Fong Sai-yuk (film)

Fong Sai-yuk
Film poster
方世玉
Directed byCorey Yuen
Written by
Produced byJet Li
Starring
CinematographyJingle Ma[1]
Edited byCheung Yiu-chung[1]
Music by
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • 4 March 1993 (1993-03-04)
Running time
106 minutes
CountryHong Kong[1]
LanguageCantonese[1]
Box officeHK$30,666,842[1]

Fong Sai-yuk (方世玉), also known as The Legend of Fong Sai-yuk, The Legend,[2][1] and The Prodigal Fighter, is a 1993 Hong Kong action-comedy film directed by Corey Yuen and produced by Jet Li,[3] who starred as Chinese folk hero Fong Sai-yuk (Fang Shiyu).[4] It co-starred Josephine Siao, Vincent Zhao, and Michelle Reis. The film received positive reviews, particularly praising Siao's acting and the action choreography. The film won the Hong Kong Film Award and Golden Horse Award for best action choreography. A sequel, Fong Sai-yuk II, was released later the same year in 1993.

The film, which is loosely connected to the wuxia novel The Book and the Sword by Jin Yong, follows Fang Shiyu, a Qing dynasty martial artist from Guangdong who competes in a martial arts contest to win the hand in marriage of a woman but finds himself caught in the conflict between an anti-Qing underground movement and Qing government forces led by the Governor of Nine Gates.

Synopsis

Fang Shiyu participates in a martial arts contest staged by the couple Lei Laohu and Li Xiaohuan to win the hand-in-marriage of their daughter, Lei Tingting. He initially gains the upper hand but decides to forfeit the match after catching a glimpse of a woman whom he mistakes for Lei Tingting. Fang Shiyu's mother, Miao Cuihua, disguises herself as a man and joins the contest to help her son regain his lost pride, defeating Li Xiaohuan and winning the match. To save his mother from embarrassment, Fang Shiyu marries Lei Tingting and gets confined in his in-laws' residence, eventually seeing his bride's face after sparring with her in the dark.

Fang Shiyu's father, Fang De, returns to Guangdong from a trip and reveals that he is a member of the Red Flower Society, an underground movement seeking to overthrow the ruling Qing dynasty. Just then, Fang De is ambushed by the Governor of Nine Gates and his soldiers, who demand that Fang De hands over a list of names of the society's members. Fang Shiyu and Miao Cuihua show up to save Fang De, and Fang Shiyu manages to hold off the Governor until his parents have escaped.

The Fangs disguise themselves and hide in the Lei residence but the Governor visits the Leis and recognises the Fangs. In the ensuing fight, Li Xiaohuan is killed and Fang De is captured. The Governor then stages a public execution of Fang De to lure Fang Shiyu and Miao Cuihua in a trap. Fang Shiyu storms the execution ground alone in an attempt to save his father. At the critical moment, Miao Cuihua shows up with Chen Jialuo, the Red Flower Society's leader, and other society members. They defeat the Governor and his men, and succeed in freeing Fang De. Chen Jialuo, impressed by Fang Shiyu's bravery, takes him as his godson.

Cast

[1][5]

Release

Fong Sai-yuk was a box office hit on Hong Kong, grossing HK $30,666,842.[1] In the Philippines, the film was released as The Prodigal Fighter by Viking Films on December 2, 1993.[6] A sequel, Fong Sai-yuk II, was released in the same year.[7]

Home media

In the United Kingdom, the film (released as Jet Li's The Legend) was watched by 1 million viewers on television in 2004, making it the year's tenth most-watched foreign-language film on television (below nine other Hong Kong action films). Fong Sai-yuk II (released as The Legend II) drew 1.5 million UK viewers the same year, adding up to a combined 2.5 million UK viewership for both films in 2004.[8]

Reception

In Hong Kong, Corey Yuen and Yuen Tak won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography at the 13th Hong Kong Film Awards.[9] Josephine Siao and Cheung Yiu-chung were nominated for Best Actress and Best Editing respectively as well.[9] At the 1993 Golden Horse Awards, Peter Cheung won the award for Best Editing, while Corey Yuen and Yuen Tak won the award for best action choreography.[10]

The film received a positive review from Time Out London who referred to the script as "cobbled together", but praised actress Josephine Siao, noting "a show-stopping culmination of three decades of fine work in the Hong Kong cinema".[11] The Austin Chronicle praised the film's fight choreography as the "most breathtakingly choreographed fight scenes witnessed in years", and noted the liberated female characters, calling them "a refreshing change of pace from years past, when women were frequently used as either cookie cutter stereotypes or the requisite damsels in distress".[12] TV Guide gave the film four stars, praising both Siao and Jet Li's roles and Corey Yuen's direction stating "it's astonishing to find that the director also helmed the ridiculous Stateside kung fu fest No Retreat, No Surrender (1986), Jean-Claude Van Damme's film debut; on home ground, he proves a filmmaker of consummate skill and style".[13]

In 2014, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films.[14] Fong Sai-yuk was listed at 84th place on this list under its title The Legend.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Fong Sai-yuk". Hong Kong Film Archive. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  2. ^ on Netflix.com
  3. ^ Brennan, Sandra. "Fong Sai-Yuk(1993)". Allmovie. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  4. ^ "10 classics provide visual poetry—on video". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  5. ^ a b "Fong Sai-Yuk (1993) - Cast & Crew". Allmovie. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  6. ^ "Grand Opening Today". Manila Standard. Kamahalan Publishing Corp. 2 December 1993. p. 18. Retrieved 19 April 2021. Only Asia's No. 1 Action Megastar Jet Lee Can Deliver!
  7. ^ Blaise, Judd. "Fong Sai-Yuk 2". Allmovie. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  8. ^ "UK Film Council Statistical Yearbook: Annual Review 2004/05" (PDF). UK Film Council. p. 74. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022 – via British Film Institute.
  9. ^ a b 第十三屆香港電影金像獎得獎名單. Hong Kong Film Awards (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  10. ^ "Taipei Golden Horse Awards". Golden Horse Awards. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  11. ^ TR. "Fong Sai-Yuk (1993)". Time Out. Retrieved 16 September 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  12. ^ Savlov, Marc (24 September 1993). "The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk". Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  13. ^ "Fong Sai-Yuk Review". TV Guide. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  14. ^ "The 100 best action movies". Time Out. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  15. ^ "The 100 best action movies: 90-81". Time Out. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
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