A young troublemaker befriends an old beggar who is secretly a kung fu master. The old man teaches him the secrets of drunken boxing, a mysterious martial art that confuses opponents with sways, jerks, and tumbles that resemble the staggering of a drunk.

If this sounds cliche, it is because we live in a world of media influenced by 1978’s Drunken Master. It was Drunken Master that set the template, not only for films about the Chinese folk hero Beggar So, but also for Jackie Chan’s signature blend of martial arts, stuntwork, and slapstick comedy.

Drunken Master is directed by Yuen Woo-ping, a legend of Hong Kong cinema. Yuen is best known to Western audiences as the action choreographer for The Matrix and Kill Bill, but in 1978 he started his directorial career with the one-two punch of Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow and Drunken Master. Both starred Jackie Chan and Yuen Siu-tien, and both experimented with injecting comedy into kung fu. As it turns out, this was a winning combination. Both films were smash hits, especially Drunken Master, launching Jackie Chan to stardom and spawning countless imitators.

Now, come see the original classic with us at Amtmandens.
(Yes, this is a bar screening, but don’t go getting any crazy ideas…)

“Don’t be fooled by the way I stagger. There’s power to kill there.”

DRUNKEN MASTER
JUI KUEN
Hong Kong 1978
Regi: Yuen Woo-ping
Medv: Jackie Chan, Yuen Siu-tien, Hwang Jang-lee, Dean Shek
Spilletid: 110 min
Språk: Kantonesisk (engelsk tekst)
Aldersgrense: 12 år
Omtale: Mike Murphy

Trivia
Yuen Siu-tien who played Beggar So is the father of director Yuen Woo-ping, who also doubled for his father in scenes that required more athleticism.