Dynamic action, striking athleticism and astonishing wire-aided dexterity combine in the wild world of Yuen Woo-ping’s cinema. But the veteran martial arts choreographer and director isn’t just one for bruising action that can make a whole audience shudder. Yuen can also be relied on for breathtaking creativity that stretches the limits of practical effects, plus streaks of delightful comedy that humanise his stars. For all this, and in recognition of his pivotal role in advancing action cinema not just in Hong Kong but internationally, Udine Far East Film Festival is honoured to welcome Yuen this year and award him the Golden Mulberry Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Yuen Woo-ping was born in Guangzhou in 1945 into the worlds of both martial arts and film. One of 10 children, Yuen trained under his father Yuen Siu-tien – himself from a family of northern-style martial arts-trained opera performers. Yuen Senior entered Hong Kong cinema as an actor in the early 1940s and then became a martial arts director, and eventually six of the siblings would follow into film and come to be known collectively as the Yuen Clan.
From the early 1960s, Yuen Woo-ping became a regular onscreen presence at the mighty Shaw Brothers studio, often as an extra. In 1971 he took up the role of martial arts director starting with The Mad Killer, directed by Lo Chen with Ng See-yuen, and soon after moved on to films like Chor Yuen’s Shaw efforts The Killer (1971), The Lizard (1972) and The Bastard (1973). Early choreography work saw him co-credited with brother Yuen Cheung-yan but by 1972 he was also going solo as a martial arts planner. He didn’t limit his output to Shaw productions, instead working with small outfits and rival major studio Golden Harvest too. Highlights included Ng See-yuen’s Bloody Fists (1972), two instalments of Shaws’ The Criminals series in 1976 and ’77, and Korean director Jeong Chang-hwa’s Broken Oath (1977) for Golden Harvest with the great Angela Mao.
In 1978 Yuen took the reins as director and shook up Hong Kong cinema. Independent producer Ng See-yuen had spotted comic potential in a young actor named Jackie Chan, got him on loan for two features, and tapped Yuen to help make kung fu comedy the new sensation. First up at Ng’s Seasonal Films was Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow (1978), with Chan playing a trainee martial artist under Yuen Siu-tien. The director brought out Chan’s agility and physical comedy prowess with aplomb, making the choreography and stunts both intricate and absurdist. Snake was an immense box-office success, reinvigorating the kung fu film, and the audience was excited for Yuen’s follow-up Drunken Master (1978). Here Chan performed as a youthful version of celebrated folk hero Wong Fei-hung, already the subject of dozens of films since 1949. (Trivia note: Yuen Siu-tien appeared in the first.) Yuen mixed in a whole catalogue of martial arts styles, from the Hung Gar style associated with Wong to fascinating animal-inspired techniques and of course drunken boxing. The reception was even stronger – Drunken Master came second in the year’s Hong Kong box office and scored popular release around Asia.
Yuen Woo-ping was suddenly hot as a trendsetter. He established Peace Film Production in 1979 and flew into a run of beloved kung fu comedies. For Golden Harvest, Yuen’s work included The Magnificent Butcher (1979), with the entertaining Sammo Hung as a disciple of Wong Fei-hung, as well as The Miracle Fighters (1981). The latter pushed Yuen’s jaw-dropping inventiveness into the fantasy realm as bickering priests get tangled up with a vicious sorcerer, and the film was so complex in its stunts, pyrotechnics and practical effects that it took 170 days to complete.
Yuen wouldn’t be typecast as just a proponent of old-school kung fu, however. Consider Mismatched Couples (1985) and Tiger Cage (1988). In the former with star Donnie Yen, Yuen (also turning up as a delightful lead actor) took breakdancing as a springboard for energetic action comedy, swinging in crazy stunts like BMX tennis along the way. Police thriller Tiger Cage, made as contemporary crime films rose in standing, opted for more brutal action, bringing together martial arts, chases and gunplay.
Heading back to period martial arts cinema, Yuen worked with powerhouse producer Tsui Hark to direct Iron Monkey in 1993. A Robin Hood-style saga serves as the entertaining framework for a demonstration of peak wire-fu, where performers are suspended by concealed wires pulled by a stunt team offscreen, with one stunning highlight seeing fighters battle on poles above flames. Yuen would work with top stars Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh on The Tai Chi Master (1993), a traditional kung fu work with two young fighters falling in with rebels and taking on a powerful eunuch. He also captured Yeoh’s athleticism in Wing Chun (1994), an action comedy confection in which Yeoh plays the mythical founder of the Wing Chun martial arts style.
Through all these years Yuen would also remain one of Hong Kong cinema’s leading martial arts choreographers for other directors’ films. A high point was Yuen’s involvement in Tsui Hark’s Once Upon a Time in China series: as martial arts planner for the brilliant Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), Yuen drew incredible acrobatics from fighters Jet Li and Donnie Yen and won the first of his six Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Action Choreography.
It was no surprise that international filmmakers wanted Yuen on board their productions, and in 1999 his action reached a new audience with the Wachowskis’ The Matrix. A sensation not just for a sci-fi plot that got moviegoers talking, The Matrix boasted action scenes born out of months of intense training and Yuen’s attention to detail in matching choreography to character. Ang Lee’s sensational Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) would provide another huge showcase of Yuen’s talents. International audiences – many of them seeing wuxia cinema for the first time – gasped at the wire-fu feats as sword-wielding heroes leapt at each other and took flight across rooftops. Quentin Tarantino likewise called in Yuen as action advisor when he shot martial arts cinema tributes in Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004).
Back in Hong Kong, Yuen joined Stephen Chow’s blockbuster Kung Fu Hustle (2004) as martial arts choreographer and was right at home with the film’s comedy and offbeat tributes to Hong Kong cinema’s many fighting styles. Ronny Yu’s martial artist biopic Fearless (2006) saw Yuen provide action choreography in the burgeoning sphere of high-end Hong Kong-mainland China action spectaculars, and Yuen would direct one himself in True Legend (2010). That folk-hero tale combined modern effects with technically demanding fights staged at dramatic natural locations including China’s second-largest waterfall. More grand thrills would come in the Yuen-directed The Thousand Faces of Dunjia (2017) and Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018), as well as his exquisite martial arts staging for Wong Kar Wai ’s The Grandmaster (2013) and the final two entries in Wilson Yip’s popular line of Ip Man films. Yuen also took a detour to direct the touching short drama Homecoming, set in 1990s Hong Kong, within the Johnnie To-produced anthology film Septet: The Story of Hong Kong (2020).
This year Yuen remains at the forefront of Chinese-language cinema with his new film Blades of the Guardians: Wind Rises in the Desert. Released as a major attraction in the Chinese New Year box-office bonanza, the manhua-based picture sees heroes endure an epic journey filled with ambushes, clashes and daring escapes. Key to the excitement is Yuen’s staging of elaborate fights in real locations with trained martial artists like Wu Jing, Jet Li and Max Zhang, and relying on traditional practical effects like ingenious wirework, adding a sense of old-school authenticity to the superhuman feats. Blades of the Guardians ends with hints of more to come in its heroes’ stories, and with that we’re left looking forward to whatever action extravaganza the master filmmaker will dream up next.
Tim Youngs