Jet Li’s star turn in Once Upon a Time in China, Tsui Hark film that revitalised Hong Kong martial arts cinema

Cantonese hero Wong Fei-hung is the subject of Tsui’s film, portrayed, surprisingly for some, by northern Chinese actor Jet Li. His kung fu skills won over fans

The story is about more than martial arts – Wong is shown trying in vain to defend Chinese culture – but its action scenes and dazzling finale make it memorable

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Jet Li in a still from Once Upon a Time in China. Tsui Hark’s 1991 film revitalised the martial arts film genre with a fast editing technique, and Li’s kung fu skills quickly saw him compared with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.

Published: 7:00am, 12 Jan 2020Updated: 10:25pm, 11 Jun 2020

There’s much more than action to Tsui Hark’s exuberant Once Upon a Time in China, although the action scenes are plentiful and superlative. The sprawling narrative of the 1991 film addresses colonialism, corruption, Westernisation, and modernisation in a manner which is both historical and contemporary.

Tsui’s updated interpretation of real-life Cantonese hero Wong Fei-hung – who gives the film its Cantonese title – made a star of China- born martial artist Jet Li Lianje, and started a trend for films set in a historical China with postmodern characteristics.

The story, which is set in the late 19th century, is frenetic and free-ranging. “I decided that if I had the chance, I would link Wong Fei-hung with every incident in the modern history of China,” Hark told Asian Cinema magazine.

“That’s why, when it was time to choose the English title, I chose Once Upon a Time in China, to imply that what was taking place could be happening now or in the future.”

Li portrays Wong Fei-hung, who runs a martial arts school in Foshan, southern China, as an honourable man beset by adversaries on all sides. Wong, who is also a doctor, is a patriot who has trained a militia to protect local Chinese from the murderous foreign troops who have military bases in Foshan.