THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN

Hong Kong, 1978, 115 minutes, Colour.
Chia Hui Liu, Lieh Lo.
Directed by Chia Liang Liu.

This film was released early in the world popularity of martial arts films, especially, of Kung Fu. It appeared in 1978, some years after the death of Bruce Lee and the increasing world interest in his films.

The film was directed by veteran Chinese director Chia Liang Liu. While it narrates a basic story, the main intention of the film, as indicated by the credit sequences which are totally devoted to a warrior illustrating martial arts movements, was to indicate the detail of the training for expertise in Kung Fu, physical well-being, physical control, mental control. In the Buddhist temple, there are 35 Chambers. The hero eager to learn kung fu opts to go to chamber 35 but finds himself out of his depth. He returns to the beginning, taking years to move through the variety of chambers, learning balance, physical strength, holistic well-being.

Eventually he is to establish Chamber 36. However, the Abbott of the monastery finds that the warrior has been insolent and sends him outside for punishment – where, he will lead rebels in their attacks.

The film opens with a story about a Tartar invasion and the response of the authorities as well as of rebels. There are various confrontations, autocratic influence by the rulers, sadistic manifestations by the underlings in their trying to take control. In the meantime, there is also a school with young students, the students eager to fight for their country. When the authorities clamp down, especially killing the father of the hero and closing the school, he and a friend leave in disguise into the countryside, are pursued, the friend taken, but the hero determined to go on a journey to find the Shaolin Temple.

As has been said, the bulk of the film shows the training – beautifully photographed, well edited, a sense of atmosphere. It can be noted that this film and the trends of the 70s and 80s were of straightforward martial arts and practice. It was only in the late 90s and with such films as Crouching Dragon that the magical realism, stunt work and effects, became a staple of the martial arts films and fantasies.

This film could be seen, more or less, as the archetypal basic martial arts film and so is interesting historically for the movement as well as the films of the Shaw Brothers in the 1970s.