Filling a long overdue gap with a thoroughly examined, endlessly entertaining, and utterly wonderful documentary looking at the width and breadth of the history of kung fu movies, “Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks” is a blazing roundhouse of a film that splits at the seams with interviews, anecdotes, and utterly outrageous memories.
It’s “Doc Day” for me. I open my festival experience with the clearly titled “Irons Fists and Kung Fu Kicks.” The film offers a true love letter to Kung Fu (Hong Kong) Cinema steeped in the knowledge of true experts. Many docs have been made about cinema niches/history and there’s always too much to say for one film. “Kung Fu Kicks” describes the entire history of Kung Fu cinema, Hong Kong’s history in an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink manner that makes it comprehensive but surface-level in some regards all edited to the breakneck pace of a kung fu film itself.
1967. Hong Kong. Political revolution foments across the city. As an open Chinese port to the world, it occupies a bizarre space in eastern culture where all manner of cultures interact. The popular media dictated at the time were Chinese operas, romances, and smaller fare. The Kung Fu movie came about through the spirit of invention. As we travel through time learning about the milestones of this subgenre (and sub-sub genres as well) our understanding grows. While incorporating the history of Hong Kong film production it touches on Bruce Lee, Brucesploitation, Jackie Chan, and American-Chinese film relations.
From the moment the movie explodes on-screen you’re dragged by the neck and never let go until the very VERY end. I found myself jolted awake (great for a 2 pm screening) and curious to learn about Hong Kong’s political revolution. Unfortunately, the film never wastes time only delving in-depth on certain topics as vague narrative threads. Over the course of the film, a developing rivalry between two Hong kong studios receives mention only to fall by the wayside.
I’m not kidding when I say this film talks about EVERYTHING related to Hong Kong Cinema. The intersection of Blaxploitation films, breakdance culture, Kung Fu comedy, “The Matrix.” It’s all there in rapid chunks edited within a frame of its life. Naturally, the film suffers by never settling down. I can tell you bits and pieces I watched and fun tidbits but I left the theater struggling to piece together large informative chunks. This kind of rapid editing spirals out towards the end discussing Ugandan cinema. The only thing guiding this film is its North Star: Kung Fu.
A great example of this is the saga of the Wu-Tang Clan. Director Serge Ou explained to the audience in his Q&A that while the story of the Wu-Tang Clan’s obsession with Kung Fu cinema helped popularize the form it is ultimately a story about the Wu-Tang Clan and not about Kung Fu. Knowing that helped me understand the film so much better. With that knowledge, I understood it as laser-focused. The whole thing snapped together and I accepted it as the true love letter it’s meant to be.
Only die-hard fans of the genre would recognize the infamous names etched into cinema history. This film’s bolstered by popular credits and the occasional actor (Michael Jai White and Jessica Henwick helped anchor my interest in the film.) I perked up around the time period I was alive so that only demonstrates that this film works best for people already familiar with the material. Those hoping to learn more might be disappointed to discover they will gain only a cursory knowledge and a few book titles to pursue if more curious. It’s a fantastic primer it just cuts so damn fast I literally had to breathe harder at the end. That the director admitted the entire film had 4,200 different edits before locking and that they did the entire film in five months I see it as more of an accomplishment than anything else. It’s a feat of filmmaking in and of itself but as far as documentaries go, it left me wanting more. I had a million questions for the director which could spiral off into a million more questions.
“Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks” recently premiered at the 2019 Fantastic Fest
