REVIEW: ‘The Art of Action’ (2002)

As the martial arts film genre continues to grow in popularity and influence the current generation of filmmakers the need to educate a new and enthusiastic fan base becomes necessary. Thankfully, Keith Clarke and a team of experts that includes author David Bordwell and IMPACT magazine editor Mike Leeder have come along to offer THE ART OF ACTION. While clearly designed to introduce the genre to a wider audience by laying out a timeline of key events and filmmakers, this documentary manages to include enough rare footage and exclusive interviews to satisfy most avid kung fu fans.

Actor Samuel Jackson provides enthusiastic narration as he guides the viewer though 80 plus years of martial arts film history beginning with the origins of Peking Opera. Discussion of the first leading martial arts stars, all women, continues by introducing legendary heroines such as the first kung fu starlet, Fen Juhua and Chin Tsi-ang, the most accomplished of her day.

The long running HUANG FEI HUNG series starring Kwan Tak-hing follows with an introduction to Lau Kar-leung. After briefly covering the Shaw Brothers studio, the documentary follows the rise of the female stars of the 1960s such as Cheng Pei-pei and continues with the films of Chang Cheh, King Hu and again Lau Kar-leung.

Unfortunately, Clarke fails to discuss Jimmy Wang Yu’s popularity and completely overlooks Lo Lieh’s groundbreaking international success with KING BOXER. Instead, he heads straight into the era of Bruce Lee. What follows should be familiar to most fans and includes the rise of Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, John Woo, Tsui Hark, Jet Li, Yuen Wo-ping, and the influence they and their comrades now wield in Hollywood.

With only 90 minutes to work with a lot of details are left out, but for an introductory documentary, this is probably for the best so as not to overwhelm the viewer. The best aspect of the documentary is the first half which covers the early history, something most fans are probably not too aware of. Sadly, most of the films from the 1950s back are lost and very little footage is available. This may have been one reason why the producers felt it necessary to show the originally colorized DREADNAUGHT in black and white and mixed in with other earlier Kwan Tak-hing film footage.

Jackson’s dialogue is minimal and allows for plenty of welcome input from many of the people who created these films. It was especially nice to see Lau Kar-leung appearing just as passionate about his love for real kung fu in film now as ever. Other highlights include interviews with Golden Harvest founder Raymond Chow (speaking in perfect English), Cheng Pei-pei who is always delightful, and the “Master Killer” himself Gordon Liu, sporting an odd Larry Fine hairdo.

Another benefit of this feature is that very little time is spent on the latest Hollywood martial arts-related films such as THE MATRIX and CHARLIE’S ANGELS, which are already widely popular.

One thing I would have liked to have seen is more discussion on what the Hong Kong legends are doing now, besides John Woo and Yuen Wo-ping that is. Donnie Yen is interviewed, but there is no mention of his films and this documentary was also produced before they could include any footage of Zhang Yimou’s HERO.

Possibly the biggest gripe I could toss out is my distain for the poorly designed cover and title on the DVD that gives little indication that the rich history of martial arts film is featured prominently. But overall, THE ART OF ACTION is a slick and entertaining 90 minutes that provides the best introduction to the genre yet, while adding some new insight into one of the greatest film genres on earth.