FILM (1966)
Come Drink with Me Cheng Pei-pei, Elliot Yue Hua, Wang Chung, Chen Hung-lieh Director: King Hu
Martial arts attained a level of unprecedented artistry in director-writer King Hu's first foray into the genre that would occupy the rest of his career. Hu made his directorial debut in 1964 with the huangmei 'yellow plum' opera The Story of Sue San, followed by the second world war epic Sons of the Good Earth (1965). Though elements of both can be found in Come Drink With Me (1966), the film was a breakthrough that marked Hu as one of Hong Kong cinema's outstanding auteurs, and heralded a new era of action cinema.
The considerable technical resources of the all-conquering Shaw Brothers Studio were used to maximum effect in the film, which combined creative flair and commercial viability.
Chinese opera-influenced musicals constituted a popular genre and female stars were dominant in 1960s Hong Kong films, a situation that would change with the ascendancy of kung fu in the 1970s. Hu incorporated both ingredients into his tale of fabled fighter Golden Swallow (Cheng Pei-pei), a general's daughter masquerading as a man to rescue her kidnapped elder brother (Wang Chung) from a gang of bloodthirsty bandits. Her unlikely ally is an alcoholic vagabond (Elliot Yue Hua, right with Chen Hung-leih, far right) whose sobriquet, Drunken Master, is the movie's Chinese title.
Surrounded by a group of musical urchins, the tipsy hero uses song as a means to transmit clues to his unwitting cohort, resulting in intrigues and battles that reverberate to this day in everything from low-budget chopsockeys to homages such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2003), which co-starred Cheng.
The kung fu and swordplay are highly stylised, possessing a grace and precision more suitable to dance than battle and making highly inventive usage of props such as chopsticks and coins. Hu took special care in composing his images, and the film benefits from the cinematographic skill of Shaw's Japanese cameraman Tadashi Nishimoto (who went by the Chinese pseudonym Ho Lan-shan). The rich visuals are complemented by Chow Lan-ping's evocative score and traditional orchestrations. The music is a vital component that never overpowers the narrative.