The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter

Dir: Lau Kar-leung

1984

*****

Regarded as one of the Shaw Brothers best films, The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter is indeed a Hong Kong classic. Based on the Generals of the Yang Family legend, the film sees the entrapment of the loyal Song general Yeung Yip and his seven sons at Golden Beach by the the Khitan-ruled Liao dynasty army with help from the treacherous Song dynasty general Pun Mei. Yeung Yip and his sons were all killed or captured in the ambush which features some of my most favorite fight scenes in a kung-fu movie. The 5th son and the 6th son manage to escape, the 6th son deciding to return home, severely traumatised by the events, while the 5th son finds refuge in the monastery at Mount Wutai. After some time he gains the respect of the monastery leaders who initially did not consider him calm enough to be a Buddhist monk. Blades were not allowed inside a monastery so he used spears to practice with a pole, eventually developing the unique eight diagram pole fighting technique and winning their approval. However, just hen he finally appeared 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 searching for him. Now he must break Buddhist vows to not kill or be bothered by worldly affairs to save Baat-mui and exact his revenge - Shaw Brothers style. The film is loosely based on actual historical figures of China; the Yang family, who defended the Northern borders of the Song Dynasty for generations. The film’s story was initially meant to follow the many tales that centered around one historical figure in particular, Yang Yanzhao, the 6th son of Yang Ye. According to history, Yang Ye and his 7 sons were betrayed by General Pan Mei and that he committed suicide in order to provide an escape for his remaining living sons - his 5th, the 6th and the 7th. The film differs from the legend, in that number 7 dies and number 6 goes mad - the film accurately depicts the fate of the 5th son, as he does desert the army and become a monk on Wu Tai Mountain but in the original legend, the 6th son was depicted as the hero and fought in the last stand against Pan Mei and the Liao troops. The tragic truth behind the film is that a re-write was necessitated because of the untimely death of actor Fu Sheng, who portrayed the 6th son but died in a car accident weeks before filming was due to complete. Legend tells that the 6th son himself went to the Wu Tai temple to convince his older brother to join the fight, only to be refused as the 5th son would not break his vows to Buddha. Only after a messenger arrived with news of his younger sister's capture, did the 5th son choose to join his brother in the fight. The script was altered so that the only visit the 5th son received, was from a messenger that arrived with news of his sister. This motivates the 5th Yang to return to the fight, giving him the hero spotlight that was meant for 6th brother, Yang Yanzhao. In legend after Pan Mei's defeat, Yang Yanzhao went on to become a warrior of as fierce renown as his father. Eventually promoted to the rank of General, he continued fighting for the Dynasty until his death at age 57. The film is a fitting tribute to Fu Sheng and Gordon Liu carries the film brilliantly in his place. The film is glorious, both visually and within its fight scenes. Lau Kar-leung is the greatest martial arts director of all time in my humble opinion – the guy was a profound martial artist himself who was third child of Lau Cham a martial arts master who studied Hung Gar under Lam Sai-wing, a student of Wong Fei-hung. He trained Bruce Lee who treated Lau as an elder uncle and asked him for advice in regards to his film career. His films are epic but the opening scene of The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter stands out as one of his greatest achievements in film – it’s stunning.