Showdown at the Cotton Mill (1978)

Following a trend set by filmmaker Ng See-yuen with The Secret Rivals (1976), Wu Ma brings together top southern fist martial arts star Chi Kuan-chun with northern kicker Dorian Tan for a tantalizing match up of disparate martial arts styles and old school kung fu screen mastery.

According to its leading star, Showdown at the Cotton Mill was the inaugural production of Chang Cheh’s newly formed Chang Ho Film Company, an independent, Taiwanese-based studio that became better known for its wuxia genre output in the 1980s. It’s not surprising that Chang’s directing protégé Wu Ma would helm this production. As the underappreciated Wu developed a more balanced perspective of martial arts filmmaking than his famed mentor, his involvement has proven to be one of the film’s main assets.

Wu ably crafts a tale inspired by popular southern Shaolin folklore. Chi plays the title character Hu Hui-gan (from the original Cantonese), a lay student of Shaolin Temple specializing in Tiger Claw kung fu, one of Hung Gar’s five animal forms. The story picks up after Hu has snuck out of the temple to seek revenge for the death of his father before completing his training with his master San-te (Fai Wan). San-te is of course the famed monk attributed to being the first of his order to open up the temple’s martial arts training to ordinary outsiders, as told in the cult classic The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) starring Gordon Liu.

Hu’s targets are members of the Chin Lun House, a Wu Tang school. After dispatching with his father’s killers, Hu himself becomes the target of the school’s remaining leaders and their close associates in the local Qing government. One after another, Hu is forced to battle ever more challenging foes, who threaten not only Hu, but also his wife and child. He goes into hiding, but a traitor planted in Shaolin Temple sniffs out his whereabouts. Hu is eventually forced to take on a cunning leg fighter (Dorian Tan) who makes a late entry.

Right from the start, it’s clear that Wu Ma and his action director Cheung Pang mean business. Within a couple minutes Chi is engaged in an outstanding exchange of complex sparring involving traditional forms and painful finger locks. Each successive fight sequence is presented in especially long takes where fighters perform dozens of highly-coordinated moves.

Chi Kuan-chun is one of Asia’s top Hung Gar kung fu stars and proves it once again in this production. Matching his chiseled body with high-precision moves, Chi delivers one explosive set of forms after another with power and grace. But it is Wu Ma’s measured direction that draws forth a bit more than just fancy moves and the stony resolve we see in his previous films with Chang Cheh. Chi plays a family man torn by his desire to fight for what he believes in and in maintaining the safety and wellbeing of his dutiful wife (Tang Hsiao-wien) and child.

Wu’s dramatic direction is still limited to a large degree by the typical pitfalls of the genre, which can usually be boiled down to a rudimentary story driven more by the need to fill the screen with action than anything else. It is in this area that Wu delivers to a greater extent. It’s obvious that within his means, great care is taken in crafting the film’s many fight scenes. The camera work is especially good in capturing the combatants in their best light and in emphasizing key aspects of the engagements. The primary focus is appropriately on Chi’s upper body sparring and Dorian Tan’s fantastic Tae Kwon Do kicks.

Tan pretty much always looks good onscreen with his impossibly dynamic legwork. Matching his skill to Chi’s must have been a great challenge with the length of their exchanges, but that in itself is the payoff for the viewer. It’s also nice to see that Wu doesn’t candy coat his action scenes with flowery or comical sparring. Chi is ruthlessly efficient in dispatching with his enemies and his final battle with Tan is quite satisfying in this regard.

The film isn’t limited to one-on-one duels or open-hand sparring. Although the story takes place during a time in Chinese history when weapons are outlawed, that doesn’t stop one fighter from using an easily concealed gadget that looks like a sawed-off spear point with a retractable whip on one end. Shaolin monks with staves in hand pose a considerable obstacle to would-be aggressors visiting the temple. At one point they unleash a nasty “Phalanx” formation against a bewildered Tan.

There is very little to complain about regarding Showdown at the Cotton Mill. It’s a fine kung fu movie, packed with well-choreographed and filmed action. It features two of the genre’s finest stars pitted against each other with impressive results. Lesser known, but talented costars contribute solid fighting execution including Tan’s real-life brother Tan Kao-kung. In addition, tight pacing and a good balance between drama and action should help to keep up interest despite a typically shallow plot.