced into conflict with the Manchu governor.
Finally, he triumphs and returns to the Shaolin temple, where he
establishes the 36th chamber, a special martial arts class for laypeople
to learn kung fu.
Cast
The film's trailer credits the cast as follows[5]
- Liu Yude/Monk San Te - portrayed by Liu Chia-Hui
- General Tien Ta - portrayed by Lo Lieh
- Rice Miller Six - portrayed by Wang Yu
- Hung Hsi-Kuan - portrayed by Yu Yang
- Lu Ah Tsai - portrayed by Hsu Shao-Chiang
- Tung Chien-Ching - portrayed by Wu Hang-Sheng
Production
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Distribution
The film was released on VHS as early as 1993.[6] It was released on DVD in February 2000 by Crash Cinema Media under the title Shaolin Master Killer.[7] In 2007, it was released on DVD by Dragon Dynasty as The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.[8] It has also been released on Blu-ray as of 2 March 2010 from Vivendi Visual Entertainment.
Reception
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36th Chamber of Shaolin is widely considered to be one of the greatest kung fu films ever made and a highly influential entry in the genre.[2][3][4]
According to the Harvard Film Archive,
the film is an "exhilarating rendition of the legendary dissemination
of the Shaolin martial arts" and an "absorbing account of [an]
initiation into the vaunted Shaolin style, ... depicted here [as] an
inner voyage of discovery."[1]
In 2014, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films.[9] The 36th Chamber of Shaolin was listed at 29th place on this list.[10]
See also
- List of Dragon Dynasty releases
- Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) a 1993 album whose title was in part inspired by the film
References
A bald and tautly muscled Lau Kar-fai (Gordon Liu Jiahui) headlines this exhilarating rendition of the legendary dissemination of the Shaolin martial arts. Lau plays a real-life figure long-since transmuted into myth, a Chinese commoner on the run from Manchu oppressors (including a glowering Luo Lie) who seeks refuge at the Shaolin Temple. The film is an absorbing account of his initiation into the vaunted Shaolin style, known for its emphasis on the external and the physical. But as depicted here the training process is very much an inner voyage of discovery; the novice must work his way through a series of torturous “chambers” before becoming the newly minted monk, San De.
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin represents a directorial tour de force for Chia-Liang Liu. It’s a sumptuous film to look at, a movie that takes its varying fight facets very seriously.
"The 100 best action movies: 30-21". Time Out. November 3, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2014.
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