Genuine
trained martial artists always use diplomacy first, falling back on their
fighting skills only as a last resort. Discipline and humility are always essential
to the warrior’s code—and it is also better not to reveal your best moves too
soon. Unfortunately, the Japanese occupiers of this provincial Chinese city are
spoiling for a fight, so Yu Ying and her brothers will eventually have to give
it to them in Feng Huang’s Hapkido,
which screens during this year’s Old School Kung Fu Fest at the Metrograph.
Yu
Ying, Kao Chang, and Fan Wei are Chinese, but they have been faithfully
studying hapkido in occupied Korea with their master. However, they will have
to make a hasty return to China, after laying a beating on a group of Japanese thugs.
They hope to open a Hapkido school in a provincial town that ought to be off
the Imperial authorities’ radar, but the local Black Bear karate school is not
exactly welcoming.
Members
of the Black Bear School use their Japanese lineage to bully the rest of the
town. Their master, Toyoda, refuses to allow the Hapkido School to open, out of
malicious anti-Korean prejudice. Of course, every time his followers goad the
Hapkido teachers into a fight, they get publicly humiliated. Usually, Yu Ying
and her older brother make a valiant effort to practice the forbearance advised
by their master, but not so much the hot-headed Fan Wei. Eventually, his
fighting will get him killed, but at least he also catches the eye of the
pretty Miss Sau before that.
Essentially,
Hapkido argues forbearance is all
very good up to a point, but eventually bad guys need to be put down. In terms
of narrative, it is your basic, pan-Asian (Chinese and Korean) anti-Japanese
score-settling. However, the fight scenes are some of the best of the era. Hapkido was one of Master Sammo Hung’s
earliest films as both the fight choreographer and a featured player, charismatically
portraying the rashly heroic Fan Wei.
He
also had some of the best movie martial artists to work with, starting first
and foremost with the legendary Angela Mao Ying. Yu Ying is definitely the sort
of role that was in her power zone and she duly knocks it out of the park. Reliable
Carter Wong Ka-Tat is also totally solid as the dependable Kao Chang. Real life
hapkido masters Hwang In-shik and Ji Han-jae add authenticity and spectacular
chops as the siblings’ elder classmate and Hapkido master, respectively. If you
look closely, you might see early appearances from Jackie Chan and Corey Yuen
as Black Bear and Hapkido students. Plus, Nancy Sit adds further star power as
the sweet but plucky Miss Sau.
