Hong Kong Movie Review: The Man With One Red Shoe
“The Man With One Red Shoe” is a damn fine Hong Kong Movie, directed by none other than Chow Tien Ho, that showcases the unique Chinese Martial Arts tradition known as Wing Chun. Also, no Chinese film has ever had such an awesome opening sequence! The late Yuen Woi-jung was responsible for that, as he always wanted every film to have an opening sequence that would rival the classics from Hollywood. This is definitely one of those films…
“The Man With One Red Shoe” certainly stars some big names in the world of cinema, but the star of this film is none other than Jet Li, better known to the public as Hong Kong’s very own Donnie Yen. Jet was discovered by Hong Kong cinema fans while doing background roles in some of the Chinese films of the nineties, and from there his career has been meteoric. He has gone from being simply a Chinese martial arts expert, to an action star that has appeared in some of the best films of Hollywood’s golden era, like Kung fu flicks like Legend, blockbusters like Basic. Most recently, he appeared alongside Jackie Chan in the Hong Kong film “Lucky Number Slevin”, which must have been something of a shock to the Chinese Film Industry back in the nineties. I am not sure whether the audience was ready for him to be part of that film, or if he simply did not fit into the role, but it’s a good film nonetheless.
In terms of martial arts, Jet Li is trained in both Wing Chun (the traditional style, which is famous for its simplicity and fast hand speed) and Hsing Sik (which translate as “poison hand”). The style that he practices would go on to become the Hong Kong Kung Fu tradition known as Wing Chung, and also the philosophy that he teaches in the martial arts school that he owns and operates. There are many interpretations for how he got this knowledge, but his most popular one is that he was a student of Bruce Lee, and that Lee gave him these kung-fu skills in the belief that they would help him to perfect his fighting abilities. The Kung Fu tradition originated in the southern Chinese cities of Hong Kong and Tai Chi Chuan and is steeped in the lore of Bruce Lee and the original martial art, and involves use of an elaborate system of defense moves to try and stop an opponent.
Jet Li does a good job of explaining some of the subtleties of Wing Chun, and he also does a good job of explaining the differences between Bruce Lee and the original kung fu master, Chow Tien. If you’re familiar with either actor, you’ll see how they’re similar in appearance and how their styles have influenced each other, but without actually being students of each other. You’ll also understand why they were so taken by the idea of Bruce Lee as the best martial arts practitioner who ever lived. The philosophy of the Wing Chun that he teaches is highly individual and has been adapted and refined by different teachers, but basically it comes from the Bruce Lee system, and the concepts have been put into practice thousands of years ago.
In the future we may see more of this type of martial arts cinema, because the movie directors and producers of Hollywood are constantly thinking up new applications for kung fu. Some of these applications will inevitably make their way onto the big screen, and you can expect that the future of Hong Kong movies will feature Chinese elements, possibly combined with some Korean elements. It’s only a matter of time, folks, and it looks as if our little Asian nation of Hong Kong is going to be the master of all of this.