My Young Auntie (Hong Kong -- 1981)

[cranefly]

My Young Auntie directed by Lau Kar Leung (Hong Kong -- 1981)

Wow. How did I miss this one all these years? I can't recall another time when I've wanted to reload a DVD and watch the movie again. I didn't in this case, but I had the urge.

It's Shaw Brothers, by the way, and this one (available through NetFlix) is digitally remastered and magnificent.

I suppose all of you have already been here and seen this one, in which case I'm preaching to the choir. If not, well, this is an amazing movie. Yes, I could nitpick it on a few things, but that would be like trashing Einstein's theory of relativity because of a few misspellings -- because there is so much brilliance in so many of the scenes that the weaknesses become moot.

I don't want to oversell this. Some people have walked away lukewarm to this movie. And I suppose that could happen. But anyone who knows the various kung fu styles and appreciates incredible fight choreography, as well as self-effacing humor by everyone involved, not to mention a young woman who can actually fight and act, will likely be impressed.

Lar Kar Leung directs and also stars, though he gives top screen time to Kara Hui as Auntie and Hou Hsiao as Charlie (Westernized son of the father played by Lar Kar Leung). I really don't know what else to say. The movie has been criticized for a thin plot, but when the scenes come alive with a spontaneous character energy and great martial arts, I don't readily see this as a flaw.

All the extras on the DVD are worth checking out, especially the interview with Kara Hui.

Lady Cranefly and I watched this together. We were both blown away.

[Drunk Monk]

I caught this on Flying Five Finger One Armed Eight Pole Shaolin Exploding Death Touch Thursday last night.  I hadn't seen it since it came out and I remember thinking at the time 'meh' (even though that wasn't a word back then).  Now that it has aged, OMG, what a total masterpiece of Shaw Brother weirdness.  Kara Hui is spectacular (she won the very first Hong Kong Film Award Best Actress for this).  And it's a who's who of Shaw at the time - Lau Kar Leung, Hsiao Ho, Gordon Liu, Johnny Wang - all decked out in some of the gaudiest costumes and sets ever.  The fight sequences are hysterical and very long and complex.  But mostly, it's an absurd comedy Kung Fu flick that is just delightful if you look at it right.

It's a musical. 

There's not only a sword fight, there's a Three Musketeers vs. Three Musketeers fight - with fencing sabers!  100% DOOM flick.

It really needs a Hollywood remake, directed by Baz Luhrmann, starring Harry Shum Jr. in Hsiao Ho's role and well, I was pondering who should be the Auntie...Kara Hui is a tough act to follow.

[Drunk Monk]

Now available on Hulu+ so I watched it again. I luv this film. It's so goofy, and yet, the Kung Fu is excellent - the kind of choreography that made Shaw Brothers. 

Kara Hui is still going. She never stopped. She delivered an excellent fight against Donnie Yen in Wu Xia a few years ago. In many ways she outshines Michelle Yeoh and Cheng Peipei because she hardly aged, it seems. She is one of Kung Fu's greatest queens and My Young Auntie was her most remembered work.

[cranefly]

If you get the chance, try to get the DVD and watch the extras.  I believe there's an interview with Kara Hui.

Two things always come to mind with that movie.  First, the wonderful character-building scene right at the start.  Kara Hui is on a boat with lots of poor peasants.  She sits across from a mother with a baby in her arms.  The mother is so worn out from work that she's falling asleep, and the baby starts to tumble from her lap.  Kara catches the baby with lightning reflexes, then puts the baby back in the mother's lap, not waking her, because the mother desperately needs sleep -- and spends the rest of the trip wordlessly watching over mother and baby.  The mother never knows.

That scene doesn't last for more than 20 or 30 seconds, if I recall, but it's a masterpiece of character-building.

The other thing I recall comes from the interview with Kara Hui in the extras.  She had an appendectomy just before shooting began.  For that first fight when she's on the cart, there were concerns she might rip out her stitches.  That scene is ghastly to watch in hindsight of knowing she'd just had surgery.  All those lightning high kicks and what-not -- WTF!

[Drunk Monk]

Yea, I noticed that in your first review and it's very tempting.  I'm thinking a binge of Kara Hui flicks is in order.  IMDB only lists 140 credits as a actress.  

Here's Kara v Donnie from Wuxia: