The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter 五郎八卦棍

1984 · KonCategoryIII

The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter is a 1984 Hong Kong film by Shaw Brothers , directed by Lau Kar-leung and starring Gordon Liu , Kara Hui and Alexander Fu (in his final film appearance). It was released as The Invincible Pole Fighters outside of Hong Kong and Invincible Pole Fighter in North America. Alexander Fu died in a car accident before the filming of The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter was finished. The script was partly re-written after his death and Fu's character does not appear in the final showdown as originally written in the script. [ 1 ] The film is based on the Generals of the Yang Family (Yeung family in Cantonese ) legends. Plot With help from the treacherous Song dynasty general Pun Mei, the Khitan -ruled Liao dynasty army succeeds in trapping the loyal Song general Yeung Yip and his seven sons at Golden Beach. Yeung Yip and his sons are all killed or captured in the ambush, except for the 5th son and the 6th son, who manage to escape. The 6th son returns home, but is severely traumatised by the events, resulting in tantrums. Meanwhile, the 5th son seeks refuge in a monastery in Mount Wutai , but the monastery leaders initially do not consider him calm enough to be a Buddhist monk . As blades are not allowed inside a monastery, he uses his training in spears to practise with a pole , eventually developing the unique eight diagram pole fighting technique. When he finally appears to have put his anger and past behind him, news breaks that the Khitans have captured his younger sister, Yeung Baat-mui, who has been looking for him. Now he must break his Buddhist vows, which include not killing any living being and not being bothered by worldly affairs, to save Baat-mui and exact his revenge. Cast Note: The characters' names are in Cantonese romanisation. Cast Role Description Lily Li Se Choi-fa "Taai-gwan", Yeung Yip's wife Wong Yue Yeung Ping "Daai-long", Yeung Yip's 1st son Lau Kar-wing Yeung Ding "Yi-long", Yeung Yip's 2nd son Mak Tak-law Yeung On "Saam-long", Yeung Yip's 3rd son Hsiao Ho Yeung Fai "Sei-long", Yeung Yip's 4th son Gordon Liu Yeung Dak "Ng-long", Yeung Yip's 5th son Alexander Fu Yeung Chiu "Luk-long", Yeung Yip's 6th son David Cheung Chin-pang Yeung Zi "Chat-long", Yeung Yip's 7th son Kara Hui Yeung Kei "Baat-mui", Yeung Yip's daughter and 8th child Yeung Jing-jing Yeung Ying "Gau-mui", Yeung Yip's daughter and 9th child Lam Hak-ming Pun Mei Song dynasty general Wang Lung-wei Ye-leut Lin Liao dynasty prince Chu Tiet-woh Gun Kwai Liao dynasty general Ko Fei abbot of the Ching-leung Monastery Ching Chu Master Ji-hung senior monk at the Ching-leung Monastery Yuen Tak Yang Loyalist with the golden blade Lau Kar-leung hunter Production Actors Alexander Fu Sheng , his younger brother David Cheung Chin-pang and Wong Yue were involved in an automobile accident in which Fu Sheng died. At the time of his death, he had not finished filming his role, after which the director rewrote Fu's parts for Kara Wai 's 8th child character. [ 2 ] I always hesitate a little bit when posting reviews of kung fu films here at Forgotten Films. Fans of the genre would probably argue that my selections are not “forgotten.” On the other hand, the average film viewer is not well versed in martial arts cinema – so most films of this genre could be seen as “forgotten” in this way. The film we’re looking at today is certainly well-regarded by kung fu fans, but most folks have probably never heard of it. It’s a 1984 effort from the renowned Shaw Brother Studio, The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter . The film is inspired by some tales from Chinese folklore regarding the Yang family. The film opens with a massive battle between the Yangs and the army of the evil general Pan Mei. The Yang’s end up hopelessly outnumbered. Most of the seven sons end up dying horrible deaths. When faced with death at the hands of his enemies, the patriarch of the family slams his head into a tall stone monument, killing himself…yuck. The only survivors are Yang #5 (Gordon Liu) and Yang #6 (Alexander Fu). While the fifth brother ends up wandering across the wilderness, the sixth brother returns home. Having gone completely bat poo-poo, #6 starts screaming and kung fu fighting with everyone back at the homestead, including his grieving mother and sisters. Eventually, the fifth brother makes his way to a shaolin temple. Here the monks meditate and train in their fighting skills, however they do not use blades, focusing instead on using pole fighting techniques. They have also vowed never to kill. #5 asks them to make him a monk, but the abbott (Ko Fei) refuses, insisting he is not calm enough. This doesn’t stop the young warrior, however. He shaves his own head and burns those little dots onto his head himself. Even when he is not allowed to practice with the monks, #5 takes it upon himself to learn their techniques. At the same time, he gradually starts to calm his spirit, earning a place among the monks. Trouble starts t