Mad Monkey Kung Fu

[cal42]

I'll cut to the chase: is there real animal violence in this movie?

[chiangkamfan]

yes, there is violence and a monkey dies

check out the ivl version

[Teddy Wong]

But it's not that horrible

[cal42]

I only saw the butchered UK print some years ago and it's only hinted at.

That's barbaric, man. Not going to be watching that ever again.

[Gaijin84]

Unfortunately, Jet Li's Shaolin Temple has some too - the scene where Ji Chun-Hua and his men attack Ding Laam and her flock of sheep.

[SteelwireMantis]

There's a scene from Frankie Chan's 'Outlaw Brothers' which feature real chickens being exploded. Too gruesome, was edited from the UK/US dubbed vhs release, but is now shown uncut on the HKL dvd

[Chungking_Cash]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Tsui Hark's "The Blade."

P.S. I was greatly disturbed by the brief but brutal demise of the monkey in "Mad Monkey Kung Fu."

[KMGor]

Did they really kill the monkey for the film? It didn't look like it to me. Yeah, they clearly weren't what I would call "nice" to the real monkey in the scene, but the shot where it is killed looked faked to me, especially since a big splutter of Shaw Bros. blood comes out of it when it hits the tree. If they did kill it for real, it was entirely pointless as the way it is shot makes you think it was faked.

It also makes that part of the storyline (how the main character is sad about the affair, and how the bad guys are bad because they did it) seem rather stupid...

[cal42]

Mad Monkey Kung Fu is a fairly famous film, but nowhere where I've read about it do they go into this, and a definitive answer has yet to be made either way. You'd think a Google search would bring something up about it, but no. Try it yourself, you go down blind alleys and end up more confused than when you started.

I'm pretty horrified by all animal violence, but for the sake of a film it makes me even less comfortable. I don't even watch the chicken scene from Spooky Encounters.

[Brian Thibodeau]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Tsui Hark's "The Blade."

I was going to, but this is an area of discussion that I just wasn't sure how to approach. Personally, I think ALL incidents of real animal violence in cinema should be catalogued and made available, but then again, such a list would only feed the curiosities of those who aren't animal lovers, including, presumably, the audiences for whom a lot of these Hong Kong movies were made. Otherwise, why not just fake it in post or with cutaways? I spent a long time trying pausing and step-framing to convince myself that a certain scene near the beginning of THE BLADE was faked, but I'm still not sure. Frame-by-frame, there's actually not enough visible in the frame to suggest that a real animal needed to be sacrificed that way, which is I suppose why I think it might have been faked. But it's startlingly convincing for what you do see. Had they shown the whole bloody demise in one uninterrupted take, I'd at least be able to hold a firmer position against the filmmakers. I just didn't want it to be real because I felt that such knowledge only left a bad taste in my mouth for what is otherwise a phenomenal film. Of course, this is where some members might chime in and lay on that silly old line about "westerners" just not understanding this or that aspect of the culture (Chinese, Italian, Venusian, whatever), but honestly, I think revulsion (if the scene is real) is a fair and honest reaction for many viewers to have, regardless of where they live, and regardless of Tsui Hark's intent, just as I think some viewers wouldn't bat an eye at such a spectacle. But one should be forgiven for expecting better of Tsui Hark—even if he was just aiming for metaphor with a scene like that, it still doesn't need to have that nasty stench of reality (real reality) to it. And yet, I'd still rate that movie very very highly, with that caveat of course.

There have been many moments in certain kinds Hong Kong movies where I get uneasy whenever an animal is brought on screen, whether anything bad happens to it or not, and I think it quite literally stems from that scene in THE BLADE, and a couple of other moments of actual animal violence that have stuck with me through the years (not to mention several grotesqueries-for-the-sake-of-easy-metaphor from various Italian pictures from the 70's and 80's). If they're willing to fake a human death, they can fake an animal death, and maybe even give us a few telltale signs just for the sake of reassurance.

MAD MONKEY KUNG-FU is in my to-watch pile, and it will be watched regardless, but I guess I can say I've been warned (one way or the other).

[Chungking_Cash]

I spent a long time trying pausing and step-framing to convince myself that a certain scene near the beginning of THE BLADE was faked, but I'm still not sure.

I swear I read...some where...years ago...that Tsui revealed in an interview the aforementioned sequence was in fact authentic; however, without a cited source I can swear until I'm purple in the face but it's not going to lend my response an iota of creditability.

That being said, we can, at the very least, make an educated guess based upon my Google search for the interview: "Tsui Hark + animal cruelty" generated plenty of hits and for a variety of the popular entertainer's films (more than once in regards to UK censorship).

MAD MONKEY KUNG-FU is in my to-watch pile, and it will be watched regardless, but I guess I can say I've been warned (one way or the other).

Then I'll keep my opinions to myself until we hear otherwise, but please feel free to comment on my VCD to watch list from Celestial: "All Men Are Brothers," "Dirty Ho," and "Sword Stained with Royal Blood."

[Brian Thibodeau]

That being said, we can, at the very least, make an educated guess based upon my Google search for the interview: "Tsui Hark + animal cruelty" generated plenty of hits and for a variety of the popular entertainer's films (more than once in regards to UK censorship)..

Wow. I think I'll take a pass on performing that search for now! I know at least a couple of Tsui's movies with animal cruelty, but the suggestion that there are potentially many others makes me think ignorance is bliss. Having seen all of his films to date, I clearly was watching in "I'll just assume that's fake" mode!

Then I'll keep my opinions to myself until we hear otherwise, but please feel free to comment on my VCD to watch list from Celestial: "All Men Are Brothers," "Dirty Ho," and "Sword Stained with Royal Blood."

Perhaps others can help you there. My Shaw VCD/DVD pile has those in it, too, but I'm kinda saving all the Shaw stuff for some kind of marathon session down the road when I'm more learned on the subject, although some of their contemporary-set productions—like the BLACK MAGIC films—were just too difficult to resist!