Triangular Duel (1972)

When a martial arts instructor and his students refuse to join a local school, its members attempt to discredit the instructor which leads to conflict.

Although not an outstanding film for its time, Triangular Duel shares the distinction of being the first of Joseph Kuo’s collaboration with Man Kong Lung and is the first film that Bruce Li appeared in, albeit in a small role.

Before director Joseph Kuo found his groove amid the comic kung fu craze of the late ’70’s, he like so many others were just trying to keep up with current trends. At the time, films often revolved around rivalries among competing martial arts schools. In this case, Kang Luen (Man Kong Lung) is rickshaw runner for Tien Kin (Chiang Nan), a martial arts instructor who has recently set up shop in China after having studied in Japan. The other local martial arts schools have all come under the banner of Liu Ping, who runs a large “Gymnasium.” Liu asks Tien to join but is curtly refused because Tien’s philosophy of non-aggression would conflict with the Gym’s more aggressive fighting styles. The most aggressive teacher at the Gym is Kei Man (Miu Tin) who receives Liu’s tacit approval to harass Tien and his school to either force him to join or discredit his skills. Having talked his master into letting him study kung fu, Kang proves to be a worthy pupil but his predilection for brawling with Kei’s men earns the disapproval of Tien. Even worse, Kang has fallen in love with the Gym leader’s daughter and once its discovered, the affair is squelched. Kei eventually talks Liu into having Tien challenged by his three fighters who together form the “Iron Triangle” style, knowing that this is the only way to defeat Tien. The instructor ends up dead at their hands and Kang seeks revenge on everyone responsible, one at a time.

Ah, the popular exploits of the common rickshaw man are revisited once again. (See Boxer from Shantung and Born to Defence for more rickshaw action.) This was Man Kong Lung’s screen debut. He went on to star in Kuo’s next five films. Despite not being a great martial artist, Man does exhibit a lot of angst… ok, maybe he goes a bit overboard, but I blame that on the script. The film blatantly plays up to the passions of the era’s intended audience. The lovers on opposite sides of the conflict are separated and ridiculously hammy grief over the death of our hero’s master is downright laughable. After having gotten beat senseless several times previously, Man’s character is pounded on continuously by his fellow students who question his devotion when he refuses to join their fruitless attempts to get revenge. I mean, give the man a break. He’s got to spend at least two months pounding the bark off a tree to be in good enough condition to get revenge.

There are a few other items worth discussing here. So far, this is the only martial arts film I’ve ever seen where the camera deliberately pans away from the main action in a very effective scene. After veteran genre actor Choi Wang (sporting a white robe and black hat) starts pounding on Tien’s students, Man walks away to beat the wall in frustration since he’s been prohibited from fighting by his master. At other times, Kuo did some goofy quick edits between opponents that looks like a headache-inspiring, early Chang Cheh trick that doesn’t build the tension is was supposed to. The music is at once memorable in a funky ’70s way and downright corny other times, especially with an organ playing.

Aside from Choi Wang’s characteristically wicked performance, the kung fu is not much fun to watch. Besides showing three guys fighting together, there is no real explanation, verbally or visually of the so-called “Iron Triangle” technique. By the end, Man is rolling around in the mud with Choi, before he hops in a lake to splash water at Miu Tin who is wielding a little pocket knife.

Without the welcome humor present in Kuo’s later films such as The World of Drunken Master (1979), the film’s faults rise to the surface. Its all the more disappointing considering that overall, this film is still a better production than many of the other independent kung fu films of the ’70s.