Dancing Kung Fu (1978)

If he goes to heaven, I'll him pull him down...

Dancing Kung Fu was an odd juxtaposition of a comedy and a drama both paralleling each other for a time by two groups chasing the main lead until everyone crashed together in the end.

Doris Lung played Ping Erh, an 18-year-old girl, deemed ready for marriage by her grandfather. He took her to the market square and called out that anyone who could beat her in kung fu would win her hand in marriage. Over the next 20 minutes a very odd assortment of men took their shot, including a pair of guys who "do everything" together. Don't even want to ask. She made short work of her opponents until Szema Lung's Kan somehow ended up fighting her and won. He had no desire to wed her and made a hasty exit with his traveling buddy. Grandpa and Erh spent much of the rest of the movie chasing them down and ending up in grand fights with random others at an inn and then a brothel.

The more serious plot involved Kan and his unnamed traveling companion needing to deliver a secrety, secret list to the rebel forces. Ching agents were chasing them to obtain the list as well as Grandpa and the jilted fiancée wanting to obtain her a husband. As so often happens in kung fu movies, laughter turned to tears. Eventually, Kan met up with the rebels only to be betrayed and had to face off with Lo Lieh in his white wig. Every kung fu fan knows Lo Lieh in a white wig means big trouble. His henchmen wore leopard skin off the shoulder shirts, not sure if their outfits were supposed to invoke fear in their opponents or laughter on the audience's part.

The comedy wasn't too cringey. Grandpa and Erh seemed to be one step ahead of the secret list carrying men and ruffling their feathers along the way. Because there was also a serious tale embedded in the story, the comedy went down easier. Comedy that included a man beaten so badly by Erh that he peed himself in public and a romantic couple were interrupted by the fighting. How much you enjoy this movie will in large part depend on how much you like this kind of visual humor.

Most of the fights were well choreographed by Huang Fei Long. Some could be slow and there were a few shots that missed by a mile. Overall, the fights were entertaining. Lo Lieh's Sorrow and Joy technique was new to me. He was either laughing or sobbing to keep his opponents off-guard. The Yin-Yang attack was unique, if not a little cheerleady. If cheerleaders carried swords and used their pyramids to kill people.

Most of the acting was fine. Szema Lung didn't make very many movies, but he managed to carry off the fights well and look properly horrified at the thought of marriage. Doris Lung had a chance to shine and have some power of her own, completely unfazed by the men she fought. Yi Yuan as a comic good guy was nice, playing the aged grandpa with plenty of kung fu tricks in his magic staff. Nancy Yen joined in the fighting near the end. Lo Lieh in his wig and smirk gave the incongruent team a worthy foe, causing them to have to band together to survive.

Dancing Kung Fu, aka The Cavalier, aka The Smart Cavalier needs some loving restoration. It has faded badly and much of it had a blue hue to it. Though the version I watched was dubbed in English, they did leave in some Chinese songs and music which added a modicum of authenticity to it.

I enjoyed the unique take on a kung fu movie with the chasing Grandpa and kung fu girl. The fights were worth watching. But parts of Dancing with Kung Fu were incomprehensible either due to shoddy editing or writing. And as I mentioned, the humor could go over the top and vulgar. It had its fun moments, and, in the end, I didn't think I'd wasted my time. Not exactly exultant praise but there are some movies I wish I had the 90 minutes back, though this isn't one of them thanks to Erh and her grandpa.

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